Best-Reviewed Romance Movies 2017

Passion, longing, and heartbreak are familiar themes, but the best Romances of 2017 prove it’s still possible to spin engaging love stories from fresh perspectives, whether your true love is forbidden, comatose, or a fish monster.

The order of the rank below reflects the Adjusted Score as of December 31, 2017. Scores might change over time.

#1

The Big Sick (2017)
98%

#1

Adjusted Score: 115034%

Critics Consensus: Funny, heartfelt, and intelligent, The Big Sick uses its appealing leads and cross-cultural themes to prove the standard romcom formula still has some fresh angles left to explore.

Synopsis: Kumail is a Pakistani comic, who meets an American graduate student named Emily at one of his stand-up shows. As... [More]

Starring: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano

Directed By: Michael Showalter

#2

Call Me by Your Name (2017)
95%

#2

Adjusted Score: 115393%

Critics Consensus: Call Me by Your Name offers a melancholy, powerfully affecting portrait of first love, empathetically acted by Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer.

Synopsis: It's the summer of 1983, and precocious 17-year-old Elio Perlman is spending the days with his family at their 17th-century... [More]

Starring: Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar

Directed By: Luca Guadagnino

#3

The Shape of Water (2017)
92%

#3

Adjusted Score: 118345%

Critics Consensus: The Shape of Water finds Guillermo del Toro at his visually distinctive best -- and matched by an emotionally absorbing story brought to life by a stellar Sally Hawkins performance.

Synopsis: Elisa is a mute, isolated woman who works as a cleaning lady in a hidden, high-security government laboratory in 1962... [More]

Starring: Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer

Directed By: Guillermo del Toro

#4

God's Own Country (2017)
98%

#4

Adjusted Score: 104661%

Critics Consensus: A quiet, moving rumination on loneliness and newfound intimacy, God's Own Country marks an outstanding directorial debut for Francis Lee.

Synopsis: A young farmer numbs his frustrations with drinking and casual sex until a Romanian migrant worker sets him on a... [More]

Starring: Josh O'Connor, Alec Secareanu, Gemma Jones, Ian Hart

Directed By: Francis Lee

#5

A United Kingdom (2016)
83%

#5

Adjusted Score: 90267%

Critics Consensus: Well-acted, solidly crafted, and all-around worthy, A United Kingdom presents an absorbing look at a singular true-life love story.

Synopsis: In the 1940s, Prince Seretse Khama of Botswana shocks the world when he marries a white woman from London.... [More]

Starring: David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike, Jack Davenport, Tom Felton

Directed By: Amma Asante