What Netflix is doing right with rom-coms

Netflix has been killing it in the romantic-comedy game for months. As other movie studios have largely neglected the rom-com genre, Netflix has released a steady stream of such movies this summer.
If you’ve been on Netflix lately, i.e., if you’re a human person with access to the internet, you’ve likely noticed one of the Netflix Original rom-coms promoted on the homepage. They’re ubiquitous.
Perhaps more important than merely being present, they’re promoted successfully. I’ve found myself roped into watching plenty of Netflix films based on the strength of their trailers. The streaming service has a knack for pushing its original content. Add in the fact that I’m a sucker for a fun love story, and the result is a lot of my time spent watching each new release as it becomes available. And I haven’t been alone.
Any fan of the genre will point out the declining number of rom-coms released in theaters in recent years and the utter dearth of ones of quality. So, when the lovebug bites, these viewers turned to the old favorites. They watched 13 Going On 30, Rumor has it, or Her — all of which are currently available on Netflix.
Since Netflix monitors its subscribers’ viewing habits, it noticed how many people around the world stream the romantic-comedies in its library, like the ones mentioned above and many, many others. It recognized a desire from viewers to watch the rom-coms that they aren’t seeing or are dissatisfied with in theaters. Capitalizing on this underserved market’s unquenchable thirst for a romance, Netflix decided to invest in rom-coms of its own making. Enter Netflix’s self-proclaimed “summer of love.”
With nine (or more, depending on your definition of the genre) noted original rom-coms released over the past few months, and another coming next week (Sierra Burgess is a Loser), Netflix has effectively cornered the movie market on love.
How much exactly films are being watched is difficult to gauge because Netflix is secretive about streaming numbers, but a quick look at IMDb and RottenTomatoes fan vote totals gives us some idea, as does checking social media mentions. Based on those admittedly imperfect metrics, The Kissing Booth (abysmal) and To all the Boys I’ve Loved Before (delightful) have been two noteworthy successes, despite their titanic gap in quality.
Quality and critical acclaim don’t necessarily equal streaming numbers. Netflix cares far more about one of those than the others, for most projects, at least.
Netflix is in the business of adding subscribers. Part of that is finding shows and movies that appeal to a mass audience, of course. Another way to achieve its goal is to identify all you rom-com fans as an underserved market and give you what you crave, like White Castle, except these movies won’t cause digestive problems.
The Netflix Original rom-coms have a specific target audience in mind. They’re made specifically for those viewers — any other subscribers who watch are an added bonus. These films aren’t intended to, nor do they need to appeal to everyone. They just need to appeal to someone.
One of the advantages that Netflix holds over other movie studios is that it doesn’t need to maximize its broad appeal for each new show or movie. The goal is to add a diverse array of content to its library, so if each piece of content appeals to a different viewing group, eventually there will be something for everyone. Netflix doesn’t care if the rom-com fans spend zero time watching the sci-fi content, or vice versa, because both groups pay for the monthly subscription.
Netflix’s subscription base is massive and still growing. As can be explained through some complicated financial reasons that I won’t get into because I don’t totally understand them, Netflix is nearing the number of subscribers it needs to net profits each year. To gobble up individuals who have yet to subscribe (which may or may not include all the freeloaders who use their parents’ passwords), Netflix identifies underserved markets. Rom-com fans are but one of many. Within that one underserved market there are even smaller niche markets, like viewers looking for rom-coms starring teens, or gay characters or Asian characters. That’s the brilliance of Netflix’s “summer of love” rollout — these movies not only satisfy the rom-com fans, but each of these niche markets as well.
Those in these niche markets desperately want to see certain characters represented on screen that they cannot find from other movie studios. The formulaic straight-white-guy falls for a straight-white-girl is so done to death that many fans are looking for something else. When Netflix releases To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, a movie some people thought they’d never see, that niche market collectively rejoices. And if a movie with a niche target, like All the Boys, happens to garner mass appeal, even better.
Another strategy Netflix utilizes to secure additional subscribers is to sign charming actors to multiple projects. Set it Up, another successful Netflix Original rom-com, isn’t necessarily fresh, but it is still refreshing to see the shiny new faces of two budding stars — Zoey Deutch and Glenn Powell — who both explode off the screen with near Tom Hanksian levels of likability.
Powell not only woos audiences in Set it Up, he also appears in Netflix’s The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And he isn’t the only ridiculously charming fella starring in multiple Netflix summer flicks. Noah Centineo does the same in To All the boys and the upcoming Sierra Burgess is a Loser.
I believe in a few things — I believe in Noah Centineo, I believe in Noah Centineo’s ability to carry a movie with his soothing voice and well-coiffed hair, I believe that Noah Centineo’s soothing voice and well-coiffed hair and overall charm will shine through once again in his upcoming movie, and I believe in repeating myself to make my sentences longer.
Sierra Burgess is going to be wonderful because Noah Centineo will make it so. Also, remember how the Netflix show, Stranger Things, totally did Barb dirty? Well, the actress that played her (Shannon Purser) is going to co-star in the movie. Turns out there is justice in this world, Netflix justice. Thank you, Netflix. Thank you for finally doing right by our beloved Barb, and thank you for making rom-coms for all the underserved fans out there.
