Snuggle up this Valentine’s (Picture: BBC Films)

If you’ve already seen La La Land, and Fifty Shades Darker’s questionable relationship leaves you feeling more troubled than turned-on, then you’re probably going to look to the small screen for your Valentine’s Day-themed viewing this year.

What you need to watch on Netflix this February – 10 of the best TV shows you just can’t miss

As ever, Netflix has more than its fair share of contemporary loved-up titles.

From black and white indie movies to technicolor TV specials here’s a look at ten of the best.

Blue Jay


Fresh from her astonishing portrayal of Marcia Clark in American Crime Story, the ever-brilliant Sarah Paulson stars alongside mumblecore regular Jay Duplass in this nostalgic two-hander.

Set over the course of just 24 hours, Blue Jay sees the pair play estranged high school sweethearts who briefly rekindle their romance after bumping into each other at a grocery store.



As you’d expect, it’s all rather low-key, but it’s also charming, touching and all-too real, while the two leads’ chemistry is off the chart.

Brooklyn

Saoirse Ronan deservedly picked up an Oscar nomination for her heartfelt performance as an Irish immigrant torn between the life she’s left behind and the life’s she carved out in the titular New York borough.

Also boasting a charismatic performance from Emory Cohen as her love interest Tony, Brooklyn is the kind of simple but beautifully told story which will leave you muttering ‘they don’t make ‘em like this anymore.’

Holding The Man

You’ll need to get the tissues ready for this evocative and emotionally devastating adaptation of the late Australian activist Timothy Conigrave’s memoir.

Ryan Corr and Trevor Stott are perfectly cast as two young lovers whose high school romance blossoms into a lifelong relationship cruelly cut short by the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis.

Holding The Man perhaps inevitably got overshadowed by HBO’s similarly-themed A Normal Heart, but this more intimate alternative is arguably just as powerful.

Before We Go

If you prefer Chris Evans more in sensitive romantic lead mode than cocksure superhero, then the star’s directorial debut should be right up your street.

Like Blue Jay, Before We Go also takes place in a short time frame as Evans’ trumpeting busker meets and falls in love with a stranded and unhappily married Alice Eve over the course of a night in New York.

Sure, it’s schmaltzier than a Westlife compilation, but the two star-crossed leads are so charming that you can easily overlook all the indie romance clichés.

Comet

In stark contrast to the more conventional Before We Go, Comet is a highly intriguing and complex sci-fi tinged love story which is just as likely to have you scratching your head as it is warming your heart.

Emmy Rossum and Justin Long star as the central couple whose six-year relationship is shown through a puzzling array of flashbacks and parallel universes.

It doesn’t always work, but you have to admire its ambition.

Black Mirror – San Junipero

It may seem slightly perverse to include Charlie Brooker’s nightmarish anthology on a list of Valentine’s Day recommendations.



But San Junipero, the highlight of the current third series, is that rarity – a Black Mirror episode which restores your faith in humanity rather than destroy it.

It’s perhaps best to go into San Junipero knowing as little as possible.

But we can say that the largely 80s-based romance between Mackenzie Davis’ nerdy Yorkie and Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s vivacious Kelly will leave you teary-eyed for all the right reasons.

It will also leave you humming Belinda Carlisle’s Heaven Is A Place On Earth for days.

About Last Night

A remake of the Brat Pack film of the same name, About Last Night substitutes the likes of Demi Moore and Rob Lowe for Regina Hall and Kevin Hart to much more satisfying effect.

In fact, Hart has arguably never been better, while the zinging script ensures that this is that rare romantic comedy which is both romantic and funny.

Echo Park

If the likes of Blue Jay and Before We Go still haven’t satisfied your appetite for bittersweet Before Sunrise-esque depictions of romance, then you could do a lot worse then check out Echo Park.

The story of a recently unengaged fashion designer who falls for a British expat planning to move back to London, this Los Angeles-set tale is a sweetly understated film which makes up for in charm what it lacks in narrative.

The Lobster

Be warned: The Lobster won’t be everyone’s idea of the perfect Valentine’s Day watch.

In fact, the premise of this pitch-black romantic comedy is downright insane – recently dumped Colin Farrell visits a hotel in which single people must find love within 45 days or be turned into their animal of choice.


But accept this bonkers scenario and you’re rewarded with a brilliantly warped blend of satire, surrealism and strangely affecting romance that will leave a longer lasting impression than the majority of cookie-cutter love stories.

Michael Bolton’s Big Sexy Valentine’s Day Special



And now for something completely different.

Following on from Bill Murray’s 2015 festive special, housewives’ favourite Michael Bolton invites the likes of Maya Rudolph, Sarah Silverman and Michael Sheen to help him celebrate the day which his cornball power ballads are undoubtedly best suited to.

But if you prefer something a little more old-school…

We can also recommend: My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997), The Way We Were (1973), Only You (1994), Titanic (1997), The End Of The Affair (1999), Spanglish (2004), The Object Of My Affection (1997), Ghost (1990), Dan In Real Life (2007), Annie Hall (1977), It Happened One Night (1934) and Serendipity (2001).

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