a collection of my favorite on-screen kisses

Introducing another listicle that no one asked for!

Have you ever found yourself on youtube at 1:30 am, furiously burning through every “best kiss” compilation you can find? This is a favorite spiraling pastime of mine, but I can never land on the perfect video that encompasses every kiss that (in my humble opinion) will singe your eyebrows off. There are a few rules to a good (on-screen) kiss in my book, which I will conveniently list for your perusal below:

• Build up. This is EXTREMELY crucial. My personal favorite is the slow burn build up over the course of an entire movie, an entire season, or even multiple seasons (the true and elusive icon). We must be primed. We must be riveted in anticipation. We must be eyes wide, glued to the screen, soaking in the anticipation like perfume.

• Good angles. Listen, I didn’t wait hours, nay seasons, nay YEARS for this kiss in order to be gazing at the back of someone’s head. Give me angles, people! I want panning shots, I want close ups, I want many minutes.

• A soundtrack that I immediately must listen to for hours on end. The right song can make or break a kiss scene. IMPERATIVE.

• The genuine and elusive final ingredient: chemistry. Not all actors have chemistry, and this is never as obvious as when they are forced to mash their mouths together. I’m not here for just good chemistry, oh no. I want the kind of chemistry where you’re instantly like, “oh, they dated. they’re a little in love with each other.” That’s the gold standard.

And so, without further ado, let us get into the list. This is in no particular order, only banger after banger. Here’s hoping this reaches the intended audience: other horny goblins like myself. Also, potential spoilers ahead I suppose, proceed with caution.

Kevin & Jane in the bar (and the car), 27 Dresses

“I cried like a baby at the Keller wedding” is in my top 10 sexiest sentences ever uttered by an on-screen man.

Sam & Austin in the bleachers, A Cinderella Story

This scene is what I mean when I say the soundtrack is crucial. This song choice?! ICONIC. The location? PERFECT. The kiss? MAGIC. Also just the perfect buildup throughout the movie for this payoff. I am Carter in the background going “You gotta love high school” even though high school is trash.

Cecilia & Robbie in the library, Atonement

“Yes, I know exactly.” !!!!!! Kiera Knightly said in an interview once that this was the best kiss she’s ever had and honestly, that tracks. I could not for the life of me find the * full * library scene on youtube, but I urge you to go forth and rent this film and find it yourself, because friends: it is worth it.

Kate & Anthony in this like dark gazebo thing, Bridgerton

Let me tell you about chemistry, because these two?! This is some of the best on-screen chemistry I have ever seen in my life. Every moment they are on screen together is foreplay leading up to this scene and the payoff? WORTH EVERY SECOND.

Hannah & Jacob in the bar, Crazy Stupid Love

It isn’t a best kiss list without this truly iconic liplock. The chemistry here is honestly illegal. The way the camera pans over his hands? This is the female gaze.

Fleabag & The Hot Priest against the bricks, Fleabag

We’re all under the absolute THRALL of the hot priest. The things I would let this man do to me. Unhinged. There is this little second in this scene where he drags his knuckle along her jaw that makes me absolutely feral.

Peter & Rachel in the water, Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Every three years or so, I rewatch this movie and remember why I adore it so much. The way he says “totally!” in this scene makes me literally snort with laughter every time. A kiss like you just can’t help yourself always hits different.

Charlie & Nick on the floor, Heartstopper

The shooting of this scene is simply masterful. Their hands getting closer, their little glances, their feet nudging together, like AHHHH I swoon. “Would you kiss someone who wasn’t a girl? Would you kiss me?” Rip out my heart and give it a little smooch, would ya?

Rory & Jess by the gas pump, Gilmore Girls

I used to watch this kiss at half speed in middle school, so you know it’s good. These two dated in real life, and you can tell in the drastic difference between her kisses with Dean, a sentient cardboard cutout of a man. I am such a hoe for a “bad boy” who is down bad and Jess is the definition of this to a T. Honorable mention to their first kiss, which is also half-speed-watch worthy.

Will & Alicia in the elevator, The Good Wife

I’m going to be honest, I believe Will Gardner is my perfect man. And I will never forgive the writers for his exit from the show. But this kiss? This was the heyday of The Good Wife. The face grab. The back-her-up-against-the-wall. The elevator of it all. The fact that he is so nervous he can’t get the hotel keycard to work?! Damn. Perfect man.

Evie and Walter in the solarium, The Invitation

I couldn’t find an exact clip because this movie just came out like a second ago but can you say CHEMISTRY??? The way he looked at her had me absolutely screaming.

Jane & Michael in the (faux) snow, Jane the Virgin

I would die for this kiss. Just like I am a Ben girl (see below), I am a Michael girl. That little jaw tick? GAWD.

Thornton & Margaret in the train station, North & South

Watching this started my debilitating-crush-on-Richard-Armitage era, which took eons to recover from. The way he looks at her in this scene?! BE STILL MY HEART.

Devi & Ben in the car, Never Have I Ever

Paxton is hot and all, but the academic rivals, enemies to lovers in me makes me a Ben girl through and through. This is specifically the kiss in season one because the way he grabs the back of her head?! I SWOON. Also, these two? A master’s class in chemistry.

Nick & Jess in the hallway, New Girl

The kiss that needs no introduction. The kiss HEARD ROUND THE WORLD. I feel my life is split into two halves: the Kelly I was before I saw this kiss, and the changed woman I was after. Devastated I will never experience this exact kiss with this exact (fictional) man, as it is simply perfect in every way. “I meant something like that.” Like !!!!!. Also, a rare kiss that needs no soundtrack but heavy breathing. Bless.

Nick & Elizabeth in the study, The Parent Trap

I remember watching this over and over as a little girl (my parents used to enforce 30 minutes of TV time, so we’d have to stop the movie halfway through and play the rest the next day, a true torture tactic if you ever need one), and every time it got to this scene, my dad would go, “cover your eyes, you’ll go blind!” Despite this clown behavior, this scene still gives me butterflies to this day. There’s nothing like a cut-off-in-mid-sentence kiss.

Leighton & Alicia outside the party, The Sex Lives of College Girls

There is something about a pent-up kiss that just does it for me. I will lap up a secretly pining but don’t know they’re secretly pining storyline every time and the slow build of this one is so utterly perfect. The way she’s so surprised and then goes to kiss her again?! YUM.

Alina & The Darkling in some fancy ass room, Shadow & Bone

I love a tortured bad boy as played by Ben Barnes, so this is my literal catnip. The way he goes back for one more taste?! LIKE HELLO. This is it. Also, this man is like a straight up mass murderer and he still asks for consent, so.

Lara Jean & Peter in the hot tub (!!), To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before

Shows set in high school couldn’t be further from my high school experience, but damn, I love them anyway. Remember when this movie first came out and we were all in our Peter Kavinsky eras? God, I miss that time. The lighting of this scene should win an Emmy. Pitch perfect.

Kang Cheol & Oh Yeon-joo in jail (ish), W

This was one of the first K dramas I watched, and it’s like a true gateway drug. Everything about this is perfect. The setup. The face grab. The “it doesn’t matter”. THE HANDCUFFS OVER THE HEAD. You cannot convince me he wasn’t in love with her while they were filming this. Like I know it’s acting, but PLZ. Honorable mention to this kiss from the same series. God bless a K drama for giving the most angles and slow mo.

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