What's the best thing we can do this Valentine's Day? Stay home and celebrate on the couch in front of the TV. Netflix has romantic movies and shows for every V-Day mood (including "I hate Valentine's Day"). Some of them are sweet and sappy, others are heartwarming and heartbreaking, and others will distract viewers with their humorous or thrilling moments while they focus less on the happily ever after.
Sometimes staying in can be even more fun than going out to a crowded and overpriced fancy dinner. At home, we control the thermostat and the food options, and we don't even have to change out of our pajamas. We love a nice, relaxing night in. Whether we're celebrating February 14 with a loved one or by ourselves, these 15 films and series will pass the time in the best of ways.
'About Time'
Mood: Hopeless Romantic
Rachel McAdams loves a heartbreaking time travel movie, and this one is both really funny and will make viewers cry. The premise follows a young man who discovers he can time travel and uses it to make sure he ends up with the woman of his dreams. It just goes to show that true love is meant to be in any timeline.
'17 Again'
Mood: Hopeless Romantic
Friends star Matthew Perry plays a middle-aged, unhappy man who peaked in high school. A magical event allows him to go back to being 17 (with his younger self played by Zac Efron). But soon he realizes that all he actually wants is in the present with his high school sweetheart. It's actually one of Zac's most touching films.
'Set It Up'
Mood: Rom-Com Obsessed
There's nothing better than a rom-com for Valentine's Day. The genre is kind of expected and cliché but always still fun. Give the Netflix original Set it Up a chance this year. It follows two overworked assistants who decide to set their bosses up together — that way the assistants can get some time off. But guess who actually ends up falling in love?
'My Best Friend's Wedding'
Mood: Rom-Com Obsessed
Julia Roberts is one of the all-time queens of the romantic comedy. In this iconic classic, she plays a woman who doesn't realize she's in love with her best friend until he's engaged to someone else. Can she stop the wedding in time and make the love of her life happen? According to all the rom-com rules … of course! But there's a twist to this one.
'Outlander'
Mood: For That Romantic Night In
Don't be fooled with the time traveling fantasy element to Outlander: At the core of this show is a really tender love story. And the romantic scenes between Claire and her hunky new Scottish lover, Jamie, are some of the steamiest on television. They'll get just about anyone in the mood on Valentine's Day.
'Love'
Mood: For That Romantic Night In
Two characters forge an unlikely romance after getting out of bad relationships. For the first time, it seems like they've finally found their person, and they each bring out the best in one another. This story is sweet, funny, and honest — all the important cornerstones of a romantic Valentine's Day show.
'Bonding'
Mood: For That Kinky Night In
The second season of this show about dominatrixes just dropped on Netflix. Dive into the dom world along with the characters and maybe learn a thing or two in the process. Bonding is funny, engaging, and educational, and viewers can burn through all the 15-minute episodes in a day.
'Easy'
Mood: For That Kinky Night In
This anthology show features different actors in each epiode as they navigate the ups and downs of love, sex, and dating. One of the standout storylines is the Orlando Bloom and Malin Akerman one. They play a married couple with a baby who decide to spice things up with a threesome. It's season one, episode six for anyone interested.
'Mr. Right'
Mood: When You Want To Forget It's Valentine's Day
Anna Kendrick and Sam Rockwell are an unlikely couple — he's so radically honest, he admits to being a hitman on their first date. But she's into him anyway and soon finds out she has a knack for action-packed violence too. Trust us, the last thing anyone will be focused on in this movie is the love story. Not when they're shooting people all around them.
'The Lovebirds'
Mood: When You Want To Forget It's Valentine's Day
Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani play a couple who just want a peaceful night out. But their date night soon turns into chaos as they're roped into a dangerous murder mystery. This film is funny and action-packed, and it's not really at all about romance. So it's perfect for an anti V-Day viewing.
'Sex and the City'
Mood: Celebrating Galentine's Day
Galentine's Day is February 13, and it's supposed to be a day where women celebrate the other awesome women in their lives. So we have some girl power movies and shows that are perfect for this day. First up is Sex and the City: The Movie (and its sequel), which are both streaming on Netflix now. Sure, Sex and the City is about Carrie and Big's romance, but it's more about the love between four friends.
'Firefly Lane'
Mood: Celebrating Galentine's Day
This new Netflix show just hit the streaming site, and it's already captivating viewers. It follows a friendship between two women from the '70s through the early 2000s. No matter what happens to them in their love lives, they're always there for one another, and that's the real love story in the show.
'Someone Great'
Mood: Celebrating Galentine's Day
When Jenny gets unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend, her friends decide to take her out for a fabulous, unforgettable night on the town to forget about him. There's nothing better than a group of women rallying for their bestie during a hard time, and this movie is all about the power of female friendship.
'Fatal Affair'
Mood: Love With a Side of Danger
For anyone bored with the traditional rom-com, there's a whole category of movies on Netflix that explores the dangerous side of love. They're kind of Lifetime-esque in their structure, and they're so fun to watch. First up is Fatal Affair, in which a dissatisfied woman has an affair with an old friend. But when she decides to fix her marriage, that old friend quickly becomes a foe.
'Secret Obsession'
Mood: Love With a Side of Danger
Brenda Song stars in this terrifying tale about a woman who wakes up with amnesia after an accident. She thinks the man by her side is her caring husband, but because she can't actually remember anything, she quickly falls prey to his lies. This thriller will have viewers on the edge of their seat this Valentine's Day.
