Romance movies have been one of the biggest genres in films almost since the start of the medium. There are good ones, bad ones, funny ones, and dramatic ones. Everyone has a favorite, and sometimes what makes a great romance is the ending. Endings are obviously hard, and for romances, it is a tightrope to walk between being sweet and sincere and being overly sappy and cliched.
Once in a blue moon, there’s a romance film with a perfect ending. While some might be happily ever after, others are bittersweet but still have the ability to remind audiences of the power of love and how it transcends time and even death. These romance endings stuck with audiences, leaving them crying years of joy or tears of happiness. Here are ten romance movies with perfect endings (obviously, many spoilers for romantic movies follow).
Update February 7, 2024: This article has been updated with more details about the best romantic endings and where you can stream each title in honor of Valentine’s Day.
10 Lost in Translation (2003)
Written and directed by Sofia Coppola, 2003’s Lost in Translation tells the story of young Yale graduate Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) and fading movie star Bob (Bill Murray), who both find themselves dissatisfied with their lives while spending some time in Tokyo. Despite their age gap and contrasting backgrounds, the pair strike up a unique friendship. Although their intimacy is only emotional and not physical, the duo learn a lot about one another and share a special moment when they have to say goodbye.
What Makes It A Perfect Ending
The film’s closing moments see Bob, who was left dissatisfied with the goodbye he and Charlotte shared in the hotel, stopping the taxi and taking him to the airport in order to say a proper farewell. On a crowded street, he holds Charlotte close and whispers something in her ear, before kissing her and departing for good. While it’s still unknown what exactly Bob whispered in Charlotte’s ear, the mystery surrounding that moment only gives it more power. The fact that both Bob and Charlotte appear to be satisfied and at peace with their ending upon Bob whispering those words means that the characters themselves got the conclusion they wanted, even if we, as viewers, are left wanting answers. The ambiguity, mystique, and romance surrounding those closing moments make it a unique ending to an unconventional romance film. Rent on AppleTV+
9 His Girl Friday (1940)
His Girl Friday has many things going for it: great performances by Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, snappy dialogue, and winning chemistry between the two leads. The film revolves around Grant’s character, newspaper editor Walter Burns, as he attempts to stop his ex-wife and reporter Hildy (Russell) from marrying a new man by assigning her to a story about a convicted murderer. Meanwhile, Walter makes numerous attempts to frame Hildy’s new fiancé, Bruce (Ralph Bellamy), for a string of crimes, to hilarious effect.
What Makes It A Perfect Ending
Walter’s endeavors to get his wife back pay off in the end, and Hildy admits that she was worried Walter was going to let her marry Bruce without putting up a fight. They share a kiss, and it all ends with Hildy still writing a story, proving she loves her job as much as her husband. Nowadays, it might look like a pretty tamed ending, but back in 1940, it was pretty revolutionary. Furthermore, it’s the ending you, as a viewer, want for the couple, having watched ninety minutes of Walter making several ludicrous attempts to win his lover back. Stream on Prime Video
8 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
A modern adaptation of William Shakespeare’s comedy play, The Taming of the Shrew, 1999’s 10 Things I Hate About You is set in a Seattle High School and follows bad boy Patrick (Heath Ledger), who gets paid to date Kat (Julia Stiles), so her younger sister Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) can also date. Patrick and Kat end up falling in love and having a very fun, charming relationship, but they break up when Kat learns Patrick started dating her because he was getting paid. To win her back, Patrick makes the ultimate romantic gesture by gifting Kat her dream guitar and, thereby, showing he knows her, loves her, and wants to be with her.
What Makes It A Perfect Ending
The ending to 10 Things I Hate About You isn’t clichéd, nor is it over the top, and that’s precisely what’s great about it. It’s not interested in making big, brash, and exaggerated statements but rather simply showing how in sync the two main characters are. Additionally, in the moments before Patrick presents Kat with the guitar, Kat reads aloud a poem inspired by Shakespeare’s Sonnet 141, entitled “10 Things I Hate About You”, which ties the story back to its Shakespearean routes and creates a pleasing conclusion to the film. Overall, the final scene of the movie is focused, understated, character-driven, and incredibly romantic. Stream on Disney+
7 Notting Hill (1999)
In Notting Hill, Hugh Grant plays Will Thacker, an awkward bookshop owner who, following a chance encounter, falls in love with A-list movie star Anna Scott (played by Julia Roberts). However, Anna’s Hollywood lifestyle, which sees her hounded by the paparazzi as well as her movie star boyfriend, means that a relationship between her and Will seems unlikely to work. Aware of this, Will politely rejects Anna when she confesses her love for him. It doesn’t take long for Will to realize he’s made a big mistake, though, and, with the help of his friends, he declares his love for Anna at a press conference.
What Makes It A Perfect Ending
After Will has opened up his heart, a reporter at the conference asks how long Anna is intending on staying in the UK. With a smile, Anna simply responds with “indefinitely”. That simple word proves to both Will and the viewer that she’s also in love with him and that she wants them to spend their future together. It is enough to make even the most hardened soul fist pump in cheer. Following this, the two marry, and Anna becomes pregnant. It’s a simple, sweet, and highly effective conclusion to a truly delightful love story and lives on as one of the most iconic endings from a golden age of romantic comedies. Stream on Prime Video
6 Love & Basketball (2000)
2000’s Love & Basketball is simultaneously one of the best basketball movies of all time, and one of the best and most underrated romance films. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, the story centers on the relationship between Monica (Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy (Omar Epps), two neighbors who both share a love of basketball and ambitions of becoming professional players. As time goes on, the pair find themselves falling in love with each other. Like a basketball game, the film’s narrative is broken up into four quarters, and the final quarter sees Quincy engaged to another woman and Monica quitting basketball for good. Quincy and Monica play a one-on-one game for Quincy’s heart: if Quincy wins, he marries the other woman, but Monica wins, he calls the wedding off. Although Quincy ends up winning, he admits that he can’t live without Monica, and the two share a kiss. In the closing moments, they are shown getting married and having a daughter.
What Makes It A Perfect Ending
The thing that makes the ending and, indeed, the film in general work, is that it’s not a love story that happens to feature some basketball, nor is it a sports film with a touch of romance. Instead, as the title implies, both the romantic aspect and the sports aspect go hand in hand, with basketball acting as a form of love language between the two main characters. The film’s conclusion perfectly sums this up, with the final game proving to be a particularly intimate and passionate affair. It’s a clever and highly pleasing finale that has you, as a viewer, on the edge of your seat. Stream on Max
5 Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
Directed by Nora Ephron, Sleepless in Seattle is the film that proved both Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks were romantic comedy stars. Hanks plays Sam Baldwin, a widower who moves to Seattle following the death of his wife, and whose eight-year-old son, Jonah (Ross Malinger) encourages him to share his story on the radio. When Sam does, many women fall in love with him, but none more so than Annie (Ryan). Annie sends Sam a letter asking him to meet her in the Empire State Building on Valentine’s Day. With the help of Jonah’s scheming, Sam and Annie come close to meeting on a number of occasions, but many complications, including a fiancé and a sister mistaken for a girlfriend, get in the way. In the end, though, the pair finally do come together.
What Makes It A Perfect Ending
The film’s final few moments see Annie breaking off her engagement and rushing to the observation deck of the Empire State Building to find Sam and Jonah. At first, it appears she has missed them. Then, upon finding Jonah’s backpack, she locks eyes with Sam, who recognizes her back, and the three stroll off together. It’s a beautiful ending that is, no doubt, met with cheers, excitement, and relief whenever someone new comes to watch it. What makes it particularly great is how the whole sequence involves no dialogue and, instead, all the communication is done through looks and the holding of the hand, which is more than enough to effectively convey the instant connection between the two characters. Powerful, touching, and wonderfully iconic, the conclusion to Sleepless in Seattle is among the very best. Stream on Peacock
4 Before Sunrise (1995)
Starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, Before Sunrise is the first chapter in Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy, and it depicts the relationship between Jesse and Céline, two strangers who meet on a train before spending the night exploring the sights of Vienna together. As the night progresses, the pair have many conversations and ultimately fall in love. The movie ends with the couple promising to meet again in the same place in six months, despite not sharing any kind of contact information with one another.
What Makes It A Perfect Ending
Overall, Before Sunrise is a gorgeously romantic film, and its final moments are no different. The fact that both Jesse and Céline believe that they’ll meet again and that both want to make it a grand romantic gesture highlights how smitten they are with each other. In keeping with the rest of the film, it’s also a pretty realistic and rather understated way to end the film that strangely manages to have more of an impact than if it went down the big crowd-pleasing finale route. The sequels would expand on Jesse and Céline’s story and, ultimately, reveal whether they did indeed meet up again after six months. However, on its own, Before Sunrise has a bittersweet yet magnificently romantic ending that sets it apart from other entries in the genre. Rent on AppleTV+
3 The Notebook (2004)
Based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook is generally considered to be one of the saddest romance movies of all time. Set predominantly in the 1940s, the film portrays the love story between Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams), a young couple from different backgrounds whose attempts to be together are complicated by everything from war to disapproving parents. Destiny intervenes, however, and they find each other again years later. The film, which also stars James Marsden, Joan Allen, and Sam Shepard, uses a framing device of an elderly man in a present-day nursing home reading the story from a notebook to a fellow patient, a female.
What Makes It A Perfect Ending
In the movie’s final act, it is revealed that the old man is Noah and that the woman he is reading the story to is Allie, who is suffering from dementia and, therefore, doesn’t remember who he is. This reveal puts a whole different perspective on the story so far, which has suddenly become a film about a man’s heartbreaking attempts to remind his wife of who he is. It’s even more gut-wrenching when you realize that Noah does the same thing every day. In the film’s final few minutes, Allie recognizes her husband, and the two share a kiss before dying peacefully together. It’s a tearjerker of an ending and one that is guaranteed to leave a lasting impact. Stream on Max
2 Casablanca (1942)
Casablanca
- Release Date
- November 26, 1942
- Director
- Michael Curtiz
Casablanca is a classic for many reasons, but its bittersweet yet flawless ending might be what it’s remembered for the most. Widely considered to be among the most romantic classic Hollywood movies, the film follows tough guy Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), a café owner in the Moroccan city of Casablanca, who is forced to make a difficult decision when the husband of the woman he is still in love with, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), needs help to escape the Nazis. In the film’s final scenes, everything is set for Rick and Ilsa to go back to America together. Nevertheless, in his bones, Rick knows she should be with her husband, Laslo (Paul Henreid), and so convinces her to stay.
What Makes It A Perfect Ending
Rick’s attempts to convince Ilsa that she’ll regret choosing him lead him to deliver the iconic line, “Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life”, which has gone down in history as one of the most famous movie quotes of all time. Indeed, the whole final sequence is nothing short of iconic, with Bogart and Bergman’s onscreen chemistry in those moments being a particular highlight. Casablanca’s ending is a surprising one and one that defies certain narrative expectations. After all, it ultimately involves the film’s hero not getting the happy ending he wanted. However, it’s a selfless ending for the character and one that is still filled with hope. With its finale, the movie proved that a perfect ending, sometimes, doesn’t involve the couple ending up together, and that’s okay, too. Stream on Max
1 When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
Out of all the romance films with perfect endings, When Harry Met Sally… has the most perfect. Directed by Rob Reiner from a script by Nora Ephron, the 1989 film takes place over twelve years and revolves around the chance encounters between Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan), who go from acquaintances to friends to best friends to being broken up. It’s here that Harry makes the final romantic gesture and goes in search of Sally on New Year’s Eve to tell her how he feels, because, as he puts it, “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible”.
What Makes It A Perfect Ending
When Harry Met Sally…, as a whole, was a ground-breaking film that changed romantic comedies forever by showing a different kind of relationship between men and women. What makes the ending so perfect is that, once you’ve seen it, as a viewer, you understand that the film simply couldn’t have ended in any other way. Between Ephron’s writing, Reiner’s direction, and both Crystal and Ryan’s performances, the audience buys wholeheartedly into the idea that Harry and Sally are meant to be together and that there’s no one out there better suited to them than each other. Therefore, when the ending comes about, and Harry lists all the reasons he loves Sally, it feels earned and totally right. Like the film as a whole, When Harry Met Sally…‘s ending is charming, powerful, and oh-so perfect. Stream on Tubi
