Still looking for a date this Valentine’s?
If your plans for Valentine’s Day remain uncertain, we’ve got the perfect solution for you: a dreamy movie night filled with the best romantic comedies.
So, grab your popcorn because we’ve selected the most popular rom-coms by state. To do this, we looked at which movies were the hottest topic on Google Trends over the past five years.
According to our findings, the most popular rom-com across the US is Anyone but You–a release for 2023 that you can still catch in a theater near you. The plot follows Bea and Ben. On paper, they look like the perfect couple but their first date falls flat. When they later stumble across each other at a destination wedding in Australia, they try their hardest to seem like the perfect couple.
But fear not, if you’re not in the mood to break your sofa’s heart this Valentine’s Day, we’ve compiled a list of rom-coms that are sure to tickle your romantic taste buds.
As well as Anyone But You, a couple of other movies were a top pick across the US. These were:
- 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) – Based on the classic Shakespeare play, The Taming of the Shrew, this movie stars Julia Stiles as Kat and the late Heath Ledger as Patrick. Kat’s younger sister, Bianca, isn’t allowed to date until Kat does, so Patrick’s paid to try and charm Kat so another high-school boy, Cameron, can start dating Bianca. Naturally, things don’t go to plan.
- How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003) – Benjamin (Matthew McConaughey) takes on a bet that he can make a woman fall in love with him in just 10 days. His target, Andie (Kate Hudson), has her own agenda, however, as she’s writing an article on how to lose a guy in 10 days.
- Always Be My Maybe (2019) – Childhood friends Sasha and Marcus, reconnect after 15 years spent apart. Sasha, now a successful chef, returns to her hometown and sparks fly between her and Marcus, a struggling musician.
Some states can’t get enough of the classics
While most of the rom-com favorites emerged from the post-2000s era, some states just can’t resist the older classics.
- The Princess Bride (1987) – The Princess Bride isn’t just the oldest movie to make our list but it’s also the highest rated on IMDb with an overall score of 8/10. A young boy’s grandfather reads him a fairy-tale story in which a farmer boy becomes a pirate in his quest to be reunited with his one true love, facing a whole host of enemies and hurdles along the way. A popular choice in Vermont.
- Pretty Woman (1990) – It’s no surprise that this rom-com classic once again features as one of the top-rated movies. If you haven’t seen this movie, you’re probably making a “Big mistake. Huge!” The rom-com of choice for Kentucky.
- Father of the Bride (1992) – George Banks is a protective father struggling to come to terms with the impending wedding of his beloved daughter, Annie. As the wedding plans begin to take shape, George navigates the comedic mishaps and the extravagant expenses the father of the bride must endure. A favorite in North Dakota.
- Clueless (1995) – Stylish high school student Cher Horowitz, befriends less popular student, Tai, in hopes of elevating her social status. The movie follows important lessons about friendships and self-discovery. Watchers in Wisconsin are fond of this classic.
- My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) – Julianne, played by Julia Roberts, tries to win back her longtime friend Michael, who announces his engagement to another woman, resulting in comedic and heartfelt moments together. With a 6.3 IMDb rating, fans in South Carolina can’t get enough of this one.
One thing’s for sure, there are enough rom-coms here to keep you busy way beyond Valentine’s Day…
Which is your favorite and why? Comment below!
Methodology
Using Google Trends to search for the genre “romantic comedy” in each state, we looked to see which movie was a rising topic in the related topics section over the past five years. Rising topics are the top related search terms users looking at rom-coms also searched for over the past year and saw the biggest influx in searches during that period. The top result for each state was the designated movie for that state. In some cases, no movie was available. In these cases, we searched all of the top results for the other states to see which came out on top in that particular state during the same period.
Using the streaming guide Just Watch, we were able to find out which streaming platform hosts these movies (at the time of writing).
Data researcher: Charlotte Bond
