24 of the best romantic comedies streaming on Hulu

There’s nothing like a feature-length chance to fall in love. And there’s no better time to see it than right now.

Whether you’re preparing a cozy evening for two, having a long-distance hang with friends, or embarking on a private, solo cry over love lost/love won/the state of the planet/etc., romantic comedies are one of our greatest resources for emotional catharsis. Roll into the romance and humor of it all with abandon (and our help). Mashable has combed through every rom-com on Hulu to assess the best of the best for your streaming buck.

Here are the best romantic comedies now on Hulu.

1. Palm Springs

Credit: Hulu

In one of the best movies of 2020, Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti play nihilistic wedding guests who become stuck in a time loop à la Groundhog Day. Stupidly funny and surprisingly sweet, this sci-fi nightmare-meets-rom-com explores a been-there-done-that premise with a fresh approach and two leads you’ll fall for instantly. (Fair warning: If you’re in the middle of an existential crisis, maybe hold off on this one. Palm Springs isn’t your average meet-cute.) — Alison Foreman, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: Palm Springs is now streaming on Hulu.

2. Love, Simon

A heartfelt coming-of-age story, Love, Simon follows a closeted teenage boy as he grapples with coming out to his family and community. Nick Robinson is deeply endearing as Simon, who finds himself in a modern epistolary romance (they emailed each other) with an anonymous male classmate. But when another student, Martin, finds their secret correspondence, he threatens to out Simon unless Simon helps Martin win the heart of one of his friends, Abby. 

Based on a novel by Becky Albertalli (Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda), Love, Simon is an absolute smash hit across the board. The performances are moving, the script is clever, and the tone deftly marries humor with real emotional depth. This is one you don’t want to miss. 

How to watch: Love, Simon is now on Hulu (with Live TV).

3. Easy A

You might not think that a modern movie inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter sounds like a blast — but you’d be dead wrong! Will Gluck’s 2010 hit Easy A is a clever comedy with a delightfully updated take on teen sex and double standards that will leave you laughing… and listening to Natasha Bedingfield on repeat.

Emma Stone is perfect as Olive Penderghast, a smart, sarcastic student who lies about having sex with her friend Brandon (Dan Byrd) so that people will think he’s straight. But while Brandon receives praise for his “conquest,” Olive receives the opposite — some good ol’ fashioned 2010s slut shaming. Soon, guys throughout the school are approaching Olive, requesting the same favor: to corroborate a rumor about their hookup so they can seem manly. Olive leans into her new harlot reputation, even though it’s getting harder and harder to laugh off the nasty looks or to find a guy interested in anything more than the social clout she can give them.

There’s lots to love about this winning teen comedy, but the cast deserves special praise: Amanda Bynes is delightful as a religious and judgmental fellow student, Penn Bagdley is charming as the down-to-earth childhood friend, and Stanley Tucci and Lisa Kudrow steal every scene they’re in as hippie parents not quite sure how to handle Olive’s new lifestyle.

How to watch: Easy A is now streaming on Hulu.

4. Waiting to Exhale 

Credit: Moviestore / Shutterstock

Savannah, Robin, Bernadine, and Gloria are close friends in Phoenix who can’t seem to sort out their love lives. But, thanks to support from each other, over the course of the film, they each find their own kind of happy ending. Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, Lela Rochon, Wesley Snipes, Gregory Hines, Dennis Haysbert, Wendell Pierce, and more all round out this absolutely stacked cast. Adapted from a Terry McMillan novel and directed by Forest Whitaker, Waiting to Exhale examines the beauty of life’s pains and pleasures in equal measure.

How to watch: Waiting to Exhale is now streaming on Hulu.

5. Say Anything

If you’re too young to know where the rom-com trope of the guy holding a boombox outside his love’s window comes from, it’s time to sit down and get an education. Say Anything is a romantic comedy hall-of-famer. John Cusack is Lloyd Dobler, a high school underachiever, and Ione Skye is Diane Court, the valedictorian. Spurred by a desire to break out of her sheltered lifestyle, Diane agrees to a date with Lloyd, and a romance quickly blooms. But Diane’s father doesn’t approve — Diane is headed to England at the end of the summer, and he’s determined to see Lloyd, a distraction, out of the picture.

This 1989 charmer, written and directed by Cameron Crowe, is more complex than your average mindless romance. These people and their problems feel real, and the intensity of their emotion will touch you to your core. Prepare to clutch your chest and sigh from the unshakeable, fathomless depths of Lloyd Dobler’s passion, a standard to which all future boyfriends will be compared… and found wanting.

How to watch: Say Anything is now streaming on Hulu.

6. The Proposal

The Proposal is a veritable romantic comedy archetype. Sandra Bullock is the no-nonsense boss reviled by her employees. Ryan Reynolds is the pushover personal assistant she bullies into marrying her for a green card (to keep her from being deported back to, ahem, Canada). It’s not just fake dating — it’s a fake marriage, folks! And these two opposites are going to find what they’ve been missing all along has been right under their noses, but only after they bicker themselves into a slew of ridiculous shenanigans, of course.

There is nothing unpredictable about The Proposal. It hits all the beats. The characters are exactly who you think they are. It’s not really kind to women, in a very 2000s way. But sometimes, a little comforting, mindless, nostalgic indistinguishability from other romantic comedies is exactly what you’re looking for. And for that very specific mood, The Proposal hits just right.

How to watch: The Proposal is now streaming on Hulu.

7. The Hating Game

Based on a novel by Sally Thorne, The Hating Game is a sexy rom-com about two coworkers who absolutely can’t stand each other. Up for the same promotion at work and bogged down with endless mind games and power struggles, they begin to suspect their knee-jerk antagonism might be a cover for something else entirely. There’s more going on here than your standard hate-to-love romance. It’s unpredictable, and it’s seductive enough to earn an R rating. But The Hating Game’s greatest strength is that the chemistry between lead actors Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell is off the charts. Here, the yearning, burning glances are simply scintillating. 

How to watch: The Hating Game is now streaming on Hulu.

8. Fire Island

Credit: Hulu

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice gets a modern makeover with Fire Island. Joel Kim Booster reimagines the rom-com of manners as a gay love story set in the eponymous vacation spot. There, a chosen family of gay men and their lesbian den mother (Margaret Cho) revel with sunshine, champagne, and karaoke. But an unexpected buzzkill arrives in the form of a pretentious and posh lawyer (Conrad Ricamora), who seems to sneer at the group’s idea of a good time. Despite an awkward introduction, the lawyer and the group’s main character (Booster) kick off a promising romance. But can it be more than a summer fling? — K.P.

How to watch: Fire Island is now streaming on Hulu.

9. 7 Days

Ravi (Karan Soni) and Rita (Geraldine Viswanathan) meet in 2020 on a date their mothers set up through Arranged, a dating site for Indian-Americans looking for marriage. The date is awkward, perfunctory, and cut short by a flood of COVID news about an imminent shutdown. They’ll have to shelter in place together at Rita’s for a few days until Ravi can get a rental car home. That’s where the facades come off and these two opposites really get to know one another. 

Co-written by Soni and director Roshan Sethi, 7 Days is a patiently captivating romantic comedy about the nature of love and marriage. It’s an incredibly clever take on an ancient institution —where the COVID shutdown does the work an arranged marriage would — asking with a fresh perspective: Are soulmates destined, or are they created? 

How to watch: 7 Days is now streaming on Hulu.

10. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar

It takes maybe five minutes for Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar to elicit its first “WTF?” and to the comedy’s immense credit, it only gets weirder from there.

There are life-saving culottes, and elaborate lies about turtles, and a mythological sea sprite named Trish, and a villain commanding an army of mosquitos, and a musical number that has Jamie Dornan climbing up a palm tree like a cat up a palm tree who’s decided to go up a palm tree, and… Look, you’ve just got to watch it to get it. And at the center of all of it is the sincerely sweet, reliably rock-solid bond between Barb (Annie Mumolo) and Star (Kristen Wiig). Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar ended up being to us what Vista Del Mar was to Barb and Star: the breezy little break from reality we needed to get our shine back.* — Angie Han, Deputy Entertainment Editor

How to watch: Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar is now streaming on Hulu.

11. Sweet Home Alabama

Reese Witherspoon is simply sublime as Melanie, a high-powered fashion designer about to marry the mayor of NYC’s son (Patrick Dempsey). She’s worked hard for this fairy tale life, and she only has to do one thing before she can make it come true: Get a divorce. Just days before her wedding, Melanie heads home to Alabama to get her childhood sweetheart and estranged husband Jake (Josh Lucas) to release her from their vows so she can finally put her Southern past behind her. Unfortunately, Jake isn’t willing to say goodbye so easily. And, you know, he’s gotten pretty handsome in the years since she left…

Sweet Home Alabama is peak 2000s rom-com. The characters are big, the stakes are high, and the chemistry is off the charts. But unlike some of the fluffier romantic comedies of its era, Sweet Home Alabama is positively brimming with heart. You’re on board from the get-go.

How to watch: Sweet Home Alabama is now streaming on Hulu.

12. Crush

Credit: Hulu

The most refreshing thing about this queer rom-com is that all the characters are super queer. This isn’t a coming-out story about the one queer girl at her high school or the shy lesbian who’s secretly crushing on the cool, unattainable straight girl — relatable, yes, but we’ve done it. Crush follows a playful (if predictable) love triangle in which very-out Paige (Rowan Blanchard) desperately tries to lock down her longtime crush Gabriella (Isabella Ferreira), the popular girl (guess what, she’s queer!), while drumming up a sweet connection with Gabi’s twin sister (Auli’i Cravalho), an introverted bi skater-girl type. The flirting is a little elementary at times, but the short-and-sweet Crush excels at showing young queer people being themselves and getting a sappy love story to call their own.* — Oliver Whitney, Freelance Contributor

How to watch: Crush is now streaming on Hulu.

13. (500) Days of Summer 

Sometime in the 2000s, romantic comedies stopped trying to be funny and started trying to say something meaningful, none more overtly so than (500) Days of Summer. This indie darling breaks from rom-com formula to tell a nonlinear story of a relationship coming together and falling apart. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s sincerity is palpable, and Zooey Deschanel, as the object of his affection, is a quirky girl so quirky she single-handedly ushered in a new era of messy bangs for millions of women everywhere. With unexpected touches of surrealism and a stellar supporting cast, (500) Days of Summer is a love story that hits you right in the gut.

How to watch: (500) Days of Summer is now streaming on Hulu.

14. How Stella Got Her Groove Back

As promised in the title, this is a movie about a woman named Stella (Angela Bassett) getting her groove back. A single mother in a relationship desert, Stella takes a trip to Jamaica to break out of her rut. There, she luxuriates in the scenic views of the tropical island, as well as the scenic views of a young, hot Taye Diggs. Based on the Terry McMillan novel, How Stella Got Her Groove Back is a warm, breezy story about how hard it can be to make space for love. 

How to watch: How Stella Got Her Groove Back is now streaming on Hulu.

15. Dinner in America

How this punk rock romance went so underseen when it got released in 2022, I’ll never fathom. I can only chalk it up to the inexplicable two years that passed between its Sundance premiere and it hitting theaters, because it’s so much fun and full of energy and beautifully performed by its leads (Kyle Gallner and Emily Skeggs) that it deserved far more attention. But now we can all give it that attention together by watching it here on Hulu. 

Skeggs plays a very odd college dropout who’s obsessed with a local punk rock band; Gallner is the lead singer of said band, but given he wears a mask onstage, nobody knows that fact except him. The two meet cute (i.e. he’s on the run from the police while selling drugs) and yadda yadda romance. The yadda yadda is the good part. And the good part is how Skeggs and Gallner have oodles of chemistry and are an absolute pleasure to watch fall for one another. A true underappreciated gem just sitting here waiting for you to appreciate it.* — Jason Adams, Freelance Entertainment Writer

How to watch: Dinner in America is now streaming on Hulu.

16. You’ve Got Mail

Credit: Warner Bros / Kobal / Shutterstock

Meg Ryan is Kathleen, the owner of an independent bookstore on the Upper West Side who is in the early stages of an email romance with someone she met in an AOL chat room (Gotta love the ’90s!). Tom Hanks is Joe Fox of Fox Books, the book store franchise trying to run Kathleen’s bookstore out of business. Joe is also in the early stages of an email romance with someone he met in an AOL chat room. There’s no way these two enemies could be secretly falling in love with each other, right?!

A remake of Frank Lubitsch’s hugely popular 1940 hit, The Shop Around the Corner, 1998’s You’ve Got Mail is what romantic comedy dreams are made of. The two leads, and the writer/director Nora Ephron, are veritable rom-com royalty — which is why You’ve Got Mail is still so cozy, so universally loved, almost 30 years after it was released. 

How to watch: You’ve Got Mail is now streaming on Hulu.

17. Which Brings Me to You

Will and Jane meet at a wedding and are about to have a drunken hookup when Will stops and insists they share numbers instead. Over the course of the film, Will and Jane tell each other their heartbreak stories, the long histories of exes which brought them to meeting each other. Based on the Steve Almond and Julianna Baggott novel of the same name, Which Brings Me to You turns the love story genre on its head. We get to meet these characters through their past relationships, not the new and shiny one in front of them. While not much else about this movie will surprise you, the ease of its two leads (Lucy Hale and Nat Wolff) and the simple, engaging setup makes this a perfectly pleasant romance that requires very little critical thinking.

How to watch: Which Brings Me to You is now streaming on Hulu.

18. What’s Love Got to Do with It?

Written by Jemima Khan and directed by Shekhar Kapur, What’s Love Got to Do with It? is a touching British romantic comedy-drama about modern arranged marriages. Zoe (Lily James), a documentary filmmaker, decides to record the process of her childhood friend Kaz (Shazad Latif) embarking on an assisted marriage facilitated by his Pakistani family and community. As the wedding day approaches, Zoe has more and more trouble accepting why Kaz would marry someone he doesn’t know, while Kaz finds himself having difficulty reconciling his responsibility to his family with his own deeper feelings. 

Captivating, compassionate, and substantial, What’s Love Got to Do with It? is a truly lovely watch. Most of the comedy here comes from Emma Thompson’s performance as Zoe’s delightfully daffy mother, which is almost worth the watch alone.

How to watch: What’s Love Got to Do with It? is now streaming on Hulu.

19. 27 Dresses

Sometimes you don’t really want to think while you’re watching a movie. You want to let a wave of genre tropes wash over you, mindless, depth-less, free. For these moments, 27 Dresses is the movie for you. Jane (Katherine Heigl) is a hopeless romantic who has been a bridesmaid a whopping 27 times. Kevin (James Marsden) is a cynical newspaper reporter who doesn’t really understand the appeal of marriage. Do you think these two will find a way to cross the ideological divide between them while he writes a piece about her bridesmaid record? Oh you bet they will, and they’ll sing a little Elton John along the way. 

Written by Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada; Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), 27 Dresses has everything you want from a romantic comedy: charismatic leads, a bubbly tone, and Judy Greer as the BFF. 

How to watch: 27 Dresses is now streaming on Hulu.

20. Rye Lane

Credit: Searchlight Pictures

Among the most winsome movies of Sundance 2023 is this South London-set romantic comedy. Directed by Raine Allen Miller, Rye Lane stars David Jonsson (Industry) and Vivian Oparah (Class) as heartbroken twentysomethings who fatefully cross paths and might just tumble into new love. A humbling beginning with a bathroom meet-not-so-cute swiftly spins into a happenstance first date full of fun, banter, surprises, and a wee bit of breaking and entering. (Hey, breakups get messy.)

Painted in saturated colors, paced like a dance party, and brought to life by a kinetic ensemble cast, Rye Lane is a pure pleasure to watch. But it’s Jonsson and Oparah, with their killer comedic timing and off-the-charts chemistry, that make this movie soar.* — K.P.

How to watch: Rye Lane is now streaming on Hulu.

21. There’s Something About Mary

If you prefer your romantic comedies with a helping of gross-out humor, There’s Something About Mary is the male-led rom-com for you. Directed by the Farrelly Brothers (Dumb and Dumber; Me, Myself & Irene), There’s Something About Mary follows Ted (Ben Stiller) as he tries to woo the hot girl from his high school, Mary, more than a decade after they graduated. Unfortunately for Ted, he’s not the only one trying to win Mary’s heart. 

Since it was made to be crude in 1998, some of the humor feels hugely inappropriate today — but that has always been the appeal of this movie. There’s Something About Mary was marrying crass jokes and genuine emotional beats long before Knocked Up was a glint in Judd Apatow’s eye. 

How to watch: There’s Something about Mary is now streaming on Hulu.

22. Crazy Stupid Love

Crazy Stupid Love follows multiple interweaving storylines, all looking at love and relationships from different angles. First, is Cal (Steve Carrell), a newly separated father seeking dating advice from womanizer Jacob (Ryan Gosling). Jacob, meanwhile, is finding most of his normal tricks don’t work on Hannah (Emma Stone), an ambitious law school graduate. At the same time, Cal’s 13-year-old son is nursing a serious crush on his babysitter Jessica (Lio Tipton), who herself is in love with Cal. It’s a spider’s web of longing, confusing for its victims, but captivating for its audience. 

How to watch: Crazy Stupid Love is now streaming on Hulu.

23. Happiest Season

Credit: Hulu / Moviestore / Shutterstock

Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis star in this sapphic rom-com co-written and directed by Clea DuVall. But rather than it being a charming tale of falling in love, this is a rocking Christmas-set comedy about the drama of meeting the parents. When metropolitan Abby (Stewart) accompanies her girlfriend Harper (Davis) home for the holidays, she not only meets kooky family members and a smoking hot ex (Aubrey Plaza), but also discovers her lover is closeted. Can this couple have a happy holiday under these conditions? Hijinks, drag queens, and Dan Levy will ensue. — K.P.

How to watch: Happiest Season is now streaming on Hulu.

24. My Big Fat Greek Wedding

30-year-old Toula (Nia Vardalos) strikes up a relationship with charming teacher Ian (John Corbett), and eventually, he proposes! The only problem? Her family is Greek! And while that’s not actually a problem, it is for this movie. Her numerous overbearing relatives insert themselves immediately into every aspect of her relationship and wedding planning, threatening to smother the happy couple into a broken-up one. 

Silly and bursting with love, My Big Fat Greek Family warmly pokes fun at the immigrant experience, with Toula’s outrageous family members smoking lamb on their front lawn and curing their ailments with Windex. By today’s standards, the “OMG they’re so different” humor can feel a little outdated, but the knowledge that this movie was written by Vardalos herself, based on her own family and affectionately teasing her own community, ensures this hugely successful independent film is nothing but a winner, through and through. 

How to watch: My Big Fat Greek Wedding is now streaming on Hulu.

UPDATE: Feb. 10, 2025, 5:31 p.m. EST This post has been updated to reflect the current selection available on Hulu.