Filmsgays
The 50 Best LGBTQ Movies Ever Made
Love, Simon (2018)
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If it feels a bit like a CW version of an after-school special, that's no mistake: Teen-tv super-producer Greg Berlanti makes his feature-film directorial debut here. It's as chaste a love story as you're likely to see in the 21st century—the hunky gardener who makes the title teen question his sexuality is wearing a long-sleeved shirt, for God’s sake—but you know what? The queer kids of the future need their wholesome entertainment, too.
Rocketman (2019)
AmazonHulu
A gay fantasia on Elton themes. An Elton John biopic was never going to be understated, but this glittering jukebox musical goes way over the top and then keeps going. It might be an overcorrection from the straight-washing of the previous year's Bohemian Rhapsody, but when it's this much fun, it's best not to overthink it.
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Handsome Devil (2016)
NetflixAmazon
A charming Irish movie that answers the question: "What if John Hughes were Irish and gay?" Misfit Ned s
55 of the Top LGBTQ Films of All Time
'Bottoms' (2023)
If ever there was a Superbad for queer girls, Bottoms is it. The second film from director Emma Seligman (Shiva Baby) follows two uncool steep school seniors (Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott) who commence up a educational facility fight club to try and hook up with their cheerleader crushes (Kaia Gerber and Havana Rose Liu).
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'Bound' (1996)
In the Wachowskis’ landmark erotic thriller predating the Matrix trilogy, butch ex-con Corky (Gina Gershon) is the newly-hired handyperson at an apartment building when she meets her next-door neighbors: mobster Caesar (Joe Pantoliano) and kept woman Violet (Jennifer Tilly). As Corky and Violet strike up an affair, they hatch a plan to flee Violet’s abusive relationship—and steal $2 million of Caesar’s mafia money along the way.
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'Circus of Books' (2020)
Southern Californians will likely recognize Circus of Books as the famed porn shop and dirty bookstore that has presided over the gayborhood of West Hollywood
International Gay Cinema: 33 LGBTQ Movies to See from Around the World
“And Then We Danced”
In Swedish filmmaker Levan Akin’s intimate tour-de-force, a young man comes to terms with his sexuality amid the hyper-masculine world of traditional Georgian dance. Framing his gentle coming-of-age tale around such a traditional piece of Georgian culture, Akin has made an inherently political film, rendered in sensitive terms with a celebratory spirit. With distinctive features and a lithe physicality, lead actor Levan Gelbakhiani toggles effortlessly between child-like innocence, explosive anger, and wisdom beyond his years. His riveting performance is indisputably the heart and spine of the film. Because of the sensitive subject matter, Akin and his team had to use guerilla filmmaking tactics to shoot in the conservative country, giving the film a gorgeous cinema verite quality. The film has stoked protests in Tbilisi, where it was shot, proving that queer filmmaking is still a political behave. —JD
“Bad Education”
“Bad Education&rdqu
The 30 Best LGBTQIA+ Films of All Time
In this first major critical survey of LGBTQIA+ films, over 100 film experts including critics, writers and programmers such as Joanna Hogg, Mark Cousins, Peter Strickland, Richard Dyer, Nick James and Laura Mulvey, as well as past and present BFI Flare programmers, hold voted the Top 30 LGBTQIA+ Films of All Moment. The poll’s results represent 84 years of cinema and 12 countries, from countries including Thailand, Japan, Sweden and Spain, as adv as films that showed at BFI Flare such as Orlando (1992), Attractive Thing (1996), Weekend (2011) and Cerulean Is the Warmest Colour (2013).
The winner is Todd Haynes’ award-winning Carol, closely followed by Andrew Haigh’s Weekend, and Hong Kong adj drama Happy Together, directed by Wong Kar-wai, in third place. While Carol is a surprisingly recent film to top the poll, it’s a feature that has moved, delighted and enthralled audiences, and looks establish to be a modern classic.
“The festival has long supported my work,” said Haynes, “from Poison and Dottie Gets Spanked in the premature 1990s through