The world of romantic comedies is a popular one, despite its repeated use of clichés to tell a slightly different story each time. One of the most commonly used ones is the fake relationship trope where the couple starts out faking a relationship for one reason or another and along the way, they fall in love for real.
While audiences generally have mixed feelings about such cliché storylines, most still can't help watching and loving the stories of two people slowly realizing that what they've been pretending to feel is actually real. Even with the foreseeable outcome, the movies and TV shows employing that trope still offer a fun, feel-good experience.
Daphne & Simon: Bridgerton (2020-)
Daphne and Simon in Bridgerton agreed to pretend to be courting so he could keep ambitious mamas at bay and she would appear more attractive to eligible bachelors. Their plan worked perfectly, until they developed feelings for each other, leading to a stolen kiss, a duel, and a hasty marriage.
The fake relationship-turned real between the two was one of the major reasons why Bridgerton became so popular. The audience watched them evolve from strangers to friends, then lovers, and the steamy conclusion to their fake relationship made it worthwhile, even though there were a few problematic elements in the Bridgerton relationship.
Peter & Lara-Jean: To All The Boys I've Loved Before (2018)
To All The Boys I've Loved Before is one of the most popular teen rom-com franchises. In an effort to clean up the mess from Kitty sending love letters she secretly wrote to some guys, Lara-Jean ends up in a fake relationship with Peter, who wants to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. The two of them even had rules to successfully pull off their ruse, but by the end of the movie, they realized they had genuine feelings for each other.
Peter and Lara-Jean's relationship was a cute, teenage love story and even while they were faking it, it was clear to the audience that they were slowly growing closer. One of the best things about their relationship was that they genuinely had fun together while they were faking and their relationship progressively became real in a believable way.
Margaret & Andrew: The Proposal (2009)
Margaret (Sandra Bullock) is a horrible boss to Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) in The Proposal and when her visa to stay in the USA expires, she lies that she's engaged to him to keep her job. As part of their ruse, they take a trip to meet Andrew's family and their relationship slowly evolves.
Faking a marriage for visa purposes is a common plot in movies with this trope and The Proposal executed it with enough humor and romance to make the story a memorable one. Both lead actors shine in their roles, especially Reynolds who adds his unique humor to the role as he does in his other movies, like Red Notice.
Natalie & Josh: Love Hard (2021)
Netflix's Love Hard has Natalie as a writer, struggling to find her soulmate until she meets Josh online. He seems like the perfect guy and they get along pretty well, so naturally, she catches a flight to surprise him for Christmas and finds out she's been catfished. While Josh does exist, the pictures on his online profile are of someone else whom Natalie meets by chance. In return for Josh helping Natalie get together with Tag, he asks her to pretend to be his girlfriend in front of his family.
Their fake relationship is a hilarious one that leads to an impromptu proposal and a disastrous surprise engagement party where the truth is eventually revealed. Like most movies using this trope, Natalie realizes the perfect man has been in front of her all along and that it's Josh she loves, actually.
Jim & Lauren: Blended (2014)
After a terrible blind date, Lauren and Jim cross paths again and by a funny twist of fate, end up on a trip to Africa together with their kids, sharing a romantic suite. During their stay, they pretend to be the couple that initially booked the vacation package and as they spend more time together, they get closer through hilarious hijinks and thrilling adventures.
This Blended relationship is an example of the single parents bonding and falling in love trope. Their relationship starts off a bit rocky but eventually becomes a beautiful friendship and turns into a lovely relationship with a big, wonderful family at its core一all with the beautiful backdrop of Africa.
Brooks & Celia: The Perfect Date
In The Perfect Date, Brooks is a high school senior, dreaming of going to Yale but can't afford it. After intercepting a conversation, he gets hired to be Celia's pretend boyfriend. Following the success of their false relationship, Brooks and his friend create an app that lets other girls looking for a stand-in boyfriend hire him and pick his personality for their date so he can raise the money he needs to go to his dream school.
The Perfect Date may be full of clichés common in teen dramas, but it's still a fun, lighthearted watch. Unlike most typical fake-love trope movies where the couple fake-dates until they realize they have feelings for each other, this one has Brooks date several other people while his friendship with Celia slowly evolves into something more一transeding its fake-date origin.
Dave & Rose: We're The Millers (2013)
As part of a plan to move a large weed shipment, Dave (a veteran drug dealer) hires a fake family to travel with so he looks less suspicious. His fake wife, Rose, is actually a stripper while their son, Kenny, is his neighbor and their daughter, Casey, is a thief. The Millers bond during the trip and end up in witness protection together at the end, acting like a family again.
We're the Millers turns the fake relationship trope into a funny, unique story with the premise that brings the fake couple together being so unexpected and original. Despite favoring familial bonding over a romantic love story, it maintains the humor the rom-com genre is known for.
Edward & Vivian: Pretty Woman (1990)
Pretty Woman may need some updates to suit modern audiences, but it's still one of the most popular rom-com films. After a mishap leads Edward to the city's red-light district where he has an encounter with a sex worker named Vivian, the two end up spending a week together as she pretends to be his girlfriend. In the midst of the week filled with extravagant shopping trips, fancy corporate dinners, and fake affections, their feelings become genuine.
In some ways, Pretty Woman is a classic prince charming saves the damsel story一albeit with some twists and a damsel that's more independent, free, and unapologetic about expressing herself rather than someone in distress, waiting to be saved. Edward and Vivian not only conquer pretense and admit to genuinely caring for each other in this story, but they also overcome the differences in their social classes, with the lesson that love transcends money.
Hillary & David: Holiday Engagement (2011)
Dumped by her fiance just before Thanksgiving, Hillary hires someone to pretend to be the man who left her to avoid an awkward and embarrassing holiday at home. David, an out-of-work actor, happily goes along with the pretense in return for money. But the more time they spend together, the more their fake engagement feels real until her real ex-fiance shows up.
In Holiday Engagement, Hilary was driven to these extremes because of pressure from her mother, Meredith, to settle down. While in reality, most people wouldn't go to such lengths, Hillary's feelings and desperation are actually relatable.
Nick & Kat: The Wedding Date (2004)
Dreading attending her sister's wedding without a date, especially because the best man is her ex, Kat hires an escort to pose as her boyfriend for the big day. However, Nick plays the part of a madly-in-love boyfriend far too well, causing Kat to start developing real feelings for him.
The fake date at a wedding storyline in The Wedding Date is a common one. Still, it makes a cute story, especially with the chemistry between the leads, Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney, whose execution of their roles makes the love feel real, even to the audiences.