25 Epic Romance Movies Like The Notebook

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When most people think of an epic romance movie, they immediately think of The Notebook. This movie adaptation of Nicholas Spark’s 1996 love story is a near flawless sweeping romance movie that captures the heart of every viewer.

If you’re looking for a romantic love story that will pull on your heartstrings, checkout these 25 epic romance movies like The Notebook that are sure to capture your heart. Grab the tissues!

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Table of Contents

25 Epic Romance Movies Like The Notebook

1. The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009)

Director: Robert Schwentke
Actors: Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams, Ron Livingston
MPAA Rating: PG-13
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A deeply emotional love story about a man who involuntarily travels through time and the woman who loves him through every unpredictable jump. Their relationship is tested by absence, fate, and the painful reality that love doesn’t always follow a linear path.

2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Director: David Fincher
Actors: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson
MPAA Rating: PG-13
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Born with the body of an old man and aging backward, Benjamin Button experiences life and love in reverse. His romance with Daisy is tender and bittersweet, shaped by the cruel irony that they can never truly meet at the same moment in time.

3. The Lake House (2006)

Director: Alejandro Agresti
Actors: Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Dylan Walsh, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Christopher Plummer
MPAA Rating: PG
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Two strangers form a connection through letters sent across time, discovering that love can exist even when timing feels impossible. As their bond deepens, they must find a way to bridge the years separating them before it’s too late.

4. A Star Is Born (2018)

Director: Bradley Cooper
Actors: Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Sam Elliott
MPAA Rating: R
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A seasoned musician helps a rising singer find her voice, sparking a passionate romance fueled by creativity and fame. As her star ascends, the emotional cost of love, addiction, and sacrifice threatens to pull them apart.

5. The Age of Adaline (2015)

Director: Lee Toland Krieger
Actors: Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Kathy Baker, Harrison Ford, Ellen Burstyn
MPAA Rating: PG-13
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After an accident leaves her unable to age, Adaline lives a solitary life, afraid to love and lose again. Everything changes when she meets a man who makes her question whether eternal youth is worth an eternal goodbye.

6. Lovely Still (2008)

Director: Nicholas Fackler
Actors: Martin Landau, Ellen Burstyn, Adam Scott, Elizabeth Banks
MPAA Rating: PG
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An elderly man believes he’s falling in love for the first time when a mysterious woman enters his quiet life. What begins as a gentle romance slowly reveals a heartbreaking truth about memory, love, and letting go.

7. Me Before You (2016)

Director: Thea Sharrock
Actors: Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Janet McTeer, Charles Dance, Brendan Coyle
MPAA Rating: PG-13
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A small-town woman takes a job caring for a wealthy man whose life changed after a tragic accident, and an unexpected bond forms between them. Their romance is warm, funny, and devastating, forcing both to confront what it truly means to live, and to love, fully.

8. Your Name (2016)

Director: Makoto Shinkai
Actors: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Mone Kamishiraishi (voices)
MPAA Rating: PG
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Two teenagers mysteriously begin swapping bodies, forming a deep connection despite never meeting in person. As time and fate intervene, their search for each other becomes a breathtaking race against loss and forgotten memories.

9. Straight Up (2019)

Director: James Sweeney
Actors: James Sweeney, Katie Findlay
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
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A sharp, fast-talking man questioning his sexuality meets a woman who challenges his rigid views on love and attraction. Their unconventional relationship blurs the lines between romance and friendship, asking whether emotional intimacy can exist without physical desire.

10. In the Mood for Love (2000)

Director: Wong Kar-wai
Actors: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung
MPAA Rating: PG
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Two neighbors form a quiet, restrained bond after suspecting their spouses are having an affair with each other. Their unspoken connection, filled with longing and restraint, becomes a haunting meditation on love that almost was.

11. Brief Encounter (1945)

Director: David Lean
Actors: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard
MPAA Rating: PG
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A chance meeting between two married strangers leads to a quiet but deeply felt love that neither planned nor can fully pursue. Their restrained romance captures the ache of desire, duty, and the heartbreak of what must remain unspoken.

12. My Sassy Girl (2001)

Director: Kwak Jae-yong
Actors: Jun Ji-hyun, Cha Tae-hyun
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
IMDb

A shy college student’s life is turned upside down after meeting an unpredictable, emotionally guarded woman on a train. Beneath the comedy and chaos, a sincere and surprisingly painful love story slowly unfolds.

13. Through Night and Day (2018)

Director: Veronica Velasco
Actors: Alessandra de Rossi, Paolo Contis
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
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A long-term couple moves to Iceland hoping for a fresh start, only to face unresolved tensions in their relationship. As their trip unfolds, the film offers a raw, honest look at love, distance, and emotional endurance.

14. Catch and Release (2006)

Director: Susannah Grant
Actors: Jennifer Garner, Timothy Olyphant, Kevin Smith
MPAA Rating: PG-13
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After her fiancé’s sudden death, a woman discovers secrets about his life that complicate her grief. In the midst of loss and unexpected truths, she finds the possibility of new love where she least expects it.

15. About Time (2013)

Director: Richard Curtis
Actors: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy
MPAA Rating: R
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A young man learns he can travel back in time and uses his gift to improve his love life and relationships. What begins as a romantic fantasy becomes a heartfelt reminder that the most meaningful moments are often the ordinary ones.

16. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

Director: Barry Jenkins
Actors: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King
MPAA Rating: R
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A young couple’s future is shattered when the man is falsely accused of a crime before they can begin their life together. Told with tenderness and quiet power, the film captures a love that endures injustice, fear, and impossible odds.

17. A Very Long Engagement (2004)

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Actors: Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, Marion Cotillard
MPAA Rating: R
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After World War I, a determined young woman refuses to believe her fiancé died on the battlefield and begins a relentless search for the truth. Her journey becomes a sweeping, emotional testament to devotion, hope, and love that refuses to fade.

18. Titanic (1997)

Director: James Cameron
Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane
MPAA Rating: PG-13
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Two young lovers from vastly different worlds meet aboard the ill-fated ship and fall deeply in love. Their brief romance becomes unforgettable as passion, class division, and tragedy collide in one of cinema’s most iconic love stories.

19. Legends of the Fall (1994)

Director: Edward Zwick
Actors: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn, Julia Ormond
MPAA Rating: R
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Set against sweeping landscapes and years of upheaval, the lives of three brothers are forever changed by love and loss. At the center is a passionate, destructive romance that ripples through generations with devastating consequences.

20. The 5 Year Engagement (2012)

Director: Nicholas Stoller
Actors: Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Chris Pratt, Alison Brie
MPAA Rating: R
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“The 5 Year Engagement” chronicles the extended engagement of Tom and Violet, a couple whose journey to the altar is repeatedly delayed by career opportunities and unexpected life twists. As time passes, they begin to question their relationship and whether their marriage is meant to be, leading to a heartfelt exploration of commitment and the challenges of long-term love.

21. Brooklyn (2015)

Director: John Crowley
Actors: Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson
MPAA Rating: PG-13
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A young Irish woman builds a new life in 1950s New York, only to find herself torn between two countries and two loves. Her quiet, heartfelt journey captures the ache of belonging, choice, and first love.

22. The Last Song (2010)

Director: Julie Anne Robinson
Actors: Miley Cyrus, Liam Hemsworth, Greg Kinnear
MPAA Rating: PG
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A rebellious teenager spends the summer with her estranged father and unexpectedly falls in love along the way. Set against grief and healing, the film blends young romance with themes of forgiveness and family.

23. Message in a Bottle (1999)

Director: Luis Mandoki
Actors: Kevin Costner, Robin Wright, Paul Newman
MPAA Rating: PG-13
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A journalist becomes captivated by a series of anonymous love letters and tracks down the widower who wrote them. Their connection is tender and hopeful, but shadowed by loss and the pain of loving again.

24. At First Sight (1999)

Director: Irwin Winkler
Actors: Val Kilmer, Mira Sorvino, Kelly McGillis
MPAA Rating: PG-13
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A blind man regains his sight through experimental surgery and begins seeing the world—and his relationship—in a new way. As excitement gives way to emotional strain, the film explores how love survives profound change.

25. Ever After (1998)

Director: Andy Tennant
Actors: Drew Barrymore, Anjelica Huston, Dougray Scott
MPAA Rating: PG-13
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This reimagined Cinderella story grounds its fairy tale romance in wit, courage, and genuine connection. With a strong, independent heroine at its center, the film offers a timeless love story without the magic wand.