Welcome to 2025. Christmas rom-coms are no longer in vogue, though feel free to continue watching Lindsay Lohan movies if your heart desires. The new selection of rom-coms in January is fairly light, an expected outcome after the holiday months provided a new crop of Christmas romances.
Nevertheless, there is still a stable of reliable rom-coms on Netflix. Take Notting Hill, for example. It’s one of the iconic rom-coms from the golden era of the 1990s with two undeniable stars. Notting Hill is one of our recommendations this month. Other picks include a 1980s teen comedy and a wedding adventure.
We also have guides to the best movies to stream this week, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
Sixteen Candles (2024)
Before 1984, John Hughes was best known as a writer on Mr. Mom and National Lampoon’s Vacation. In 1984, Hughes made his directorial debut on Sixteen Candles, kicking off his legendary run of coming-of-age movies. Teenager Samantha (Molly Ringwald) is about to hit an important milestone: her 16th birthday. What feels like a monumental moment in Samantha’s life gets reduced to an afterthought when her family becomes preoccupied with her sister’s wedding the next day.
If Samantha had one wish, it would be to woo her crush, senior classmate Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling). Unfortunately for Samantha, a geek named Ted (Anthony Michael Hall) is the only guy vying for her attention. Sixteen Candles is a sweet and sincere movie with a heartfelt ending.
Stream Sixteen Candles on Netflix.
Notting Hill (1999)
Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts are first-ballot Hall of Famers when it comes to rom-coms. The duo combined their charms in Notting Hill, the seventh-highest-grossing movie of 1999. London bookstore owner William Thacker (Grant) is dejected after his wife leaves him for another man. One day, American actress and global star Anna Scott (Roberts) walks into William’s bookstore, and the two form an instant connection.
A chance juice spill later leads to a kiss. One kiss leads to a date, which surprisingly goes very well. William and Anna genuinely like one another and enjoy each other’s company. However, William is a normal guy and Anna is an A-list actress. How can two people from completely different worlds stay in a relationship? Twenty-six years later, the “I’m just a girl” speech still pulls at the heartstrings.
Stream Notting Hill on Netflix.
Love Wedding Repeat (2020)
The time-loop trope gets a new spin in Love Wedding Repeat. Instead of one character reliving the same day, multiple characters experience alternate versions of the same wedding. The main character is Jack (Sam Claflin), the brother of the bride, Hayley (Eleanor Tomlinson). Three years earlier, Jack tried to profess his love to Hayley’s roommate, Dina (Olivia Munn), but an unfortunate interruption ruined the moment.
Now, Jack has another shot to make up for the past with the newly single Dina, who’s also at the wedding. History repeats itself, and more unfortunate circumstances disrupt Jack’s chance to reunite with Dina. There are many iterations of the wedding, but Jack only needs the right one for things to work out.
Stream Love Wedding Repeat on Netflix.
