Valentine's Day tends to split people into two camps - the lovers and the haters. It's doesn't just break down into couples and singles - there are a hundred reasons why you might be a fan or foe of Valentine's Day.
Not wanting to leave anyone out, here are our top picks of films - all available to watch now on Netflix - for anyone who wants to celebrate or forget Valentine's Day:
Pro-Valentine's Day
Pretty Woman
Sometimes the obvious choice is the best one. Richard Gere and Julia Roberts star in this modern day Pygmalion as the uptight businessman and the hooker with a heart of gold, as if we had to tell you.
There are few films with more memorable moments than this: the shopping scene, the cutlery, the day at the races and the dental floss. If you want something straightforward and heart-warming for Valentine's Day, you can't do much better.
What to Read Next
Pride and Prejudice
The BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's classic is strictly speaking a miniseries, but we like to look at it as an extra-long film based on a true English classic. Of course it's romantic, but people forget just how clever and funny this story is, and the casting of this particular version is spot on in every respect.
Jennifer Ehle is outstanding as Elizabeth Bennet, and who can possibly forget the young Colin Firth's Mr Darcy emerging from the lake? There aren't many better ways to spend a long and quiet evening in.
10 Things I Hate About You
Shakespeare knew romance - just check out those sonnets. So what better to base your romantic comedy on than a play by the grandfather of all rom coms?
1999's 10 Things I Hate About You is based on The Taming of the Shrew - a tale of teenage angst and romantic plotting that promises to backfire from the word go. Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger make joyously atypical romantic leads, with a supporting cast including a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt and The Secret World of Alex Mack's Larisa Oleynik.
Stardust
Long before he was named Daredevil in the upcoming Marvel/Netflix Original series, Charlie Cox starred opposite Claire Danes in the vivid fantasy adventure Stardust, in which an ordinary young man becomes the protector of a very ornery fallen star.
Director Matthew Vaughn brings his usual imagination and attention to detail to a story full of evil witches, unicorns and sky pirates. Danes and Cox shine as the bickering pair who will surely never get together, of course. The end may differ from Neil Gaiman's original, bittersweet novel - but in the service of romance, the film is the one to choose.
Anti-Valentine's Day
The First Wives Club
Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler star in the cult classic about three women drawn back together by their friend's suicide and the simultaneous revelation that all their husbands have been cheating on them. As if those three stars weren't enough, keep an eye out for supporting roles from Maggie Smith, Sarah Jessica Parker, Marcia Gay Harden, Stockard Channing and Clueless's Dan Hedaya.
The message of the film is a simple but a good one - you don't need anyone else but your friends. Following that philosophy, Valentine's Day needn't look so very important anymore.
The Talented Mr Ripley
The perfect antidote to thoughts of romance is to watch something utterly nasty. Cue The Talented Mr Ripley, a tale of lies, obsession and murder on the idyllic Italian coast. Matt Damon is chilling as the title character, with star turns from Cate Blanchett, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow.
This film will put you off any ideas of romance - possibly forever.
Nymphomaniac Volume 1 and 2
The fact that Lars von Trier's two-part film marks the final instalment in his unofficial 'Depression Trilogy' should probably tell you all you need to know about the romantic potential in this film. Charlotte Gainsbourg's escapades may be set all around sex, but love is rarely part of the equation.
Stellan Skarsgård, Shia LaBeouf, Uma Thurman, Christian Slater, Jamie Bell, Connie Nielsen and Willem Dafoe round out a stellar cast, but moments of comedy and wit do not stop this film from being an intense and decidedly anti-Valentine's epic.
Crank 2: High Voltage
Maybe what you need is some high-octane action. Jason Statham stars as hitman Chev Chelios in the high-concept, tongue-in-cheek movie about a man who must keep his artificial heart charged if he doesn't want to drop dead.
Things to expect: guns, car chases, explosions, Statham electrocuting himself in imaginative ways.
Things not to expect: romance.
Special Mention
They Came Together
Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd's rom com parody is in the unusual position of straddling both pro- and anti-Valentine's Day positions. The lead couple's chemistry brings a genuinely romantic element to the proceedings, but the film doesn't miss a single opportunity to poke fun at every cliché in the romantic comedy playbook.
With a supporting cast featuring Ellie Kemper, Bill Hader, Jason Mantzoukas, Melanie Lynskey and Ed Helms, the film is as much a comedy as anything else, and might just be able to reconcile opposing views over the great Valentine's divide.
Join the conversation on the Digital Spy Netflix forum.
