Sally Albright and Harry Burns, Bridget Jones and Mark Darcy, Anna Scott and William Thacker — the best romantic comedies of all time have given the world some of cinema's most beloved pairings. But what about those movies that aren't classic rom-coms? Plenty of sci-fi classics, adventure epics, soaring musicals and heartrending dramas have introduced movie lovers to twosomes worth rooting for. Here are the 32 best movie couples from outside the rom-com genre.
Han Solo and Princess Leia (Star Wars)
"I love you!" "I know!" And there you have the famous dynamic between Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) throughout the entire Star Wars franchise. The good-natured bickering, palpable tension and lasting love through both ups and downs between the rakish captain of the Millennium Falcon and the regal Jedi-turned-general make theirs one of the best couples in any galaxy.
Joel and Clementine (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind)
Not even a Lacuna memory erasure procedure could make Joel Barish (Jim Carrey, in one of his best performances) and Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet) forget each other in the 2004 Michael Gondry-directed classic Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Though both characters initially wanted to dissolve their relationship, getting to relive all of their moments together — both good and bad — made them, and us, want to see their romance rekindled.
Jackson and Ally (A Star Is Born)
The love story between an established Hollywood star and a plucky aspiring singer has been told across several film versions of A Star Is Born — though the duo is known as Norman and Esther in previous iterations — but Bradley Cooper's Jackson and Lady Gaga's Ally reinvigorated the cinematic romance in the 2018 romantic musical, thanks to their electrifying chemistry and incredible duets. That devastating ending wouldn't hit nearly the same way without them.
Rose and Jack (Titanic)
James Cameron's Titanic does so much as a movie: one part historical drama, one part disaster epic, and one part onscreen romance for the ages. And guiding moviegoers through all of it is the instantly iconic pairing of scrappy third-class artist Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and sheltered high-class debutante Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet).
Chiron and Kevin (Moonlight)
In the 2016 Oscar winner for Best Picture, we get to see Chiron and Kevin together through three periods of their lives in Miami, from their childhoods to teendom to adulthood. Their sweet connection turns sultry when the pair (now played by Trevante Rhodes and André Holland, respectively) reunites as grown men at a Florida diner, with Barbara Lewis' "Hello Stranger" crooning over the jukebox.
Rick and Ilsa (Casablanca)
It's ironic that arguably the greatest cinematic romance of all time is actually between exes. Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) may not be together anymore in the 1942 masterpiece Casablanca, as she has since moved on and married Czechoslovak Resistance leader Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid). But they'll wistfully "always have Paris," and we'll always have them.
Marianne and Héloïse (Portrait Of A Lady On Fire)
This subtle yet stirring 2019 drama from Céline Sciamma tells the story of a slow-burn romance between two young women in late 18th-century France: a young aristocrat named Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) and the painter commissioned to paint her portrait, Marianne (Noémie Merlant). Together, the LGBTQ+ movie couple crafts a connection as singular and stunning as anything found on a canvas.
Tish and Fonny (If Beale Street Could Talk)
Director Barry Jenkins composes a stunning cast for this film adaptation of James Baldwin's 1974 novel, including Colman Domingo, Pedro Pascal, Bryan Tyree Henry and Regina King. But the heart of the story beats with its core couple Tish and Fonny, portrayed by KiKi Layne and Stephan James. The film is told in a non-linear fashion, jumping from highs (the birth of a child) to lows (wrongful incarceration), but the heart-wrenching love between Tish and Fonny threads it all.
Ennis and Jack (Brokeback Mountain)
One of the best LGBTQ movies of all time, Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain broke hearts the world over with its beautifully rendered romance between Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal), two Wyoming cowboys whose intense but repressed passion stretches across decades. The realities of early-'60s America meant that the men couldn't be publicly open with their relationship, which made their time together both savored and tragic.
Elizabeth and Will (Pirates Of The Caribbean)
Although Keira Knightley's Elizabeth Swann has several love interests throughout the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, including Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and James Norrington (Jack Davenport), even casual fans know that her one true love is none other than blacksmith-turned-pirate Will Turner (Orlando Bloom). Spanning five Pirates movies, the swashbuckling duo takes on everything from arrests and kidnappings to ghost captains and mysterious curses.
Neo and Trinity (The Matrix)
To say that love changes the world in The Matrix films is an understatement: it literally is what brings Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) back to life and frees them from the confines of simulated reality. A true fusion reaction, the connection that they generate throughout the seminal sci-fi franchise is enough to power them through hardships both human and machine.
Reynolds and Alma (Phantom Thread)
Not every movie romance is a happily-ever-after breeze. For controlling couture designer Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and clumsy but calculating country waitress Alma Elson (Vicky Krieps), things aren't entirely smooth sailing after they meet-cute at the restaurant she works at and marry shortly thereafter, especially because the bride has taken to micro-poisoning her husband to render him sweet and submissive. Her actions are twisted, no doubt, but Reynolds ends up finding it all weirdly endearing, and so do we.
Rhett And Scarlett (Gone With The Wind)
One of the most iconic pairings ever on the big screen, Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) and Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh) weather a lot throughout this four-hour 1939 Oscar winner, from civil war to typhoid fever to the loss of a child. Ironically, it's their very own natures that they can't outrun, from Rhett's ruthlessness to Scarlett's stubbornness. When the Southern belle finally realizes that she's really loved Rhett all along, it's too late, as he harshly leaves her with one of the movie's best parting lines: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
Clarence and Alabama (True Romance)
In sickness and in health, until arrest do us part — those could basically be the vows of Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) and Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette), a pair of newlyweds on the run from the Mafia after stealing a shipment of drugs. Things get unsurprisingly dark for our brazen bride and groom, but the sheer devotion that the two have for each other is a welcome bright spot.
Gomez and Morticia (The Addams Family)
Who would have thought that one of pop culture's healthiest onscreen couples would be the exceedingly odd, decidedly macabre Morticia and Gomez Addams? Though incarnated by numerous performers on screens big and small, the portrayals by Anjelica Huston as Morticia and Raul Julia as Gomez in 1991's The Addams Family deliciously embody the characters' endless enthusiasm for each other. Madly in love, indeed!
Jesse and Céline (The 'Before' Trilogy)
It's incredibly rare to follow a beloved movie couple for years — in Richard Linklater's Before Trilogy, you movingly get to follow Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Céline (Julie Delpy) across decades, from the star-crossed travelers who meet on a Eurail train and later fall for each other while playing tourist in Vienna in 1995's Before Sunrise, to the long-together older versions we find summering in Greece with their children in 2013's Before Midnight.
Albert and Armand (The Birdcage)
Sure, stereotypes abound in Mike Nichols' 1996 comedy The Birdcage, especially surrounding Armand (Robin Williams, in a classic performance) and Albert Goldman (Nathan Lane), a gay couple whose son (Dan Futterman) is set to marry the daughter (Calista Flockhart) of a very conservative senator (Gene Hackman) and his wife (Dianne Wiest). But in the middle of all of the flamboyant hijinks, Armand and Albert prove to have the film's most stable relationship, one marked by compassion, communication and acceptance.
Peter and Mary Jane (The 'Spider-Man' Trilogy)
Along with giving moviegoers a rain-soaked, upside-down lip lock we won't soon forget, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst's take on Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson imbued some palpable real-life chemistry into the beloved comic-book couple. In keeping with Spider-Man tradition, the actors briefly dated offscreen as well, though Dunst joked that filming that epic smooch was far less pleasurable than it looked.
Noah and Allie (The Notebook)
Let's be real, it would take a very special gentleman to have us rooting for anyone other than James Marsden to get the girl. It's good, then, that director Nick Cassavetes cast Ryan Gosling at his dreamiest opposite Rachel McAdams in this 2004 melodrama, widely considered one of the best romantic movies of all time. The actors' off-set connection (they dated IRL from 2005 to 2007) is passionately felt in the characters' constant bickering and bantering, not to mention those intense rainstorm smooches.
Edward and Bella (Twilight)
Neither age (she's 17-year-old and he's a cool 104) nor species (she's a human and he's a blood-drinking, sparkly-skinned vampire) could keep them apart. No, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) remained astonishingly loyal to and protective of each other throughout the entire Twilight Saga film franchise, despite jealous werewolves, vampire armies and creepy half-vamp babies trying to get in their way (though Stewart hilariously does not agree with her character's infatuation).
Katniss and Peeta (The Hunger Games)
Surviving tough times is a given in any relationship but few movie couples have been tested by as much hardship as Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson). The characters first bond as "tributes" in the government's annual Hunger Games — which require them to fight to the death until only one person is left alive — and despite the odds, they're able to parlay that trust and partnership into the franchise's best romance. (Sorry, Gale.)
Emma and Adèle (Blue Is The Warmest Colour)
Much has been made about the physical intimacy between Léa Seydoux's Emma and Adèle Exarchopoulos's Adèle in the 2013 French drama Blue is the Warmest Color, but their connection goes far deeper than the film's explicit sex scenes. The feelings between the two young women are so raw and fierce that when they meet again at a restaurant after years of separation, we absolutely believe Emma when she says she will always feel "infinite tenderness" for what they had.
Ron and Hermione (Harry Potter)
Some of the best romances come out of friendships, and the coupling between Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) is no exception. For years, Harry Potter fans watched as the young wizard and witch danced around their feelings for each other — granted, they were busy fighting the Wizarding World's darkest forces at the time — so when the longtime pals finally locked lips in Deathly Hallows — Part 2, the big moment felt completely earned.
Jamal and Latika (Slumdog Millionaire)
It's the intense love and loyalty that Jamal (Dev Patel) has for Latika (Freida Pinto), who he first met as a kid in the slums of Mumbai, that fuels his every move in this Danny Boyle-directed musical drama. Whether he's stealing shoes at the Taj Mahal, taking a job as a chaiwala at a call center or winning India's version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Jamal is doing it all to get back to Latika. And when he does, it's only fitting that his whole world breaks out in song and dance.
Romeo and Juliet (Romeo + Juliet)
They are the O.G. star-crossed lovers and in Baz Luhrmann's 1996 retelling of the Shakespearean classic, Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes beautifully lead the Romeo + Juliet cast as our eponymous pair and capture all of the intensity of first love. Yes, with family feuds, fatal duels and friar mix-ups aplenty, this relationship was doomed to fail, but at least it pulsed with youthful verve and captivating chemistry while it lasted.
Oliver and Elio (Call Me By Your Name)
Some relationships may be short in span but sweeping in their impact. In Luca Guadagnino's 2017 masterpiece Call Me by Your Name, the romance between 17-year-old Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet) and graduate student Oliver (Armie Hammer) — who is assisting Elio's father (Michael Stuhlbarg) for the summer — only lasts a few short, sun-soaked weeks. But the after-effects of their coupling ripple through both young men long after the cold settles in.
Rick and Evelyn (The Mummy)
One of the best things about the romance between adventurer Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) and librarian Evelyn Carnahan (Rachel Weisz) is that it subverts that tired beauty-and-brawn stereotype. Evelyn is obviously lovely but she's no distressed damsel — she's as capable of deciphering hieroglyphics as she is sword-fighting the undead. And Rick is fittingly valiant but needs to be rescued himself every now and then. Together, they make the perfect mummy-fighting pair.
Tony And Maria (West Side Story)
Taking inspiration from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, there was always an undercurrent of tragedy between Tony (Richard Beymer) and Maria (Natalie Wood), two Upper West Side teens tied to rival NYC street gangs. The relationship between the young lovers remains pure and passionate — iconically portrayed in that famous "Tonight" balcony scene — even as they get caught up in prejudice, violence and societal divides.
Mia And Sebastian (La La Land)
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have teamed up several times onscreen, including 2011's Crazy, Stupid, Love and 2013's Gangster Squad, but it was 2016's La La Land that best used their fizzy, years-honed friendship and produced their most iconic pairing as struggling jazz pianist Sebastian Wilder and aspiring actress Mia Dolan, who meet and fall in love while pursuing their dreams in Los Angeles.
Bonnie and Clyde (Bonnie And Clyde)
Just because a couple is doing bad deeds doesn't mean we can't root for them, right? Yes, Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) and Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) were up to all sorts of criminal mischief in the 1967 neo-noir Bonnie and Clyde, from bank robberies to gang kidnappings, but their actions were powered by a passion so intense, it was deadly.
Rocky and Adrian (Rocky)
Yo, Adrian! The relationship between Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) and Adrian Pennino (Talia Shire) — who first meet over turtle food at a Philadelphia pet store — is one of the connecting threads of the Rocky film franchise. Despite her misgivings about Rocky's dangerous career, Adrian is a supportive, steadfast presence for Rocky both inside the ring and out, so much so that even when he loses, he still feels like a winner.
Maria and the Captain (The Sound Of Music)
How do you solve a problem like Maria? You fall in love with her, of course! And who could blame Captain von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) for catching feelings for the effervescent governess to his seven children, especially when she's played by the incomparable Julie Andrews? Watching his gruff, widowed military officer soften under Maria's care is, simply, one of our favorite things.
