The Best Black Love Movies for Valentine’s Day
Some things deserve a little more love on Valentine's Day, some things just don't get the sort of exposure and attention they deserve, and Black Joy is one of them.
Make this Day of Love a day to celebrate Black love in all its beautiful forms with Black Love movies that evoke a bit of nostalgia or newer films that push the boundaries on what audiences think of as a “romance.”
1. Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess hit theatres in 1959, which might make it a little too old for some, but the movie still stands as a classic example, and one of the first examples, of Black love movies.
The film features the late and great Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge as Porgy and Bess, respectively. The musical film follows the tenants of a poverty-stricken neighborhood in Charleston, South Carolina, called Catfish Row. Bess captures the attention of the disabled Porgy, but her involvement with a thug and a drug dealer makes a relationship between the titular characters feel ill-fated.
2. Queen & Slim
The 2019 film takes the Bonnie and Clyde duo and turns it on its head, offering the titular characters a compelling reason to be on the run from the law.
Jodie Turner-Smith plays Queen alongside Daniel Kaluuya‘s Slim as a first date goes horribly wrong. Pulled over for a traffic violation, the situation escalates, and Slim kills the cop who pulled them over in self-defense. As the media labels them “cop killers,” Queen and Slim decide that with their fate already determined, their only choice is to go on the run. When a video of the incident explodes across the internet, the couple becomes a public symbol for something greater.
3. How Stella Got Her Groove Back
Starring the incomparable Oscar-winner Angela Bassett, How Stella Got Her Groove Back puts the star in star-studded casts. Alongside Bassett as the titular character, Taye Diggs stars as Winston Shakespeare, Whoopi Goldberg as Delilah Abraham, and Regina King as Vanessa.
The film follows 40-year-old stockbroker Stella, who has, thus far, been unlucky in love as she heads out on a Jamaican vacation with her best friend Delilah. Stella has a fling with Winston Shakespeare, a 20-year-old local who sweeps her off her feet. But when her vacation comes to an end, Stella finds her feelings for Winston might just last.
4. Mo' Betta Blues
The Spike Lee film features some of the greats, including Denzel Washington, Lee himself, Wesley Snipes, and Giancarlo Esposito.
Lee plays Giant, the leader of a jazz band featuring Bleek Gilliam (Washington), Shadow (Snipes), and Left Hand Lacey (Esposito). After Shadow expresses a desire to replace Giant with a new manager, Bleek defends his good friend Giant, and discord erupts in the band. At the same time, Bleek must choose between the sultry singer Clarke and the sweet teacher Indigo.
5. Poetic Justice
This John Singleton classic will forever have a place in cinematic history, thanks to the star power of both Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur as the lead characters.
After her boyfriend's murder, hairdresser Justice attempts to work through her grief by writing poetry that attempts to grapple with the pain she feels. She hopes to attend a convention in Oakland, but a broken-down car prevents her and pushes her to seek a ride with her friend Iesha (Regina King) and her boyfriend, Chicago (Joe Torry). Chicago's coworker Lucky (Shakur) comes along for the ride, and the unlikely group sets out for Oakland. As they journey, Justice finds herself drawn to Lucky, but will her grief allow her to truly get close to him?
6. The Best Man
The first film in what stands as an essential series of Black Love movies, The Best Man‘s cast is too star-studded to list every name, but a few major players include Taye Diggs, Nia Long, Morris Chestnut, Harold Perrineau, Terrence Howard, Sanaa Lathan, and that's just to get started!
The story starts as Harper Stewart's (Diggs) novel, Unfinished Business, makes it to Oprah's Book Club. His book in the public eye, Harper leaves Chicago for his best friend's wedding in New York City, where he reunites with all his old buddies, who he learns have gotten their hands on an advanced copy of his novel. His friends have managed to figure out that Harper's novel draws much of its contents from his girlfriend's life, and they rally around him as he determines whether or not he wants to remain a bachelor or commit to his girlfriend with her turbulent past.
7. Love and Basketball
Not quite starcrossed lovers, but with a similar storyline, Love & Basketball centers on Monica and Quincy, played by Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps, respectively, two basketball-loving kids who grow into their abilities and find themselves pitted against one another because of it.
Quincy's father is an incredibly successful basketball player, a pro who plays for the Clippers, and his path to greatness seems already lined up for him. Monica, on the other hand, tends to let her emotions throw her off on the court and relies solely on her skill to get her through the ranks. As they grow up together, the two find that basketball brings them together as more than just friends, but will their climb to the top get between their blooming love?
8. Brown Sugar
Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan star in a movie with hip-hop at its core and love at its center.
Sidney (Lathan) and Dre (Diggs) have been friends since childhood, both pursuing careers in the music industry thanks to a formative, shared experience on a New York City street corner. Sidney works as a famous music critic, and Dre works as a successful music executive, though his work hasn't felt very fulfilling lately. The two realize that the things they both find their lives miss can only be found when they rememeber what sparked their love of hip-hop in the first place.
9. Jumping the Broom
Worlds clash in Jumping the Broom as the main characters dive into a whirlwind romance and marriage.
Sabrina Watson (Paula Patton) works as a corporate lawyer raised by an affluent, old-money family. When she accepts the marriage proposal from her Wall Street boyfriend, Jason Taylor (Laz Alonso), and invites him and his mother to her parent's estate on Martha's Vineyard, she doesn't expect the clash of worlds that follows. Jason's postal-worker mother and Sabrina's aristocratic parents don't seem able to blend their families the same way Sabrina and Jason want.
10. If Beale Street Could Talk
Based on the beautiful and rich James Baldwin novel of the same name, If Beale Street Could Talk takes a careful look at 1970s Harlem and a beautiful couple, Tish (KiKi Lane) and Alonzo ‘Fonny' (Stephan James).
Tish and Fonny have loved each other since childhood, and with a baby on the way, the young, affianced couple has everything to lose. When Fonny stands accused of a crime he didn't commit, Tish and her family must work rapidly to clear his name and save his life despite the systemic forces working against them at every turn.
11. The Photograph
Issa Rae and LaKeith Stanfield make an iconic couple, delivering on-screen chemistry and unparalleled acting.
When Mae Morton's (Rae) estranged, world-famous photographer mother dies, Mae faces hurt, grief, and anger, finding herself left with more questions than answers. When Mae finds a photograph stowed away in a safety deposit box, she begins a journey of discovery about her mother that leads her to an unlikely love with an up-and-coming journalist (Stanfield).
Told in multiple timelines, the story deftly weaves together the past and the present and two beautiful love stories.
12. Sylvie's Love
The sweeping love story stretches from 1950s Harlem and on through the decades, celebrating the beautiful love between main characters Sylvie (Tessa Thompson) and Robert (Nnamdi Asomugha).
To the backdrop of incredible moments in Black history, including the March on Washington, Sylvie and the young saxophonist Robert meet and fall in love. The two begin a love affair despite Sylvie's engagement to a wealthy man away in the Korean War, but the affair eventually ends with Sylvie keeping a big secret, and Robert's heartbroken at Sylvie's refusal to break off her engagement. Their story weaves through their lives, showing the beautiful ways some love and their consequences never leave us.
13. Beyond the Lights
Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Nate Parker star across one another in this beautiful, poignant love story that embraces the star-crossed lovers trope with a modern spin.
Wildly successful singer Noni finds her fame and the consequences of it challenging to deal with. Her mother, played by Minnie Driver, worried about her safety thanks to her stardom, assigns a former police officer, Kaz, to be her bodyguard. Noni's struggle eventually leads her to attempt suicide, but Kaz stops her attempt, and the two immediately notice a connection. Despite the love they have for one another, those who surround them fight to keep them apart, worried that the differences in their lives will derail Noni's future success.
14. Malcolm & Marie
Zendaya and John David Washington set the screen on fire with their stunning performance in this black and white Netflix film which takes a microscopic view of a couple as their relationship unravels.
Written by Sam Levinson of Euphoria fame, Malcolm & Marie examines a single night in the relationship between Malcolm and Marie as they return home from the premiere of Malcolm's debut film. Elated by what he feels will be a stunning success, Malcolm notices Marie's reaction feels muted and asks what's wrong. Initially reluctant to start a fight, Marie finally tells Malcolm she feels slighted and underappreciated because he failed to mention her in his thanks or acknowledgments. Malcolm based his movie on Marie and what she struggled through when they first met, and Marie feels that he took her story and refuses to understand how impactful that will be to his success.
The fight between the two of them comes in waves as the movie refuses to look away from their differences and challenges.
15. Waiting to Exhale
A 90s classic based on Terry McMillan's novel, Waiting to Exhale stars Angela Bassett and Whitney Houston.
The film follows four best friends as they navigate romance and their love lives. The four find themselves in vastly different relationships, and they lean on one another as they learn what they need and who they want to be. The friendship of the four women reveals that their romantic love lives are important, but the love they share between themselves deserves celebration, too.
16. Moonlight
Starring the incredible Mahershala Ali, Moonlight explores the life of Chiron through three stages of his life.
Set in Miami, Florida, and following Chiron, the film takes a close look at the life of a young, underprivileged Black boy as he struggles to understand who he is. Audiences are shown that he begins to understand he might be gay from a young age, but as the movie follows him, audiences realize his identity will be something hard-won for him.
The Oscar-winning film is a beautiful examination of what it means to be a gay Black man in a community and culture unaccepting of that identity and how to accept that identity for yourself even while others fail to do so.
17. Love Don't Co$t a Thing
A young Nick Cannon and Christina Milian star in the 90s classic that embraces the fun trope of nerd makeovers and learning who you really are.
The intelligent Alvin Johnson (Cannon) loves designing car engines and has taken on pool cleaning jobs in an effort to afford a part he needs for a scholarship project that will earn him a full ride to any school he wants. After his crush crashes her mother's car, he realizes an opportunity has presented itself and agrees to repair the engine if she gives him a makeover and pretends to date him for two weeks so he can make memories before he graduates.
As with all good nerd-turned-cool-kid films, this movie sees Alvin questioning himself and who he really wants to be while Paris learns about herself and where her values lie.
18. Hitch
Will Smith stars as the titular character, a “date doctor” who teaches men how to develop real, genuine relationships with women, but who struggles with his own love life.
As Hitch coaches a client (played by Kevin James), he begins to fall in love with stunning gossip columnist Sara Melas (Eva Mendes). Afraid of what she might think about his profession, Hitch tells her he works as a general “consultant.” He finds that the rules he tells other men to follow might not work for every situation, as date after date with Sara crashes and burns, and he begins to realize that maybe love isn't quite as formulaic as he thinks.
19. Deliver Us From Eva
Starring Gabrielle Union and LL Cool J, Deliver Us From Eva follows another familiar 90s trope – a paid love interest who begins to actually fall in love with the mark.
Eva (Union) has been responsible for her sisters since their parents' death, and her overbearing protectiveness has rubbed her siblings' spouses the wrong way as she determines who receives what from the trust fund. In an attempt to gain access to the trust fund, Eva's sister's partners hire Ray Adams (Cool J), a down-on-his-luck ladies' man, to distract Eva as they vie for control. But that distraction might just prove to be a little too good.
20. Just Wright
Queen Latifah and Common star in this fun rom-com.
After a basketball injury leaves Scott McKnight (Common) in need of intensive physical therapy, Leslie Wright (Latifah) moves in with him to provide daily physical therapy. Always labeled as “one of the guys,” Leslie wants a boyfriend but doesn't have much luck in love, and while Scott dates often, he struggles with his likeability. Thrown together and forced to work with one another daily, the two find that they may just have met their match.