Fake dating romance movies are an ever-present trope, but it is also one that is very much prone to mixed reactions. After all, there is a thin line between making a fake relationship feel believable and veering into problematic or cringey territory.
Yet, the fake dating trope never seems to get old. Every new movie either reinvents it or reminds us why we fall for it again and again. Here are 10 fake dating romances that we can now consider absolute classics.
10. Anyone But You (2023)
Starting with a movie with classic origins, ‘Anyone But You’ is loosely based on William Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’. It tells the story of the duo Bea and Ben, who were once head over heels for each other.
Until miscommunication turned their fiery and passionate love into an equally fiery and passionate hatred. When they reunite at their friends’ wedding, they decide they must pretend they are still together to escape any unwanted attention.
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9. Can’t Buy Me Love (1987)
A signature 80s movie, ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ follows two opposites: Ronald, who is your typical high school nerd, and Cindy, one of the school’s most popular cheerleaders. When Cindy needs to escape a sticky situation, they decide to enter a partnership.
In exchange for the thousand dollars Cindy needs, she pretends to be his girlfriend for a month. As you would expect from any rom-com, things don’t quite end after a month. Though the movie has some very outdated themes, it is still a feel-good favourite in this trope.
8. The Wedding Banquet (1993)
Ang Lee’s ‘The Wedding Banquet’ was exceptionally ahead of its time and still hits just as hard. And for once, it tells the story of a fake relationship that does not end with the two parties together.
Wai-Tung is a Taiwanese immigrant who is happily in a relationship with his boyfriend Simon but needs to keep his sexuality hidden. On the other hand, Wei-Wei lives in poverty and needs a green card to stay in the US. Both decide they must enter a marriage of convenience.
7. Easy A (2010)
In this movie, we don’t get one but many fake relationships because our protagonist Olive realizes she can create a business out of it. Olive is a straight-A student invisible in her school’s social scene until a white lie spirals out of control.
Now, she realises that she can get benefits for both herself and others by pretending to have intimate encounters with guys at school. It is a pretty refreshing take on the entire fake dating trope and, once again, has some classical origins, since it is inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘The Scarlet Letter’.
6. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
Once again, we get a classic fake-dating rom-com that is rooted in Shakespeare’s plays. ’10 Things I Hate About You’ brings ‘The Taming Of The Shrew’ to the 90s high school social scene.
New to the school, Cameron finds his dream girl in Bianca, but her father forbids her from dating until her older sister Kat dates. So, Cameron enlists bad boy Patrick to pursue Kat and clear the way for Bianca and him.
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5. How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days (2003)
This rom-com classic rewrites the entire fake-dating scenario completely because, while the audience knows both leads are playing the game, they don’t know it themselves. Andie Anderson decides to write about “How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days”. To give it more credibility, she dates a man and follows every step.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Barry has a bet with his boss that he can make any woman fall in love with him. The woman he decides to approach turns out to be Andie herself. The two, with their secret agendas, collide to create a hilarious pair.
4. Pretty Woman (1990)
The movie that helped inspire many modern fake-dating romances, ‘Pretty Woman’ is an absolute classic in this genre. It follows Edward, a corporate raider whose focus on his work has left him without a date to his business functions.
He decides to hire a sex worker named Vivian to accompany him as his girlfriend. However, over the course of the week, their relationship starts to develop, and their previous arrangement becomes complicated as both start wanting something more.
3. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
This true modern classic follows Lara Jean, who ends up in quite a situation when her little sister sends out the secret letters she wrote to her crushes over the years. When her crushes start to confront her one by one, her social life turns into absolute chaos.
Lara Jean decides to team up with recipient Peter Kavinsky and enter a fake relationship, since Peter also wants to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. But soon, their undeniable and very effortless chemistry turns their fake relationship into something very real.
2. The Proposal (2009)
What happens when you combine the timeless enemies-to-lovers trope with a fake marriage? You end up with one of the most hilarious movies of all time. ‘The Proposal’ follows Margaret, a demanding boss who has made her assistant Andrew’s life particularly miserable.
When her visa expires and she faces the fate of deportation, Margaret turns to Andrew for help. They agree to fake a marriage so she can stay in the country, but living together soon makes it impossible to ignore the attraction brewing between them.
1. It Happened One Night (1934)
This Frank Capra classic is a true originator of the fake-dating romance movies. It follows roguish reporter Peter Warner and runaway heiress Ellie Andrews, who decide to enter a partnership.
In exchange for an interview and her story, Peter pretends to be Ellie’s husband while travelling across the country to avoid the authorities searching for Ellie. What starts as an annoyed, forced partnership soon grows into a genuine connection.
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