Romance films (or romance movies) are romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theaters, television and on the big screen, that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters and the journey that their genuinely strong, true and pure romantic love takes them through dating, courtship or marriage. The dominant ideology of romance films make the romantic love story or the search for strong and pure love and romance the main plot focus. Occasionally, romance lovers face obstacles such as finances, physical illness, various forms of discrimination, psychological restraints or family that threaten to break their union of love. As in all quite strong, deep, and close romantic relationships, tensions of day-to-day life, temptations (of infidelity), and differences in compatibility enter into the plots of romantic films. .
Romantic films often explore the essential themes of love at first sight, young with older love, unrequited romantic love, obsessive love, sentimental love, spiritual love, forbidden love/romance, platonic love, sexual and passionate love, sacrificial love, explosive and destructive love, and tragic love. Romantic films serve as great escapes and fantasies for viewers, especially if the two people finally overcome their difficulties, declare their love, and experience life "happily ever after", implied by a reunion and final kiss. .
These films are considered to be low budget but made by major studios as well as great directors. Most of the films in this genre are based on a novel of a modern or classical writer such as: "The Notebook", "A Walk to Remember" (by Nicholas Sparks), "Anna Karenina" (Leo Tolstoy) etc. Also the romance genre has a range of subgenres: Romantic Drama ( "Last Tango in Paris", "Water for Elephants", "A Walk to Remember"), Chic Flick ( "Dirty Dancing", "Romeo+Juliet"), Romantic Comedies (" Love Actually", "Moonstruck"), Romantic Action Comedies ("Killers", "Knight and Day", "Mr.
