Now that 2023 and the holiday season is finally over, you can shelve those Christmas movies for another 11 months and get back to enjoying other, less festive types of films. But now comes the question: what to watch? Rom-coms are feel-good movies that are watchable at any time of the year. When you’re in the mood for one, there’s nothing like cuddling up to check out something hilariously romantic.
The 3 rom-coms on Prime Video you need to watch in January include two movies and a fabulous anthology series with an impressive episodic cast. Released in 2019, you might have flipped by Modern Love over and over but never stopped and thought to watch. Now might be the perfect time.
Congrats My Ex! (2023)
Risa (Bella Ranee Campen) runs a wedding planning company, and when she is offered the chance to organize a massive Indian wedding, she takes the job. Her business is not doing well, and this could be just the gig she needs to revive it. There’s just one problem: she discovers that the wedding is for her ex-boyfriend Arun (Mahir Pandhi) and his new bride-to-be Monica (Anahita Bhooshan). As if this didn’t complicate things enough, Risa decides to work with another ex, Tim (Bright Vachirawit Chivaaree), to help with the wedding photography.
Congrats My Ex! is an epic depiction of a worst-case scenario that leads to plenty of awkward moments and wedding planning chaos. The movie, a Thai-Indian rom-com with English subtitles, has performed well for Prime Video. Prior to its release, the film garnered millions of searches on TikTok for those who couldn’t wait to check it out.
Stream Congrats My Ex! on Prime Video.
Love in a Showroom (2023)
Just when you think every rom-com concept has been done, something new surprises you. A robbery is happening in a store, and through a series of events, the manager and a deliveryman become trapped in a showroom. They’re at least safe and hope they just need to survive the night and help will eventually be on the way. The pair quickly begin to bond and realize they might have more in common than they realize. Complicating things is that they belong to very different social and economic classes.
A Nigerian movie offered in English language, Love in a Showroom is called a “comically interpreted version of Romeo and Juliet” by the Premium Times Nigeria. The heavy dialogue and interesting discussions about class disparity make Love in a Showroom a rom-com that is infused with social commentary. It’s fitting if you want something with deeper meaning and less sap, though, make no mistake, it still has the necessary romance factor that’s essential for a rom-com, too.
Stream Love in a Showroom on Prime Video.
Modern Love (2019-2021)
If you haven’t yet checked out Modern Love, you’ll discover that it’s a refreshing take on the traditional rom-com. Modern Love is based on The New York Times column of the same name, with each episode presenting a different meaning of the word love. This ranges from sexual to romantic, platonic to even self-love. As an anthology series, every story is unique with a different cast. You’ll find big names like Andy Garcia, Anne Hathaway (Eileen), Judd Hirsch, Tina Fey, John Slattery, Minnie Driver, and Julia Garner counted among the cast.
Each episode is only a half-hour long, and you can pick and choose which you want to watch based on the cast or the story: there’s no continuity beyond the setting of New York City. The first season has better reviews than the second, but in both, the cast is praised despite the sometimes cliched stories. Then again, isn’t clichés what traditional rom-coms are all about?
Stream Modern Love on Prime Video.
