Best Rom-Coms for Fans of Nora Ephron

“A Nora Ephron rom-com always has a flawed, messy heroine—someone who initially seems quite polished and put together, but is falling apart at the seams,” says Ilana Kaplan, author of Nora Ephron at the Movies, about the late writer’s cinematic legacy. “She created rom-coms for the female gaze.”

The mastermind behind classics like When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You’ve Got Mail, Ephron didn’t just entertain audiences with many of her films becoming huge hits; she transformed the rom-com into a lens through which to reflect the times. Take When Harry Met Sally’s infamous diner scene, where Meg Ryan’s Sally shocks Billy Crystal’s Harry with the demonstration of a fake orgasm (recently recreated by the actors for a Super Bowl ad for mayonnaise, of all things). The moment is hilarious and endearingly raunchy, but also a cultural milestone that sparked frank conversations about female pleasure.

“I genuinely wonder sometimes if we would have the same kind of sex-driven rom-coms without that film,” Kaplan says. Despite being dismissed as “chick flicks” in their ’90s and early 2000s heyday—a period in which Ephron’s work was a defining force—the genre is experiencing a mini-resurgence. The success of blockbusters like Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and Anyone But You (2023), with its steamy enemies-to-lovers arc, along with the mainstream boom of romance novels often adapted for the screen thanks to BookTok, are fueling its revival. “Studios have started to see that maybe there is money to be made from the rom-com,” Kaplan says.

Although there was “only one Nora,” as Kaplan says, Ephron’s influence—including signatures like razor-sharp dialogue, cozy visuals, complex characters we actually care about, and a dash of social commentary—live on. Below, Kaplan recommends her favorite 11 rom-coms for Ephron fans.

Sleeping With Other People (2015)

“In this Leslye Headland movie, the dynamic between Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie’s characters feels very much like a Harry and Sally relationship. Twelve years after they had a one-night stand, they’re trying to maintain a platonic relationship despite both wanting to hook up. It’s a funny twist on something that I feel like we could have seen in more recent years with Nora if she were still here.”

While You Were Sleeping (1995)

“Director Jon Turteltaub said he always wanted to make a Nora Ephron movie, and with While You Were Sleeping, he sure did. Lucy (Sandra Bullock) falls in love with a guy in a coma, Peter (Peter Gallagher). She pretends they’re engaged, and then she falls in love with his brother—it’s so Ephron. It’s one of my favorite romantic comedies. There’s a dinner scene where Lucy goes to Peter’s parent’s house for dinner, and everyone is talking over each other about different things. That’s Nora to a T: conversational, very obscure, and weird.”

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before Trilogy (2018-2021)

“The storytelling of the To All the Boys I’ve Before trilogy reminds me of Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail, even though it’s for a younger audience. There’s this element of letter writing that’s the connective tissue for Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and her crushes, that’s right out of the Ephron playbook. The chemistry between Lara and Peter (Noah Centineo) seems like it’s modeled from a Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan kind of sweet chemistry. Jenny Han, who wrote the books and created the series, cites Ephron as the ‘queen of rom-coms’ and a major inspiration.”

Do Revenge (2022)

“I interviewed Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who co-wrote and directed Do Revenge, for the book, and she’s unsurprisingly a huge Ephron fan. Do Revenge is a revenge buddy comedy, but it also has rom-com elements. It falls into a genre all its own, but it references so many different films and I know Jennifer is always really inspired by Nora.”

Someone Great (2019)

“She also made Someone Great, another buddy comedy meets rom-com. The aesthetics feel singular to her, and that’s what Nora did with the rom-com genre—you can always tell when it’s one of her movies just by looking at it. Someone Great feels like Jennifer’s Heartburn. It’s a breakup movie, but it’s also a sweet friendship story. I think Jennifer is taking elements of what Ephron did and putting her own (less scathing) spin on it.”

I Want You Back (2022)

“I love this movie. Emma (Jenny Slate) and Peter (Charlie Day) come up with a plan to win back their exes, but they keep getting caught up in the anxiety of seeing their social media updates. It’s really quirky and feels like a twist on the friends-to-lovers trope of When Harry Met Sally, for the digital age.”

The Holiday (2006)

“This one is a bit more obvious—even though their aesthetics are different, Ephron and Nancy Meyers get compared a lot. But the slow-burn trajectory of the relationships between the two couples—Kate Winslet and Jack Black, Cameron Diaz and Jude Law—is right up Ephron’s alley.”

Fire Island (2022)

“Joel Kim Booster is a noted fan of Ephron, and he created such a fun rom-com about chosen family in Fire Island. It clearly has references to Ephron’s favorite writer, Jane Austen—it even quotes Clueless (which is an Emma adaptation). The result is a hilarious film that centers friendship, letting your guard down, and queer joy.”

The Idea of You (2024)

“I’ll always ride for The Idea of You. We didn’t really get an age-gap romance from Ephron, but I do feel like if she were still alive, we would have. I don’t know that she would’ve made a movie about a pop star, but the chemistry between Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine is just unparalleled—and onscreen chemistry was a huge part of the success of Ephron’s films.”

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

“This is another interesting age-gap film, and I believe Ephron might’ve started exploring this kind of story if she were still here. Emma Thompson plays a woman who hires a younger sex worker (Daryl McCormack) to help her cross certain items off her bucket list. It’s such an intimate film, but it still feels like a rom-com because there’s this friendship element and really great dialogue.”

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)

“This one is a classic of the genre, and is Ephron-esque because of the enemies-to-lovers dynamic, plus Kate Hudson’s character being a writer. The chemistry and the game-playing between Hudson and Matthew McConaughey is paramount. It’s a bit of a twist on—and a combination of—You’ve Got Mail and When Harry Met Sally.”