10 Best Movies like The Hating Game

Finding myself in the mood for some comedies, I turned to the romantic comedy genre, and the film that got to me the most was The Hating Game.

It is an age-old story of enemies ending up in a love affair, as it follows two executive assistants of a publishing house who both seek the same promotion.

As you can imagine, the two assistants eventually develop feelings for one another, and the story has a happy ending.

Hungry for more, I sought out other films where opposites attract and friends or enemies enter a love affair.

Such as Palm Springs, Two Night Stand, and even Life As We Know It, where respective best friends (Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel) of a couple that died in a car crash come together to take care of their kid.

Apart from these personal favorites, I made a list of 10 more great movies about relationships that I think you should watch.

Ready to find films like The Hating Game? Keep scrolling down.

Sweet Home Alabama (2002)

The first on our list of the best movies, like The Hating Game is a movie that came out over 20 years ago, Sweet Home Alabama.

The movie stars Reese Witherspoon, who plays Melanie Carmichael, an Alabama native and a successful upcoming fashion designer in NYC. She is all set to marry the mayor’s son, but she also has a secret, the fact that she is still married to her childhood sweetheart.

A trip to Alabama brings back not only old memories but also some old feelings, creating a perfect atmosphere for a romantic comedy that will put her new relationship in hardship.

So, if you are a fan of a good romance like The Hating Game, this might be the film for you.

The Guardian had some criticisms for Sweet Home Alabama, saying that “It’s all very predictable and there’s a notably diluted, sanitized Alabama shown on screen,” but overall, they still called it “Reese Witherspoon’s breakthrough movie.”

The film stars Reese Witherspoon, Josh Lucas, Patrick Dempsey, Candice Bergen, Ethan Embry, Dakota Fanning, and others.

The Proposal (2009)

Moving on with a list of movies like The Hating Game (2021), we have The Proposal. This is a type of romance story that puts two people in a forced relationship, only for it to become not-so-forced after a while.

The movie follows Margaret, a publishing executive in the US, who was actually born in Canada.

However, she now risks being deported unless if she can get a green card somehow. Desperate, she turns to her assistant, Andrew, and the two make a deal to get married.

Margaret gets to stay in the country, while Andrew gets a nice promotion. All they need to do is convince an INS agent that their relationship is legitimate.

However, when they visit Andrew’s parents, the story takes an unexpected turn, as both start to catch real feelings and fall for one another.

The film stars Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Betty White, Malin Akerman, Mary Steenburgen, Oscar Nunez, and others.

The Ugly Truth (2009)

The third on our list of relationship movies like The Hating Game (2021) is a movie called The Ugly Truth.

The film features Abby, a tense woman working as a morning show producer, who has to run her program involving love advice with a sexist presenter Mike Chadway.

However, in order to demonstrate his love beliefs and find an ideal partner for Abby, Mike gives her a list of things to do, romantic challenges, which will reveal her perfect man.

Later on, during a business trip, the two run into one another in a shared hotel, and their love-hate relationship takes a different turn, showing once again, like in other similar movies, that opposites attract.

While not a life-changing romance movie, it does present an interesting relationship, showing that hate and passion are never too far from one another.

The film stars Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Eric Winter, Cheryl Hines, John Michael Higgins, Bree Turner, and others.

A Nice Girl Like You (2020)

Moving on with our list of the best movies like The Hating Game (2021), we have A Nice Girl Like You.

This is a romantic comedy about self-discovery, as much as it is about relationships. Its story focuses on a woman called Lucy Neal, a violinist who gets shocked when she is told that she is too inhibited by her ex-boyfriend.

After a failed relationship, she is still haunted by those words, so she decides to prove him wrong by creating a crazy and wild to-do list, which will send her on a surprising and exciting journey of making new friends, achieving self-discovery, and more.

A number of other unexpected things will happen, as she will fall in love again, as she learns that there are different kinds of relationships, and that discovery will impact her entire life.

The film stars Lucy Hale, Leonidas Gulaptis, Nick Riedell, Mindy Cohn, Jackie Cruz, Adhir Kalyan, and others.

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

One of the most impressive and thought-provoking movies like The Hating Game (2021) is 10 Things I Hate About You.

It is a story that follows a pretty girl Bianca and her sister Kat. However, the two girls are forbidden from dating, until their father finally decides to change the rule. The new rule is that, if one of them goes on a date, the other one must go on a date too.

For Bianca, this is a no-brainer, as she can easily secure a date with new kid Cameron. However, for Kat, getting a date is a different story.

Things in this relationship-exploring movie take a crazy turn when the mysterious Patrick Verona enters the picture.

The Guardian was impressed with the movie, saying that “It’s the smartest, funniest and most likeable film of the week and is, moreover, in the most charming and unselfconscious manner possible, a homage to William Shakespeare.”

The movie features Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Andrew Keegan, Larisa Oleynik, Heath Ledger, David Krumholtz, and more.

Holidate (2020)

One of the best alternatives to The Hating Game that I have seen recently is Holidate.

When a single man and a single woman get fed up with always being single for the holidays, they can be forgiven for making a pact that easily solves that problem.

This is the story of Holidate, where two strangers agree to become each other’s platonic plus-ones for the entire year, just so they don’t have to think about being alone for the holidays.

As you can imagine, they fall for one another along the way, and a romance emerges.

The film is fairly predictable, but it is still a fun story about relationships and new friends who, over time, become something more, accompanied by some funny moments that turn the epic battle with loneliness into a much more heartwarming and wholesome tale.

The film stars Emma Roberts, Luke Bracey, Nicola Peltz, Kristin Chenoweth, Jessica Capshaw, Frances Fisher, and others.

You’ve Got Mail (1998)

One of the most interesting films like The Hating Game that is also a popular classic is You’ve Got Mail.

This time, the story follows two bookstore owners who are direct competitors, a handsome man called Joe, who owns a bookshop chain, and a pretty woman Kathleen, who owns her own quaint bookstore that Joe wants to run out of business.

However, since both are alone in life and looking for romance, they turn to the internet to find their significant other, only to run into each other without knowing it.

As they establish an online relationship, they get to know one another and develop feelings, while still not knowing their real identities.

Meanwhile, in real life, they continue to clash over their businesses, as they both still seek professional success.

The film stars Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Greg Kinnear, Heather Burns, Parker Posey, Dave Chappelle, and others.

This Means War (2012)

You might be wondering how to make an excellent spy movie that revolves around romance, and to that, I respond with, This Means War.

One of the most amusing relationship movies, This Means War puts two CIA agents against one another after they discover that they are dating the same woman.

Finding themselves in a love triangle, both men seek to win the affection of the girl they like. Their interest in the woman may be genuine, but the approach they take to winning her over and having her fall for them is rather childish.

Still, it leaves you, as the viewer, with an exciting and incredibly funny romance story that none of the other movies can match.

The film stars Chris Pine, Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hardy, Chelsea Handler, Til Schweiger, Abigail Spencer, and others.

How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)

Nearing the end of the list of films such as The Hating Game, we have another classic relationship story, How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

This is a curious story about two people who have secret bets on their romantic prospects.

Benjamin Barry is an advertising executive who brags that he can get any woman to fall for him in only ten days. Meanwhile, Andie Anderson is a columnist who seeks inspiration for her story about how to lose a guy in ten days.

The two start getting into a relationship, both seeking to prove that they can, in fact, deliver on their promise.

Benjamin cannot afford to give up on Andie no matter what she does, and Andie cannot afford to fall for Benjamin. In the end, it is a tense, tenuous, and quite intriguing relationship. If you are interested in seeing who will win, I recommend that you watch the movie.

The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn, Adam Goldberg, Thomas Lennon, Michael Michele, and others.

The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004)

Finally, the last on our list of The Hating Game-like movies we have The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.

This is a continuation of the story of Princess Mia Thermopolis Renaldi, once a messy teen from San Francisco and now a princess of a small country called Genovia.

The story revolves around sabotage and royalty, as it is discovered that an ancient royal rule requires the upcoming queen to be married in order to ascend to the throne of Genovia.

This puts Mia in quite an awkward situation, as she is on her way of succeeding her grandmother as the queen.

Meanwhile, an ambitious viscount seeks to put his nephew in the position of a monarch, so when the rule is uncovered, Mia has only one month to find a husband, or her claim to the throne will be challenged.

The film stars Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews, Chris Pine, Hector Elizondo, Heather Matarazzo, Callum Blue, and others.

Most of these movies can be found on both Netflix and Disney+.

I would love to hear which is your favourite, so drop me a comment below.