13 romantic dramas to stream for Valentine's Day

If you're liking HBO's "The Gilded Age," you will love "The Age of Innocence," Martin Scorsese's lush film based on Edith Wharton's novel of passion, propriety and regret in Old New York. Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day-Lewis, particularly in a quiet but insanely steamy scene in a carriage, radiate impossibly gorgeous chemistry. (Streaming on Amazon Prime Video)

Is there a need to say anything about "Casablanca"? Bogie, Bergman and "As Time Goes By." Classic for a reason. (HBO Max)

Jane Campion, in the Oscar hunt this year for "The Power of the Dog," wrote and directed "Bright Star," an exquisite, heartbreaking drama about the poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and his doomed romance with his neighbor, Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish). It's as much an ode to poetry as it is to love. (Netflix)

Even though "Crazy Heart" won a couple of Oscars (including best actor for Jeff Bridges), a lot of people may have missed this delicate character drama. It's worth tracking down. Bridges, as a worn-down country singer, gives one of his great career's best performances (a lovely companion piece to his work in "The Fabulous Baker Boys"). Maggie Gyllenhaal plays the journalist with whom he finds a gentle connection. (Amazon Prime)

"In the Mood for Love" is Wong Kar-wai's masterpiece of romantic yearning. Set in 1962 Hong Kong, it's a simple story of two people (Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung Man-yuk) whose spouses are having an affair — but oh, the lushness of its colors, the hypnotic velvet of its score, the poignancy of the main characters' quiet expressions. (HBO Max)

In Stella Meghie's old-school drama "The Photograph," two lovely people (Issa Rae, LaKeith Stanfield) dig into the past while falling for each other in the present; it's a pleasure to fall along with them. (HBO Max)

"Portrait of a Lady on Fire" is another swoony period romance, this time set on an island in 1770s France, where two women — one an artist (Noemie Merlant) hired to paint an engagement portrait of the other (Adele Haenel) — find unexpected passion together. It's a gorgeous slow burn; little happens, but everything happens, as writer/director Celine Sciamma immerses us in painterly beauty. (Hulu)

"Disobedience" is another one that wasn't widely seen. This quiet but passionate film takes place within an Orthodox Jewish community in London, where two women (Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams) — one now married — secretly rekindle a long-ago-forbidden relationship. It's director Sebastian Lelio's first English-language film, and much of it is told wordlessly, with great generosity of spirit toward its characters. (Hulu)

If you love romantic drama and you haven't seen "The French Lieutenant's Woman," here's a treat for you. Picture a young Meryl Streep and a young Jeremy Irons, in dual roles: They're playing actors filming a swoony period drama while carrying on an affair. (HBO Max)

Barry Jenkins ("Moonlight") makes gorgeous films, and "If Beale Street Could Talk," based on the James Baldwin novel, finds exquisite cinematic language for love and longing. It's a terribly sad story — a young couple (KiKi Layne, Stephan James) is separated when one is unjustly incarcerated — but love, in all its forms, shines brightly in every frame. (Hulu)

You don't have to be a sports fan to love "Love & Basketball," Gina Prince-Bythewood's warmhearted tale of two kids (Sanaa Lathan, Omar Epps) growing up, falling hard for basketball and for each other. And note that, though this one isn't a comedy, it does have the happiest of endings. (HBO Max)

"Loving" is based on the true-life story of an interracial couple who just wanted to raise their family in their small Virginia town (and whose case led to the U.S. Supreme Court striking down state laws banning interracial marriage). This sensitive and lovely film is about a fight for justice and about two people (played with quiet chemistry by Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga) who have found home in each other. (Netflix)

If you like your romantic dramas with an elegant dollop of weird, check out "Phantom Thread," Paul Thomas Anderson's tale of a midcentury London fashion designer (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his unexpected muse (Vicky Krieps). Gorgeous, mesmerizing and thoroughly odd; just try to look away. (Netflix)