Ah, first love. There’s nothing like it. Or even first like — that’s a big one too. First heartbreak is also pretty major, when you think about it. And we can hardly neglect to mention first unrequited crush, or first all-consuming desire, or even first confusing romantic ambivalence, since we’re on the subject. 

There are a lot of big emotional firsts that deserve our attention, and there’s a long tradition of teen romance movies that dramatize them against the backdrop of high school hallways and house parties and last summers at home. So if you’re looking to look back on those emotionally charged days of adolescent longing — or if you’re living through them now and wanting to feel seen on-screen — the perfect stream for you is listed below. Call up one of these teen romance movies and fall right back into first love. Who says it can only happen once? 

20th Century Girl

The end of high school can feel like a whole new lifetime is just over the horizon, and you could say the end of the ’90s felt the same, as we all braced ourselves for a future wherein years started with a whole new digit. The teenage characters of Bang Woo-ri’s 20th Century Girl stand on both precipices, as high school students in 1999. The 2022 South Korean coming-of-age drama weaves a web of tender teen romance: As Na Bo-ra (Kim Yoo-jung) discreetly investigates her best friend’s crush to report back her findings, she begins to fall for his best friend (Byeon Woo-seok) — only to learn that she’d been tailing the wrong boy in the first place. 

20th Century Girl

2h 1m   TV-PG   2022

My List

Watch

Alex Strangelove

Love is strange, and never more so than when you’re new to the game. That’s what our teen heroes are contending with in Craig Johnson’s smart 2018 romantic comedy Alex Strangelove, in which the sweetly named Alex Truelove (Daniel Doheny) plans — after some nervous evasion — to lose his virginity to his girlfriend Claire (Madeline Weinstein). That is, until he meets confident Elliot (Antonio Marziale), with whom he has undeniable chemistry, leaving Alex confused about his own desires. As Alex questions his sexuality and struggles to understand all of the person he’s becoming, love, in its many strange forms, helps him find his way. 

Alex Strangelove

1h 39m   TV-MA   2018

My List

Watch

All The Bright Places

Here’s a bona fide tearjerker among all these sweet romances — and a reminder that love can be a bright place even in life’s darkest moments. Based on Jennifer Niven’s YA novel of the same name, Brett Haley’s empathetic 2020 romantic drama stars Elle Fanning and Justice Smith as teenagers Violet and Finch, each haunted by their own traumas. When they’re partnered on a class project that requires them to explore Indiana, Finch and Violet find beauty in their home state — and understanding in each other. Their connection may not be a cure for the pain in their troubled souls, but that doesn’t make the solace it offers any less profound. 

All The Bright Places

1h 48m   TV-MA   2020

My List

Watch

Along for the Ride

Take a break from the frenzy of school days and savor some long summer nights. In Sofia Alvarez’s 2022 drama Along for the Ride, based on the YA novel by Sarah Dessen, bookish new grad Auden (Emma Pasarow) spends the summer before college staying with her father (Dermot Mulroney) and his new wife (Kate Bosworth) in a small beach town. When roaming around after dark, night owl Auden meets Eli (Belmont Cameli), a fellow insomniac with whom she starts meeting up every night to explore. Even as tensions develop within her family, her nocturnal adventures — and budding romance — with Eli make it a summer to remember. 

Along for the Ride

1h 48m   TV-14   2022

My List

Watch

Explore

Candy Jar

What could be more romantic than the art of debate? It’s got passion, it’s got stakes, it’s got flair — and, with Ben Shelton’s Candy Jar, it’s got its own high school romantic comedy. Sami Gayle and Jacob Latimore star in the 2018 film as bitter rivals and co-captains of their prep school’s debate team (Christina Hendricks and Uzo Aduba, respectively, play their equally competitive moms). Amid the high drama of debate-tournament prep and Ivy League college applications, the brainy nemeses begin to realize that they just might have some things in common — and that they may even actually like each other. More, in fact, than either of them ever suspected possible. 

Candy Jar

1h 32m   TV-14   2018

My List

Watch

Fanfic

A teen grappling with their gender identity takes center stage in Marta Karwowska’s Fanfic, a Polish drama based on Natalia Osińska’s novel of the same name. Alin Szewczyk stars as a student named Tosia, a transgender boy who, over the course of their journey, takes the name Tosiek. Though he encounters resistance from many of the people around him for embracing his true self, Tosiek receives sympathy and solidarity from his classmate Leon (Jan Cięciara), with whom he develops a sweet romance. 

Fanfic

1h 35m   TV-MA   2023

My List

Watch

The Half Of It

As both a modern retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac and a tender and understated rendering of adolescent longing, The Half of It is double the movie you may have come here expecting. Alice Wu’s acclaimed 2020 dramedy stars Leah Lewis as Ellie, a shy and lonely nerd who’s recruited by sweet but unsophisticated jock Paul (Daniel Diemer) to help him charm his crush, the pretty and popular Aster (Alexxis Lemire), via texts and love letters. Ellie takes on the assignment, forging an unlikely friendship with Paul in the process — but neglecting to admit to him that she’s in love with Aster, too. 

The Half Of It

1h 45m   PG-13   2020

My List

Watch

Let It Snow

It may take place on Christmas Eve, but Luke Snellin’s 2019 rom-com Let It Snow (based on the YA novel by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle) is a gift of a teen movie any time of the year. The action takes place during the holiday break in a small town, where various high school seniors (played by an ensemble including Kiernan Shipka, Isabela Merced, and Liv Hewson) cope with secret crushes, college dreams, and the unexpected arrival of a pop star (Shameik Moore). By the end of a single snowy day, as they gather for an epic party at the local Waffle House, the teens find love amid the chill. 

Let It Snow

1h 33m   PG-13   2019

My List

Watch

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

Upon its release in the summer of 2018, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before was hailed as a worthy successor to all the teen rom-coms that came before it. Based on Jenny Han’s YA novel of the same name, Susan Johnson’s sweetly sincere film stars Lana Condor as Lara Jean, a shy and dreamy teenager whose life is thrown into disarray when her secret confessions of love are unexpectedly delivered to all the crushes she’s ever had — most notably the popular lacrosse player Peter, played by Noah Centineo. The story of Lara Jean (and all the boys she’s loved before) continues in the 2020 sequel To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You and 2021 threequel To All the Boys: Always and Forever. 

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

1h 40m   TV-14   2018

My List

Watch

Unforgettable Teen Movies to Stream Now