10 Best Movies With The Fake Dating Trope, Ranked

People date for many different reasons. Some are looking for a best friend. Others seek a companion to accompany them on all of life's adventures. There are also those who want to find a partner to start a family. And of course, you might date a person to get to someone or something else. Okay, that last one doesn't exactly happen in real life for the most part. However, it is one of the oldest and most beloved storylines in the romantic comedy genre.

Characters in a rom com could have a ton of reasons to fabricate a relationship. Across the decades, we've seen this trope utilized to win over someone else, to claim a prize or inheritance, or to just live their lives the way that they want to. Audiences have seen several scenarios play out on the silver screen with this storytelling staple. Though when it comes to the best of the best, there are some movies that stand out above the rest. After extensive research into this very niche section of the genre, we have determined that these are the ten best movies that feature the fake dating trope.

Right off the bat, we have a curveball. While the 2013 crime comedy "We're The Millers" may have ended up featuring a romantic relationship between people who faked a relationship, the main plot of the movie involves a group of people pretending to be an entire family.

"Ted Lasso" star Jason Sudeikis plays a small-time marijuana dealer named David who owes a sizable debt to his supplier and can clear his debt by smuggling drugs from Mexico. Afraid that he'll look suspicious crossing the border alone, he enlists his neighbors Rose the stripper (Jennifer Aniston), Casey the runaway (Emma Roberts), and naïve Kenny (Will Poulter) to pose as his wife and kids to make it look like they're a happy family returning from a vacation south of the border. Naturally, things don't end up being that easy as the newly christened Millers have to deal with a friendly DEA agent, a stowaway tarantula, and an angry cartel boss along the way. And once the promise of $500,000 is dangled in front of David like a carrot, they have even more incentive to get back home.

While you may have looking for a smidge more romance than "We're The Millers," you'll have no ragrets after checking out this crowd-pleasing road trip comedy that playfully offers a twist on the fake dating trope.

When "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" dropped on Netflix in 2018, the film based on Jenny Han's best-selling YA novel became the new gold standard for teen rom-coms. John Hughes may have held that title throughout the 1980s and beyond (with a few worthy successors sprinkled in between), but this film took the foundation built by Andie Walsh, Samantha Baker, and Claire Standish and built up a modern exterior for a modern audience.

The story follows Lara Jean Covey, a shy high schooler who writes letters to the boys she likes, but then hides them away in her closet. One day when she is approached by her middle school crush Peter Kavinsky, she finds out that the letters had been mailed to their intended recipients. But as her childhood friend and sister's ex-boyfriend Josh Sanderson appears to be next in line to inquire about a letter, Lara Jean quickly kisses Peter before running away to throw off Josh. Later, Peter suggests that they use this moment to their advantage by faking a relationship so that A) Peter's ex Gen gets jealous and B) Josh is convinced that Lara Jean doesn't have feelings for him.

Since it doesn't really reinvent the wheel, you can see from a mile away that Peter and Lara Jean develop feelings with each other. But in a classic case of "it's not the destination, it's the journey," this movie takes some lovely detours that really allow this charismatic cast that includes Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, and Israel Broussard to shine. Plus, it perfectly sets up the remaining two movies in the trilogy, which you're almost certainly going to watch immediately after this one. 

While The Hallmark Channel has earned the reputation of being the place to go for cheesy holiday rom-coms, Netflix has done a pretty good job of giving them a run for their money. In fact, one of the streamer's Christmas offerings made it onto our list of best original Netflix movies of 2021. And though a good relationship doesn't often start with catfishing, some good romantic comedies certainly do.

The phrase "catfishing rom-com" doesn't sound great, but if you look at "Love Hard" as a modern version of "Cyrano de Bergerac," then it's a little bit easier to swallow. Once you're over that hurdle, you'll find LA-based dating columnist Natalie Bauer (Nina Dobrev). After more than a few unlucky in love scenarios, she expands her dating app's search radius and seemingly finds the love of her life. Enchanted by his good looks and their long phone calls, Natalie falls for Josh Lin of Lake Placid, New York. When she flies to his hometown to surprise him for Christmas though, she meets the real Josh (Jimmy O. Yang) and is furious with the deception. However, the anger is short lived since the guy that Josh used in his dating profile is his real-life childhood friend who still lives in town. The two come to an agreement where Josh will set up Natalie with his friend if she pretends to be his girlfriend for the holidays in front of his family.

Beneath all the deceit, there really is an endearing story about two people who learn to love themselves as they start to love each other. Plus, they pull off a really charming rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" that subverts expectations in a really lighthearted way.

When it comes to teen rom-coms of the 1990s, "She's All That" is among the most seminal. In fact, in terms of the fake dating trope, this might even be the first example that comes to the minds of elder millennials. Though it may not be the best example, it certainly belongs on this list.

Written by R. Lee Fleming Jr. (with some help from a then-up-and-coming filmmaker M. Night Shyanalan), the story opens as the popular, intelligent, and athletic Zack Siler (Freddie Prinze Jr.) learns that his queen bee girlfriend Taylor Vaughn (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) has been cheating on him with reality TV star Brock Hudson (Matthew Lillard). With prom quickly approaching, Zack tells his friend Dean (Paul Walker) that he can turn anyone into a prom queen. When Dean picks the awkward, artsy Laney Boggs (Rachael Leigh Cook), the bet is on. However, Zack begins to develop feelings for his target.

First, look at all the talented names in this cast. Add music superstars Usher and Lil' Kim, plus future Marvel hero and vampire Anna Paquin, and it's insane how many performers from this film went on to have huge careers. Second, moments from this movies became synonymous with 90s teen movies: The slow-mo walk down the stairs set to "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None The Richer, the "makeover" that mostly involves taking off someone's glasses, the choreographed dance number at prom, and the "relationship" built on lies that evolves into a genuine connection. "She's All That" solidified these elements as staples of the genre that still get riffed on to this day. It even inspired the 2020 gender-swapped remake "He's All That," but that's definitely not as fondly remembered as the original.

For a period of time, Sandra Bullock was the queen of rom-coms. From Hugh Grant to Benjamin Bratt to Ryan Reynolds to Keanu Reeves (and even Sylvester Stallone early in her career), she romanced several top tier leading men in her career. But somehow, the incredibly likable actress even managed to find herself in a made up relationship with a man in a coma.

In the 1995 film "While You Were Sleeping," Bullock plays Lucy Eleanor Moderatz, a Chicago Transit Authority fare collector who works out of the Randolph/Wabash station. She sees thousands of people every single day, but all remain strangers to her, including her secret crush Peter Callaghan (Peter Gallagher). On Christmas Day, Lucy saves Peter after he's mugged and pushed onto the train tracks. When she takes him to the hospital, the staff and the Callaghan family mistake her for his fiancée. Too embarrassed to tell the truth after Peter's grandmother with a heart condition gets upset, Lucy continues the lie and even spends the holidays with the eccentric Callaghans. However, things get a little more complicated when she starts spending more time with Peter's brother Jack (Bill Pullman) and begins to develop feelings for him.

Through a modern lens, the premise seems utterly absurd and pretty unlikable. But at the peak of her rom-com powers, Bullock's magnetic charm manages to make the audience suspend disbelief and follow her along on this wild ride. After all, if there's one thing that holds true in these movies, it's that love always finds a way.

A few months after "She's All That" hit theaters, another beloved teen rom-com that also happened to feature a one-sided fake dating scenario premiered. Although, in addition to being one of the best teen movies of the 1990s, "10 Things I Hate About You" also ushered in an influx of teen movies that updated the works of William Shakespeare for a young, modern audience throughout the 2000s.

Based on "The Taming of the Shrew," we meet Padua High School's newest student Cameron James (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) as he challenges the social hierarchy and seeks to ask the beautiful and popular Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik)on a date. He soon learns about her father's rule that Bianca is forbidden from dating unless her rebellious older sister Kat (Julia Stiles). To circumvent their overprotective father's edict, Cameron enlists resident bad boy Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) to help his cause. Together, they convince spoiled rich kid Joey Donner (Andrew Keegan) to pay Patrick to ask out Kat so that Joey can pursue Bianca. But in reality, with Kat paired up with Patrick (after some initial hesitation), Cameron is clear to win Bianca's affections.

Patrick's performance of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Frankie Valli with the help of the school's marching band on the football field is one of the most iconic romantic gestures in cinematic history. The chemistry between Ledger and Stiles is off the charts and likely played a huge role in the massive careers they would both have afterwards. And in terms of legacy, generations of teenagers have recited Kat's version of Sonnet 141 (or shared gifs of it) in an attempt to create their own romantic moment. This is rom-com royalty for sure and definitely one of the best uses of the fake dating trope.

The fake dating trope doesn't typically happen outside of the realm of movies. However, out of all the films on this list, "The Wedding Banquet" is by far the one that could legitimately happen in real life (and probably has).

"The Wedding Banquet" is the second film in Ang Lee's Father Knows Best trilogy. The 1993 movie features a gay Taiwanese immigrant in the United States who enters a marriage of convenience with a Chinese woman rather than come out of the closet to his very traditional parents. In exchange for the marriage, penniless artist Wei-Wei is granted her green card. However, when Wai-Tung's parents arrive in New York to plan a grand wedding banquet instead of a small ceremony with a Justice of the Peace, he has to hide his relationship with his partner Simon from them by introducing him as the landlord.

After premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival, the feature gained critical and commercial acclaim. It was extremely ahead of its time in its portrayal of the LGBTQ+ and Asian cultures in a major Hollywood production. In the end, which finds the Gaos in on their son's secret, this story really shows off how American and Asian cultures can blend together harmoniously in modern times despite each having such stark differences that are often depicted as clashing in films and television.

In 2025, "Fire Island" director Andrew Ahn remade the film with stars Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, and Kelly Marie Tran. While it tackles the same subject matter (albeit slightly updated for more modern sensibilities) with as much humor and sincerity as the original, the 1993 version still holds a very special place in the history of pop culture.

It's hard enough to keep the details surrounding one fake relationship straight. But in the 2010 high school rom-com "Easy A," Emma Stone's Olive Penderghast manages to juggle several sham relationships in an attempt to keep up the lie that she lost her virginity to a college boy.

Directed by Will Gluck, who also helmed the 2023 fake dating trope movie "Anyone But You" starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, "Easy A" is loosely based on the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel "The Scarlet Letter." After Olive's initial lie to her best friend Rhiannon (Aly Michalka), the devoutly religious Marianne Bryant (Amanda Bynes) hears the news and spreads it around the whole school while condemning her classmate's "promiscuity." Rather than fight it, Olive embraces her new reputation as a harlot and tries to do some good with this newfound status. After she acts as a beard for her closeted friend Brandon and tells everyone in school that they also slept together so he would stop being bullied, several other students seek Olive's help in the same way to gain popularity in exchange for gift cards. Although, when Marianne's boyfriend contracts chlamydia from an affair with the school's guidance counselor, Olive takes the blame and the added scrutiny to spare her favorite teacher's marriage.

Stone is a force as this honor student who tells a little white lie. She's hilarious, vulnerable, and charming in a "Ferris Bueller of the new millennium" sort of way. While she already had "Zombieland" and "Superbad" under her belt at this time, this was certainly one of the projects that cemented her as a leading lady with a breadth of range in her acting ability.

If you love love in movies and television, then you must be familiar with Garry Marshall's work. From writing on classic sitcoms like "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "Happy Days" to directing "Beaches" and "The Princess Diaries," his depictions of love, romance, and friendship were unparalleled for generations. Although, as iconic as much of his work was, arguably the most memorable and influential entry on his resume is directing "Pretty Woman."

Unlike the other entries on this list, this story doesn't start with a lie. Instead, it begins with a business transaction. While visiting Los Angeles to acquire a new company, corporate raider Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) finds himself on Hollywood Boulevard as he struggles to operate the stickshift in his car. He hires sex worker Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts) to get him back to his hotel, but he soon changes the arrangement so she could be his companion for the night. The next morning, Edward once again upgrades their deal to last for the whole week so he can have an escort to the various functions he has to attend while in town. As their time together progresses, the duo begin to get closer and suddenly their relationship evolves into a full blown love story for the ages.

While there are certainly some criticisms to be made about its depiction of sex work and sex workers (since sex work is real work and not everyone who does it needs to be saved), "Pretty Woman" is light-hearted escapism at its finest. It also masterfully showcased the undoubtable chemistry between Gere and Roberts while also launching the actress into another level of superstardom. Whether the story is realistic or not, it's nice to think that love can emerge from the most unexpected places.

The fake dating trope may seem more prevalent in more modern movies, but the classic storyline has actually been around for nearly 100 years in the United States. One of the films that really pioneered both the fake dating trope and the romantic comedy genre in Hollywood is Frank Capra's "It Happened One Night."

In the 1934 screwball comedy, heiress Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) has just escaped from her father and his lawyers in Florida as they attempted to make her sign an annulment to void her recent elopement. While she's on the run back to New York City to see her new husband, Ellie crosses paths with savvy reporter Peter Werne (Clark Gable). Since Ellie is clearly struggling with her roadtrip, Peter agrees to help her get back to NYC. In exchange, she has to give him an exclusive interview to help him get his job back or else he'll notify her father of her whereabouts. Despite agreeing to these terms and posing as husband and wife to get up the coast without arising suspicions, the two go from being annoyed by each other's strong personalities to finding a genuine love connection.

"It Happened One Night" popularized many tropes and cliches for the whole romantic comedy genre as a whole. It also made movie history by becoming the first feature film to win the five main accolades at the Academy Awards. Oscars aside, this film not only stands as one of the best applications of the fake dating trope, but also as one of the best movies to ever come out of Hollywood. It's truly a testament to masterful filmmaking, outstanding performances, and a well-written script that this movie is still talked about nearly a century after its release.