Best romance movies on HBO
HBO Max offers a week-ender selection of films that will surely bring love, pain, happiness, and excitement to viewers and avid HBO-ers.
Whether you’re looking for a love month-friendly films or romance movies, or in the mood for action, mystery, thriller or suspense ones, HBO Max got you covered.
The following films named by HBO Max provide viewers with a variety of depictions, messages of love, romance, and sexuality.
Ranked 9: The Notebook
The iconic love story novel of famous author Nicholas Sparks turned into a movie starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams is currently on HBO Max for millions to watch. It’s a story narrated by an elder named “Duke” (James Garner), the movie closely watches the relationship between Noah Calhoun (Gosling) and Allison Hamilton (McAdams). Set in South Carolina during the 1940s, the notebook serves as documentation of Noah and Allie’s blossoming romance.
Noah is a poor lumber worker who soon falls in love with Allie, the alluring heiress. Their summer romance contains enough scenes to warm the audience’s hearts. However, they are also roped into the drama between Allie’s disapproving parents and Noah. Their relationship nearly suffocates from the pressures of classism and the impending war.
Anyone wanting to watch a beautiful love story with friends and loved ones mixed with great actors will surely love the storyline of The Notebook.
Ranked 8: She’s All That
If you’re looking for a teen romance film, She’s All That got that. With iconic lead starslate Paul Walker, Lil’ Kim, Kieran Culkin, Usher, and Matthew Lillard, the film follows the popular Zack Siler and his pursuit of the awkward art student Laney Boggs. Suffering from heartbreak, Zack and his best friend Dean (Paul Walker) make a ridiculous bet that he could replace his unfaithful ex-girlfriend Taylor with any girl in the school.
Enter Laney, the polite but admittedly unpopular student whom Zack purses. In his relentlessness, Zack soon learns more about Laney and vice versa. However, the threat of ego looms around the corner, threatening to destroy a relationship built on genuine feelings.
Ranked 7: Love & Basketball
Who would have thought that sports and romance can be combined? Starring Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps, this heartwarming film showcases how internal biases and discrimination affect romantic relationships and platonic relationships.
Love & Basketball is about two childhood friends with a love for basketball. Lathan and Epps’ portrayals are captivating, hooking audiences in and having them root for the couple throughout the film. The film currently stands as a hallmark in the romance genre, with many Black Americans receiving one of the few films that represented them positively.
Pop Culture: Name your best romance movies on HBO
Ranked 6: The Vow
Starring Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams, The Vow is a dramatic film with plot twists and events that make their leads feel realistic.
Following a traumatic car accident, Paide (McAdams) and Leo (Tatum) are thrust into reality. Grappling with disapproving parents and amnesia, Paige and Leo’s journey of love is tumultuous. Former partners rise to the surface and new-found outlooks threaten to tear the pair apart.
The key components of the film highlighted envy, confidence, and remembrance complementing the romance plot twist.
Ranked 5: The Birdcage
The Birdcage captures the story of queer love while standing defiant in the face of bigotry, offering the current generation examples of how couples survived and thrived under interpersonal and structural oppression.
Starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane, the pair star as Armand and Albert Goldman, co-run the titular drag club. Albert stars as the club’s highlight “Starina.” When their son Val returns with news of a new fiancé named Barbara, Armand is rather hesitant. However, that resistance snowballs into fear-induced disapproval after learning that Barbara’s parents are the very conservative Senator Kevin Keeley and his wife Louise Keeley.
To impress Barbara’s family and prevent conflict, Armand and Albert are expected to run back into the closet and feign heterosexual while the families unite for what was intended to be a lovely dinner.
Ranked 4: Pariah
Pariah is a story that follows a 17-year-old Alike, portrayed by Adeporo Oduyo that revolves around choices and community.
From hanging in clubs with her lesbian best friend Laura to her supportive father Arthur, Alike’s metamorphosis into a more actualized version of herself paints a beautiful portrait of lesbian identity during adolescence.
Ranked 3: 500 Days of Summer
A whirlwind of love and relationships were showcased in this Marc Webb’s romance film starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. 500 Days of Summer is about Tom, a writer at a greeting card company, who dreams of being an architect. During his stint, he meets the recently hired Summer. As one does, the two bond over music and later have an important discussion about love. While Tom is the closest thing to a hopeless romantic, Summer seemingly rejects the belief in love.
The plot twists and turns of this movie encapsulates how people envision love in the age of information.
Ranked 2: Happy Together
The 1997 film follows a gay couple from Hong Kong and their adventures in Argentina. Starring Tony Leung, Leslie Cheung, and Chang Chen, the story is a combination of genuine attraction and the fear of loneliness that bring two people back together after an encounter.
According to Movieweb, Happy Together has gone on to be lauded as a shining pearl in the sea that is New Queer Cinema. The expansive genre contains a plethora of fascinating films, and Happy Together from the great Wong Kar-Wai remains one of the most alluring romances available on streaming.
Ranked 1: Crazy Rich Asians
The story elicits to relate to the internal and external factors and feeling of meeting parents that feels like meeting a billionaire or a head of state. Their first impression could make or break a relationship. Even if the romantic relationship flourishes, there is little to no guarantee that the parents-in-law will ever reciprocate that respect.
The movie shows how true love can conquer all uncertainties and challenges in life and love. #
