The best romantic comedies on Netflix right now

Some of the most beloved rom-coms have been panned by critics. Such is the case of The Wedding Planner, which has a putrid 33 on Metacritic from critics, but a strong 8.0 from fans.

Atlas star Jennifer Lopez stars as San Francisco’s top wedding planner, Mary Fiore, who is saved from a terrible accident by dreamy doctor, Steve Edison (Matthew McConaughey). Mary falls hard at first sight, only to discover that Steve is the fiancé of her latest client, putting Mary and Steve in a constant string of awkward situations that force them to acknowledge their mutual attraction.

A list of the best romantic comedies would never be complete without at least one teen rom-com on the list, and The Kissing Booth is a good fit. Joey King stars as Elle, a teenager who finds herself in a pickle when she begins a romance with her best friend’s popular, bad boy older brother, played by Priscilla’s Jacob Elordi. Spawning two sequels, it’s a heavily clichéd story, but that’s precisely what makes The Kissing Booth the perfectly predictable movie to watch when you’re in the mood, provided you go into it with the right expectations.

The Knight Before Christmas is basically a Hallmark Channel movie that was just made for Netflix instead. So, it’s a standard time-travel romantic flick that just happens to take place around Christmas. But there’s something charming about this earnest flick that doesn’t even really try to get all of the historical facts right. In the distant past, a young knight named Sir Cole (Josh Whitehouse) goes on a quest that ultimately leaves him stranded in the far future. That would be the present for us. It’s almost love at first sight for Brooke Winters (Vanessa Hudgens) when she accidentally smacks Sir Cole with her car. While Brooke initially believes that Cole lost his memory, she finds herself drawn to his genuine warmth and his good old-fashioned chivalry.

Getting decent reviews since it was released in late May, this film stars Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani as a couple on the brink of breakup. After they witness a murder, they decide to go on the run to avoid being blamed for something they didn’t do. Forced to stay together under such unexpected circumstances, they begin to reconnect in new ways. The two stars are lauded for their performances and chemistry. As a follow-up to The Big Sick, which got rave reviews, this isn’t director Michael Showalter’s best project (he did, after all, co-create the Wet Hot American Summer franchise). But it’s a worthy watch for a fresh and modern take on the typical rom-com.

Someone Great isn’t a typical romantic comedy, and that’s one of the reasons the film’s primary romance ends early. On the verge of a cross-country move, Jenny Young (Gina Rodriguez) is blindsided when her longtime boyfriend, Nate Davis (Lakeith Stanfield) breaks up with her. Distraught, Jenny turns to her best gal pals, Blair Helms (Brittany Snow) and Erin Kennedy (DeWanda Wise); both of whom have troubled romantic entanglements of their own. To complicate matters, Jenny can’t seem to escape Nate’s shadow. Jenny has to determine if she even wants Nate back. But it’s the friendship between the three women that really turns this film into an uplifting story.