Club Benefits
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Daily (Mon-Sun)
Tom's Guide Daily
Sign up to get the latest updates on all of your favorite content! From cutting-edge tech news and the hottest streaming buzz to unbeatable deals on the best products and in-depth reviews, we’ve got you covered.
Weekly on Thursday
Tom's AI Guide
Be AI savvy with your weekly newsletter summing up all the biggest AI news you need to know. Plus, analysis from our AI editor and tips on how to use the latest AI tools!
Weekly on Friday
Tom's iGuide
Unlock the vast world of Apple news straight to your inbox. With coverage on everything from exciting product launches to essential software updates, this is your go-to source for the latest updates on all the best Apple content.
Weekly on Monday
Tom's Streaming Guide
Our weekly newsletter is expertly crafted to immerse you in the world of streaming. Stay updated on the latest releases and our top recommendations across your favorite streaming platforms.
Join the club
Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.
Romance is one of those genres you can’t help but return to, especially around this time of year. Cozying up for a breezy rom-com is practically a Valentine's Day staple, but with the price of streaming creeping higher and higher these days, you'll catch me making the most of the best free streaming services. Ones like Tubi and Roku offer surprisingly impressive libraries, including many genre classics that have a way of worming into your heart. After all, it's not like romcoms have changed all that much over the decades anyway; that's kinda part of the appeal: getting whisked away to a dreamy escape where love is possible and everyone's hot.
Streaming these romcoms won't cost you a penny, with the trade-off that you'll have to sit through some pesky advertisements. To help you skip the scrolling and get to streaming this Valentine's Day, I wanted to highlight the best these free streaming services have to offer. No one wants a horrible movie spoiling the mood.
'Four Weddings and a Funeral' (Tubi)
Kicking things off with a crowd-pleasing classic, the first entry on this list takes us back to the heyday of British romantic comedies. The first collaboration between Richard Curtis — the screenwriter of other romcom staples like "Bridget Jones," "Notting Hill" and "Love Actually" — and Hugh Grant before he became a household name, it centers on one of the most enjoyable on-screen romances to watch unfold in any movie, period.
As the name suggests, "Four Weddings and a Funeral" follows the stammering yet charming eternal bachelor Charles, who stumbles through four weddings and a funeral with his close circle of friends. Each event sends him into the orbit of an alluring American named Carrie, who instantly captures his attention, though the two can't seem to get the timing right despite their clear chemistry.
Watch "Four Weddings and a Funeral" on Tubi now
'Return to Me' (Roku)
Director Bonnie Hunt’s "Return to Me" isn't as well-known as some of the most iconic 2000s rom-coms, but it's got a quirky, irresistible charm that I keep coming back to. David Duchovny is suitably dreamy as a lovesick Chicago architect mourning his wife (Joely Richardson) after a terrible car accident. That same night, terminally ill Grace (Minnie Driver) receives the heart transplant she desperately needed to survive. I'll give you one guess whose heart she received.
Jumping forward a year later, Bob is still grappling with his grief and completing the zoo project his late wife once championed when fate puts him on a collision course with Grace, now slowly reclaiming a normal life and helping out at her grandfather’s neighborhood restaurant. It's a plot that, on paper, sounds cooked up in a lab, but a pair of wonderfully heartfelt performances from its two leads, not to mention a soundtrack dripping in nostalgia, shine with enough earnest hope to make you believe in love again.
Watch "Return to Me" on the Roku Channel now
'Shakespeare in Love' (Pluto)
While "Shakespeare in Love" often gets badmouthed for beating out "Saving Private Ryan" for Best Picture when it came out, this swoony romantic comedy is still making audiences swoon just as much now as it did in 1998. Directed by John Madden, this heart-achingly sweet romantic period comedy imagines a secret affair between legendary playwright William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) and Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow) that sparks as he writes one of his most famous works: Romeo and Juliet. Viola, the sharp-witted daughter of a wealthy merchant, disguises herself as a male actor to perform in a play. When he catches her, it's love at first sight. There's just the small problem of her fiancé, the scheming Lord Wessex (Colin Firth).
"Shakespeare in Love" stands as a touching reminder that even the bard himself was once a scared theater kid eager to prove himself on opening night. With plenty of clever twists, juicy court intrigue, and a tenderly human love story at its heart, "Shakespeare in Love" succeeds on nearly every level, a timeless tale to lose yourself in "Hamnet" whet your appetite for masterful storytelling.
Watch "Shakespeare in Love" on Pluto now
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds.
More from Tom's Guide
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
