The romantic comedy genre is filled with many great movies about finding love, and all the humor and challenges involved with it. The genre and its portrayals of love might not always be realistic, but there are many great movies that simply celebrate love and let people share in that happiness. British rom-coms are a small but excellent part of the genre, often setting their love stories in gorgeous United Kingdom landscapes. They also feature many familiar faces, dry humor, and, of course, different and beautiful ideas of love. Here are the best British rom-coms, ranked.
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8 About a Boy (2002)
Universal Pictures
About a Boy is a Nick Hornby adaptation that follows Hugh Grant’s Will, a womanizing bachelor who has never really cared for anyone. He then meets Fiona (Toni Collette) and her son, Marcus (Nicholas Hoult); their bond becomes stronger when Fiona attempts suicide and Will comes to care for Marcus. Amid some lies and deceit about pretending Marcus is his son, Will later meets Rachel (Rachel Weisz) and comes to truly fall for her. The movie strays from the predictable, and it also shows the seriousness of Fiona’s depression, which is rare for a rom-com. It ends happily, celebrating the characters beginning to change and love themselves.
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7 Love Actually (2003)
Universal Pictures/Mars Distribution
An anthology that follows a massive group of people, Love Actually is a Christmas rom-com that shows love in many different forms. It can be dizzying to keep up with the various characters and plotlines, but each one lets us see new explorations of love. From Daniel (Liam Neeson) bonding with his stepson, so he can impress a girl, to Harry (Alan Rickman) cheating on his wife in a heartbreaking scene, the movie is funny, emotional, and heartbreaking all at once. It also shows that not every romance can have a happy ending, a side of rom-coms not often seen.
6 Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)
Miramax Films/Universal Pictures
Bridget Jones’s Diary follows Bridget (Renee Zellweger) as she fills a diary with progress on her attempts to turn her life around. Her biggest goal is to find a boyfriend, which leaves her torn between two men: her boss Daniel (Hugh Grant), and lawyer Mark (Colin Firth). Rare at the time for presenting Bridget as a messy, average woman instead of a perfect rom-com love interest, it brings a brutal and funny honesty to the world of romance. It remains a hilarious look at love, led by Zellweger’s wholly relatable performance.
5 Notting Hill (1999)
Universal Pictures/PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Notting Hill stars Hugh Grant as bookstore owner Will, whose life is turned upside-down when Hollywood actress Anna (Julia Roberts) enters his bookstore. After the first meeting, a second one follows, where Anna ends up at Will’s flat after he spills juice on her. Their relationship progresses from there, with many ups and downs as they fall for each other. The two lead actors are perfect in showing the romantic part of the movie, while Will’s flatmate Spike (Rhys Ifans) breaks up the sweetness with his chaotic humor. It all ends with a great love confession before the happy ending.
4 About Time (2013)
About Time brings a sci-fi twist to the rom-com, as Tim (Dohmnall Gleeson) finds out he can time-travel. He uses this ability to fix his mistakes and ensure his relationship with Mary (Rachel McAdams). However, the gift has limits; once Tim and Mary have kids, he can’t go back before their births without the chance of erasing them from existence. What’s especially memorable is how the movie explores family love along with romantic love. When Tim learns that his father (Bill Nighy) is dying, they go back in time to share more moments together. However, when Mary wants another child, Tim knows he’ll be unable to time-travel, so they share one last memory where his father encourages Tim to truly live in each moment. IGN considers it one of the best time-travel movies, but it’s also a beautiful exploration of life and love.
3 Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Rank Film Distributors
Four Weddings and a Funeral follows Charles (Hugh Grant) and his group of friends as they attend the title events and search for love. At the first wedding, he meets Carrie (Andie MacDowell); they sleep together, but separate, and any attempt at reconnecting is met with a challenge. Aside from the main couple’s quest towards love, the supporting characters add quirky fun. The movie’s humor is great, but it also has real emotion when it goes from the joy of a wedding to the pain of a funeral when Gareth (Simon Callow) dies. His partner Matthew’s (John Hannah) reading of a W.H. Auden poem at the funeral is heartbreaking, and gives the movie real depth.
2 The Holiday (2006)
Sony Pictures Releasing
The Holiday centers around two women, Iris (Kate Winslet) and Amanda (Cameron Diaz), who swap houses for a two-week holiday during Christmas. Iris stays at Amanda’s Los Angeles residence, where she becomes friends with an old Hollywood actor and falls for video store employee Miles (Jack Black), while Amanda stays in Iris’ English cottage and falls for Iris’ brother, Graham (Jude Law). The four leads are excellent, and bring something special to a movie that could be overly cheesy or predictable. With their combination of talent, charm, and humor, the movie becomes a sweet exploration of love with a strong story and happy conclusion that feels well-deserved.
1 Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Though not a rom-com in the expected sense, Sense and Sensibility takes the classic Jane Austen novel and makes it both romantic and funny. Sisters Elinor (Emma Thompson) and Marianne (Kate Winslet) are left destitute after their father’s death. Moved into a small cottage, the two sisters grapple with their romantic feelings in the face of adjusting to their new reality. The two are excellent as sisters, and really bring their relationship and the stresses of their situation to life, while Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman bring charm and romance as Edward and Colonel Brandon. Considered one of the best Austen adaptations by Collider, it perfectly blends the drama and romance with great humor from the supporting characters, creating a timeless romance that anyone can enjoy.
