The coincidental meet-cute, fake dating to entice a jealous ex, a grand declaration of love, followed by a passionate kiss in the rain: these are characteristic of the romantic comedies we know and love.
The classic rom-coms: When Harry Met Sally, Notting Hill, 10 Things I Hate About You, have painted expectations of love for generations of young women. But over the years, a lack of good modern rom-coms that mirror the changes of society have left girls crying on the couch on a Saturday night, wishing Ryan Gosling would remember how we wanted a white house with blue shutters and room overlooking the river; believing that love had been lost to us completely.
But recently there has been a spark of a new kind of rom-com, ones that develop characters who fall victim to the reality of a society where everyone seems to be “perfect”.
Take Materialists, for example, a 2025 film starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal. Through a plot line of romance with the epitome of the “perfect man”, a “unicorn” as she calls him, director Celine Song relays the pressures of modern dating. Here is a man who has everything in the world: money, stability, class, but is still unhappy with himself because of his height. Pascal’s character travels to Turkey for a leg lengthening surgery, hoping to make himself more desirable for the marriage market. A whirlwind of commentary on the constant pressure to be perfect, Materialists is just one movie which uses romance to expose social issues.
Contrasted with a more emotional romance such as John Crowley’s, We Live in a Time, which, through a story of love and loss, reminds viewers that all time is fleeting, and moments are what matters most, not physical beauty or objects. Films have begun to, whether through witty jokes or great tragedy, expose that love is not as simple as the 90’s movies painted it to be.
Sure, it’s nice to believe that there is one person out there who is meant for us and if we trust the universe and have patience, our paths will one day cross. But in reality, love can be found in more than just one person.
Love surrounds us every single minute of the day.
It is in the friends who love you despite your wrongs, the family who is there unconditionally, in the time you spend doing things that make you happy.
In the end, modern rom-coms are so back. They have begun to show the world that there is so much more to “love” than those four letters and a pretty man. “Love” is when you laugh to spite sadness, overcome hard things, value subjects that matter to you and most importantly, embrace who you truly are. When you learn to see the world as a vessel of all the moments you have loved, you realize that love truly is, all around.