The netflix rom-com era

Romantic Comedies are my favourite genre of movie. There is nothing I love more on a rainy day than curling up in bed with a cup of tea, a bowl of popcorn, and the cheesiest rom-com I can find. The cheesier the better. Bonus points if it makes me cry.

If you have a Netflix account, you will be aware that the streaming company have released several original movies and tv shows in 2018 so far. Most notably, and most popular, have been their three rom-coms: Set It Up, The Kissing Booth and To All The Boys I've Loved Before. All of which I have loved and watched many, many times.

Set It Up revolves around two assistants, Harper and Charlie, to two workaholics,Kirsten and Rick, who, in wanting more free time away from their bosses' busy schedules, decide to set them up. And it works - as soon as they are in a relationship, the Harper and Charlie are free to live their lives in their respective social circles. They control the relationship to keep both parties happy, slowly growing closer themselves. I loved this movie of unexpected romance and comic situations revolving around to extremely unreasonable people. Plus the cast includes two of my favourite actresses, Zoey Deutch and Lucy Lui. At one point I probably watched this movie four times one day. But it was my second favourite to The Kissing Booth, which had been released at a similar time.

The Kissing Booth is the classic, cheesy, teen movie - my favourite kind. A forbidden, secret romance, matched with a coming-of-age story surrounding first relationships and how to navigate long-lasting friendships whilst growing up and adding more people to the situation. And it all revolves around a classic carnival theme of a kissing booth - a scene which becomes the vital turning point of the story. Elle has been in love with her best friend Lee's older brother, bad-boy Noah, for her entire life. At a charity carnival, her and Lee run a kissing booth, where she kisses Noah and they begin a relationship. There's just one problem - Lee's biggest rule in their friendship is that neither he or Elle are allowed to date each others family members. It's quite a predictable (and unrealistic) story, but it is the perfect escape from reality into this fantasy romance. I am a sucker for these kind of movies, and in the space if two weeks had probably watched it sixty times. I thought this was my favourite movie Netflix had ever put out, until To All The Boys I've Loved Before was released just last week.

To All The Boys surrounds a socially-awkward Korean-American teenage girl, Lara Jean, who whenever she has a crush that she doesn't know what to do with, she writes them a love letter. One day the letters get out, one of the recipients being her older sister's newly ex-boyfriend, Josh. Thinking she may still have these feelings for Josh, she enlists the help of Peter Kavinsky, who also got a letter, who suggests pretending to be in a relationship - this will make Josh think Lara Jean has moved on from him, whilst making Peter's ex jealous and want to get back together with him. Along the way, the relationship seems to become real, scaring Lara Jean who is afraid of becoming too close to people after her mum's death when she was younger. Peter helps her to give in to her emotions and bring her out of her fantasy romance world that she only finds in novels. To me, this movie is a perfect mix of cheesy teenage movie, forbidden romance, first love, and coming-of-age.

These movies are all progressively cheesier than the last. But the best thing is that they all made me cry the first few times I watched them.

Netflix originals have only gotten better as the streaming site has developed, and the fact that this year has become the teen drama/rom-com year is the best thing that I could've hoped for. I hope the age of the Netflix Rom-Com carries on for a long time, because I am all here for it.