While Hollywood still has a long way to go in supporting queer stories and storytellers, we’re living in a relative golden age of LGBTQ cinema compared to what has come before. Netflix has not always chosen to support the LGBTQ community in their business decisions, but the streamer has played a major role in increasing the visibility of queer characters and storylines in both film and TV, and in supporting queer creators in telling stories.
As we celebrate Pride month and beyond, let’s take a look at some of the best LGBTQ movies Netflix currently has on offer. If you’re looking for a queer film to watch—satirically funny or devastatingly earnest, heart-stoppingly romantic or casually queer—try one of the many excellent and diverse options below.
Brokeback Mountain
“Brokeback Mountain,” a neo-Western film about two male cowboys who love one another in a deeply homophobic society, was a landmark for queer cinema. At a time when there were barely any queer characters on American screens, the 2005 Ang Lee adaptation of Annie Proulx’s Award-winning short story would garner seven Oscar nominations, including acting noms for rising stars Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Williams (sorry, Anne Hathaway). It would go on to win three statues, including one for Lee as “Best Director.” It’s a gorgeous film, and a brilliantly acted saga, but be warned: this story is a tragic heartbreaker.
The Half of It
If you’re looking for something less tragic, “The Half of It” is a good choice. The 2020 coming-of-age story is a queer retelling of “Cyrano de Bergerac,” expertly told by “Saving Face” writer-director Alice Wu. In the film, “Nancy Drew” breakout Leah Lewis plays Ellie Chu, a high school girl living in rural America. When jock Paul Munsky (Daniel Diemer) hires Ellie to write letters to his crush Aster Flores (Alexxis Lemire), Ellie begins to fall for Aster too. “The Half of It” is a tender tale of teen togetherness that is as much about friendship as it is about queer yearning and connection.
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
Some of the best LGBTQ films in Netflix’s streaming catalog are documentaries that tell one of the many, many stories from queer communities around the country and world. This 2017 documentary from “How To Survive A Plague” director David France centers the courageous and beautiful life of Marsha P. Johnson, a gay liberation activist and drag queen who played a major role in the 1969 Stonewall Uprising and the broader New York City queer community in the second half of the 20th century. When Johnson was found dead in the Hudson River shortly after New York’s 1992 Gay Pride Parade, the police ruled it a death by suicide, leading to protests across the city. The 105-minute film chronicles Johnson’s legacy as an advocate for the gay community, as well as the continuing efforts to seek justice for her death, the cause of which the NYPD reclassified as “undetermined” in 2002.
Circus of Books
Another documentary option on our list, “Circus of Books” follows the story of Circus of Books, a gay porn bookshop in West Hollywood that was a refuge for queer Angelenos in the 1980s. The film was made by Rachel Mason, whose straight, Jewish parents took over ownership of the store in 1982, and who would run the bookshop following the anti-porn legislation passed by the Reagan administration and through the worst of the AIDS crisis. The Masons didn’t tell their children what they did for a living, and much of the film explores this tension between the work the Masons were doing as business owners in and allies to the queer community, and their home and family life.
Do Revenge
If you watched “Sweet/Vicious,” then you know how well Jennifer Kaytin Robinson writes (and in this case, also directs) teen revenge dramedies. Robinson co-wrote the screenplay for “Do Revenge,” a 2022 black comedy starring “Riverdale”’s Camila Mendes and “Stranger Things”’ Maya Hawke, with Celeste Ballard. The 119-minute film follows Mendes’ Drea, an overachieving working-class student at an elite high school whose bright future is threatened when her boyfriend leaks an intimate video. Meanwhile, Hawke plays a rich tomboy named Eleanor, who has lived as a resentful social outcast after a false rumor about her forcibly kissing another girl at summer camp was started years earlier. When Drea meets Eleanor at tennis camp, the two hatch a revenge plan to take down each other’s enemies. It’s “Strangers on a Train,” set amidst the social media-shaped viciousness of modern teendom.
Carol
Speaking of “Strangers on a Train,” “Carol” is based on the 1952 lesbian romance novel “The Price of Salt,” written by “Strangers on a Train” screenwriter Patricia Highsmith. The love story has long been a staple of queer literature, but the romance reached even more people in 2015, when Todd Haynes directed this cinematically sumptuous, masterfully acted film adaptation. One of cinema’s best love stories, “Carol” stars Cate Blanchett in the titular role, as a woman in the midst of a divorce who falls in love with Therese (Rooney Mara), played by Rooney Mara, in 1950s New York. While the original novel was written contemporary to its telling, the film is a nostalgic period drama that both leans into the visual richness of the era and effectively communicates the stifling social control that accompanied it.
A Secret Love
If you’re looking for a real-life love story that shares some themes with “Carol,” try “A Secret Love.” The 2020 documentary tells the story of the almost 70-year lesbian partnership between All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player Terry Donahue and Pat Henschel. In this 83-minute doc, the story is told from the perspective of Terry and Pat’s great nephew, director Chris Bolan, who—like the rest of his family—was not aware of the romantic component of Terry and Pat’s relationship until 2009. “A Secret Love” uses archival footage from the All-American Girls Baseball League, home videos, and interviews to tell a lesbian love story that spans decades.
Let It Snow
Just because it isn’t Christmas, doesn’t mean you can’t watch a Christmas movie. When the summer heat starts to get to you, put on “Let It Snow,” a sweet, “Love Actually”-esque rom-com that follows a variety of intertwining romantic storylines in small-town Illinois. One of the 2019 film’s best love stories is between Waffle Town waitress Dorrie (“Yellowjackets” star Liv Hewson) and closeted cheerleader Kerry (Anna Akana). Based on a book by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle, “Let It Snow” is a queer comfort watch, even when the sun is shining.
Pray Away
Currently, conversion therapy on minors is banned in 25 states, which means the pseudoscientific and abusive practice that attempts to change a young person’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity is still legal in half of the country. This makes director Kristine Stolakis’ 2021 documentary “Pray Away” such an important and infuriating watch. The 101-minute film tells the story of the Exodus International, a group formed by evangelical Christians in 1976 that pioneered conversion therapy in the United States. In “Pray Away,” Stolakis interviews former leaders in the community, some of whom are regretful for the harm they caused and some of whom have since come out as gay.
Call Me By Your Name
Luca Guadagnino’s coming-of-age masterpiece has been somewhat tainted by the sexual assault allegations against actor Armie Hammer since the film’s release in 2017. Fortunately, the film has always belonged to Timothée Chalamet’s Elio. The actor gave a career-launching performance as a 17-year-old spending his summer with his family in 1983 Italy, who falls in love with his father’s 24-year-old graduate student assistant Oliver (Hammer). “Call Me By Your Name,” which is an adaptation of André Aciman’s seminal 2007 novel, is a love story; but, more than that, it is a testament to the bravery it takes to live a vulnerable life.
Ride or Die
When Rei (“Queer Eye: We’re in Japan!”’s Kiko Mizuhara) learns that her former classmate and the woman she loves Nanae (Honami Sato) is being abused by her husband, she kills the man, sending the two women on the lam. What follows is a liberating, subversive, and emotionally messy road trip, informed by flashbacks to the women’s shared past. From director Ryuichi Hiroki, based on Ching Nakamura’s “Gunjō” manga series, “Ride or Die” is a raw, cathartic love story that keeps viewers guessing for all 142 minutes. If you’re up for subtitles, give this Japanese-language film a try.
Fear Street Part One: 1994
There aren’t enough queer-tastic genre flicks in cinematic canon, but “Fear Street Part One: 1994,” the first film in a trilogy, is one of them. Adapted by gay screenwriter Phil Graziadei from R.L. Stine’s iconic teen horror book series, “Fear Street Part One: 1994” makes the homoerotic undertones of the books explicit in this story about a bunch of teens who accidentally unleash a supernatural, serial-killing curse on the town of Shadyside. The slasher trilogy not only follows the relationship between Deena Johnson (Kiana Madeira) and Sam Fraser (Olivia Scott Welch), two girls who are exes when “1994” starts,” but puts their lesbian romance at the very center of the plot, subverting many of the horror genre’s homophobic stereotypes in the process.
The Boys in the Band Acclaimed theater and film director Joe Mantello brought the exclusively openly-gay cast from his 2018 Broadway revival of Mart Crowley’s 1968 play “The Boys in the Band” to the screen for this 2020 film adaptation. Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, and Matt Bomer star in the story about a 1968 Upper East Side birthday party among a group of gay friends that builds slowly to a drunken, emotionally messy climax.
Alice Júnior
When trans teen YouTube sensation Alice (Anne Mota) is forced to move from the big city to the more conservative Brazilian countryside, the 17-year-old takes it all in stride. This Portuguese-language 2020 flick follows Alice’s adventures at her new school as she sets out on a mission to have her first kiss. Gil Baroni’s directorial debut refuses to slip into the somber tone many mainstream viewers have been conditioned to expect from all trans narratives. Instead, “Alice Júnior” is an unabashed celebration of trans teen girldom.
Your Name Engraved Herein
“Your Name Engraved Herein” is not only Taiwan’s highest-grossing LGBTQ movie of all time, it was one of the most popular movies in the country in 2020. In 2019, Taiwan became the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage. Director Patrick Kuang-Hui Liu’s intimate and moving Mandarin-language film is mostly set decades before that, in 1987, when male students Chang Jia-han aka A-han (Edward Chen) and Wang Bo Te aka Birdy (Jing-hua Tseng) fall in love. At the time, marital law had just lifted in Taiwan, and the country was going through great social change; however, it was still very difficult to be openly gay in Taiwan’s homophobic culture. “Your Name Engraved Herein” is a reminder of how far the country has come in terms of LGBTQ acceptance, and a tribute to all of the queer folks who never got to live in today’s Taiwan.
Disobedience
Chilean director Sebastián Lelio adapts Naomi Alderman’s 2006 novel about Ronit, a rabbi’s bisexual daughter who returns to the London-based Orthodox Jewish community she grew up in after the death of her father. Rachel Weisz plays Ronit, who had previously been banished from the community and estranged from her late father. Upon her return from New York, Ronit is surprised to find that her former lover, Esti (Rachel McAdams), is now married to childhood friend Dovid (Alessandro Nivola). When Ronit and Esti admit they still have feelings for one another, both Esti and Dovid begin to question their life together and their commitment to their community. Expertly crafted by Lelio with powerhouse performances from the films’ three leads, “Disobedience” is an intentionally muted and deeply felt drama.
Mars One
In Brazil’s official selection for the 95th Academy Awards, “Mars One” follows the story of a working-class family living in economic precarity on the outskirts of Belo Horizonte. Son Deivinho (Cícero Lucas) dreams of becoming an astrophysicist and traveling to Mars, while daughter Nina (Camilla Damião) is a student on the cusp of adulthood who begins dating a girl she meets at a club. Writer-director Gabriel Martins does a good job exploring the stories of each member of the family, resulting in a well-balanced family drama that gives a glimpse into modern Brazilian life.
Bruised
“Bruised,” Halle Berry’s 2020 directorial debut, is not primarily a love story, but the tale of fictional MMA fighter Jackie Justice (played by Berry) features some unexpected queer romantic elements. When the 138-minute sports drama begins, Jackie is a washed-up former UFC fighter who hasn’t fought professionally since she forfeited a major match, six years prior. These days, she’s living in Newark, living with her boyfriend/manager and making ends meet as a nanny. When Jackie catches the eye of a local promoter for the all-female MMA league Invicta Fighting, she begins training again, and begins to hope she can fight professionally again. “Bruised” is a queer comeback story from one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
I Care A Lot
As with “Bruised,” the love story in “I Care A Lot” is a subplot. Instead, this 2020 black comedy focuses its action on lesbian protagonist Marla Grayson’s (Rosamund Pike) guardianship con that sees her defrauding dozens of elderly clients. Marla gets the justice system to grant her legal guardianship over senior citizens, gets them admitted to an assisted living facility whose staff is in her pocket, and then auctions off their assets for money. It’s all going great—for Marla, at least—until she targets Jennifer Patterson (Dianne Wiest), a wealthy retiree who has secrets of her own. While Marla may be a terrible person who cares not at all about the vulnerable people she is scamming out of their own money and autonomy, she loves her girlfriend and business partner Fran (Eiza González). “I Care A Lot” is a viciously gleeful romp with a characteristically stellar performance from Pike and a queer romance weaved into its high-stakes tale of fraud—though, warning, if you’re looking for a story with a happy ending, this isn’t the movie for you.
Alex Strangelove
If you’re looking for a flick with the tender tone of “Love, Simon,” try “Alex Strangelove,” a 2018 teen rom-com about a high school senior named Alex (Daniel Doheny) who decides to lose his virginity to his girlfriend only to meet a gay boy he thinks he might have feelings for. Like “Love, Simon” before it, “Alex Strangelove” centers the interiority of protagonist Alex, but never at the cost of consideration for the rest of its ensemble of teen characters trying their best to understand themselves and one another. Directed by “The Skeleton Twins” filmmaker Craig Johnson and coming in at a cool 99 minutes, “Alex Strangelove” is a short, sweet coming-of-age tale.
Straight Up
Many queer films follow a similar trajectory: a human, after living their life as if they were straight, begins to experiment with their sexuality and embrace their queerness. “Straight Up”—a 2019 film written by, directed by, and starring James Sweeney—bends that formula. The story begins when twenty-something Angeleno Todd decides to try dating a woman (Rory, played by the always-great Katie Findlay), after previously only having dated other men. “Straight Up” doesn’t follow a simple Hollywood blueprint; instead, it challenges societal expectations that go beyond “straight” or “gay,” exploring themes of asexuality (though not explicitly) as Todd and Rory embark on a romantic relationship without sex.
Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen
As the lives and livelihoods of transgender and gender-nonconforming people continue to be threatened in this country, it’s important to know how the stigmatization of trans folks has been perpetuated by our media. In “Disclosure,” Laverne Cox and other trans people working in media lead viewers through the history of trans representation on film and in TV, from the earliest days of cinema to today. Directed by Sam Feder and executive produced by Cox, it’s a must-watch for cinephiles and for anyone looking to understand how queer history impacts today’s culture.
Lingua Franca
Olivia (Isabel Sandoval, also the film’s writer and director) is a trans Filipina immigrant living undocumented in Brooklyn, where she works as a caregiver for an elderly Russian woman named Olga (Lynn Cohen), sending much of the money she makes back home to her family in the Philippines and the rest to save up for a green card marriage with a man named Matthew. When Olga’s grandson Alex (Eamon Farren) comes to stay after completing a stint in rehab for alcohol dependence, the two become romantically involved, making Olivia reconsider her carefully constructed plans. It’s rare to see both trans stories and immigrant stories on screen; Sandoval’s weaving together of both into an intimate portrait of modern American life is a stunning must-watch.
Stay On Board: The Leo Baker Story
This 2022 documentary follows Leo Baker, one of America’s best skateboarders. “Stay On Board” directors Nicola Marsh and Giovanni Reda followed Baker over the course of three-ish years, beginning in 2019 when he and his U.S.A. National Team teammates learned skateboarding would become an Olympic sport, and following Baker’s trajectory as he decides whether or not to come out as trans before the international event. Baker’s story is one of many human entry points into the trans athlete “debate,” and it’s also a documentary that embraces the full complexity of Baker’s life as a skateboarder and human.
Funny Boy
In “Funny Boy,” Indian-born Canadian filmmaker and screenwriter Deepa Mehta adapts Shyam Selvadurai’s 1994 novel about a Tamil boy named Arjie coming to terms with his queerness against the backdrop of the outbreak of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 1983. The 2020 film was Canada’s entrant into the “Best International Feature Film” category at the Oscars, and for good reason. Visually stunning and tonally complex, “Funny Boy” is a coming-of-age queer romance and a political drama set at an intersection of time and place we rarely see portrayed in American cinema.
