Friends with benefits is one of the most overused concepts in romantic comedies and in some ways, it has been done to death, but still, people seem to love it. So, we made a list of the 10 best movies which use the trope of friends with benefits. You should start devouring these movies if you also love romantic comedies right now.
Friends With Benefits (Prime Video)
Synopsis: Dylan (Justin Timberlake) is done with relationships. Jamie (Mila Kunis) decides to stop buying into the Hollywood clichés of true love. When the two become friends they decide to try something new and take advantage of their mutual attraction – but without any emotional attachment. Physical pleasure without the entanglements. Sounds easy enough for two logical adults, right? Not so much. They soon realize romantic comedy stereotypes might exist for a reason.
Plus One (Tubi)
Synopsis: Long-time friends Alice and Ben find themselves in that inevitable year that all late 20-somethings experience—in which seemingly every person they know gets married—and agree to be one another’s plus ones as they power through an endless parade of insufferable weddings.
No Strings Attached (Paramount+)
Synopsis: Academy Award Winner Natalie Portman (Black Swan) and Ashton Kutcher (What Happens in Vegas…) star in the hilarious hit comedy that takes a modern look at what happens when friends-in-need do the deed. Emma is a busy doctor who sets up a seemingly perfect arrangement when she offers her best friend Adam a relationship with one rule: No Strings Attached. But when a fling becomes a thing, can sex friends stay best friends?
Love & Other Drugs (Rent on Prime Video)
Synopsis: In this emotional comedy, Anne Hathaway portrays Maggie, an alluring free spirit who won’t let anything, including a formidable personal challenge, tie her down. But she meets her match in Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal), whose relentless and nearly infallible charm serve him well with women and in the cutthroat world of pharmaceutical sales. Maggie and Jamie’s evolving relationship takes them both by surprise, as they find themselves under the influence of the ultimate drug: love. Most relationships proceed from love to sex. This one goes the opposite direction and thus makes an unexpected film from an unconventional love story.
Alfie (HBO Max)
Synopsis: A stylish reinvention of the 1960’s classic, “Alfie”, this film is a humorous, sexy and often touching tale of a philosophical womanizer who is forced to question his seemingly carefree existence.
Up in the Air (Paramount+)
Synopsis: From Jason Reitman, the director of “Juno,” comes the new acclaimed film “Up in the Air” starring George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizing expert whose cherished life on the road is threatened just as he is on the cusp of reaching ten million frequent flyer miles and after he’s met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams.
That Awkward Moment (Cinemax)
Synopsis: Every relationship has that “so” moment. For a guy like Jason (Zac Efron), that’s where things always end. He’s firmly committed to non-commitment. When the marriage of his friend Mikey (Michael B. Jordan) falls apart, Jason takes it as proof that the single life is for the better. To get Mikey back in the game, Jason enlists him and drinking buddy Daniel (Miles Teller) to take a shared vow: together, they’ll stay single as long as humanly possible. Then along comes Ellie (Imogen Poots), the unpredictable, unforgettable one-night hook-up who changes all the rules. Despite all his instincts, Jason just can’t let her go… and his status is about to get very complicated.
Trainwreck (Rent on Prime Video)
Synopsis: Since she was a little girl, Amy (Amy Schumer) has been taught that monogamy isn’t realistic. Now a magazine writer, Amy lives by that credo, enjoying an uninhibited life free from stifling, boring romantic commitment. But when she finds herself starting to fall for the subject of a new article she’s writing, a charming and successful sports doctor (Bill Hader), Amy starts to wonder if other grown-ups, including this guy who really seems to like her, might be onto something.
Two Night Stand (Tubi & Pluto TV)
Synopsis: Miles Teller (Divergent, Whiplash) and Analeigh Tipton: (Lucy, Crazy Stupid Love) team up in this no- strings attached hook up hailed as the romantic comedy of the digital age. Heartbroken by the collapse of her wedding engagement and egged on by her roommate Faiza (Jessica Szohr, TV’s Gossip Girl) and her boyfriend Cedric (Scott Mescudi, aka Kid Cudi) Megan (Tipton) boldly propositions Alec (Teller), a cute and funny guy she meets online, for her first ever one-night stand.
However when a paralyzing blizzard hits the city trapping them in Alec’s cramped Brooklyn apartment she is sheepishly forced to take shelter with an equally mortified Alec. Found to spend another day and night together, Megan and Alec decide that they have the opportunity for a hands-on learning experience that inevitably leads them to a very adult snow day.
Playing It Cool (Vudu)
Synopsis: This is the story of ME (Evans), a young man disillusioned by love, who meets a breathtaking young woman, HER (Monaghan), at a charity dinner by pretending to be a philanthropist. Only one problem: she’s engaged. Yet, he engages into a platonic relationship to be able to keep seeing her. Like a young Walter Mitty using the power of imagination and wild vignettes, HE will stop at nothing to conquer HER heart.
