When it comes to romance movies, there are a lot of sub-genres to consider, but the best-friends-turned-lovers story arc is a classic for a reason. Some movies deal with the nerd falling in love with the popular guy or finding love where it’s least expected. However, some of the most popular romances in movies are those involving a friendship that develops into something more. These are the lifelong best friends who one day realize they’re in love with each other. As the story goes, one friend is either in love from the start and got friend-zoned or comes to realize that the one they truly loved was right in front of them.
Just the simple description of the premise brings to mind so many different movies, including the recent rom-com Your Place or Mine. These movies may not always rate highly with audiences but have become favorites when it comes to movies about long-overdue romances. Best friends to lovers are one of the oldest tropes out there and yet fans simply can’t get enough of it. In recent years, friends-to-lovers movies have become even more diverse telling love stories centered on people of color and even same-sex couples. Not all fictional friends-turned-lovers are equal though, so here are the best platonic-to-romantic relationship movies ranked.
18 Single All The Way (2021) – Available On Netflix
Single All The Way made history as Netflix’s first-ever same-sex Christmas movie. The story beings when Peter (Michael Urie) discovers his boyfriend is married right before he’s set to take him home for the holidays. Not wanting to show up alone, he convinces his best friend Nick (Philemon Chambers) to go with him. Their strictly platonic relationship is then more complicated as Nick starts noticing how great Peter is when he’s around his family. The premise sounds like the kind of story seen in so many rom-coms and that is part of the appeal. The movie allows a gay couple to be at the center of a very typical romance story making it feel fresh and original.
17 Plus One (2019) – Available On Hulu
Plus One is an underrated independent romantic comedy that was a major success at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2019 starring The Boys‘ Jack Quaid and Pen15‘s Maya Erskine. It follows best friends from college Ben King (Quaid) and Alice Mori (Erskine) who decide to endure a crazy summer wedding season together by being each other’s plus-ones. Though starting as each other’s wingmen, Alice starts to recognize her feelings for Ben. The movie is clearly made by people who love rom-coms but want to avoid seeing the same clichés over and over. It results in one of the better takes on the genre in recent years with the two leads elevating it even further.
16 Just Friends (2005) – Available To Rent On Apple TV
Just Friends helps define the meaning of being “friend-zoned.” Reynolds plays Chris Brander, an overweight high school student who is told he’s more friend material by his beautiful and popular best friend. Ten years later, a fit and attractive Chris returns to his hometown for Christmas hoping for another shot. Before Ryan Reynolds was Deadpool, he was frequently seen in rom-coms with this being perhaps his best. Though it was a critical flop when it was released, the movie has grown in popularity as a rewatchable Christmas movie. It also features a hilarious supporting performance from Anna Faris that alone makes it worthwhile.
15 The Duff (2015) – Available On Netflix
The Duff follows Bianca (Mae Whitman) who learns she’s tagged as “The Duff,” the Designated Ugly Fat Friend in their high school. She makes a deal with her former friend and star athlete Wesley (Robbie Amell) to help change her social status. While the movie admittedly doesn’t reach the heights of some other modern high school classics like Mean Girls or Superbad, it does valiantly attempt to push back on the typical high school movies in the same way and ends up feeling like something more honest than what is usually seen in the genre.
14 When We First Met (2018) – Available On Netflix
The guy falling for the girl first is a typical approach in these love stories as seen, but When We First Met puts a twist on it. Noah Ashby (Adam DeVine) regrets never being able to woo his friend, Avery (Alexandra Daddario) at the Halloween party they met at in 2014 only to be transported back in time for his second shot. Time travel, time loops, and every other storytelling gimmick have been used in rom-coms, but When We First Me really makes the most of the premise. After having fun with the time travel aspect, it delivers a fitting message that some things are meant to happen as they did.
13 Yesterday (2019) – Available On Hulu
Yesterday starts with the idea of Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) waking up after an accident to find he’s the only one who remembers the songs of The Beatles. A once struggling songwriter, Jack uses the songs to become a star, but his fame gets in the way of his relationship with his best friend Ellie (Lily James) who is still waiting for him to see her as something more. The movie has a brilliant premise and, in some ways, the love story actually gets in the way of that much more interesting story. However, it is a unique way of telling the story of someone who accomplishes everything they ever wanted only to realize what they needed was something they already had.
12 One Day (2011) – Available To Rent On Apple TV
One Day is a romantic drama movie that’s based on a novel of the same name. This movie being tagged as a drama is an understatement and it takes audiences on a rollercoaster of emotions that centers around two main characters who meet on July 15th. After a steamy night together, they decide to just be friends. Every year they meet on the same day and gradually draw closer to each other. While most other movies of this subgenre have offered lighthearted laughs, this is a more heartbreaking romance as the couple deal with various struggles throughout the years as their love grows stronger.
11 Always Be My Maybe (2019) – Available On Netflix
Randall Park and Ali Wong star in and wrote Always Be My Maybe playing Marcus and Sasha, two childhood best friends who drifted apart after an awkward night on their graduation night. When Sasha returns to San Francisco a decade later, she reconnects with Marcus. While the epic Keanu Reeves cameo in Always Be My Maybe was a big reason the movie rises above other Netflix offerings, it is hardly the only reason to watch. The two leads bring so much to the movie, selling the awkwardness of their relationship but making them a couple worth rooting for.
10 Zack And Miri Make A Porno (2008) – Available On Hulu
Don’t be fooled by the movie title. Zack and Miri Make a Porno falls under the category of best friends falling in love but in a sex comedy movie. The movie follows the titular roommates struggling to make ends meet. They decide to round up a group of their misfit friends and some local talents to make a porno parody of Star Wars only for it to spark something between them. Writer-director Kevin Smith finds a nice mix of heart and gross-out humor including one particularly graphic joke. There is also a great cast led by Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as the two leads.
9 Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World (2012) – Available To Rent On Apple TV
Finding a way to tell a friends-turned-romantic story that is also about the end of the world is an interesting direction to take, and it results in a surprising comedy-drama with Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. When an incoming asteroid marks the end of the world, a depressed man (Steve Carell) sets out to find his high school crush joined by his lonely neighbor (Kiera Knightley). The road trip brings these two together, sharing a meaningful time together with their remaining days. The mix of humor with the chaos of society collapsing and the drama of reflecting on life makes for one of the sweetest movies about the apocalypse.
8 Some Kind Of Wonderful (1987) – Available On HBO Max
Some Kind of Wonderful is a little dated, and very much a product of the 1980s, but still a classic in the best friends turned lovers category. Keith (Eric Stoltz) is an aspiring artist and best friend of tomboy Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson). Keith becomes enamored by the school’s popular girl as Watts realizes her feelings for him. The various stories mix together in an effective way, but it is the central relationship between Keith and Watts that is the best part of the movie. The movie brings that 80s nostalgia with writer John Hughes’ particular style that made for so many great teen movies of the era. Yet this is one that has outlasted so many of its contemporaries thanks to the characters.
7 Love, Rosie (2014) – Available on Paramount+
Lily Collins finds herself in plenty of romantic entanglements in Emily in Paris, but before starring in the Netflix series, she was in Love, Rosie. Rose (Collins) and Alex (Sam Clafin) have been best friends since childhood but when they begin to realize their feelings for each other, they keep missing chances with each other as they make their own separate lives. Collins and Clafin make for a charming duo in this story of missed chances. It says a lot about their chemistry as the audience is willing to watch as they are continuously pulled away from each other waiting for that moment for them to come together.
6 The F Word (2013) – Available on Showtime
Harry Potter actor, Daniel Radcliffe gets a shot at love in the romantic comedy, The F Word. Wallace (Radcliffe) is down on his luck living with his sister when he meets Chantry (Zoe Kazan). Despite feeling that she is perfect for him, Wallace has to sit by and wait as Chantry has her own relationship. Adam Driver’s early movie role as Wallace’s best friend is the highlight, but the movie is an underrated gem of the rom-com genre. It avoids being too cheesy, embracing the comedy of the story with some hilarious moments. Radcliffe also makes for a great rom-com lead.
5 Brown Sugar (2002) – Available On Hulu
Brown Sugar doesn’t do much to redefine the rom-com genre, but the characters, the chemistry, and the tone of the movie help it to stand out. Sanaa Lathan and Taye Diggs star as childhood friends who bonded over a love of music. Years later, with one of them about to get married, they find themselves finally starting to venture into that romantic territory they avoided for so long. Setting the movie inside the rap music world allows for supporting roles for two of the best rappers turned actors, Mos Def and Queen Latifa. They play friends of the two main characters who, along with everyone else, can see these two are meant for each other. The way they resist those feelings makes for a sexy and captivating tension in the movie.
4 13 Going On 30 (2004) – Available On HBO Max
13 Going on 30 is a teen classic when it comes to romance movies from the 2000s. After being tired of her teen years, Jenna wakes up years later and is 30 years old. She learns that she became distant and cold as an adult and cut ties with her best friend, Matty (Mark Ruffalo). She finds him to help figure out her past and despite him being engaged, they start to fall for one another. The movie is sort of a reimagining of the Tom Hanks movie Big but doesn’t feel derivative. Instead, it makes for a sweet, funny, and charming story with a winning performance from Garner who perfectly captures the teen spirit. Her chemistry with Ruffalo also helps to make it a movie fans love to revisit.
3 Reality Bites (1994) – Available on Peacock Premium
Directed by Ben Stiller, Reality Bites explores the generation of young adults in the 1990s looking for direction in their lives while also wanting to rebel against the more structured systems they are meant to fit into. However, the central relationship finds Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke playing two aimless young friends who have avoided a romance for years despite a mutual attraction but soon find themselves entering complicated territory. Reality Bites is a pure 90s movie yet doesn’t feel dated despite how much it leans into the vibe of the era.
2 Love & Basketball (2000) – Available on HBO Max and Hulu
Love & Basketball is a staple movie that’s always playing on TV and for good reason. This love story is a bit different, seeing as the main characters do date on and off. Monica Wright (Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy McCall (Omar Epps) have known each other since childhood and both have the drive to become professional basketball stars while struggling with their feelings for each other. It is not often a mix of a basketball movie and a romance that is pulled off well, but Love & Basketball is the perfect marriage of these two subjects. The movie never ignores the characters’ passion for the game but makes the romance sexy and compelling at the same time.
1 When Harry Met Sally (1989) – Available On HBO Max
Seen as one of the greatest rom-coms of all time, When Harry Met Sally might well be the beginning of the question, “Can men and women ever just be friends?” Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan star as the titular characters who meet without the possibility of romance on the table and gradually see each other go in and out of relationships as a spark of something more grows inside them. Nora Ephron’s Oscar-nominated script is an insightful, clever, and hilarious look at relationships, the dynamic of men and women, and love in general. There is an endless mix of hilarious moments, like the iconic diner scene, as well as heartwarming moments, like the climactic declaration of love.