Romance films are movies or TV shows that tell stories about romantic love. These stories focus on the feelings, emotions, and relationships between the main characters. They often show how the characters go through stages like dating, getting married, or facing challenges in their relationships. The main idea of these films is usually about finding love. Sometimes, the characters must deal with problems such as money issues, health problems, discrimination, personal struggles, or disagreements with their families. Like real relationships, these films also show everyday challenges, temptations, and differences between people in love.

Romance films explore many types of love, including love at first sight, love between young and older people, unrequited love, obsessive love, emotional love, spiritual love, forbidden love, friendship-based love, passionate love, selfless love, intense or harmful love, and sad or tragic love. These films give viewers a chance to imagine happy endings, especially when the main characters overcome their problems, confess their love, and live happily ever after, often shown through a final kiss or reunion. In TV shows, romantic relationships may develop over time or involve different characters in separate storylines.

Eric R. Williams, a screenwriter and scholar, says that Romance Films are one of eleven main categories in his system for classifying movies. The other categories include action, crime, fantasy, horror, science fiction, comedy, sports, thriller, war, and western.

Decline in romance films

The percentage of romance films compared to all movies made has dropped a lot in recent years. Data from IMDb shows that romance films made up 34.8% of all movies released in 2000, but this number fell to 8.6% in the latest year reported.

Romance films have appeared and disappeared in cycles throughout movie history. They were a large part of movies made from the 1940s to the early 1960s, but then their share decreased. Over the last 30 years of the 20th century, the genre slowly increased again, reaching its highest point in the early 2000s. However, this trend has recently changed. Also, the use of romance as a secondary story in other movie types, such as action films, has become less common.

Subgenres

A "chick flick" is a type of movie that focuses on romance and is often enjoyed by women. However, not all romance movies are chick flicks, and chick flicks do not always center on romantic relationships. These terms should not be used the same way. Examples of chick flicks include Gilda, The Red Shoes, Sense and Sensibility, Dirty Dancing, The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, Thelma & Louise, Fifty Shades of Grey, Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, and Romeo + Juliet.

Epic romance, also called historical romance, is a story set in the past and often takes place during times of war, revolution, or tragedy. Examples include Gone with the Wind, Doctor Zhivago, Titanic, A Very Long Engagement, Atonement, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, and Cold War.

Paranormal romance is a genre where humans form romantic relationships with supernatural beings, such as vampires, ghosts, or people with psychic powers. This genre began in books and later appeared in movies, especially after the success of The Twilight Saga in the early 2000s. Examples of paranormal romance films include The Twilight Saga, Warm Bodies, Vampire Academy, I Am Dragon, and The Shape of Water.

Romantic comedies are movies with funny, lighthearted stories about love and relationships. Humor in these films is usually spoken or situational, not slapstick. Examples include City Lights, It Happened One Night, Roman Holiday, The Big Sick, To All the Boys I've Loved Before, Four Weddings and a Funeral, When Harry Met Sally…, Annie Hall, and La La Land.

Romantic dramas are stories about love that face challenges or obstacles. These films often use music to express emotions and may leave the audience unsure if the main characters end up together. Examples before 2000 include Casablanca, Pride & Prejudice, Love Story, The English Patient, and Shakespeare in Love. Examples from the 21st century include Sideways, Slumdog Millionaire, Up in the Air, The Artist, and Malcolm & Marie.

Director Richard Linklater created the Before trilogy, which includes Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight. An Indian romantic drama series from the 2000s is Kasautii Zindagii Kay. Same-sex romantic dramas that explore LGBTQ+ themes include Brokeback Mountain, Blue is the Warmest Colour, Carol, Moonlight, and Call Me by Your Name.

Romantic fantasy movies mix romance with fantasy elements, such as magic or imaginary worlds. Examples include Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Groundhog Day, Enchanted, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and The Shape of Water.

Romantic musicals are films that tell love stories through songs and dances. This genre began on Broadway and later became popular in movies. Examples include West Side Story, Grease, High School Musical, Moulin Rouge!, La La Land, and the Mamma Mia! series.

Romantic thrillers combine romance with suspense or mystery. Examples include Vertigo, The Bodyguard, Unfaithful, Wicker Park, The Tourist, and The Adjustment Bureau.

Film types, macro genres and the filmmaker's voice

The screenwriters' taxonomy adds more categories beyond "subgenre" when discussing films. It argues that all Hollywood narrative films can be divided into comedies or dramas (called a "film type"). This system also lists fifty "macro genres" that can be combined with the romance super genre. Using this method, films like Gone with the Wind would be classified as a dramatic (type) historical/family (macro genres) romance (genre) instead of just a historical romance. Similarly, The Notebook would be labeled as a dramatic (type) disease (macro genre) romance (genre) rather than a romantic drama.

Musicals are considered one choice for a filmmaker's "voice" because the decision to have characters sing does not change the story or characters—it only changes how the story and characters are shown. For example, a romance film like Grease would be classified as a dramatic (type), romance (super genre), high school/coming of age (macro genres), musical (voice) instead of simply being called a "musical romance."