Best movies — romance on Apple TV+ : our Top 20

1994 · Robert Zemeckis

A man of limited intelligence finds himself swept into landmark moments of history, repeatedly achieving far more than anyone expects and leaving a trail of remarkable accomplishments. Despite the fame and the extraordinary life he builds, the woman he truly loves remains just out of reach.

With Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Sally Field, Mykelti Williamson, Michael Conner Humphreys and Hanna Hall

2010 · Robert Luketic

Wounded in a double-cross by her merciless boss Bill and colleagues from their close-knit circle of killers, a professional operative survives and secretly prepares a meticulous plan to take them down.

With Ashton Kutcher, Katherine Heigl, Tom Selleck, Catherine O'Hara, Katheryn Winnick, Kevin Sussman and Lisa Ann Walter

2004 · Richard Linklater

Nearly a decade on, Jesse tours Europe reading aloud from a memoir about the one unforgettable night he once spent with Celine in Vienna. After a Paris performance she seeks him out, and they spend part of the day together before Jesse must rush to catch a flight. Though both are now involved with other people — and Jesse is a father — old feelings begin to resurface, and they admit to craving something more than the lives they’ve settled into.

With Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Vernon Dobtcheff, Louise Lemoine Torrès, Rodolphe Pauly, Mariane Plasteig and Diabolo

2013 · Spike Jonze

In the near future, lonely writer Theodore installs an advanced operating system designed to anticipate and satisfy his every need, and unexpectedly finds himself forming a deep romantic bond with the artificial intelligence. This unconventional romance, set against a speculative tech backdrop, tenderly explores the meaning of love and the paradoxical ways technology can both isolate us and forge profound connections.

With Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Chris Pratt, Olivia Wilde and Matt Letscher

2005 · Ron Howard

Former boxer Jim Braddock, forced into retirement during the 1930s, stages an unlikely comeback in the ring to battle his way out of hardship and lift his family from poverty.

With Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko, Paddy Considine, Bruce McGill and David Huband

2005 · Joe Wright

Set in Georgian Hertfordshire, a placid country gentleman lives with his domineering wife and their five unmarried daughters; because the family estate is entailed to a distant cousin they have never met, the household’s security and future happiness rest on the daughters securing suitable marriages.

With Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Brenda Blethyn, Rosamund Pike, Carey Mulligan, Jena Malone and Talulah Riley

2008 · David Fincher

Arriving into the world under strange circumstances—as an elderly infant in a New Orleans nursing home—Benjamin Button begins life aging backward. When he is twelve, he meets Daisy, a youngster who drifts in and out of his life as she grows into a professional dancer. Though his years are filled with many extraordinary episodes, it is his bond with Daisy and the hope that their timelines will one day align that sustains him.

With Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Julia Ormond, Jason Flemyng, Mahershala Ali and Jared Harris

2014 · James Marsh

An intimate biographical drama that traces the rise of celebrated theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking and the profound relationship he develops with Jane Wilde after they meet as students at Cambridge.

With Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Charlie Cox, Emily Watson, Simon McBurney, David Thewlis and Maxine Peake

2005 · Ang Lee

Against the wide, conservative plains of 1960s Wyoming, two men forge a deep romantic and physical bond that endures for decades. As each marries and becomes a father, their secret connection tests loyalties, upends expectations, and reshapes the families they try to uphold.

With Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway, Randy Quaid, Linda Cardellini and Anna Faris

1990 · Tim Burton

A stranded, unfinished laboratory creation called Edward appears in a quiet suburban neighborhood, upending everyday life as residents grapple with the unexpected consequences of a runaway experiment.

With Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Alan Arkin, Anthony Michael Hall, Vincent Price and Kathy Baker

2018 · Greg Berlanti

Seventeen-year-old Simon is juggling a normal teenage life while keeping a major secret: he hasn't come out to his family or friends. When he develops a deep online connection with an anonymous classmate, the mystery of their identity forces him to confront both the fear of being open about who he is and the possibility of a real, complicated romance.

With Nick Robinson, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Logan Miller and Keiynan Lonsdale

1989 · Rob Reiner

Convinced that attraction inevitably ruins friendships between men and women, Harry approaches relationships with skepticism. When he meets Sally, a close and unexpected bond forms, and he fights to protect their friendship despite his growing feelings. After one impulsive night leads to an awkward, truth-revealing morning, they must decide whether to preserve the safe familiarity of being friends or acknowledge that they may actually be perfect for each other.

With Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby, Steven Ford, Lisa Jane Persky and Michelle Nicastro

2023 · Yorgos Lanthimos

Reawakened by an unconventional scientist, a young woman absconds with a bold lawyer on a whirlwind, globe-spanning journey; liberated from the era’s social constraints, she discovers a fierce sense of purpose and becomes an unwavering advocate for equality and emancipation.

With Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Jerrod Carmichael, Christopher Abbott and Suzy Bemba

2014 · Josh Boone

A breakthrough treatment has stalled Hazel’s tumor and given her a little more time, but she still lives under the shadow of a terminal diagnosis, convinced her ending was set the day she got the news. Then Augustus Waters appears at her cancer support group, and the life she assumed was closing begins to be rewritten.

With Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff, Laura Dern, Sam Trammell, Willem Dafoe and Lotte Verbeek

2009 · Marc Webb

Blindsided when his girlfriend Summer walks out, greeting-card writer Tom — a hopeless romantic — combs through the five hundred days they spent together to trace where their relationship fell apart, and in the process he reconnects with the dreams and passions he’d lost sight of.

With Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel, Chloë Grace Moretz, Geoffrey Arend, Matthew Gray Gubler, Clark Gregg and Patricia Belcher

2008 · Stephen Daldry

Michael Berg, now a German lawyer, is haunted by a clandestine relationship he had as a teenager with an older woman, Hanna. Years after she inexplicably vanished, she reappears as a defendant in a postwar trial for her role as a concentration camp guard near the end of the conflict. Michael alone recognizes that Hanna is illiterate and realizes she may be concealing this secret at the cost of her liberty.

With Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross, Lena Olin, Bruno Ganz, Jeanette Hain and Hannah Herzsprung

2016 · Thea Sharrock

Twenty-six-year-old Lou Clark, adrift in the routines of a small English town, accepts a position at a nearby manor as companion and caregiver to Will Traynor, a formerly adventurous banker now confined to a wheelchair after a life-changing accident two years earlier. Withdrawn and resigned to a narrow existence, Will has retreated from the life he once loved — but Lou’s bright, unconventional spirit pushes her to break through his defenses and convince him there are still reasons to embrace life.

With Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Janet McTeer, Charles Dance, Brendan Coyle, Jenna Coleman and Matthew Lewis

2015 · Sebastian Schipper

A young woman from Spain, freshly arrived in Berlin, sees a chance romance with a charismatic local spiral into peril when an evening out with his friends uncovers a sinister secret that puts her in mortal danger.

With Laia Costa, Frederick Lau, Franz Rogowski, Max Mauff, Burak Yiğit, André Hennicke and Lena Klenke

1993 · Jane Campion

Sent to New Zealand’s untamed 19th-century frontier by an arranged marriage, Ada and her headstrong daughter confront life far from home; Ada fights a controlling husband while a fierce, forbidden attraction to a rugged frontiersman sparks a tense clash of wills.

With Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, Anna Paquin, Cliff Curtis, Kerry Walker and Ian Mune

2004 · Alexander Payne

Two men in their middle years set out on a soul-searching road trip through California's wine country: one an unpublished novelist wrestling with severe depression, the other a man just days away from marrying. As vineyards and quiet towns pass by, their conversations and confessions force each to reckon with fear, hope, and what it means to begin again.

With Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh, Marylouise Burke, Jessica Hecht and Missy Doty