The 22 Best New Romantic Comedies Making Sparks Fly in 2022
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The romantic comedy is back in a major way—and I’m talking comedy too. This isn’t just about sexual tension and falling in love, I want quirky, silly obstacles with low stakes and awkward situations! No disrespect to the yuletide efforts of Hallmark and Lifetime, but there have been actual big-screen and streaming rom-coms in 2022 with your favorite stars and hilarious plots that tumble toward a big swoon-y happy ending. It's been a genuinely great year for meet-cutes, grand romantic gestures, and running through the airport, bless.
2022 has also been a really great year for romantic comedies on television, TBH! If you’re a fan of the genre, definitely check out shows like Heartstopper, Our Flag Means Death, and Starstruck. And I mean, of course the holiday season is sure to bring an avalanche of punny television and streaming movies about hometown pumpkin-spiced romance.
When it comes to new romantic comedies, I don’t want to hear a single thing about multiverses or murder mysteries. They’re fine. They have their time. But this is valen-time.
Book of Love
Release date: February 4
An uptight British author falls in love with the translator who turned his book into a steamy romance novel. Sign me TF up!
I Want You Back
Release date: February 11
Comedians Jenny Slate and Charlie Day started the year off right and romantic with this cute ensemble flick. Their characters strike up a friendship when they meet mid-sob over their respective breakups and decide to help each other out. Are they gonna end up together? Can’t wait to find out!
Marry Me
Release date: February 11
I may or may not have convinced myself that this Jennifer Lopez/Owen Wilson romantic comedy is going to save the world. The fake relationship trope is *chef’s kiss* and their chemistry is off the charts. (As they’re both professional rom-commers, it better be!) If you haven’t caught the trailers, it’s about a pop star who marries a man in the audience at her concert after catching her famous fiancé cheating on her.
Tall Girl 2
Release date: February 11
This is a follow-up to the 2019 film, because if there’s one thing Netflix loves, it’s a romantic comedy sequel.
Moonshot
Release date: March 22
Not to be confused with Moonfall, this HBO Max rom-com is set in space! It stars Riverdale’s Cole Sprouse and Netflix rom-com princess Lana Condor, so it’s sure to give you all the feels.
The Lost City
Release date: March 25
This movie is formerly known as The Lost City of D (get it?change it back, cowards!). It marks the return of Sandra Bullock to the genre, alongside Channing Tatum, and it’s about a romance novelist who ends up on an island with an eccentric billionaire who wants her to find the treasure she wrote about in her most recent *fictional* novel. Brad Pitt is also in this, FYI.
Crush
Release date: April 29
It’s a cutie-pie, WLW, young-adult rom-com starring Miss Girl Meets World and Miss Moana herself! Love to see it!
Fire Island
Release date: June 3
Joel Kim Booster wrote and stars in this Hulu rom-com about a group of gay friends on vacation together, inspired by Pride and Prejudice. The film also stars Bowen Yang from Saturday Night Live, his frequent collaborator Matt Rogers, Conrad Ricamora from How to Get Away With Murder, and Margaret Cho, so…I’m excited and you should be too.
Cha Cha Real Smooth
Release date: June 17
This indie romantic comedy looks...so charming? It’s about two adults who find each other in different states of arrested development. It stars Cooper Raiff, who also wrote and directed the film. It might be moodier and less full of antics than some rom-coms, but my heart is full just watching the trailer, so at least they’ve got the chemistry right!
Good Luck To You, Leo Grande
Release date: June 17
It's rare to have romantic comedies about older women, and even rarer to focus on their sexual pleasure. This movie does both! Emma Thompson plays a woman named Nancy who has never had an orgasm and hires a sex worker named Leo to help her go through her sexual bucket list after the death of her husband. They don't necessarily fall in love, but there are romantic elements to this comedy.
Mr. Malcolm’s List
Release date: July 1
Maaaaaajor Bridgerton vibes going on here, bless! Julia Thistlewaite sets out to get revenge on a man who embarrassed her, but the trick may or may not backfire when the bestie she asks to seduce him actually falls for him.
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
Release date: July 15
Not to be confused with Emily, obvs.
Wedding Season
Release date: August 4
Two people who meet on a dating app but don't click IRL agree to accompany each other to a year's worth of weddings anyway so they can avoid awk family questions. If fake dating is one of your favorite tropes, step right up!
Spin Me Round
Release date: August 19
Alison Brie stars in this rom-com that she also co-wrote about a woman who wins a trip to Italy. It also stars Aubrey Plaza, whose husband is the other co-writer and director. Actually, the ensemble cast is kind of incredible. Might mess around and live vicariously through their trip to Italy.
Three Thousand Years of Longing
Release date: August 26
IDRIS ELBA PLAYS A HOT GENIE. THAT’S IT, THAT’S THE MOVIE. THIS IS NOT A DRILL!
About Fate
Release date: September 9
Ever almost walked into the wrong apartment because it looked just like yours? That's what happens to Emma Roberts and Thomas Mann's characters in this movie... and then they FALL IN LOVE! I mean, I'm assuming. No spoilers, LOL!
Meet Cute
Release date: September 21
Remember when people thought that Kaley Cuoco was dating Pete Davidson and that turned out to be, probably, nothing? They were making this movie at the time. It's about a woman who uses a time machine to relive a first date with a stranger. Not the first thing I would do with such a device but... you do you, girl!
Bros
Release date: September 30
Billy Eichner's rom-com is the first film from a major studio to feature an entirely LGBTQ+ cast in heterosexual roles. That statistic may seem random, but we see the reverse (straight actors playing queer characters) so often that this is very cool! You should also get excited for the rom-com itself, not just its ~*importance*~, because Billy is hilarious and Bros is directed by Nicholas Stoller, who made Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The Five-Year Engagement.
Rosaline
Release date: October 6
Tongue-in-cheek period comedies have reached Shakespeare's most well-known tragic. romance. This is the story of Romeo and Juliet from the POV of the girl who Romeo was dating *before* he met his star-crossed lover. (And yes, Rosaline is actually mentioned in the play.)
Ticket to Paradise
Release date: October 21
Oh, was the return of J.Lo and Sandra to the genre not enough for you? What about Julia Roberts and George Clooney? That’s right, they cooked up a lil rom-com for us too, and I’m psyched. It’s kind of a reverse Parent Trap meets Blockers; It’s about two divorced parents who try to stop their daughter from getting impulsively married like they did. Do we think the parents are going to end up back together? I can’t wait to see….
Falling for Christmas
Release date: November 10
Obviously, we're all waiting on pins and needles for Lindsay Lohan's return to rom-coms. The fact that Falling for Christmas is a romantic comedy and a Christmas movie? Icing.
Disenchanted
Release date: November 24
We don’t know *too* much about the upcoming sequel to Disney’s Enchanted, but a sequel to a rom-com has to have some rom and some com, right?
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