Movies to Watch on Valentine’s Day (No Matter Who You’re With)

Whether you’re in love, hanging with your BFF, or would rather forget what day it is, there’s a movie for you this Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is a Jekyll and Hyde sort of holiday. If you’re in love, it’s all kisses and chocolate.

But if you’re single, it’s the perfect storm for bitterness and resentment; the saccharine sweetness of red roses, public displays of affection, and melodramatic grand gestures are enough to drive even the most secure individual into a contempt-filled rage.

But if there’s one thing everyone can agree on, it’s that a good movie can be a great way to end the day – no matter who you’re watching it with.

Regardless of your feelings about the day itself, there’s a movie for you on February 14th.

Valentine’s Day Movies if You’re with a Special Someone

Before Sunrise: Three words – young Ethan Hawke.

Love Actually: Could we really have a list of romantic movies without Hugh Grant and Colin Firth? Methinks not. You get two for one here, plus a scene-stealing performance by Billy Nighy as a washed up rocker. Also, everything seems a bit more romantic when British accents are involved.

The Notebook / A Walk to Remember / Dear John / The Vow: These Nicholas Sparks’ movies are all essentially the same to me, give or take a Ryan Gosling or Channing Tatum. But that doesn’t matter, they’ll all make you cry and feel lovey dovey afterward. If you have to choose one, go Notebook. I love me some Gosling-McAdams.

Valentine’s Day Movies if You’re with Haters

A Midnight in Paris: A whimsical movie that reminds you that what you think you want isn’t always necessarily true. Bonus points if you’re a literary buff with a penchant for time travel. Tons of you out there, I know.

500 Days of Summer: Did you get dumped a the day before V-Day? (WHO DOES THAT!?) Then this is the movie for you.

Fatal Attraction: In case you needed a reminder that relationships aren’t always what they’re cracked up to be, and that sometimes, a seemingly awesome person is in fact just a rabbit killer.

Valentine’s Day if You’re with Your Kids

Wall-E: The greatest robot love story since R2D2 and C-3PO.

Beauty and the Beast: Come for the love story. Stay for Gaston, Cogsworth and Lumiere.

The Princess Bride: Leave this classic off the list? Inconceivable! It’s a swashbuckling tale of revenge, love, and danger. I’m not sure who will love it more, you or the kids.

Valentine’s Day Movies to Watch if You’re with Friends

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy: If you can find love at the top of Mount Doom, you can find it anywhere. Possibly the greatest “bromance” story ever told.

Bridesmaids: You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll never think of bridesmaid dress shopping the same way again. Sure there’s romance, but the focus is on the strong bonds of friendship.

Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants: If you can wrap your head around the fact that four girls all share one pair of jeans that fits each one of them perfectly, this is a great story about how friends are the ones who get you through the hard times.

Valentine’s Day Movies to Watch if You’re with Angst-filled Teens

Can’t Hardly Wait: “I can’t feel my legs . . . I HAVE NO LEGS!”

10 Things I Hate About You: You should watch this if: you love young Joseph Gordon Levitt / Heath Ledger; you want to wear a two-piece dress to prom; you love over-the-top dialogue like, “What I hate the most is that I don’t hate you at all!”

Say Anything: For anyone who’s ever made a mixtape for someone in hopes of winning his/her affection, this one’s for you.