Summary

• Rom-coms are making a comeback and pushing boundaries, paying tribute to traditional tropes while introducing new ideas.
• Rom-coms teach lessons about love, friendship, and life and have been influential in popular culture.
• The best rom-coms of 2023 focus on personal growth and include heartwarming endings, making them fun additions to the genre.

The rom-com has been making a comeback over the past few years, and the best rom-coms of 2023 prove that the genre is here to stay. Up-and-coming filmmakers have been pushing the boundaries of what a rom-com can be by paying tribute to the traditional tropes that make the genre great while also introducing new ideas. Part of what makes a romantic comedy fresh and engaging is the dedication to showing the personal growth of the protagonists, not just the romantic entanglements.

Romantic comedies have often been chalked up to being only for women or being contrived additions to the film world. However, this has never been the case. Rom-coms teach lessons about love, friendship, and life, and have been extremely influential in popular culture. Due to this influence, films of the genre must keep in mind that even though the subject matter might be on the light side, they have a responsibility to their audience.

15 Puppy Love (2023)

A Man & Woman Are Forced To Partner Up When Their Dogs Form A Bond

Puppy Love is a movie that combines the tropes of the rom-com genre with a charming dog movie. The movie is another rom-com that starts with two people who simply do not seem like a good match. Nicole (Lucy Hale) and Max (Grant Gustin) have a terrible first date together and vow never to see each other again. However, that is complicated when her dog gets his dog pregnant, forcing them to get mixed up in a co-parenting relationship.

It is a funny premise that is able to play on things seen in many other movies in the genre but finds a funny new approach. One of the downsides of the movie is that it doesn't get too inventive beyond the dog-centric premise, with it following the same kind of beats audiences would expect from a movie like this. However, there is enough charm, humor, and a satisfying ending that makes it a fun time, especially for dog lovers.

14 You People (2023)

An Interracial Couple Deals With Their Complicated Families

You People seeks to tell a modern rom-com tale, while also commenting on topical elements of race and culture. Jonah Hill stars as Ezra, a white man, who begins a relationship with a Black woman, Amira (Lauren London). However, when their relationship grows serious to the point of them getting engaged, the couple has to contend with how their families clash over their interracial relationship.

Ezra's mother (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) overcompensates with her acceptance of Amira while Amira's father (Eddie Murphy) doesn't try to hide his disappointment in her choosing a white man. Hill wrote the script alongside Kenya Barris (Black-ish), who also directs. While the setup makes for a fun updated version of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, the result is not quite the biting satire that audiences might have expected.

Nevertheless, there are a lot of funny people in the movie that are very entertaining playing off each other with the scenes between Murphy and Hill being especially funny. It is an interesting rom-com in that it is external forces affecting the relationship which makes for a different take.

13 Prom Pact (2023)

An Ambitious Student Finds Romance Leading Up To Prom

A Disney+ Original movie made for a charming rom-com for younger audiences in 2023. Prom Pact follows Mandy (Peyton Elizabeth Lee), an ambitious high schooler excited about the prospect of her academic future who is also annoyed with the prom culture among her fellow high schoolers.

She decides to make a pact with her friend and fellow outsider Ben (Milo Manheim) to go to the big dance together only for those plans to be complicated when she begins tutoring the school's most popular jock, Graham (Blake Draper). It is a lot of fun seeing the younger generation leading a story that would have been an ideal fit for the 80s and 90s rom-coms eras.

Indeed, Prom Pact does owe a lot to the genre's big hits that came before it, but it also creates its own distinct story with a more modern look at the struggles of teens facing their uncertain futures. Mandy is a particularly impressive character whose romantic exploration doesn't trump her ambition.

12 The Other Zoey (2023)

A Cynical Young Woman Is Mistaken A Soccer Star's Girlfriend

The Other Zoey attempts to challenge all the conventions of rom-coms and draw attention to the formulas that easily predict the outcome of these movies. The main character, Zoey (Josephine Langford), is staunchly anti-romance and believes that the most practical way to find love is through careful calculation.

Throughout the film, she turns her nose up at anything resembling love. However, through a case of mistaken identity, she ends up falling for someone anyway. The Other Zoey doesn't develop new themes or break the formula, it just has a protagonist that's constantly pointing them out.

Even though Zoey has a cynical perspective, the film doesn't, and her outlook is used to juxtapose the more cheesy elements of the film. Ultimately, nothing that happens in the film is surprising, but the ending of The Other Zoey is heartwarming, and it's still a fun addition to the genre.

11 Your Place Or Mine (2023)

Two Best Friends Swap Houses

One of 2023's Netflix rom-coms combined two big-name stars with a solid friends-to-lovers romance story. Polar-opposite best friends Debbie (Reese Witherspoon) and Peter (Ashton Kutcher) are long-distance best friends who swap houses for a week in Your Place Or Mine.

However, the friendly change of scenery causes them both to come face to face with their hidden feelings in the other's absence. The premise is fun, and it's enjoyable to see a middle-aged couple with children and responsibilities enjoy themselves while searching for love. Unfortunately, the root problem with the film is the lack of chemistry between the two leads.

Both are excellent actors, but a sense of romantic longing is not present between them, especially with the lack of screen time they share together. Despite that, Your Place or Mine is still worth watching for the independent adventures the pair go on.

10 Red, White, and Royal Blue (2023)

An English Prince Falls For The Son Of The American President

While there is still a lot of improvement that could be made to see LGBTQ+ rom-coms represented in the mainstream, this movie helped push things in the right direction.

While there is still a lot of improvement that could be made to see LGBTQ+ rom-coms represented in the mainstream, this movie helped push things in the right direction. Based on the enormously popular novel of the same name by Casey McQuiston, Red, White, and Royal Blue had a lot of pressure riding on the success of the movie.

The plot follows the forbidden love story between the U.S. President's son and the Prince of England. High jinks and globe-trotting travel ensue, and their love eventually gains acceptance and can flourish in the public eye. The film hits all the right beats, although quite a bit changes from the book, and the two leads capture the awkward tension of first love very well.

What could have been improved about the film was the production value. After the popularity of the book, it would have been appropriate to dedicate more time and energy to creating the world of the film. However, the movie was still a big hit which led to confirmation of a Red, White, and Royal Blue sequel on the way.

9 Happiness For Beginners (2023)

A Divorced Woman Goes On A Survivalist Retreat

Happiness For Beginners is set on the Appalachian Trail and combines themes of survival and budding new romance. This captures the shift in the protagonist Helen's (Ellie Kemper) life. Recently divorced, and looking for a fresh start, she sets out on an outdoor retreat with strangers, but it just so happens that one of the other survivalists is Jake (Luke Grimes), a friend of Helen's brother whom she knows reasonably well.

At first, they clash and let jealousy get in the way, but soon they can it their feelings for one another. The unexpected setting of the film is refreshing, and the surprisingly serious reservations about the two leads give the movie an added layer of depth.

The many Happiness For Beginners add to the feeling of a fully formed world. Though not revolutionary, Happiness For Beginners is a feel-good film that's easy to watch with a standout performance from Kemper who uses her comedic charms while also playing a more grounded character.

8 Somebody I Used To Know (2023)

A Woman Struggles With Her Ex Getting Married

Director Dave Franco teamed up with his wife Alison Brie, who co-wrote and starred in Somebody I Used To Know. The best part of the film is that while it gives every character the happy ending they deserve, it's not the most obvious ending. Ally (Brie) is left in an uncertain position after she finds out her ex-boyfriend is getting married.

However, it's not him that she develops a new bond with, but his fiancée, Cassidy (Kiersey Clemons). In growing to like and building a friendship with Cassidy, Ally is reminded of the things she used to like about herself and the person she wants to be.

Somebody I Used To Know doesn't deliver any romantic kiss-in-the-rain moments, but it does show a woman falling back in love with herself. The only drawback of the film is that it might become too serious at times, and doesn't let itself explore the comedy of the more dramatic moments.

7 Ghosted (2023)

A Man Discovers The Girl He Likes Is Dating Is A Secret Agent

Ana de Armas and Chris Evans make good on the chemistry they showcased in Knives Out and provide ample romantic tension in Ghosted. In a fun twist on the spy genre, Armas is the one involved in international espionage, and it's the unlikely Evans who is dragged along for the ride.

While this role reversal works well and the movie has no problem making Armas look strong and capable, one of her biggest character flaws is that she is too committed to her job. This feels like an old-fashioned critique and filmmakers should have moved past this type of relationship conflict. Fortunately, the film does not make her pick between Evans and being a spy.

Ghosted is the third movie starring Ana de Armas and Chris Evans together.

Ghosted blends the rom-com and spy genres well, and has some well-choreographed action scenes, but it's unlikely that it will be ed as a landmark film. It is fun to see Evans as a more hopeless protagonist compared to his more iconic hero role. There are also some fun cameos in Ghosted from the likes of Antony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, and Ryan Reynolds.

6 What’s Love Got To Do With It? (2023)

A Filmmaker Documents Her Friend's Arranged Marriage

What's Love Got To Do With It? explores different cultural relationships towards love and marriage through the eyes of Zoe (Lily James) and Kaz (Shazad Latif). Zoe is filming Kaz's experience with an arranged marriage and follows him to Pakistan for the wedding.

The two friends learn what the other thinks and feels about love, and start to realize that they may be in love themselves. The film follows the basic format of most rom-coms, but does its best to show both sides of the cultural divide with empathy and make a case that there are plenty of ways love can work.

The film's decision to include a critique of Zoe's film centering on an experience that wasn't her own was a strong choice. It indicated the film could have introduced other more serious themes but What's Love Got To Do With It? opted to stay joyful for the sake of the story.