Romantic comedies are great any time of the year, but they are especially delightful as the seasons change and the weather begins to cool down because fall rom-coms make for a cozy way to spend the day inside as the temperatures drop outside. Even those in warm climates can pump up the air conditioner, brew a cup of tea, and relax for a couple of hours while a love story plays out, spending time in the fall feeling so many rom-coms evoke.
Autumn is a special time for rom-com viewing though many rom-coms for the season aren't strictly comedies. There are often elements of drama, even some with elements of fantasy, and they aren't all the cheesy rom-coms set at an autumn festival, though there's nothing wrong with that particular breed of rom-coms for fans of the genre. These films will be an excellent addition to any cozy watch list this fall.
35 Notting Hill (1999)
A Book Store Owner Falls In Love With An Actress
Notting Hill
- Release Date
- May 28, 1999
- Runtime
- 124 minutes
- Director
- Roger Michell
Cast
Anna Scott
William Thacker
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Richard Curtis
Julia Roberts was once known as the Queen of romantic comedies. Not all of them, however, evoke the cozy feelings of autumn. Notting Hill does, despite not explicitly being set in the fall. In the movie, Roberts is an actress who tries to stay under the radar while in England. There, she meets a bookstore owner, played by Hugh Grant, and falls for him. However, since they are from different places in society, things are not easy when they try to make things work.
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The two staying in, drinking tea, and the gray skies overhead will make the audience think of fall weather, though it's really just typical of England, which doesn't usually see scorching summer temperatures. At the time of its release, it was the highest-grossing British movie of all time. It also picked up three Golden Globe nominations and has an 84% Rotten Tomatoes score.
34 Autumn In The Vineyard (2016)
Former Childhood Sweethearts Co-Inherit A Vineyard
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Autumn in the Vineyard
- Release Date
- October 8, 2016
- Director
- Scott Smith
- Writers
- Marina Adair, Suzette Couture
Cast
Rachael Leigh CookFrankie Baldwin
Brendan PennyNate DeLuca
Jill TeedGlow Sorrento-
Jeremy GuilbautJonah Baldwin
WHERE TO WATCH
Autumn in the Vineyard follows Frankie Baldwin (Rachael Leigh Cook) and Nate DeLuca (Brendan Penny) as they inherit and transform a vineyard into their dream winery. As they navigate the challenges of vineyard management, their personal and professional lives intertwine, leading to a mix of conflicts and romance. The film, set against the picturesque backdrop of a lush vineyard, explores themes of ambition, partnership, and love.
Autumn in the Vineyard features Rachel Leigh Cook and Brendan Penny as former childhood sweethearts who are both left ownership of a vineyard in someone's will. They have to learn how to work together to keep the vineyard from going under and end up rekindling an old spark. The two eventually have to find a way to make things work during the Best Wine competition at the annual Autumn Harvest Festival.
For seasonal offerings of romantic storylines, Hallmark is a great option for finding plenty of movies. The network has a yearly "fall into love" themed lineup that centers its romances around harvest season. That usually means plenty of pumpkins, tea, and cozy sweaters in its fall rom-coms, but in the case of Autumn in the Vineyard, it means wine. The movie was so successful that it resulted in a franchise, with three films in the trilogy.
33 Must Love Dogs (2005)
Two Divorcees Attempt Internet Dating
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Must Love Dogs
- Release Date
- July 21, 2005
- Runtime
- 88 minutes
- Director
- Gary David Goldberg
Cast
Sarah-
John CusackJake
Elizabeth PerkinsCarol
Bill
WHERE TO WATCH
Must Love Dogs follows Sarah Nolan, a newly divorced woman navigating the ups and downs of dating with her family's enthusiastic yet misguided . Set against a series of comedic misadventures, Sarah learns to trust her instincts and discovers the enduring possibility of finding love.
Must Love Dogs is an often-forgotten rom-com from the 2000s. Starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, the movie features two recently divorced people, Sarah and Jake (Lane and Cusack), who try their hand at the world of internet dating, connecting over the "must love dogs" part of a dating profile despite neither of them actually owning a dog (Sarah is caring for her sick mother's dog, though, a Newfoundland called Mother Teresa).
...most critics still praised Lane and Cusack for their performances.
It's a sweet movie with plenty of scenes in parks that will make viewers want to enjoy the cooling temperatures. Critics were not kind, giving the movie a 36% rating on Rotten Tomatoes but a higher average 50% score from the audience Popcornmeter. While the reviews weren't what the filmmakers hoped for, most critics still praised Lane and Cusack for their performances.
32 Little Women (2019)
Greta Gerwig Adapts The Classic Louisa May Alcott Novel
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Little Women
- Release Date
- December 25, 2019
- Runtime
- 135 minutes
- Director
- Greta Gerwig
WHERE TO WATCH
Little Women isn't explicitly a fall rom-com since the movie takes place over several years and centers on the coming-of-age of a group of sisters. However, it still feels like the story should always be set in the fall, and the romantic entanglements of Jo (Saoirse Ronan), Amy (Florence Pugh), and Laurie (Timothee Chalamet) provide the rom-com aspects of the movie.
It also has a 95% Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes rating and won one Oscar with six nominations.
The tropes in Louisa May Alcott's original novel that make it into the movie, like one best friend falling for the other or the little sister falling for a family friend, weren't tropes when she wrote the novel. However, they have become integral story points in many rom-coms in modern pop culture. The film was a huge box office success, standing out in Greta Gerwig's filmography before her Barbie hit. It also has a 95% Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes rating and won one Oscar with six nominations.
31 Falling For Vermont (2017)
A Writer On Vacation & Ends Up With Amnesia In A Small Town
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Falling For Vermont
- Release Date
- September 23, 2017
- Director
- David Winning
- Writers
- Jay Baxter, Shaun Zaken, Michael G. Larkin
Cast
Angela
Benjamin AyresJeff-
Lauren McNamaraEmily
-
Christian Michael CooperAlex
WHERE TO WATCH
Falling For Vermont is a romantic drama directed by David Winning. The film stars Julie Gonzalo as an author who loses her memory after an accident and finds solace in a small Vermont town. There, she is helped by a local doctor, played by Benjamin Ayres, as she attempts to rediscover her identity. Through this journey, unexpected relationships and charming town life become central to her story.
One of the professions that Hallmark loves to use in its made-for-TV movies is a writer. That might mean a novelist, biographer, or journalist, but writers are a popular character job in their romance movies. That's exactly what Julie Gonzalo's character is in Falling for Vermont. She decides to escape the media associated with her career by taking a remote vacation but ends up in an accident that leaves her with amnesia in a small Vermont town.
While there, she bonds with the doctor (Benjamin Ayres) caring for her and comes to appreciate the changing of the seasons and the fall festival in town. Falling for Vermont earned some critical acclaim, picking up a Best of Show Award at WorldFest Houston, and Peter Benson won Best ing Performance by a Male at the Leo Awards.
30 To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
A Teen's Sister Sends Private Love Letters To All The Boys She Liked
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To All the Boys I've Loved Before
- Release Date
- August 17, 2018
- Runtime
- 102 minutes
- Director
- Susan Johnson
Cast
Lana Condor
Anna Cathcart
WHERE TO WATCH
Based on the novel by Jenny Han, To All the Boys I Loved Before sees high-school student Lara Jean Covey caught in a terrifyingly awkward situation when her deepest secrets leak out. Lara, who has many ionate crushes, has written confession letters to all of them – with no intention of ever sending them. However, when all five letters somehow reach her five loves, Lara’s high school life becomes an exercise in crisis management as she desperately attempts to gain control of it all.
- Distributor(s)
- Netflix
Based on the Jenny Han novel of the same name, To All The Boys I've Loved Before is a teen rom-com that's perfect for fall. It might not all take place in the fall, but the beginnings of the school year traditionally occur then, and the largely academic setting of Lara Jean's (Lana Candor) story makes it feel that way. The film is a love story of a high schooler who finds herself with suitors that she never imagined.
Lara Jean has her world turned upside down when her little sister shares the letters she's written to her crushes over the last few years, one of whom is her older sister's boyfriend, and another is one of the most popular guys in school. Lara Jean develops a plan with Peter (Noah Centineo) in order to avoid itting her crush on her sister's boyfriend, but falls for him in the process. has two sequels and a spin-off series.
29 The F Word (2013)
A Young Man Finds A Relationship After Heartbreak
Also released under the title What If, The F Word sees two people (Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan) who meet at a mutual friend's party and become friends and try to stay platonic despite their mutual attraction to one another. While the movie doesn't necessarily do anything new for the rom-com genre, it's a bit of comfort food for those who love romance movies, especially of the friends-to-lovers variety.
The F Word was one of Radcliffe’s first contemporary movies that pulled him out of a fantasy story.
The movie features late nights at diners, fires on the beach, and plenty of sweater weather, but the chemistry between the leads makes it belong on a fall rom-com list. The F Word was one of Radcliffe's first contemporary movies that pulled him out of fantasy stories, and he proved he could be a leading man. Critics gave it a Rotten Tomatoes score of 74%, and it earned several nominations at the Canadian Screen Awards.
28 Kissing Jessica Stein (2001)
Two Women Explore Same-Sex Love For The First Time
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Kissing Jessica Stein
- Release Date
- April 5, 2002
- Director
- Charles Herman-Wurmfeld
- Writers
- Heather Juergensen, Jennifer Westfeldt
Cast
Jennifer WestfeldtJessica Stein
Tovah FeldshuhJudy Stein-
Heather JuergensenHelen Cooper
-
Esther WurmfeldGrandma Esther
WHERE TO WATCH
Kissing Jessica Stein is a romantic comedy following Jessica, a single, straight woman who, fed up with the dating scene, responds to a personal ad placed by a woman. Directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld, the film explores themes of sexuality and self-discovery, highlighting the complexities and humor arising from unconventional relationships. Jennifer Westfeldt and Heather Juergensen deliver compelling performances in this character-driven narrative.
In the early 2000s, there weren't a lot of rom-coms with LGBTQ+ storylines that ended up finding a mainstream audience like Kissing Jessica Stein. The movie explored the fluidity of sexuality as both of the main characters had grown disillusioned with their previous relationships with men and decided to take a chance on pursuing a relationship with a woman. It's a different kind of coming out or coming-of-age story as both women are adults, and so many of that particular story focuses on teens.
It also gives both women very different, but still very happy, endings, creating a lovely fall rom-com for audiences to enjoy. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie received an 83% fresh rating, and it earned praise for its positive portrayal of same-sex relationships in an era where it wasn't always openly portrayed in mainstream movies.
27 Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
A Rom-Com Dealing With Mental Health Issues
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Silver Linings Playbook
- Release Date
- November 16, 2012
- Runtime
- 122 Minutes
- Director
- David O. Russell
WHERE TO WATCH
Just as much a drama about mental health as it is a rom-com about two people struggling to connect, Silver Linings Playbook is set just as the months begin to get colder in the fall. That's evident by the sweaters worn by the characters and the fact that it's NFL football season for most of the movie (the Philadelphia Eagles are spotlighted in the film). It might be a bit more dramatic than comedic but it's perfect for the season.
Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper star as two people struggling with their own past relationships and mental health who manage to find a kindred spirit in one another. Their surprising connection leads to a relationship, although things are never easy, and they have to fight to make it work out in the end. The film was a critics' favorite, earning eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, although it only won one for Best Actress (Lawrence).
26 Twilight (2008)
A Vampire Falls In Love With A High School Student
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Twilight
- Release Date
- November 21, 2008
- Runtime
- 121 minutes
- Director
- Catherine Hardwicke
Cast
Ashley Greene
WHERE TO WATCH
Based on Stephenie Meyer’s book of the same name, Twilight follows Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), who falls madly in love with Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), who she soon finds out is a vampire. Falling in love with her at the same time, Edward and Bella must overcome obstacles to preserve their forbidden relationship.
Some might not consider Twilight a fall rom-com, but the supernatural teen romance does fit the bill in a lot of ways. For one, Bella's (Kristen Stewart) story begins as she begins a new school year at a new school in Forks, a town that seems to have a perpetual state of fog and light rain as the weather inches closer to winter. There are also several scenes with Edward and Bella out in the woods, with the forest presenting a great fall-like atmosphere.
Twilight might not be a traditional rom-com but it's still perfect to enjoy during the fall months...
The Twilight Saga's movies are mostly dramas with some action sprinkled in, but their comedic moments help keep some of the melodrama at bay, and that's especially true of the first movie. Twilight might not be a traditional rom-com but it's still perfect to enjoy during the fall months and when looking for laughs, consider the memes that were born from the franchise.
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