2022 was an exceptional year for movies. The year delivered terrifying and gory horror, phenomenal superhero flicks, and some cute romance movies to cement itself as a year of film to look back on in awe. Romance movies come with a few sub-genres, mostly through rom-coms or romantic dramas, and 2022 has had its fair share of romance movies. While romance films might not light up the box office the way they used to, they still provide an entertaining story.
Update June 14, 2023: This article has been updated with even more great romance films from the year 2022 that one might have missed.
Romance in 2022 films was interesting. While there were traditional versions of the classic rom-com, the genre also took drastic steps forward. It was touching other genres, including science-fiction and superhero. It was more inclusive in terms of sexual orientation and even age. Romance films in 2022 were exciting, bold, and just lovely, and here were the best of the year.
12 Love Accidentally
Love Accidently is a romcom with a unique script. It stars Brenda Song as Alexa and Aaron O’Connell as Jason. Alexa and Jason are competing for the same advertising promotion. But when both of them break things off with their significant others, they somehow find a way into each other’s hearts. Accidentally, Alexa sends Jason a text message about how broken-hearted she is.
The two continue to correspond via text and voice message without knowing they are really talking to their work rival. Though Alexa and Jason fall for each other and decide to finally meet, the promotion is still on the table for only one of them. However, when it comes to love, the two win in the end.
11 Marry Me
Marry Me follows pop star Kat Valdez (Jennifer Lopez), who is moments away from getting married live on stage in front of a massive audience of her biggest fans. However, merely seconds before, she learns that her fiancé has been cheating on her, causing Kat to have a meltdown on stage. In true rom-com fashion, Kat locks eyes with a stranger (Owen Wilson) and decides to marry him on the spot. The two soon begin to develop an unlikely spark, despite being from two entirely different worlds.
Sure, Marry Me is undeniably cliché, with audiences being able to predict beat-for-beat how the film will play out, but the film's two leads elevate this film from just being another run-of-the-mill rom-com. Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson share brilliant chemistry, making audiences believe in their not-so-ordinary love story. Similarly, Marry Me’s original song, sharing the same title as the film, was a great track that was sadly snubbed from the Academy Awards.
10 Where The Crawdads Sing
Based on the best-selling book of the same name, Where The Crawdads Sing offers an engaging thriller and an emotional love story, complete with a brilliant twist that audiences won’t see coming. While it might not be a traditional romance, a love story is the driving motivator for the main action of the film. Daisy Edgar Jones offers a sensational, moving, and gripping performance as Kya, the film's main character, instantly making audiences care and root for her. Ultimately, the film doesn’t break any new ground and maybe a little too long for some, but the incredible performances, gripping mystery, and cute romances make up for a brilliant watch.
9 The In Between
The In Between is a science fiction romance film starring Joey King as Tessa and Kyle Allen as Skylar. With an intense opening scene where both Tessa and Skylar are involved in a car accident, the rest of the story is bound to be just as riveting. As the movie continues, Tessa has flashbacks every so often of times when she crosses Skylar’s path before the accident. The two spend days together, learning about each other and falling in love.
The concept of The In Between is the time after someone has passed when they need more human contact to finally transition to the other side. At times, Skylar is always available, other times, Tessa is left searching for her love. Tessa inevitably decides to try and stop the crash from happening in hopes of saving Skylar, time finally decides to take him for good.
8 Thor: Love and Thunder
Disney
Although being somewhat of a fairly weak entry into Phase 4 of the MCU, Thor: Love and Thunder tells a truly engaging and heartfelt love story of Thor Odinson and Jane Foster. Fans have seen the two share a cute, romantic relationship previously in the MCU, which was sweet enough, but Love and Thunder truly sell their relationship and give fans everything they have always wanted between the two.
Love and Thunder may be somewhat of a rom-com spoof, with its hilarious montages, but when the film leans into these cute and cliché moments, is when Love and Thunder truly shines. In a humorous spin on the romance, Thor's former hammer Mjolnir and his new axe Stormbreaker are depicted as jealous partners, fully cementing this in romantic comedy territory. Yet the film's final moments, of a loved one dying of a heartbreaking disease, bring to mind other tragic romances like A Love Story and A Walk To Remember.
7 The Lost City
Sporting a truly excellent cast, The Lost City is one of the funniest movies of 2022. Starring the likes of Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, and Brad Pitt, who are all on their A-game. The film centers on a reclusive romance author (Bullock) who finds herself kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire (Radcliffe), and her gorgeous but not-too-bright cover model (Tatum) comes to save her.
The cast makes the comedy feel much more authentic, and the cute moments between Bullock and Tatum are romantic and believable. The Lost City deserves a lot of points for not entirely falling into rom-com clichés, and yes, some may still be able to predict how the film will play out. However, The Lost City is engaging and different enough for most audiences not to bat an eye.
6 Crush
When a young aspiring artist is forced to join her high school track team, she uses this as an opportunity to pursue the girl she has been harboring a crush on. However, she finds herself falling for an unexpected teammate. Offering a pretty formulaic rom-com, Crush relishes in its clichés and delivers a relatable, coming-of-age rom-com that will more than satisfy fans of the sub-genre.
Crush offers a delightful story filled with awkward teenage antics and a truly wholesome teenage romance that also puts a truly 21st-century spin on the concept. It features an incredible cast of young talent that carries the film forward. It is modern, young, and full of heart.
5 I Want You Back
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A romantic comedy starring Jenny Slate and Charlie Day is already a recipe for success, and I Want You Back gives audiences more than they could ever have expected. Emma (Slate) and Peter (Day) unceremoniously get dumped on the same weekend. Soon, the two of them work together to hatch a plan to win their exes back after finding out that their partners have already moved on.
Unsurprisingly, both Jenny Slate and Charlie Day give way to some gut-busting, witty dialogue, but the two similarly shine in their sweeter moments, showing their characters' complexities and making their attraction to one another far more engaging. I Want You Back offers everything rom-com fans could want; a heartfelt love story with some hilarious comedy, but with the layered story and characters, the film manages to elevate itself from the rest.
4 Rosaline
Hulu
Rosaline is a comedic retelling of Romeo and Juliet from the perspective of Romeo's first love, Rosaline (played by Kaitlyn Dever). The film not only explores Rosaline having to see the most famous love story unfold with her ex-boyfriend, but also her own romantic feelings begin to emerge for Dario, someone not in the original story, reflecting how her story can branch off in its own way apart from Romeo and Juliet. Rosaline is sweet, funny, and fresh, and is another great performance by Kaitlyn Dever. While Disney+ did remove it from their service, it is still available to stream on Hulu.
3 Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Starring Emma Thompson Good Luck to You, Leo Grande focuses on Nancy (Emma Thompson), a retired widower who had a fairly unfulfilling marriage. One night, Nancy hires a young sex worker named Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack) in the hope of enjoying a night of pleasure and self-discovery.
It is a very fresh concept that, at its center, is a story of self-discovery that will undoubtedly resonate with many. Although that is the film's primary and most poignant message, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande also offers a compelling and cute love story that will keep die-hard rom-com fans extremely satisfied. Primarily set in one location, the film puts Emma Thompson in the spotlight. Thompson delivers a raw and engaging performance.
2 A Love Song
A Love Song was a romance centered on two childhood friends, played by Dale Dickey and Wes Studi, who reconnect years later into their adulthood after both have lost people in their lives. This quiet character study also tells a sweet romance that shows it is never too late to find love for another or in oneself. It is an incredibly intimate and stirring film that is also short but leaves a big impression.
1 Bros
Bros sold itself on being the first major studio rom-com with an almost entirely LGBTQ+ cast. With that, Bros had a lot to live up to, and thankfully, it delivers an impactful, hilarious, and romantic experience that is both familiar but also entirely unique. It is easily one of the best rom-coms of the past decade.
Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane are phenomenal as the two leads and share a brilliant chemistry that makes their on-screen relationship feel far more believable. Bros is a movie everybody has to see that delivers on being emotional and hilarious and marks a very important milestone for not just rom-coms but for the movie industry as a whole.