Ethan Hawke as Jesse and Julie Delpy as Céline in Before Sunset in the car
Romance in movies is as old as the medium itself. An essential component of all forms of storytelling, romance has endured throughout the history of film and its drastic evolution over the last 100 years, as ideas and themes of love, yearning, and heartbreak can be expressed through minimal gestures and swooning, epic iconography.
Whether you're an idealist or cynic at heart, romantic movies appeal to everyone, and their versatility makes them accessible for comedies, dramas, action-adventure thrillers, and horror, going back to silent cinema all the way through 2026. Romance films, or any movie with romantic undertones, are great actor showcases, and ranked below are 10 of the finest examples of love, both redeemed and unrequited, on the big screen that feature tremendous acting. 10 'Mississippi Masala' If Mississippi Masala proves anything, it's that Denzel Washington must be a romantic lead far more frequently. The handsome and uber-charismatic actor unleashed his softer side while maintaining his unflinching gravitas in Mira Nair's acclaimed 1991 romantic drama, which also stars Sarita Choudhury as an Indian-American woman, Mina, living in rural Mississippi, who falls in love with an African-American man, Demetrius . As the title suggests, Mississippi Masala studies the melting pot of America from the perspective of an interracial couple and their respective families with vastly differing upbringings and values. Equally sensual and probing, Nair critiques the bigoted tendencies that stymie true love out of stubborn traditionalism. Captured by striking colors and luscious outdoor photography, the film is an observant look at passionate love conquering feelings of cultural displacement between Demetrius and Mina. Washington and Choudhury are instantly transfixing within seconds of sharing screen time, and Nair's lived-in style of filmmaking makes each performance feel documentary-like. 9 'The Bridges of Madison County' An actor-director unfairly defined as a gruff action hero, Clint Eastwood contains multitudes as a creative artist. Having tested himself in nearly every genre as a filmmaker, Eastwood has always had a sensitive, nuanced side to his outlaw and cop persona. This overlooked component to his stardom and filmmaking style set him up to make one of the best modern movie romances in The Bridges of Madison County, a film co-starring Eastwood and Meryl Streep that shattered all stereotypes about Dirty Harry and The Man With No Name. Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, The Bridges of Madison County likely perplexed people upon release in 1995 due to Eastwood's presence as a sincere, romantic heartthrob without a gun. In his most miraculous feat of acting to date, Eastwood holds his own against the marvelous Streep, both of whom are sure to leave every viewer in tears in this film about the unrequited relationship between a lonely wife, Francesca Johnson , and a photographer, Robert Kincaid . Carried by Eastwood's simplistically poetic approach to storytelling and moral reckoning, The Bridges of Madison County is a triumph in minimalist evocation of action and emotion. It's a film that's trying its hardest not to burst into tears, prompting the audience to do so as a result. 8 'Hiroshima Mon Amour' There's always room for romance and human relationships in movies, even for the arthouse crowd. One of the most audacious and striking efforts in film history, Hiroshima Mon Amour was the narrative feature debut for French master Alain Resnais that reinvented cinematic language with its nonlinear structure, memory-based storytelling, and abstract direction. The 1959 film about a French actress and Japanese architect in post-war Japan will leave you mesmerized, haunted, and soulfully reinvigorated. With no specific plot descriptions or character names, Resnais hypnotizes the audience in Hiroshima Mon Amour, the story of a perverse, ephemeral romance between a woman and a man , with the latter in Japan to film an anti-war movie. She hopes to delve into the man's heart and soul to experience the horrors of war, as he lost his family in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended World War II. The woman, who suffered from her own personal tragedy, quickly learns that no one can vicariously experience trauma, while the man grapples with the irreparable nature of lost love. Hiroshima Mon Amour powerfully probes into the innate heartbreak of a romance between parties incapable of understanding each other due to cruel circumstances. Despite our guilt for other people's actions, trauma cannot be transmuted onto others. 7 'The Age of Innocence' Whoever suggests that Martin Scorsese only makes crime movies must immediately be sent a copy of The Age of Innocence, the director's overwhelmingly beautiful and painful adaptation of Edith Wharton's legendary novel. Set in 1870s socialite New York, the 1993 film, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Winona Ryder, is arguably Scorsese's most violent and punishing movie, in the sense that the real pain is inflicted via internal emotions and psychological pressure. Scorsese shrewdly identified that the upper class of New York at the end of the 19th century featured similar inner workings as the mafia. They're both run by strict codes and principles at the expense of the well-being of their denizens. Rather than the threat of physical violence, The Age of Innocence dismantles the worth and freedom of socialites in this Gilded Cage by depriving them of their choice of love, an agonizing dynamic carried by Newland Archer as he becomes enthralled by the freespirted but ostracized cousin of his wife, Ellen Olenska . She represents everything that he cannot be, but his fate has been arranged by the powerful New York families to marry the delightful but naive heiress, May Welland . Scorsese's sensitivity and dissection of an emotionally troubling environment are revelatory and a testament to his sharp understanding of human longing and redemption. 6 'Before Sunset' In the middle chapter of an unlikely film trilogy, Before Sunset captures the inflection point of the short-lived young love between Jesse and Celine in Before Sunrise and the harsh realities of a weathered married couple in Before Midnight. In just 80 minutes, chronicled in real time during the remaining hour of Jesse's book tour in Paris, Richard Linklater infuses the idealism of romantic flings and the inevitable disappointment of growing older into a magical film that underlines that love can only be gauged through time and change. Released in 2004, Before Sunset returns to Linklater's tried-and-true formula of hangout, walk-and-talk movies set in a remote location. Whether you're watching the film one day or nine years apart from the previous installment, Jesse and Celine's evolution is stark, but Hawke and Delpy convey the perils of aging and career dissatisfaction with total grace. Despite their recognition of lost dreams, failed marriages, and their own shortcomings as people, the two still long for the path they never took at the end of Before Sunrise, causing the romantic yearning in Before Sunset to feel as powerful as the sun closing in on their future. The clock is ticking, and sometimes, you just have to follow your heart. 5 'Lost in Translation' Beneath his wry and sardonic wit in Hollywood comedies, Bill Murray's screen persona carries a melancholy register, with his sarcasm overcompensating for an emotional void. Sofia Coppola identified this unheralded trait in the actor's repertoire and capitalized on it in her quiet yet sweeping 2003 romance, Lost in Translation, which pairs Murray against a young Scarlett Johansson, who both play unlikely friends and faint lovers while abroad in Japan. Bob Harris is not feeling like himself, or anything for that matter, while residing in Tokyo during his promotional tour for a whiskey brand. Fresh out of college and stuck in a thankless marriage at such a young age, Charlotte doesn't know where to go. These people on opposite spectrums of life in a foreign territory have never experienced this kinship with anyone else. Lost in Translation is a tender philosophical rumination on being trapped in a fugue state where nothing seems to make sense or gel with reality. Coppola's painterly visual language and atmospheric mise-en-scene give the film a dreamlike quality, with the events of the film having the romanticism of a scenario conjured up in the mind of either Bob or Charlotte. The film wisely never explains the motivation behind their romance or their specific emotional vices, but everything is felt on the screen. 4 'Brief Encounter' Before establishing himself as the master of the cinematic epic, David Lean created the modern romantic drama about gut-wrenching yearning and failed relationships with Brief Encounter. Based on a one-act play by Noël Coward, the 1945 British film follows two married strangers in England whose chance meeting at a railway station leads to an affair where they reconvene at the same station, only to wrestle with the morality of infidelity, despite the true love that lies between them. Brief Encounter showed that Lean could conduct magical character moments and swooning emotional gestures with a minimal plot, setting, and runtime. The overwhelming pain stemming from Laura and Alec's societal imprisonment and moral judgment equals the striking landscape shots in Lawrence of Arabia. They know their hearts deserve each other, but polite society restricts them from running away from their previous lives and partners. Lean has never been more intimate behind the camera than when he delves into the psychological tug-of-war waging inside the characters’ minds—sympathetic to their desire for something unseemly. Enhanced by two breathtaking performances by Johnson and Howard, Brief Encounter distills every ounce of cinematic wonder, imagination, and poignant drama of the romance genre, and its legacy on future love stories is immeasurable. 3 'The Apartment' Billy Wilder was blessed with a preternatural ability to write and direct grim noirs, rollicking screwball comedies, and tender yet poignant dramedies—sometimes all in the same movie. The apex of his abilities came in 1960 with The Apartment, which earned Wilder his second Best Director and Best Picture honors at the Academy Awards. This influential romantic comedy-drama, starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, is an honest look at loneliness and depression during the holidays while also being a grand life-affirming statement that makes everyone feel warm inside. The Apartment is the urtext for the cynical romantic, and it has the power to reevaluate the disillusioned people who believe they have no value as a partner. C.C."Bud" Baxter is treated as a walking doormat, quite literally, at his corporate job, as he grants his bosses the luxury of using his apartment to indulge in their adulterous affairs in exchange for future job promotions. He's lost self-respect, but Wilder imbues the character with enough love, quirkiness, and heart to make everyone root for him and sympathize with his plight. As is the case with Fran Kubelik , the feeling of isolation and constant disappointment from other romantic parties is implied in Wilder's remarkable screenplay and direction. The Apartment is the urtext for the cynical romantic, and it has the power to reevaluate the disillusioned people who believe they have no value as a partner. Both hysterical and melancholic, The Apartment is the full package, one that can be revisited every day and still offer something beautiful. 2 'In the Mood for Love' It's hard not to hear the music cue from In the Mood for Love any time you sense that true love is slipping past you. Wong Kar-wai's romantic drama, often cited as the high-water mark for cinema since its release in 2000, has the iconography of an all-time classic. A profound meditation on love intersecting with morality, the film, about two people living in an apartment complex who suspect their spouses are unfaithful to them, is one of the most beautiful and haunting narrative stories ever put on celluloid. It's no hyperbole to label the film as a life-changing experience. Subscribe to our newsletter for richer film romance insight Join our newsletter for thoughtful analysis, curated picks, and context about romantic films and the wider world of cinema, ideal for readers who want richer perspectives on love stories, performances, and cinematic history. Get Updates By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. Directing two outstanding lead performances by Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung as Chow and Chan, respectively, Wong takes the concept of a fateful, impolite romance into an immersive mood exercise. With various long takes, slow-burning zooms into the actors' faces, and vibrant colors, In the Mood for Love balances the moodiness of tender yearning with the conscience of people who couldn't live with themselves if they fell for their urges. Love can be a remarkable thing, but Wong underlines that these emotions can only cause further alienation and self-doubt. Chow and Chan know they deserve better, but their own respect for their partners hinders their fulfillment. In the Mood for Love is a complex philosophical experiment that studies the darkest cores of the subconscious, while having the intoxicating atmosphere to leave any casual viewer entranced. 1 'Casablanca' Rick and Ilsa. The gin joint."As Time Goes By." The countless iconic quotes. Casablanca is a movie enterprise unto itself. As crazy as it sounds, audiences have come to take Michael Curtiz's 1942 Best Picture-winning classic Hollywood triumph for granted these days. For what it's worth, the formula of the modern romantic drama was cemented by the iconography etched into history by Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains. Here's to looking at you, Casablanca, arguably the peak of Hollywood filmmaking and the most groundbreaking portrayal of romance in cinematic history. From the opening montage to the closing scene on the aerial runway, Casablanca seamlessly turns a familiar love triangle into a conflict of grand proportions affecting the outcome of World War II. Like any great spy thriller, the most decisive battles are fought in everyday life, such as a popular nightclub run by a cynical and jaded Rick Blaine . When Ilsa Lund walks into his gin joint, the implications of WWII seem frivolous, as it is paramount for this former political freedom fighter to revive his passion to win back his lost lover. In the end, however, Rick realizes that his status with Ilsa is secondary to his own redemption arc, something that will make Ilsa truly proud. Simmering with atmosphere and playing the romantic beats at maximum, Casablanca reminded audiences of the power of the cinematic medium with our most tangible emotions.Is Your Perfect Movie? Parasite · Everything Everywhere · Oppenheimer · Birdman · No Country Five Oscar Best Picture winners. Five completely different visions of what cinema can be — and what it can do to you. One of them is the film that was made for the way your mind works. Ten questions will figure out which one. 🪜Parasite 🌀Everything Everywhere ☢️Oppenheimer 🐦Birdman 🪙No Country for Old Men FIND YOUR FILM → QUESTION 1 / 10TONE 01 What kind of film experience do you actually want? The best movies don't just entertain — they leave something behind. ASomething that pulls the rug out — that makes me think I'm watching one kind of film and then reveals I'm watching another entirely. BSomething overwhelming — funny, sad, absurd, and genuinely moving, all at once. CSomething grand and weighty — a film that makes me feel the full scale of what I'm watching. DSomething formally daring — a film that pushes what cinema can even do. ESomething lean and relentless — pure tension with no wasted frame. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 2 / 10THEME 02 Which idea grabs you most in a film? Great films are driven by a central obsession. What's yours? AClass, inequality, and what people are willing to do when desperation meets opportunity. BIdentity, family, and the chaos of trying to hold your life together when everything is falling apart. CGenius, moral responsibility, and the catastrophic weight of a decision you can never take back. DEgo, legacy, and the terror of becoming irrelevant while you're still alive to watch it happen. EEvil, chance, and whether moral order actually exists or if we just tell ourselves it does. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 3 / 10STRUCTURE 03 How do you like your story told? Form is content. The way a story is shaped changes what it means. AGenre-twisting — I want it to start in one lane and migrate into something completely different. BMaximalist and genre-blending — comedy, action, drama, sci-fi, all in one ride. CEpic and non-linear — cutting between timelines, building a mosaic of cause and consequence. DA single unbroken flow — I want to feel like I'm living it in real time, no cuts to safety. ESpare and precise — every scene doing exactly what it needs to do and nothing more. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 4 / 10VILLAIN 04 What makes a truly great antagonist? The opposition defines the protagonist. What kind of opposition fascinates you? AA system — invisible, structural, and almost impossible to fight because it has no single face. BThe self — the ways we sabotage, abandon, and fail the people we love most. CHistory — the unstoppable momentum of events that no single person can stop or redirect. DThe industry — the machinery of culture that chews up talent and spits out irrelevance. EPure, implacable evil — a force so certain of itself it becomes almost philosophical. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 5 / 10ENDING 05 What do you want from a film's ending? The final note is the one that lingers. What do you want it to sound like? AShock and inevitability — a conclusion that recontextualises everything that came before it. BEarned emotion — I want to cry, laugh, and feel genuinely hopeful, even if the world is a mess. CDevastation and grandeur — an ending that makes me sit in silence for a few minutes after. DAmbiguity — something that leaves enough open that I'm still thinking about it days later. EBleakness — an honest refusal to pretend the world is tidier than it actually is. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 6 / 10WORLD 06 Which setting pulls you in most? Where a film takes place shapes everything — mood, stakes, what's even possible. AA gleaming modern city with a hidden underside — beauty masking rot, wealth masking desperation. BA collapsing suburban life that opens onto something infinite — the multiverse of a single ordinary person. CThe corridors of power and science at a world-historical turning point — where decisions echo for decades. DThe grimy, alive chaos of New York and Hollywood — fame as both destination and trap. EVast, indifferent landscape — desert and highway where violence arrives without warning or reason. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 7 / 10CRAFT 07 What cinematic craft impresses you most? Every great film has a signature — a technical or artistic element that makes it unmistakable. AProduction design and mise-en-scène — every frame composed to carry meaning beneath the surface. BEditing and tonal control — the ability to move between registers without losing the audience. CScore and sound design — music that becomes inseparable from the dread and awe of what you're watching. DCinematography as performance — the camera not recording events but participating in them. ESilence and restraint — what's left unsaid and unshown doing more work than any dialogue could. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 8 / 10PROTAGONIST 08 What kind of main character do you root for? The protagonist is the lens. Who you choose to follow says something about you. ASomeone smart and resourceful who makes increasingly dangerous decisions under pressure. BSomeone overwhelmed and ordinary who turns out to be capable of something extraordinary. CA brilliant, tortured figure whose gifts and flaws are inseparable from each other. DA self-destructive artist whose ego is both their superpower and their undoing. EA quiet, principled person trying to make sense of a world that has stopped making sense. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 9 / 10PACE 09 How do you feel about a film that takes its time? Pace is a choice. Some films sprint; others let tension accumulate slowly, deliberately. AI love a slow build when I know the payoff is going to be seismic — patience for a devastating reveal. BGive me relentless momentum — I want to feel breathless and emotionally spent by the end. CEpic runtime doesn't scare me — if the material demands three hours, give me three hours. DI want it to feel propulsive even when nothing is technically happening — restless energy throughout. EDeliberate and unhurried — I want dread to accumulate in the spaces between the action. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 10 / 10AFTERMATH 10 What do you want to feel walking out of the cinema? The best films leave a mark. What kind of mark do you want? AUnsettled — like I've just seen something I can't fully explain but can't stop thinking about. BMoved and energised — like the film reminded me what actually matters and gave me something to hold onto. CHumbled — like I've been in the presence of something genuinely important and overwhelming. DExhilarated — like I've just seen cinema doing something it's never quite done before. EHaunted — like a cold, quiet dread that stays with me for days. REVEAL MY FILM → The Academy Has Decided Your Perfect Film Is… Your answers have pointed to one Oscar Best Picture winner above all others. This is the film that was made for the way your mind works. BEST PICTURE 2020 Parasite You are drawn to films that operate on multiple levels simultaneously — that begin in one genre and quietly, brilliantly migrate into another. Bong Joon-ho's Parasite is a film about class, desire, and the architecture of inequality that manages to be darkly funny, deeply suspenseful, and genuinely shocking across a single extraordinary running time. Your instinct is for cinema that hides its true intentions until the moment it's ready to reveal them. Parasite is exactly that — a film that rewards close attention and punishes assumptions, right up to its devastating final image. BEST PICTURE 2023 Everything Everywhere All at Once You want it all — and this film gives you all of it. The Daniels' Everything Everywhere All at Once is one of the most maximalist films ever made: action comedy, multiverse sci-fi, family drama, existential crisis, and a genuinely earned emotional core that sneaks up on you amid the chaos. You are someone who responds to ambition, who doesn't want cinema to choose between being entertaining and being meaningful. This film refuses that choice entirely. It is overwhelming by design, and its overwhelming nature is precisely the point — because the feeling of being crushed by infinite possibility is exactly what it's about. BEST PICTURE 2024 Oppenheimer You are drawn to cinema on a grand scale — films that understand history not as a backdrop but as a force, and that place their characters inside that force and watch what happens. Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is a film about the terrifying gap between what we can do and what we should do, told with the full weight of one of the most consequential moments in human history behind it. You want your films to feel important without feeling self-important — to earn their ambition through sheer craft and the gravity of their subject. Oppenheimer does exactly that. It is enormous, complicated, and refuses easy comfort. BEST PICTURE 2015 Birdman You are drawn to films that foreground their own construction — that make the how of the filmmaking part of the what it's about. Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman, shot to appear as a single continuous take, is cinema examining itself through the cracked mirror of a fading actor's ego. You respond to formal daring, to the feeling that a film is doing something that probably shouldn't be possible. Michael Keaton's performance and Emmanuel Lubezki's restless camera create something genuinely unlike anything else — a film that is simultaneously about creativity, relevance, self-destruction, and the impossibility of ever truly knowing if your work means anything at all. BEST PICTURE 2008 No Country for Old Men You are drawn to cinema that trusts silence, that refuses to explain itself, and that treats dread as a form of meaning. The Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men is a film about the arrival of a new kind of evil — implacable, arbitrary, and utterly indifferent to the moral frameworks we use to make sense of the world. It is one of the most formally controlled films ever made, and its controlled restraint is what makes it so terrifying. You want your films to haunt you, not comfort you. You are not interested in resolution if resolution would be dishonest. No Country for Old Men is honest in a way that most cinema never dares to be. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ Casablanca Like Follow Followed PG Drama Romance Release Date January 15, 1943 Runtime 102 minutes Director Michael Curtiz Writers Howard Koch, Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein Producers Hal B. Wallis Cast See All
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Meet the Dutch art detective who tracks down stolen masterpiecesFor 20 years, Dutch art detective Arthur Brand has acted as an intermediary between the police and people who know where stolen artwork might be hiding. He says patience and trust are everything.
Read more »
10 Greatest R-Rated Fantasy Masterpieces of All Time, RankedJeremy Urquhart is a writer at Collider who focuses on the Godzilla series, the films of Martin Scorsese, and anything in the action genre.
Read more »
10 Best Epic Movie Masterpieces With Great Acting, RankedDiego Pineda has been a devout storyteller his whole life. He has self-published a fantasy novel and a book of short stories, and is actively working on publishing his second novel.
Read more »
8 Single-Season Thriller TV MasterpiecesDakota Fanning talks to someone in All Her Fault
Read more »
6 Brilliant Anthology Shows That Just Fell Short of Being MasterpiecesAn orange robot in 'Love, Death & Robots' Season 3.
Read more »
10 Fantasy Movies That Are Near MasterpiecesLuc Haasbroek is a writer and videographer from Durban, South Africa. He has written articles for sites like Paste and Briefly.
Read more »