Movies are one of the world’s great unifiers. As February approaches, couples and singles are on the hunt for the perfect Valentine’s Day watch, and this list will help you narrow that search.
Love and Basketball (2000)
Love and Basketball is the quintessential Black romantic comedy. Quincy (Omar Epps) and Monica (Sanaa Lathan) are two childhood friends who inevitably fall in love with basketball and each other, and both have dreams of playing the sport professionally. Along the way, they fall in and out of relationships with each other and different people, while continuing to hone their athletic craft.
Two Can Play That Game (2001)
Morris Chestnut and Vivica A. Fox star in this movie, playing Shante and Keith. Shante is killing it at her corporate job and is the one her friends come to whenever they have man trouble. They seemed like the perfect Black power couple until Shante sees Keith getting close to Conny (Gabrielle Union). This inspires her to start a 10-day regime to get her boyfriend to come to his senses, and the usual “he said, she said” hijinks ensue.
Rye Lane (2023)
Rye Lane is a hidden gem. It follows two young adults overcoming recent breakups as they get to know each other over the course of a day in South London. Raine Allen-Miller directed the film, which runs for around 82 minutes, with Yas (Vivian Oparah) and Dom (David Jonsson) as the leads. The connection Yas and Dom build with each other helps to renew their faith in love and as they discover parts of themselves they hadn’t noticed before.
How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)
Stella, played by Angela Bassett, is the woman that can do it all. When she takes a sudden trip to Jamaica with her best friend Delilah, (Whoopi Goldberg) Stella enjoys herself a lot more than she thought she would. Meeting Winston (Taye Diggs) is the highlight of the trip– but real life comes crashing into the picture when she starts falling for him. She’s around 40 years old and he isn’t even 30 yet. Once it’s time for them to go their separate ways as Stella goes back to California, she and Winston have to figure out if they want to turn their relationship into something concrete. The blockbuster romantic comedy was adapted from the book with the same name by Terry McMillian.
Phat Girlz (2006)
Comedian Mo’Nique takes center stage as Jazmin Butler in this cheeky, relatable romcom about a woman who wants to be a fashion designer and meet her dream guy. Jazmin has big dreams and she’s not about to let anyone get in the way of her achieving them. The central message of Phat Girlz is that no matter your size, shape, or color, nothing should stop you from being deserving of love and happiness.
The Perfect Find (2023)
Jenna (Gabrielle Union) is a successful businesswoman who feels unfulfilled because she is unmarried with no children. She gets tangled up in a secret relationship with someone she really shouldn’t be spending time with. Eric (Keith Powers) steps onto the scene at a turning point in Jenna’s life– but because she is in her 40s and he’s still a spring chicken in his 20s, at first she is vehemently against building a real connection with him. This Netflix original is based on the book written by Tia Williams.
Southside With You (2016)
This biographical drama stars Parker Sawyers and Tika Sumpter as Barack and Michelle Obama, chronicling the couple’s first date and introduces the viewers to a younger version of one of the most powerful couples in the world. Barack Obama was a budding law associate and Michelle was an attorney. During the length of the film, Michelle and Barack watch a movie, go to a community meeting, get drinks and have ice cream, while they share their deepest fears and parts of each other they had never talked about with anyone else.
