The Best R-Rated Romance Movies on Max Right Now (September 2024)

With fall rolling in, it’s not just pumpkin that’s spicing things up. Now is the perfect time to gather by a warm fireplace, grab a hot beverage, and curl up on the couch with some steamy romances — and Max has you covered with all the best ones spanning a myriad of genres, from deep contemplative examinations of love to light comedies with just the right amount of smooches. Here are the best R-rated romance movies on Max!

For more recommendations, check out our lists of the best R-rated romance movies on Netflix, the highest-grossing R-rated movies of all time, or the best movies on Max in general.

‘A Star is Born’ (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes: 90% | IMDb: 7.6/10

This is the fourth adaptation of the 1937 musical romance about a troubled musician whose career is on the decline due to his alcoholism and the young up-and-coming singer who reinvigorates his passion for music. A Star is Born is Bradley Cooper’s (Silver Linings Playbook) directorial debut, where he stars alongside world-famous pop star Lady Gaga (Joker: Folie à Deux), and it is worthy of every award nomination and win. Gaga especially shines as she shows that she’s more than a set of pristine pipes, bringing depth and a grounded performance to this dark tragedy. However, this film is not for the faint of heart, as it deals with the harsh realities of alcoholism, mental illness, and suicidal ideation. Consider this your trigger warning.

Watch on Max

‘Brokeback Mountain’ (2005)

Rotten Tomatoes: 88% | IMDb: 7.7/10

Adapting Annie Proulx’s short story from the New York Times, Brokeback Mountain is a wonderfully groundbreaking film that depicts a complex tale of sexuality and the turmoil of societal pressure. Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight) and Jake Gyllenhaal (Presumed Innocent) lead this Western-inspired film as two cowboys in 1960s Wyoming who are hired to herd sheep together over a summer in a secluded area of Brokeback Mountain. During their time alone, they have an intimate tryst that complicates their lives back home as they reckon with their desires while trying to live the American dream of the hetero-nuclear family that’s expected of them. Though often reductively referred to as the “gay cowboy movie,” the film shows a mature understanding of sexuality as a spectrum that is heavily influenced by our environments.

Watch on Max

‘Disobedience’ (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes: 88% | IMDb: 6.6/10

Disobedience plays in a similar realm as Brokeback Mountain, but instead of using themes of masculine obligation, it tells the story through the frame of religion and the ways that it can isolate and shun anyone who disobeys the unspoken rules of a community. The film stars Rachel Weisz (The Mummy) as a woman ostracized from her Orthodox Jewish community when she’s caught having an affair with another woman in her town. After being estranged for years, she returns to her hometown in North London to attend her father’s funeral and ends up reigniting a passionate attraction between her and her childhood friend, played by Rachel McAdams (The Notebook). In addition to being a steamy romance between Weisz and McAdams, the film has a lot to say about the contradictions found in some religious communities that weaponize their doctrine to oppress instead of serve.

Watch on Max

‘Flashdance’ (1983)

Rotten Tomatoes: 37% | IMDb: 6.2/10

Directed by prolific ’80s filmmaker Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction), Flashdance is a vibe that truly captures the fashion, music, and aspirational attitude of its era. Jennifer Beals (The Book of Boba Fett) stars as a welder who is secretly an aspiring dancer in this mix of narrative storytelling and music video-style sequences. Even if you’ve never seen the movie, it would be hard to miss the cultural impact it’s had over the decades — even being parodied as recently as 2018 in the marketing for Deadpool 2. Beyond all that, the best part is the dynamite soundtrack featuring hits like “Maniac” by Michael Sembello and the titular “Flashdance… What a Feeling” by Irene Cara.

Watch on Max

‘Her’ (2013)

Rotten Tomatoes: 95% | IMDb: 8/10

Oscar-winning writer and director Spike Jonze (Where the Wild Things Are) presents an introspective sci-fi romance starring Joaquin Phoenix (Joker: Folie à Deux) as a lonely man who falls in love with his AI companion, voiced by Scarlett Johansson (Asteroid City). Her uses a futuristic Los Angeles setting to walk through the life of Phoenix’s character, who is recently single and looking for something to fill the void of companionship in his life. With the recent obsession with AI in our everyday lives, this story feels exceptionally relevant as it reflects the ways that people use technology to supplement the deficiencies they feel their lives are missing. Phoenix and Johansson give wonderful performances that sell this story of love, self-discovery, and human connection.

Watch on Max

‘Pretty Woman’ (1990)

Rotten Tomatoes: 65% | IMDb: 7.1/10

Richard Gere and Julia Roberts deliver one of the most memorable performances of their careers in this rom-com directed by Garry Marshall (Runaway Bride). Pretty Woman follows Gere as a rich businessman who hires an escort, played adorably well by Roberts, to be his arm candy for his social events while he’s in Los Angeles. While he treats her to the finest things money can buy, their growing connection becomes something more priceless. This film is such a classic that it feels redundant to give the rundown, but young folks read these, so now everyone is synced up. The romance between the two leads feels so natural, and their chemistry is off the charts — so much so that it changed the film’s original genre.

Watch on Max

‘Silver Linings Playbook’ (2012)

Rotten Tomatoes: 92% | IMDb: 7.7/10

Adapting the novel by Matthew Quick, Silver Linings Playbook stars Bradley Cooper (Maestro) as a man recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder who is determined to get his estranged wife back but struggles to cope with his life. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on who you ask), he meets an equally troubled woman, played by Jennifer Lawrence (No Hard Feelings), who is down to match his freak. Cooper and Lawrence are brilliant together, perfectly balancing the comedy and tragedy of their characters. Writer and director David O. Russell (American Hustle) delivers a thought-provoking story about two people who don’t fit in with their surroundings but somehow manage to fit together.

Watch on Max

‘The Piano Teacher’ (2001)

Rotten Tomatoes: 73% | IMDb: 7.5/10

A French-Austrian adaptation of the Elfriede Jelinek book of the same name, The Piano Teacher is a wild ride of sex, sadomasochism, and dubious ethics. This erotic psychodrama tells the story of a sexually repressed piano instructor who gets into a deeply unsettling relationship with her student that spirals into a rollercoaster of dark sexual expression and self-harm. This award-winning film is often shown in film school classes because of Jelinek’s filmmaking prowess and its excellent performances, especially from leads Isabelle Huppert and Benoît Magimel.

Watch on Max

‘The Souvenir’ (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes: 90% | IMDb: 6.4/10

British screenwriter and director Joanna Hogg (The Eternal Daughter) presents a semi-autobiographical retelling of a dramatic romance from her youth. The Souvenir is a slightly meta film about a young woman in film school, played by Honor Swinton Byrne, who meets an interesting young man while filming a movie. The story is told from the perspective of Swinton Byrne’s character, so the audience experiences the phases of a new relationship with her as she delights in the pristine honeymoon phase but slowly descends into the darker depths of learning who this man truly is beneath the mysterious charm. Hogg does an amazing job pulling viewers into the relationship so they feel the highs and heartaches right alongside the main heroine.

Watch on Max

‘Up in the Air’ (2009)

Rotten Tomatoes: 90% | IMDb: 7.4/10

Co-writer and director Jason Reitman (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire) adapts the Walter Kirn novel of the same name about a traveling HR consultant tasked with helping companies downsize, played by George Clooney (Hail, Caesar!), who gets a harsh look in the mirror as he trains a newcomer in his field, played by Anna Kendrick (Trolls Band Together). Up in the Air is a star-studded affair with comedic talents from all around the industry, including Jason Bateman (Air), Zach Galifianakis (Only Murders in the Building), and J. K. Simmons (Whiplash). Though a big draw of the film is Clooney’s charmingly detached performance bouncing off of Kendrick’s ambitious and kind foil, the story is also a scathing indictment of the ways that corporations chew up and spit out the workers that are central to their success.

Watch on Max