Movies to watch with your boyfriend or girlfriend (and how to pick one you'll both enjoy)

How to pick in five minutes

1. Each of you writes down three movies or shows you'd actually watch tonight, without showing the other.
2. Compare lists. If anything appears on both, that's your pick.
3. If nothing overlaps, each person crosses one title off the other's list, no explanation needed.
4. From what's left, choose by mood (funny, tense, easy) rather than genre.
5. Still tied? Whoever didn't choose last time decides.

To laugh together

• Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011): a sharp comedy with a great cast and a twist you won't see coming.
• Palm Springs (2020): two people stuck in the same repeating day. Light and genuinely original.
• Little Miss Sunshine (2006): a disastrous family road trip that's funny and warm in equal measure.

Thrillers you'll both get hooked on

• Gone Girl (2014): a thriller about a marriage that gives you plenty to talk about afterward.
• Knives Out (2019): a classic whodunit with a lot of humor. Great for guessing together.
• Parasite (2019): starts as a comedy and turns into something else. Best watched knowing nothing.

Romance that isn't too sweet

• Before Sunrise (1995): two strangers, one night in Vienna, and nothing but conversation.
• La La Land (2016): a modern musical with an ending you'll both have opinions about.
• Past Lives (2023): quiet, beautiful and easy to get lost in.

Adventure and sci-fi

• Interstellar (2014): a space epic with real emotional pull. Save it for a night with no rush.
• Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): two hours of action with barely a pause.
• Dune (2021): sci-fi on a huge scale, and there's a sequel if you're hooked.

Animation that works for adults

• Inside Out (2015): funny, and much deeper than it looks.
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018): visually unlike anything else, even if superheroes aren't your thing.
• Spirited Away (2001): the Studio Ghibli classic worth seeing at least once.

Feel-good picks for a cozy night in

• About Time (2013): a warm, funny story about family and making the most of ordinary days.
• The Proposal (2009): a light comedy that works even if only one of you loves rom-coms.
• Chef (2014): food, road trips and a feel-good ending. Don't watch it hungry.
• The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014): a quick, stylish caper with a lot of charm.
• Groundhog Day (1993): a comedy classic that both of you will quote afterward.

Shows to watch as a couple

If you'd rather have something for several nights, a series saves you deciding every time. A few that tend to work across different tastes: The Office (2005), a comedy in short episodes; Ted Lasso (2020), upbeat and funny; Stranger Things (2016), adventure with 80s nostalgia; and Dark (2017), for anyone who likes piecing together a puzzle.

Where each title is streaming changes by country and service, so check before you settle on one.

When your tastes are opposites

There's almost always overlap at the edges. Someone who loves horror and someone who can't stand it will usually both enjoy a good thriller. Someone who wants action and someone who wants drama tend to meet in a heist movie or a mystery.

Taking turns works too: one night each of you picks, with the single rule that you can't choose something the other has already said they hate.

A movie picker for couples

ReelMatch automates the two-list method. You each swipe through trailers on your own phone whenever you have a spare minute: say yes to what you'd watch and skip the rest. When you both say yes to the same title, it shows up in your list of matches.

Because the deciding happens ahead of time, movie night is just picking from a list you've both already approved. ReelMatch is free on iPhone and Android.