Let’s be honest: we all approach Valentine’s Day with different expectations, needs and love languages. For some, it’s roses and dinner reservations. For others, it’s a quiet night in, a phone on Do Not Disturb, and a little self-preservation. Some are celebrating new love, some are healing from old love, and some are simply choosing themselves this year — and that’s more than okay.
Whatever your mood this Valentine’s, there’s a film for that. Whether you want to fall headfirst into romance, unpack the complexities of modern relationships, laugh at love’s chaos, or sit with something softer and more introspective, we’ve got you covered.
Waiting on God for the perfect man?
Not My Type|On Showmax
Letsatsi has spent years designing wedding dresses while waiting for the perfect man God has in store for her. When her younger sister receives a marriage proposal, she becomes desperate. Her meticulously planned life, which should have included a husband by now, is not unfolding as she expected. Lorraine Moropa stars as Letsatsi, opposite Lulama Nyembezi as Thimothi and Moagi Kai as Mhlonishwa. Directed by SAFTA winner Siyabonga Mkhize, Not My Type was the most popular South African film on Showmax last year.
Looking for love again in middle age?
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy|On DStv Stream & Showmax
After jumping back into the dating pool in her 50s, single mother Bridget Jones finds herself caught between a younger man and her son’s science teacher. Renée Zellweger was up for Best Actress at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards, where Mad About The Boy won Best Movie Made For Television. The romcom was also nominated for BAFTAs and Emmys, among other accolades.
Leo Woodall (Jack in The White Lotus S2) and Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor co-star as her love interests, while Emmy nominee Hugh Grant returns as Daniel Cleaver. The first three adaptations of Helen Fielding’s bestselling books are also available to binge on Showmax.
Ready to break up and explore your options?
Sweethearts|On DStv Stream & Showmax
In Sweethearts, college first years Jamie and Ben decide to break up with their long-distance high school sweethearts the night before Thanksgiving. With help from newly out Palmer, Ben and Jamie test the boundaries of their co-dependent friendship while attempting to end things by any means necessary.
Multi-award winner Kiernan Shipka (Sally Draper in Mad Men) and Nico Hiraga co-star, with 2025 Queerties-nominated comedian Caleb Hearon as Palmer. Also look out for Emmy winner Tramell Tillman (Seth Milchick in Severance). Sweethearts was nominated for Outstanding TV Film at the 2025 GLAAD Media Awards.
Want to swoon and squirm in equal measure?
Heart Eyes|On Showmax
For the past several years, the Heart Eyes Killer has wreaked havoc on Valentine’s Day by stalking and murdering couples. This Valentine’s Day, no couple is safe… A #1 US box office hit, Heart Eyes is “destined to become a Valentine’s Day favorite,” says TheWrap, calling it, “that rare horror movie with a great and charming love story, and that even rarer romantic comedy with a great and savage serial killer.” Led by Teen Choice winner Olivia Holt (Cloak & Dagger) and Mason Gooding (Chad in the Scream movies), the cast also includes Devon Sawa (Chucky, Final Destination), Jordana Brewster (Mia in the Fast & Furious films) and Michaela Watkins (Hacks).
Ready to bring him home to meet the Aunties?
A Nice Indian Boy|On Showmax
Naveen finally brings his fiancé Jay home to meet his traditional Indian family. Will they be able to accept his white, orphan, artist boyfriend and help them plan the Indian wedding of their dreams?
Executive produced by Mindy Kaling (The Sex Lives of College Girls, Never Have I Ever), the romcom stars Karan Soni (Dopinder in the Deadpool movies) and Emmy nominee Jonathan Groff (Hamilton, Mindhunter, the voice of Kristoff in Frozen). Nominated for 2026 Dorian GLAAD and Queerty awards, A Nice Indian Boy has a 95% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Collider calls it, “One of the funniest, most heartfelt romcoms in years.”
Date night. With stunts.
The Fall Guy|On DStv Stream & Showmax
A battle-scarred former stuntman is drafted back into service when the star of a mega-budget studio movie, being directed by his ex, goes missing. Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt were nominated for Best Action and Actress in an Action Movie at the Critics Choice Super Awards, where The Fall Guy was also up for Best Action Movie.
Directed by former stuntman David Leitch, The Fall Guy won over 20 awards internationally, with Vulture hailing it as “a funny, romantic, stunt-filled delight.”
In the mood to cuddle and cry?
We Live In Time|On Showmax
Oscar nominees Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh star in We Live in Time, a decade-spanning, deeply moving romance. We Live in Time earned John Crowley (Brooklyn) a Best Director nomination at the 2025 Irish Film and Television Awards, where Pugh was up for Best International Actress. Time Out calls it “real, and honest, in a way that too few romantic films manage.”
Looking for your first love in old age?
Touch|On DStv Stream & Showmax
Based on the bestselling novel by Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson, Touch follows one widower’s emotional journey to find his first love, who disappeared 50 years ago, before his time runs out. Selected as Iceland’s Oscar entry, Touch has won 11 awards and has a 93% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Variety calls the film “a weepie filled with humanity and hope… a uniquely powerful, humane film about people rebounding from the rubble of devastating losses, choosing courage and love to overcome grief.”
Happily married but thinking about your childhood sweetheart?
Past Lives|On DStv Stream & Showmax
Childhood friends Nora and Hae Sung are torn apart after her family emigrates from South Korea to America. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life. Winner of over 80 awards, Past Lives was nominated for Motion Picture of the Year and Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars, as well as for the Critics Choice Best Actress Award for Greta Lee and the BAFTA Best Actor Award for Teo Yoo. Past Lives was MetaCritic’s best-reviewed narrative film of 2023. Rolling Stone calls it, “A stunning, pitch-perfect romance.”
Celebrating Black Love?
The Photograph|On Showmax
When famed photographer Christina Eames unexpectedly dies, she leaves her estranged daughter Mae Morton hurt, angry and full of questions. When a photograph tucked away in a safe-deposit box is found, Mae finds herself on a journey delving into her mother’s early life. She also ignites a powerful, unexpected romance with a rising-star journalist, Michael Block.
Nine-time Emmy nominee Issa Rae (Insecure) and Oscar nominee LaKeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah) co-star. The Photograph is at #4 on Oprah Daily’s list of the “Best Black Romance Movies”. The Observer calls the film “luxuriantly sensual and unashamedly romantic.”
Want to marry into money but worried about the in-laws?
Crazy Rich Asians|On DStv Stream & Showmax
M-Net Movies 2 (DStv Channel 106)
When New Yorker Rachel Chu travels to Singapore with her longtime boyfriend Nick, she’s shocked to discover he’s the heir to one of the wealthiest families in Asia. Thrust into a world of private jets, couture and society weddings, Rachel must navigate disapproving relatives, especially Nick’s formidable mother, while deciding whether love is worth the pressure.
Constance Wu was up for Best Actress at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards, where Crazy Rich Asians won Best Comedy. The ensemble cast also includes breakout star Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, Nico Santos and Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Everything Everywhere All At Once). The highest-grossing romcom in a decade at the time of its release, Crazy Rich Asians was hailed by Empire as “crazy good… a romcom milestone and the best thing to happen to the genre in years.”
Think you’ve moved on but your friends haven’t?
The Best Man Holiday|On DStv Stream & Showmax
M-Net Movies 2 (DStv Channel 106)
When college friends finally reunite over the Christmas holidays, they discover just how easy it is to reignite long-forgotten rivalries and romances.
A #1 box office hit in the US, Best Man’s Holiday sees Taye Diggs, Nia Long, Morris Chestnut, Harold Perrineau, Sanaa Lathan, Monica Calhoun, Melissa De Sousa, Regina Hall and Oscar nominee Terrence Howard reprise their career-launching roles from The Best Man, which Oprah Daily included in their roundup of the “Best Black Romance Movies”. The Best Man Holiday was up for Best Movie at the BET Awards, as well as multiple Black Reel and Image awards. The Best Man screens at 8:30PM on M-Net Movies 2 on 14 February. It’s also on Showmax, as is the spinoff series The Best Man: The Final Chapters.
Need to be kissed in the rain?
The Notebook|On DStv Stream and Showmax now
M-Net Movies 2 (DStv Channel 106)
In the 1940s, mill worker Noah falls deeply in love with wealthy heiress Allie, but their romance is torn apart by social class and war. When fate reunites them years later, Allie must choose between the life she planned and the love she never forgot.
Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams won Choice Movie: Actor and Actress at the Teen Choice Awards, where The Notebook also took home the awards for Drama, Date Movie, Love Scene, Kiss, Chemistry and more. Based on the bestselling novel by Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook is “required viewing for high school girls (and their begrudging boyfriends),” according to People.
Period romcom with Oscars?
Shakespeare In Love|On DStv Stream & Showmax
Plagued with debt and writer’s block, young William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) is well past the deadline for his latest play. When he meets Viola, a young lady masquerading as a man to get a part in his play, it’s love at first sight. Inspired by his new romance, Will sets feverishly to work on his play, determined to write the greatest love story ever told: Romeo and Juliet.
Shakespeare in Love won seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Actress (Gwyneth Paltrow as Viola) and Best Supporting Actress (Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth I). As Rolling Stone says, “You can’t miss with a movie that speaks the language of love with such hot-blooded delight. And in iambic pentameter, too.”
