The 16 Best Romantic Movies of 2018

If you're looking for romance—the kind of romance that's notably absent from your Tinder chats—head to the movie theater. There's no shortage of sigh-inducing, heart-melting love stories coming out this year. Here are 16 romantic movies of all genres (comedies, dramas, tragedies—pick your poison!) that'll make your heart flutter.

1. 'Ophelia'

Release date: January 22 (at Sundance—wide release is still TBD)

Starring: Daisy Ridley, Naomi Watts, Clive Owen, Tom Felton, George MacKay, and Dominic Mafham

Plot: A retelling of Hamlet from Ophelia's point of view. The movie, starring Daisy Ridley, will focus on the love affair between Ophelia and Hamlet (MacKay), which—as anyone who did their high school reading knows—ends tragically.

2. 'Fifty Shades Freed'

Release date: February 9

Starring: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Kim Basinger, Arielle Kebbel, Brant Daugherty, Luke Grimes, and Rita Ora

Plot: The final installment of the Fifty Shades series is also the most romantic. Yes, there will be lots of sexiness, but there will also be marriage, kids, and all that happily ever after stuff for Christian (Dornan) and Ana (Johnson).

3. 'Every Day'

Release date: February 23

Starring: Angourie Rice, Maria Bello, Debby Ryan, Jacob Batalon, Justice Smith, and Lucas Jade Zumann

Plot: This movie—based on the book of the same name by David Levithan—is about a 16-year-old named Rhiannon (Rice) who falls in love with a soul named A. It's not your average love story, though; the spirit wakes up in a different body every day.

4. 'Love, Simon'

Release date: March 16

Starring: Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Miles Heizer, Keiynan Lonsdale, Logan Miller, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, and Tony Hale

Plot: The movie follows Simon (Robinson), a closeted gay teen who wants to come out on his own terms, but struggles when secret (romantic) emails to his pen pal fall into the wrong hands.

5. 'Midnight Sun'

Release date: March 23

Starring: Bella Thorne, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Rob Riggle

Plot: If you loved Everything, Everything, you need to add Midnight Sun to your must-see list. The movie stars Bella Thorne as a young woman with an extreme sensitivity to sunlight, who finally meets the guy she's always admired from afar. She tries to hide her condition from him, but, ya know, love will overcome that.

6. 'Overboard'

Release date: April 20

Starring: Anna Faris, Eugenio Derbez, Eva Longoria, John Hannah, and Swoosie Kurtz

Plot: This gender-swapped reboot of the 1987 Goldie Hawn/Kurt Russell film is more of a rom-com than a straight romance. A wealthy jerk (Derbez) gets amnesia after falling overboard on his yacht, and a single mom (Faris) convinces him that they're married—and wastes no time putting him to work. The original hasn't aged all that well, so it will be interesting to see how the remake plays.

7. 'Mary Shelley'

Release date: May 25

Starring: Elle Fanning, Maisie Williams, Douglas Booth, Bel Powley, and Ben Hardy

Plot: The movie tells the story of famous writer Mary Shelley's (Fanning) first love, with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (Booth). The relationship inspired Mary to write Frankenstein.

8. 'Adrift'

Release date: June 1

Starring: Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin

Plot: This romantic drama is loosely based on a true story of a couple who sailed into a hurricane in 1983 and had to find a way to save themselves in the aftermath.

9. 'On Chesil Beach'

Release date: June 15

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Billy Howle, Emily Watson, Anne-Marie Duff, Samuel West, and Adrian Scarborough

Plot: A young newlywed couple (Ronan and Howle) in 1962 go on their honeymoon, nervous because they both remained virgins until they were married.

10. 'Valley Girl'

Release date: June 29

Starring: Jessica Rothe, Josh Whitehouse, Chloe Bennet, Ashleigh Murray, Jessie Ennis, Logan Paul, and Mae Whitman

Plot: A remake of the 1983 movie of the same name, this romantic comedy is loosely based on Romeo & Juliet (minus all the death). It focuses on star-crossed lovers Julie (Rothe) and Randy (Whitehouse).

11. 'Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again'

Release date: July 20

Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Lily James, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Dominic Cooper, Andy Garcia, Cher, and Meryl Streep

Plot: When Sophie (Seyfried) finds herself pregnant, she struggles with whether or not she'll be able to cut it as a mother. Since Donna (Streep) has passed away, her best friends tell Sophie the story of her pregnancy. Expect the movie to feature lots of flashbacks and—we're sure—more than a little romance.

12. 'Crazy Rich Asians'

Release date: August 15

Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, Nico Santos, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, and Michelle Yeoh.

Plot: Rachel Chu, a badass econ professor at NYU, agrees to travel to Singapore with her boyfriend, Nick, for his best friend's wedding. Upon arriving in Singapore, Rachel realizes that Nick is rich—like crazy rich—and has to navigate life in Singapore high society/deal with Nick's monster of a mother. 

13. 'To All the Boys I've Loved Before'

Release date: August 17

Starring: Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Janel Parrish, Anna Cathcart, Andrew Bachelor, Trezzo Mahoro, Madeleine Arthur, Emilija Baranac, Israel Broussard, and John Corbett.

Plot: High school student Lara Jean Covey writes letters to boys she loves and hides them away. Things go awry when the letters get out, though.

14. 'A Star Is Born'

Release date: October 5

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Sam Elliott, Andrew Dice Clay, and Dave Chappelle

Plot: Bradley Cooper stars as fading country music star Jackson Maine, who discovers a new talent in Ally (played by Lady Gaga). The two fall in love, but Jack struggles when Ally's fame starts to overshadow his own.

15. 'Alita: Battle Angel'

Release date: December 21

Starring: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, and Keean Johnson

Plot: This is an action flick with a heavy helping of romance. The movie follows a cyborg named Alita (Salazar), struggling to learn her identity and purpose, only to eventually discover that she's an angel of death. During her journey, she meets a mysterious boy named Hugo who loves her for who she is.

16. 'Second Act'

Release date: December 21

Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Leah Remini, Vanessa Hudgens, Treat Williams, and Milo Ventimiglia

Plot: It's a classic romcom-y plot with a classic romcom-y (welcome back to our movie-going lives, J. Lo—it's been too long). The movie is about a middle aged woman who feels stuck in a career rut and gets a second chance to prove herself when a big shot finance firm hires her by mistake.