This summer, something unexpectedly came back into fashion—the romantic comedy. In recent years, romantic comedies have been released mainly as teen movies and movies made for TV. But, this summer, we saw the return of the romcom.
At the end of August, Crazy Rich Asians premiered in theatres. This opulent film follows a classic romcom plot, and rose to the top of the box office multiple weekends in a row. The film has gotten a lot of praise from the public. Many people on social media hope that this movie will start the new romcom renaissance. Crazy Rich Asians has everything a romcom should have: lovable characters, beautiful fashion, heartfelt moments, and, of course, it brings both romance and comedy. Plans for a sequel have been announced: China Rich Girlfriend, based on the book of the same name. With the box office success that Crazy Rich Asians has seen, we can hope that studios will bring more romcoms to theatres in the near future.
Streaming service Netflix has released several popular romcoms this summer. The Kissing Booth, released in May, was one of the first romcoms of the summer. Though this movie is definitely geared more towards teens, it received a lot of positive attention on social media, with fans clamoring for a sequel. Netflix followed this success with Set It Up. Released in June, Set It Up is reminiscent of the classic romcoms of the early 2000s. Though the movie did not receive as much social media attention as others, it has an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Late this summer, Netflix premiered To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, based off the first novel in a series by Jenny Han. This movie has been the talk of social media for the past few weeks. I’ve heard so many positive things about it, from praise for the representation in the cast, to love for the lead heartthrob Noah Centineo. This movie’s popularity made way for Sierra Burgess is a Loser, released by the streaming service just last Friday. This movie also stars Noah Centineo, who has rocketed to popularity.
With all the attention that romantic comedies have gotten in recent months, we can hope that studios will take notice. Personally, I hope that we are in another romcom renaissance, and I can’t wait to watch the next movie Netflix releases, as well as the sequel to the fabulous Crazy Rich Asians.