Rom-coms – they take you on a journey you didn’t know you needed. But they’ve been on their own journey too, in the 2000s and 2010s it felt as if they popped up all the time, the options were endless. In recnet years however, romance films have tended to opt for a more dramatic approach. The once thriving genre may have slightly dropped off but these films keep the rom-com living.
5. Bridget Jones’s Diary
No surprises here. The Bridget Jones series of films has got to be a national treasure of British culture. Based on the best-selling novels by Helen Fielding, the films are nothing short of iconic in their relatability and humour. Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth are the perfect trio to fulfill this single women in her 30s meets two-men love triangle. It’s a film I return to time and time again, usually when the weather gets a bit colder and I am in need of some comfort going into the autumn months. Despite some of its references being a tad dated, the film itself never gets old.
4. Love, Rosie
Love, Rosie feels pretty on the nose for a British coming of age story. The film is centred around two childhood best friends Rosie Dunne (Lily Collins) and Alex Stewart (Sam Claflin), who have grown up together and think they couldn’t possibly be right for one another. But a drunken kiss on Rosie’s 18th birthday confuses everything and the two best friends become passing ships in the night. The film is quite dramatic but it does well to depict the trials and tribulations of the teenage to early adulthood. It’s quite a modern take on the British rom-com despite being more than 10 years old.
3. Love Actually
It’s become a tradition of mine to watch Love Actually on Christmas Eve and I look forward to it every year. I would go as far to say that it’s one of the best films to come out of the UK, encapsulating that specific British culture of sarcasm, humour and politeness perfectly. It’s cast full of notable faces bring out all the emotion while keeping it as light-hearted as possible. The romantic in me would say that the Colin Firth love language storyline is the best of all – when he meets a French woman who can’t speak much English while escaping a cheating patrner and his disloyal brother. Richard Curtis exels here in writing various storylines that all interconnect somehow.
2. One Day
This could be a controversial opinion… as people either love it or hate it. But One Day, based on the book written by David Nicholls is a very close second on the list. The film stars Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess and they exude chemistry throughout the film. Similar to Love, Rosie, it’s a classic will they, won’t they. The film is set on the same day each year, St Swithen’s Day to be exact, and we see how the couple’s lives and relationship has progressed on a yearly basis. It’s a beautfiul concept and translates so well on to screen. The film was made into a TV series for Netflix last year, it was a great adaptation too but the film will always be the winner for me.
1. About Time
It’s just the best. Think nostalgia meets time travel and you get About Time. If you are in need of a good cry – this is the one. The cast is top tier, with it’s stars including Rachel McAdams, Domhnall Gleeson and Bill Nighy. Another one from Richard Curtis, About Time is written so sincerely. Tim (Gleeson) discovers on his 21st birthday, that he can travel in time and change what happens and has happened in his own life. He decides to get a girlfriend tand all of a sudden the time travel becomes a lot more complicated. The film is larelgy about life and loss and there are several relationships we route for here, not just a singular couple.
