High suspense has long been a motivating factor in bringing seemingly different people together. A genre that repeats and keeps on giving, constantly having to bridge what is popular in society to get it right.
Action-romance stories feature a journey that propels the two characters into high-stakes situations that force them to identify and deal with issues they wouldn’t otherwise bring up. The “will-they-won’t-they” tension ensues as characters often search for the right one, and some movies do this fantastically well.
10’Die in a Gunfight' (2021)
Alexandra DaddarioandDiego Bonetastar as Ben and Mary, lovers caught in a generational feud. For them to be together, they must go up against their families and their secrets.
RELATED:15 Best Romantic Movies Where The Couple Doesn’t End Up Together
The movie follows the classic tale ofRomeo and Juliet, only this time, its well-to-do newspaper conglomerates. Ben and Mary both come from similar backgrounds where their lives have been managed and controlled: the essence of forbidden love is what attracts them to each other.
9’Ghosted' (2023)
After a first date, Cole and Sadie go on a high-stakes and tension-filled international adventure. Cole,Chris Evans, wants to surprise Sadie,Ana de Armas, so he goes to London to visit her just to be caught in the crossfire of love and a scheme that will save the world.
RELATED:10 Best book-Adapted Female-Led Romance Movies of the 2020s
Cole, the farmer, is a stage five clinger. He over-texts, overshares, and overcomplicates, while on the other hand, Sadie is decisive and needs someone who doesn’t demand to be taken care of. On their international parade to secure the safety of Cole, they find that what each other offer is what they actually need.
8’Three Thousand Years of Longing' (2022)
Tilda Swinton is a lonely academic with her colleagues on a trip to Istanbul to talk about her discoveries in mythology. While there, she comes across a heartbroken Djinn (Idris Elba) who grants her three wishes so he can finally be free.
Untrusting of the Djinn and his trickster ways,Tilda’s character Alithea suppresses the longingpart of herself. Alithea has a lack of love in her that she can’t admit to herself; it isn’t until the Djinn comes out that she learns we are the authors of our own story and must go after the things we want.
7’Perfect Addiction' (2023)
After a boxing trainer (Kiana Madeira) finds that her boyfriend (Matthew Noszka) of three years has been sleeping with her sister, she attempts to do all that she can to unseat him as champion, including training his long-time rival (Ross Butler).
The film takes a different approach in showing the passion and physical nature of relationships. The film shows the fine line between love and hate as she falls for her mentee and confronts her feelings for both men.
6’The Lovebirds' (2023)
In a struggling relationship, Jibran and Leilani (Kumail NanjianiandIssa Rae) end it just as they are swept into a murder they are the prime suspects of. Over the course of a night, they try to solve the murder to clear their names.
RELATED:10 Great Romance Movies That Wouldn’t Be Good Date Movies
Jibran and Leilani are a couple that started as friends and entered a relationship, thinking it would be easy. The couple finds that their differences are actually more than they can handle, but a good ol' fashioned murder mystery leads them to face life-or-death situations, solve their personality problems, and actually make them talk about what is going on between them.
5’Murder Mystery' (2019)
Adam SandlerandJennifer Anistonteam up for the first time as a husband and wife whose relationship wanes. Caught up in a murder case on an affluent family yacht leads them into a mystery case that has to be solved.
Sandler and Aniston live an unromantic life; the events that transpire bring out the fun they used to have but haven’t been able to. A new take on the classic murder mystery film is very meta to the genre. They poke fun at the traditional tropes associated and flip them on their heads.
4’Murder Mystery 2' (2023)
Back in action with their detective agency, the Spitzes are at it again, solving another murder mystery. While on vacation with the Maharajah, they are swept up into another case when he goes missing.
The romance comes out inthe chemistry between Sandler and Anistonas they portray a couple with their quirks but love each other nonetheless. Touching on those long marital issues that plague a relationship turns into a funny satire of our current culture.
3’The Lost City' (2022)
Trying to mourn the loss of her husband has made romance novelist Loretta Sage, played bySandra Bullock, antisocial and a recluse. While on a book tour with cover model Alan, played byChanning Tatum, she is abducted by a billionaire wanting to use her work as a way to find a lost city.
RELATED:Unhappy Endings: 10 Great Romantic Films That Ended in Tears
Taking audiences through a crusade in the jungle, we learn the inner facets of the characters who inevitably fall in love. Alan is a good guy whose thoughtfulness plays well against Loretta, who is a hurting human trying to find her bearings again.
2’Shotgun Wedding' (2022)
Darcy and Tom, played byJennifer LopezandJosh Duhamel, bring their families together for the ultimate destination wedding. Things go awry when the bridal parties are held hostage by pirates. It is up to Darcy and Tom to save their families while figuring out their pre-wedding jitters.
Lopez is the bride who wants a small wedding, while Duhamel is the overthinking groom that doesn’t consider others' feelings. The film does a good job of blending the old with the new, as the chemistry between the two actors creates a fun and humorous dynamic.
1’Thor: Love and Thunder' (2022)
The fourth installment of theThormovies has been controversial among fans, but the story is a perfect arc for a character reaching the end of his run. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) gets the help of his friends Korg (Taika Waititi) and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), as well as his ex-girlfriend, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), to stop Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), from destroying all the gods.
Though it may be divisive, the movie is an action romance movie. Thor and Jane are forced together to discuss their relationship from the first movie and settle their differences. It gives way to what Thor needs at this stage in his arc, a family and someone to look out for him as much as he does for the universe.
