Is the Hollywood rom-com dead, or are we falling out of love with it?
Something is in the air in the movie world, and it isn’t love. For decades, romantic comedies were a Hollywood staple, drawing audiences in to laugh, cry, and believe, even just for a couple hours, that love could conquer all. When Harry Met Sally, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Sleepless in Seattle, Love Actually; these movies did more than just entertain, they contributed to a genre of classics that is becoming relatively historic.
There’s something about classic rom-coms that make us feel overwhelmingly comforted and happy. Viewers are transported to a dream-like reality: charming bookstores, cozy cafes, and picturesque city streets. Many of the aforementioned iconic rom-coms emerged in the 80s, 90s, and early 00s before the era of smartphones and social media, before the digital age reshaped meet-cutes from run-ins at grocery stores to matches on dating apps. Seeing as peak romance seemed to exist in movies at this time, was love somehow easier, or was life simply better before technology took over our lives? This is a question I find myself returning to often, along with a certain nostalgia for a lifestyle I never experienced. I think this is partly why that era of rom-coms is so widely loved. In many ways, they are windows into a version of life that no longer feels easily accessible. Whether or not the past was truly more romantic, these films offered audiences a vision of connection that felt warm, hopeful, and deeply human — qualities becoming increasingly rare in today’s cinematic landscape.
In contrast, recent additions to the romantic comedy genre have been wiped of this dreamy quality. Films like Anyone but You and Ticket to Paradise did achieve streaming popularity, yet few have embedded themselves into our long-term cultural memory in the way that earlier films did. Today’s romance movies often lean into the drama of it all, emphasizing emotional conflict, messy “situationships,” or the toxicity of modern dating rather than the hopeful escapism that once defined the genre. Visually, many share the now-familiar “Netflix lighting” making movies feel interchangeable and somewhat bland, contributing to the sense that these films lack the sparkle they once were admired for.
These changes in production might reflect a change in audience preferences, indicating perhaps that people find cynicism more entertaining than romance itself. However, even more compelling is the question of whether these films simply reflect the realities of modern dating, where traditional grand gestures such as sending flowers in the mail, running through a city to confess love, or showing up unannounced to express one’s romantic feelings have become increasingly rare; or whether the media we consume is quietly steering audiences away from imagining romance in these ways at all.
Theatrical rom-com releases have declined significantly, in part because the genre typically falls into the mid-budget category ($5-50 million) that studios now consider financially risky compared to blockbuster franchises. As fewer of these films are produced and promoted, their cultural influence also diminishes. What are the effects of this decline?
Rom-coms help keep classic romance alive and have historically functioned as social examples for courtship, modeling communication, vulnerability, and intentional actions. Audiences may therefore lose exposure to the emotional openness and thoughtful gestures that are the backbone of a healthy relationship. These are especially important for youth to internalise, as they lack romantic experience at a young age and might require models of healthy relationships outside of their immediate families.
More simply, rom-coms are fun to watch. They’re the perfect thing to wind down to after a stressful day at school or work. While psychologically compelling romantic dramas can be entertaining at times, they just do not produce the same warm, cozy feeling.
Psychological research on romantic media suggests that its influence is complex. Some scholars argue that romance films can reinforce unhealthy expectations, encouraging the belief that individuals are “incomplete” without a partner and even reinforcing stigma around being single. Others argue that romance movies are sometimes overly unrealistic, accelerating processes of emotional intimacy that in reality take much longer to develop or solving deeply-rooted problems that only years of therapy can fix. Melanie Maimon, a professor of psychology at Bryant University, explains that films tend to emphasize passionate love, dramatic confessions and intense attractions, while overlooking the quieter forms of love that actually sustain long-term partnerships. Rather than dramatics, long-lasting relationships are built instead on companionate love, defined by friendship, emotional support, and shared routines. Since these aspects of companionship are not deemed as cinematically interesting as passionate love and grand gestures are, audiences are often left with an incomplete picture of how relationships actually endure.
At the same time, other research highlights the constructive potential of romantic storytelling. Many rom-com conflicts arise from miscommunication, showing how failure to properly express feelings can block connection and emphasizing how successful relationships require vulnerability. These movies have also historically gotten humans through difficult times, thriving during crises like the Great Depression and wartime as a reliable form of escapist entertainment. Romantic films act both as a key to a transportive world of relatable characters with easily identifiable struggles, and as a warm security blanket we can wrap ourselves in when we need comfort and/or a laugh.
Rom-coms once gave audiences a place to believe in grand gestures, awkward meet-cutes, and the possibility that love may be just around the corner. Today, as the genre grows quieter, perhaps the real question is not whether the rom-com is dying, but whether we are ready to lose the kinds of stories that once reminded us, albeit a little cheesily, that love could be all we need.