11 Must-Watch Rom-Com Movies on Netflix (April 2026): ‘What Happens Later’ and More

Director James L. Brooks‘ How Do You Know seemingly gives Lisa Jorgenson (Reese Witherspoon) an easy choice to make between two. A successful baseball player, Matty Reynolds (Owen Wilson), or an executive, George Madison (Paul Rudd), who is facing charges of criminal malfeasance.

And yet Lisa keeps finding herself with George, even with everything going wrong in his life. That’s going to make the choice a lot harder, especially if George is sent to prison.

How Do You Know is streaming on Netflix.

Meg Ryan starred in so many rom-coms that it seems like it was inevitable that she’d step behind the camera to make one of her own. What Happens Later features Ryan as Willa, an older woman who runs into a former flame named Bill (David Duchovny).

The years have been a little rough on Bill and Willa, and their relationships with other people haven’t worked out the way they hoped. During a freak winter storm, Willa and Bill have a chance to reconnect at the airport. It may bring up some old feelings, but significant roadblocks are keeping them apart.

What Happens Later is streaming on Netflix.

Overboard is a gender-flipped version of the Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell film from 1987, but Anna Faris and Eugenio Derbez do an admirable job of bringing the story into the 21st century. Faris plays Kate Sullivan, a struggling single mother whose latest client, Leonardo Sullivan (Derbez), fires her without paying her.

When Leonardo is thrown off his yacht, his sister, Magdalena Montenegro (Cecilia Suárez), uses his resulting amnesia to steal his inheritance. Kate is also looking for some payback by making Leonardo believe that they’re a married couple. Yet after spending time with Leonardo and his new blue-collar persona, Kate develops genuine feelings for him.

Overboard is streaming on Netflix.

A young woman named Iris (Molly Gordon) takes the idea of holding on to her man just a little bit too far in Oh, Hi!. After dating Isaac (Logan Lerman) for four months, Iris is eager to take the next step in their relationship. Unfortunately for her, Isaac doesn’t feel as committed to their romance as she does.

That’s why Iris refuses to let Isaac out of their bondage gear and essentially holds him hostage so she can save their relationship. It’s a desperate gamble, especially since Iris can technically be thrown in jail for holding Isaac against his will. But nobody ever said love was easy! Oh, Hi is an off-the-wall rom-com, but if you look beyond the ball gags and blue language, it’s actually a (kind of) sweet love story.

Oh, Hi! is streaming on Netflix.

Jennifer Aniston is a pretty good sport, both in and out of character, in Just Go With It, especially since she isn’t the object of the main character’s desire. Dr. Daniel Maccabee (Adam Sandler) has finally met his dream woman, Palmer Dodge (Brooklyn Decker), but he told her that he was getting a divorce when he’s never actually been married at all.

Danny’s employee, Katherine Murphy (Aniston), gamely plays along by pretending to be his soon-to-be ex-wife. But on a family vacation with Palmer, Katherine and Katherine’s kids, there are romantic sparks between Danny and Katherine, even as Palmer falls more deeply in love with him.

Just Go With It is streaming on Netflix.

The French rom-com Jane Austen Wrecked My Life only had a limited theatrical release in 2025, but it can reach a larger audience on Netflix. Camille Rutherford leads the film as an aspiring author, Agathe Robinson. whose life is turned upside down when her friend and coworker, Felix (Pablo Pauly), helps her get accepted to a Jane Austen-themed retreat for writers in England.

At the retreat, Agathe has an initially negative interaction with one of the Austen family’s descendants, Oliver (Charlie Anson). But as they get closer, Agathe has to decide whether she wants Oliver or Felix in her heart of hearts.

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life is streaming on Netflix.

Music superstar Kat Valdez (Jennifer Lopez) is just as unlucky in love as the actress who portrays her in Marry Me. All three of Kat’s marriages have blown up in the public eye, and now her fiancé, Bastian (Maluma), has been caught cheating on her too.

Instead of marrying Bastian during a concert as planned, Kat invites a random fan, Charlie Gilbert (Owen Wilson), on stage to wed her because he held up a sign that said “Marry me.” What could have been a stunt turns into something more as Charlie and Kat get to know each other. Making this romance last is going to take some work, and the odds are against them.

Marry Me is streaming on Netflix.

Nick Evans (Damon Wayans Jr.) is looking for love in all the wrong places. He subscribed to an online dating website called Love, Guaranteed to find companionship, and despite going on over 1,000 dates he’s still single and lonely. Fed up, he hires lawyer Susan Whitaker (Rachel Leigh Cook) to sue them for false advertising, but as the two work on the case, they fall for each other. Is love guaranteed for Nick if he pursues Susan? 

Like most 2020 movies, Love, Guaranteed was overshadowed by COVID and lockdown drama. It deserves some love, though, due to its charming leads and unique plot. Everyone can relate to Nick’s frustrations with online dating, and the movie uses that as a way to bring its two reluctant lovebirds together. Love, Guaranteed also gives Wayans Jr. a rare lead role to show off his amazing comedic skills, which most fans of the cult TV show Happy Endings are already acutely aware of and appreciate. 

Eric (Scott Foley) is a fiftysomething widower who isn’t looking for love. But when he travels to Italy to help his daughter purchase and renovate a neglected villa, he soon falls for the town’s charismatic mayor, Francesca (Violante Placido). Can he learn to love again? And will Francesca, who also lost her spouse, reciprocate Eric’s feelings?

La Dolce Villa doesn’t leave much doubt about the outcome, but what it lacks in originality, it more than makes up for in charm. Foley and Placido are great at playing middle-aged lovers wary of finding romance again, and the film’s Tuscan locations are pretty to look at. La Dolce Villa combines love and real estate in a glossy package, and it’s one of the better Netflix original rom-coms on the streaming service.

Eat Pray Love, eat your heart out! In Lonely Planet, yet another older woman travels abroad and finds unexpected romance. In this movie, that woman is Katherine Lowe (Laura Dern), who ventures to a beautiful Moroccan resort for a writer’s retreat. Once there, she bonds with Owen (Liam Hemsworth), a finance bro who is there with his novelist girlfriend, Lily (Diana Silvers). As their connection deepens, Katherine and Owen’s friendship turns into something more, but can they overcome their differences to allow a romance to blossom?

Lonely Planet isn’t all that original, but it makes up for it by casting Dern and Hemsworth in the lead roles. Dern isn’t your typical rom-com star, and she gives her character a nice edge that makes Katherine more interesting to watch. Hemsworth is pretty to look at, and he convincingly showcases Owen’s softer side that could pull in a woman like Katherine.  

Cyrano de Bergerac gets a modern update in The Half of It, the rare teen rom-com that eschews cheap humor and plays it relatively straight. (Well, sort of.) Bookish Ellie (Leah Lewis) likes the beautiful Aster (Alexxis Lemire) but is too shy to do anything about it. Inarticulate jock Paul (Daniel Diemer) likes Aster too, and convinces Ellie to write love letters and texts for him to send to Aster. Love connections are made, but not in the way any of them imagined, and a complicated love triangle soon becomes something messier and meaningful as each teen learns hard lessons about growing up.

The Half of It doesn’t star anyone you’d know, and maybe that’s why it feels so authentic. There have been riffs on this kind of story before, but few have been this affecting. The unlikely friendship between Ellie and Paul is given as much space and depth as the romance between Ellie and Aster, making The Half of It a memorable rom-com about the power of love and friendship. Most of the time, you need both in life, and the movie argues that you can find them with the people you’d least expect.