Five Netflix movies to cure your midweek blues
Valentine’s might be over, but the effect is still here, and so are we with our Netflix movie picks for this week. By now, we can all admit to one universal experience: not planning ahead what to watch and then endlessly scrolling for hours. It irritates the most when you have to do it midweek when there is already so much fatigue.
So this time, let us be of help. Instead of defaulting to something forgettable, let us talk about films that actually will leave an impression on you. These are not your regular romances; these are movies with substance.
And don’t worry, this list does not contain sugary rom-coms where everything wraps up neatly by the end credits. It is about stories that sit with feeling. Where two people standing in the same room can say more without speaking than most scripts manage with pages of dialogue.
And you are here looking for romantic movie suggestions, so you already care about mood. So let us start with a film that basically wrote the blueprint for restrained romance and still feels timeless every time it plays.
The five best movies to watch on Netflix this weekend
In the Mood for Love (2000)
In the Mood for Love is a cinematic masterpiece that follows two neighbours who slowly realise their spouses are involved with each other, and instead of blowing everything up, they begin spending time together, rehearsing conversations they imagine their partners had. Not just that, they start sharing late-night walks and lingering in doorways just a second longer than necessary. Directed by Wong Kar-wai, the film moves through repetition and restraint, all while building emotional tension without any sort of dramatic confrontation.
What makes it unforgettable is not what happens but what does not happen, because every choice these characters avoid feels heavier than any confession would, and that push-pull between desire and discipline creates a romance that lingers in your chest long after the screen fades. If romance for you means intimacy rather than grand gestures, this one sets the tone perfectly.
The Lunchbox (Ritesh Batra, 2013)
Some stories don’t need big twists or loud endings, and The Lunchbox is one of them. This film has two major elements: handwritten notes and home-cooked meals. It is set in Mumbai, where a rare mix-up in the city’s famously accurate lunch delivery system connects two strangers: Ila, a housewife trying to reconnect with her husband, and Saajan, a widowed accountant counting the days to retirement.
The lunchbox meant for Ila’s husband lands on Saajan’s desk, and instead of reporting the mistake, he eats the food. She notices the empty box and writes him a note, followed by another and then another. What begins as a small error becomes a quiet routine. Their messages grow longer; their days feel different. But the best part is that both begin to imagine a life that is not stuck in place. In a city full of rush and crowds, these two write their own story, which feels very, very real.
The Beauty Inside (Baik, 2015)
This film starts when a man wakes up in a new body every morning, yet his memories stay intact, so the woman he loves must decide whether devotion can survive total unpredictability. Woo-jin runs a small furniture workshop in Seoul, so each new face brings practical problems and a constant need to prove who he is. You’ll witness this man facing more awkward introductions than you might have ever faced.
Instead of turning the idea into a joke, the story watches both of them negotiate trust, jealousy, fear, and tenderness, because love here is a daily choice. And you have no shortcuts. Jisung Park leads as Woo-jin, while Han Hyo-joo plays Yi-soo, the woman asked to recognise the same person inside a changing skin, which makes every reunion feel earned. It is an experimental film, but trust me, you will love it.
Ali & Ava (Clio Barnard, 2021)
After a film that plays with identity, this one brings romance back to the street, to the bus stop, and to the awkward first conversations where nobody knows what to say. Ali is a landlord working multiple jobs. Ava is a teaching assistant with a loud laugh and a playlist that keeps her going.
They meet in Bradford and bond over music. But that doesn’t stop there. They begin seeing each other while carrying the real-life weight of problems. Ava faces a possessive ex, and Ali faces prejudice plus family pressure. They talk, dance at parties and choose one another again, still. Riz Ahmed plays Ali, and Joanna Scanlan gives Ava, while director Clio Barnard keeps the tone natural, letting small moments do the work.
On Body and Soul (Ildikó Enyedi, 2017)
If you want romance that arrives from a strange angle, this Hungarian film begins at work. It starts in a slaughterhouse office, where two people barely connect in daylight. Maria is new, precise, and socially stiff. Endre manages the plant and carries pain. Then they discover a shared dream that repeats nightly: both roam a winter forest as deer.
Director Ildikó Enyedi uses that dream as a bridge, pushing them to attempt real intimacy despite anxiety, fear, and awkward missteps. Alexandra Borbély plays Maria, and Géza Morcsányi plays Endre. The film won the Golden Bear, so the premise carries craft, not gimmicks, and a romance that will force you to think. Watching them learn to speak, touch, plus trust feels awkward at first, then deeply moving, because both crave connection yet fear it.