Wholesome Romance Like ‘Heartstopper’ and ‘Red, White & Royal Blue’ Is a Good Thing, Damn It!

Remember when you were a teenager and making eye contact with that one person could light up your day and send a flurry of delight into your stomach? Well, now there's a whole sub-genre of romance films and TV shows that capture and maintain that exact feeling throughout. You're constantly filled to the brim with warmth and comfort as each character is introduced, and each storyline is played out. Dubbed "wholesome romance," the genre portrays both the light and dark aspects of romantic relationships through a purely innocent lens. The conflicts tend to be more mundane human ones — they are difficult and can have devastating impacts, but they are relatable, unlike needing to navigate a relationship with a vampire.

Wholesome romance began blossoming during the pandemic and as the "BookTok" niche on TikTok started proliferating. These young adult romance novels recently began being adapted onto the screen, offering us a wide range of wholesome content to cuddle up to. Netflix's Heartstopper features a diverse group of high school students who deal with dark serious issues like bullying, sexual assault, disordered eating, and abusive home lives. Yet is filled with fun and cheerful graphic lines that embellish the light-hearted scenes of accidentally brushing hands with crushes and that idyllic, butterfly-inducing first kiss. Similarly. Prime Video's Red, White & Royal Blue depicts the social pressure and anxiety around coming out, surrounded by lavish costumes, toppling cakes, and garbling turkeys. Moving away from queer romances, even To All The Boys I Loved Before and The Summer I Turned Pretty mixes mental health issues with an endearing overlay.