Most romantic comedies follow a similar formula – they have witty and clever main characters who make questionable and comedic decisions that somehow lead to a love story. This formula is as foolproof as it is copy and paste. Movies like “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?” (1967) that made history as one of the first films to include an interracial couple or even timeless flicks like “When Harry Met Sally” (1989) that challenge the age-old question “Can men and women be friends without sex involved?” We can’t get enough of the often sickly sweet, overused tropes and we’re not ashamed. Take a look at Honey’s 50 favorite rom-coms for every mood.

The Blueprints

These are the movies that laid the foundation for what we continue to see and admire in romantic comedies today.

• Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)
• Sixteen Candles (1984)
• When Harry Met Sally (1989)
• Say Anything (1989)
• Pretty Woman (1990)

The Classics

Chick flicks, date movies and tearjerkers are often given to romantic comedies as endearing and taunting names. But regardless of who you are and how you feel about rom-coms, everyone has watched one at least once. These are films you watch with your family on movie night or during class in high school when your teacher doesn’t feel like instructing.

• Clueless (1995)
• You’ve Got Mail (1998)
• 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
• Love & Basketball (2000)
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

Early Aughts Must-Sees We Won’t Actually Vouch For

The movies that made us, for better or for worse. Rom-com cannon, but potentially problematic. We won’t tell if you won’t.

• How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
• 50 First Dates (2004)
• Hitch (2005)
• Knocked Up (2007)
• Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

Indie Sleaze

These are the movies that fit your Tumblr-core aesthetic, where manic pixie dream girls and their skinny toxic boyfriends run rampant and inspire fashion trends. We can’t quit you.

• (500) Days of Summer (2009)
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)
• Love and Other Drugs (2010)
• Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

The New Kids on the Block

We welcome the fresh faces of teen-centered rom-coms that center changing views of sex, dating and relationships.

• (Easy A) (2010)
• To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
• Love, Simon (2018)
• The Kissing Booth (2018)
• Red, White and Royal Blue (2023)

Friend Love

We love when a rom-com when a rom-com takes a detour from focusing on romantic love and leans in to self love or friend love. Movies like “Bridesmaids” (2011), where on the surface it’s all about preparing for a wedding but at its root is about navigating friendships as you enter new parts of your life, lends its self to laughs and love.

• Waiting to Exhale (1995)
• 13 Going on 30 (2004)
• John Tucker Must Die (2006)
• Bride Wars (2009)
• Bridesmaids (2011)

Black Films

Movies like The Preacher’s Wife and The Best Man are the epitome of Black romantic comedies that have made us question the main characters as much as they have made us love them.

• Coming to America (1988)
• Preacher’s Wife (1996)
• How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)
• The Best Man (1999)
• Brown Sugar (2002)

LGBTQ Films

The queer love representation is still slim pickings in the rom-com categories, especially ones with happy endings. But when given the space to create, queer filmmakers and actors take rom-com tropes to new and more interesting heights.

• But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)
• Happiest Season (2020)
• The Half of It (2020)
• Anything’s Possible (2022)
• Fire Island (2022)

Modern Takes

The new movies that flip the rom-com on its head, turn it inside out, and create a new frame of reference for the modern romance.

• Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
• Always Be My Maybe (2019)
• Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
• Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022)
• Poor Thing (2023)

Guilty Pleasures

They are the movies you love to hate and the ones that maybe aren’t aging that well, but they satisfy a part of yourself that still enjoys the chase of love and a pining love interest that’s toxic to their core. We love rewatching a cult classic movie and realizing maybe we just loved the fashions and maybe the storyline doesn’t hold up.

• Love Jones (1997)
• Ever After (1998)
• Maid in Manhattan (2002)
• The Wedding Date (2005)
• Friends with Benefits (2011)