If you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, then you might have missed an increasingly popular holiday. February 13, the day before Valentine’s Day, is Galentine’s Day. While V-Day is all about celebrating romantic love, both long- or short-term, Galentine’s Day is about celebrating the strong friendships between you and your closest female/non-binary friends. Whether it’s going out to dinner, throwing a party, or having a cute sleepover, if you’re with your pals, then that’s all that matters!
So, in honor of the season of friend love, we came up with the perfect list of movies and shows you can watch while cuddling up with those closest to your platonic heart!
20. Someone Great
Synopsis: Jenny suffers a devastating break-up from her longtime boyfriend the night before she’s supposed to move across the country for a new job. She enlists her two best friends to have one last wild night in NYC to distract from her broken heart—and the lingering fear of their friendship being ruined by the move.
Why You Should Watch It: This is a great feel-good movie, whether you’re in a great or a sad place. It empathizes the importance of taking chances, not being too hard on yourself, and leaning on those who love you the most.
19. Gilmore Girls
Synopsis: Lorelai Gilmore and her daughter, Rory, face challenges in love, friendship, education, and more in their small town of Stars Hallow.
Why You Should Watch It: While not every mother-daughter duo is quite like Lorelai and Rory, their unique bond and (mostly) unwavering support of one another is the perfect example of what Galentine’s Day is all about: being there for one another with love and tons of junk food.
18. Sex and the City: The Movie
Synopsis: Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte navigate their love and family lives against the familiar backdrop of New York City.
Why You Should Watch It: The movie stays true to the core of its TV counterpart: the unbreakable friendship between four lifelong friends who, despite their differences and occasional disagreements, always show up for each other when it counts.
17. The Bold Type
Synopsis: Jane, Kat, and Sutton work together at a famous women’s magazine as they face different bumps in the road towards love and success.
Why You Should Watch It: The unwavering bond between the three leads is inspiring. Their non-stop chemistry will have you cheesing from the beginning to all the way to the heart-wrenching end.
16. Girls Trip
Synopsis: While attending the annual Essence festival in New Orleans, four life-long friends rediscover their sisterhood while getting swept up in messy romances, wild parties, and a whole lot of drinking.
Why You Should Watch It: For one, you get laugh at the comedic genius of Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Tiffany Haddish. But this film gives a real life look at how hard, but worthwhile, friendships can be.
15. Broad City
Synopsis: Besties Abbi and Ilana go on wacky and trippy adventures while living in the ever-colorful city of New York.
Why You Should Watch It: The creators of the show, Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobsen, perfectly capture their weird yet wonderful friendship. Their TV counterparts aren’t perfect—far from it—but their vulnerable, relatable personalities and friendship make this show fun to watch again and again.
14. The Other Woman
Synopsis: Carly’s world is turned upside down when she discovers her boyfriend, Mark, has a secret: he’s married. After meeting with his wife, Kate, the three head to the Hamptons, where Kate and Carly discover Mark’s swimsuit model girlfriend, Amber. Once all three women are exposed to the truth, they swear revenge against the man who’s been playing them for years.
Why You Should Watch It: In a beautiful twist on the “blaming the other woman when the husband / boyfriend cheats” trope, this movie is all about sticking together and not letting a man get between genuine friendships, even if they were made unconventionally.
13. Grace and Frankie
Synopsis: After finding out their husbands had been having an affair for over 20 years and are now divorcing them, Grace and Frankie are forced to move in together and restart their lives as newly single, 70-year-old women.
Why You Should Watch It: While looks of shows and movies show what life is like after a terrible break-up when you’re young, it’s rare to see how impacts an older generation. Grace and Frankie are both lively, spirited women with their own opinions, ambitions, quirks, and flaws. This is a great watch for those who keep a little hope in their lives.
12. Booksmart
Synopsis: Best friends Amy and Molly are accomplished students, but aren’t very popular among their peers as they never branched out socially. But, all that changes the eve of their high school graduation when, after learning that their “slacker” classmates were also accepted into Ivy League schools despite their partying ways, Amy and Molly decide to have a wild night of debauchery at a classmate’s infamous party to liven up their dorky personas.
Why You Should Watch It: Watching Amy and Molly try (and mostly) fail at attending the party reminds the audience that you shouldn’t put yourself in a box and that trying new things, while scary, is absolutely worth it, especially if you’re with your bestie!
11. Charmed
Synopsis: When the Halliwell sisters, Prue, Piper, and Phoebe, discover that they’re the most powerful witches in existence, they’re tasked with protecting the world from warlocks, demons, and other evil otherworldly creatures.
Why You Should Watch It: If you’re looking for a story all about sisterhood and kicking butt, then look no further than this magical series! While the plot’s villain may change from week to week, the bond between the leads never does, which makes this an endearing experience every time you watch it!
10. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Synopsis: Four teenage best friends, on the brink of spending their first summer apart, miraculously find a pair of jeans that fit them all that they decide to share equally during their travels.
Why You Should Watch It: While the friends spend most of the movie apart, the story still finds a way to show you how distance doesn’t matter when it comes to real, strong friendships.
9. Pretty Little Liars
Synopsis: A year after their best friend, Alison, unexpectedly goes missing during a summer sleepover, Spencer, Aria, Hanna, and Emily begin to be harassed by a mysterious figure known as “A,” who seems to know secrets only Alison knew.
Why You Should Watch It: This show proves why you shouldn’t mess with a girl and her badass friends! The unstoppable foursome of Emily, Aria, Spencer, and Hanna is so fun to watch as they band together to keep each other safe.
8. Bad Moms
Synopsis: Tired of being overworked, overlooked, and under-appreciated both at work and by other parents, Amy befriends two other unconventional moms, Kiki and Carla, and the trio embark on an adventure to redefine what it means to be a mom in the modern age.
Why You Should Watch It: As a parent myself, the harsh reality of being a mom is something that’s rarely discussed as it’s seen as a “taboo.” Being a mom is hard AF and sometimes we just wanna kick our feet up, have a drink, and feed our kids some take-out food. And there’s nothing wrong with that!
7. The Golden Girls
Synopsis: Blanche, Rose, Dorothy, and Dorothy’s mother, Sophia, live together in a house in Miami where they get up to a ton of shenanigans that always end with them sharing a cheesecake.
Why You Should Watch It: Much like Grace and Frankie, The Golden Girls showcases the importance of friendship at an older age. It also doesn’t hold back from showing older women rediscovering their sexualities, finding love, losing love, and starting new careers. It’s a must watch for sure!
6. Bridesmaids
Synopsis: When down-on-her-luck Annie finds out her childhood best friend, Lillian, wants her to be her maid of her honor, she’s beyond thrilled. However, her excitement for the big day is threatened when Lillian’s wealthy and snobby friend/bridesmaid, Helen, tries to take over Annie’s duties and place in Lillian’s life.
Why You Should Watch It: Not only is this movie absolutely hysterical (the wedding dress scene alone is comedy GOLD), but it’s about embracing the changes in your friendships and growing with your friends instead of pushing them away.
5. 2 Broke Girls
Synopsis: When Caroline Channing loses her fortune due to her father’s financial crimes, she starts to work at a Brooklyn diner alongside Max Black, who she quickly befriends and becomes roommates with. Together, the two navigate the highs and lows of living paycheck to paycheck in NYC while dreaming of opening their own cupcake shop.
Why You Should Watch It: Caroline and Max are the perfect example of how opposites attract, even platonically. Sometimes the person you don’t think you’ll ever get along with can end up being the one person you can’t live without.
4. Pitch Perfect
Synopsis: Beca, a new freshman at Barden University, just wants to put her head down and focus on her aspiring DJ career. However, her plans are derailed when she’s forcefully invited to join the Barden Bellas, the school’s all-female a cappella group who are looking to redeem themselves after an embarrassing loss at a competition the year prior.
Why You Should Watch It: Singing, pop music, and Anna Kendrick? What more could you want out of a movie?! This will surely leave your Galentine’s Day party laughing and crying at the same time.
3. Insecure
Synopsis: Best friends Issa and Molly try to forge their own path through the blinding streets of Los Angeles while juggling professional obligations, love woes, and racial situations.
Why You Should Watch It: Issa Rae created a beautiful love letter about what it’s like to be a black woman defying stereotypes in the modern age. Her take on relationships, both romantic and platonic, are incredibly raw and honest in a way not really seen on TV.
2. Mean Girls
Synopsis: When Cady Heron arrives to North Shore High School after being homeschooled her entire life, she is quickly taken under the wing of The Plastics, the most popular girls in school. However, Cady learns quickly that, much like the animals her parents studied in Africa, teenage girls can be incredibly wild and ruthless.
Why You Should Watch It: It goes without saying that this movie is the ultimate Galentine’s Day movie choice. It’s campy, hilarious, and perfectly depicts what it feels like to be a teenage girl in high school. Grab some popcorn, your bestest friends, and get ready to spend 90 minutes quoting the greatest teen movie of our generation.
1. Parks and Recreation
Synopsis: Leslie Knope and her crew at the Parks Department of Pawnee, Indiana work tirelessly every day to make their community a better place to live.
Why You Should Watch It: We’ve reached the magnum opus of Galentine Day’s content, as this show kicked off the popularity of the holiday. It all stems from the immense love Leslie has for her girl friends, which she showcases with personal, over-the-top gifts. But, outside of the Galentine’s Day episodes, this show is all about friendship, carving your own place in the world, loving those around you unconditionally, and standing up for what’s right. It’s the perfect watch from beginning to end. You can’t get any better than this!
(featured image: Paramount Pictures)
