The Best LGBTQ Movies of the Last 100 Years
Sure, it’s all bleak; you could probably spend the next few years in disunity, bracing yourself for a rapid erosion of hard-won LGBTQ+ rights. It’s not like the media is the best ally in the fight for basic acceptance, and given that one of the current administration’s first executive orders involved pretending that transgender people don’t exist (a claim that flies in the face of biology, human history, and the lived experiences of millions of people), the future doesn’t bode well.
But if movies and media can’t save us, they can sure as hell represent us. Mass entertainment can move the needle on acceptance (even in small ways), and bold independent films can make us feel seen, offer support, or make us angry enough to fight back. Below, I’ve highlighted 42 standout films from the last century.
Michael (1926)
Carl Theodor Dreyer, best known for his 1928 masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc , brought similar visual ingenuity to Michael , the story of a love triangle between a sculptor, his model (the title is “Michael”), and the sculptor’s long-suffering friend. It’s a doomed romance, but not because of any M4M moralizing about love. It’s a story about not seeing what’s right in front of you. (And, yes, I realize that Michael just doesn’t make it past its centennial anniversary, based on its German release in late 1924, but its American release wasn’t until two years later, so I’ll allow that.) You can stream Michael on Kanopy .
Wings (1927)
The very first film to win an Oscar for best picture is a story about two rivals who become good friends, set during World War I. Very good friends, if you know what I mean, though it’s ambiguous enough not to arouse suspicion at the time. Throughout the film, two pilots compete for the affection of an ambulance driver, played by Clara Bow, usually dressed in her deliberately masculine uniform, with a crew cut and leather lace-up boots. The famous pan across several tables at a bar features a lesbian couple about to kiss when the camera flashes past, but it’s the death scene (sorry for the 98-year-old spoiler) between our two pilots that really seals the deal: if their tender caresses and kiss aren’t overtly gay, the scene is certainly queer in its depiction of male affection. You can stream Wings on Tubi or rent it on Prime Video .
Girls in Uniform (1931)
The story of troubled schoolgirl Manuela (Herta Thiele), who quickly falls for a teacher at her girls’ school, Girls in Uniform arrived at a pivotal moment in German history: Section 175, which outlawed homosexuality, had been repealed a few years earlier, and what would later be considered the “decadent” era of the Weimar Republic was in full swing. With queer women behind the camera and plenty of lesbian angst and kissing on screen, the film became a hit across much of Europe, while lobbying by none other than Eleanor Roosevelt ensured that it reached American audiences (a detail I adore). It’s a beautifully realized picture of romantic yearning that never veers into melodrama; it also invites us to imagine what female-focused films might have been like if there had been more women behind the camera during Hollywood’s golden age. You can stream Girls in Uniform on Hoopla .
Queen Christina (1933)
However, we decided to determine Greta Garbo’s real gender and sexual orientation – some say bisexual is closest to the truth, others say lesbian; she referred to herself as a man most of the time and signed letters as “Harry,” so there are layers – there’s no doubt that her gender-fluid on-screen persona, in roles that were at least bisexual, made her a huge box office draw in a very different era. Here, she plays an unconventional, bisexual Swedish queen, embroiled not only in affairs of state but also in affairs with co-stars John Gilbert and Elizabeth Young. All that aside, this is a beautiful historical romance about a strong, complex woman with a killer (and oft-mentioned) final shot. You can rent Queen Christina on Prime Video .
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
While I try to avoid queer coding in favor of films with openly queer characters and content, it gets harder during the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood, when the rules clearly forbade any such thing. There are too many gay characters in Bride of Frankenstein to ignore, though. The plot revolves around the gorgeous and flamboyant Dr. Septimus Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), Victor Frankenstein’s mentor since his school days, who bursts in on the eve of Victor’s wedding night to whisk him away (with only a little convincing) to conduct some experiments to determine if they can make a life together. So to speak. With that plot and a queer presence in front of and behind the camera , it’s truly a gay fever dream. You can rent Bride of Frankenstein on Prime Video .
Rope (1948)
While Hitchcock’s adaptation of the play of the same name erases any overt references to the protagonists’ sexuality (which would have been unacceptable at the time), the director was never afraid to push the homosexual subtext to the extreme, and the viewer would have to be pretty sheltered to see the prim, fastidious killers Brandon and Phillip (John Dull and Farley Granger) as simply roommates. The confined setting and experimental filming style aren’t exactly Hitchcock’s cup of tea, but the claustrophobic atmosphere and sharp dialogue heighten the tension. You can stream Rope on The Criterion Channel or rent it on Prime Video .
Olivia (1951)
Unavailable for decades, Olivia is almost shockingly straightforward: the premise involves an all-girls school divided into factions, with a lesbian couple vying for their loyalty as they run the show. The student-teacher angle is disturbing to modern eyes, but it’s not exactly a prurient film, despite the setup. It’s a coming-of-age story for the titular character, clever in its exploration of how we must choose the person we want to be, even when we’re constantly being pulled in different directions. You can stream Olivia on Hoopla or rent it on Apple TV+ .
Tea and Sympathy (1956)
Tackling the same issues of masculinity as other films of the era (like Rebel Without a Cause ), Tea and Sympathy offers an awkward but fascinating look at ideas of queerness in the 1950s. Tom Robinson Lee (John Kerr) is a new boy at an all-male prep school rife with gay subtext (think of how the other boys like to bully and idolize their coach —he’s so straight that it’s very gay ). Tom is a shy, timid reader who is criticized for his homosexuality by his more overtly masculine classmates, and who strikes up a friendship with the headmaster’s wife that turns romantic. It’s all fascinating, even if it doesn’t hold up to rigorous analysis, and director Vincente Minnelli certainly knows how to make a compelling movie. You can watch Tea and Sympathy on The Criterion Channel or rent it on Prime Video .
Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)
This wacky Southern Gothic mystery (based on the Tennessee Williams play) centers on a young man, the son of the memorable Violet Venable, who dies under mysterious circumstances while on vacation in Spain. While Violet was happy to be his partner, helping him meet other men for sexual encounters, the last thing she wants is for the world to know exactly how he died. She’s perfectly happy to lobotomize one of her son’s good friends, just to make sure the secret stays a secret. It’s a wild time, right down to the memorable, off-kilter ending. You can rent Suddenly Last Summer on Prime Video .
A Taste of Honey (1961)
When 17-year-old Jo (Rita Tushingham) becomes pregnant by a sailor (by the time she realizes, he’s long gone), she can’t turn to her needy, alcoholic mother for comfort. Instead, she falls into the arms of Jeff (the great Murray Melvin), a gay textiles student and the most sensible character in the entire film. It was shocking at the time — not just for its inclusion of a gay character, but for its gritty realism — making it a brilliant foretaste of what was to come. You can stream A Taste of Honey on HBO Max , The Criterion Channel, and Kanopy, or rent it on Prime Video .
The Victim (1961)
Dirk Bogarde (who was out at the time) not only plays one of the first bisexual characters in cinema, he’s also the hero of the story, and he’s completely likable (though, as the title suggests, a victim). Bogarde is a successful London solicitor (sorry, barrister ) who is blackmailed over his casual sexual encounters with a male friend. It’s a landmark in his treatment of queer characters, but just as importantly, it’s a tense and compelling neo-noir, vividly directed by veteran Basil Dearden. You can stream The Victim on HBO Max and The Criterion Channel, or rent it on Prime Video .
The Queen (1968)
Long hard to find but recently restored by Kino Lorber, the documentary The Queen follows the contestants of a New York drag competition run by queen, activist, and trans icon Flawless Sabrina. Crystal LaBeija memorably steals the show in the finale, calling out the racist undercurrents of a largely segregated community, a rallying cry that led to the rise of Ball culture in the decades that followed. It’s a (mostly) freewheeling, joyful portrait of a special time in queer history, and features performances from luminaries of the era, including Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgwick, and designer Dorian Corey. You can stream The Queen on Kanopy and Kino Film, or rent it on Prime Video .
Funeral Parade of Roses (1969)
At the height of the Japanese New Wave, writer/director Toshio Matsumoto created this classic that combines ultra-realism with hauntingly beautiful, sometimes psychedelic imagery. The plot takes inspiration from the story of Oedipus Rex and inverts it, seamlessly blending the mythical with the mundane in the story of Eddie (Shinnosuke Ikehata) and other transgender women in the turbulent Tokyo of the 1960s. You can stream Funeral Parade of Roses on Kanopy .
“The Boys in the Band” (1970)
William Friedkin ( The French Connection , The Exorcist ) directs this adaptation of a controversial off-Broadway play—controversial because every character is gay or bisexual, and controversial among queer audiences because its characters are often portrayed as self-loathing and self-pitying. It’s not exactly an uplifting portrait of being gay in America, but it captures something real, if not always pretty. The performances are almost uniformly superb, and if this is a pre-Liberation period play, there are plenty of other aspects that still feel sadly relevant. (The play is still being performed, andNetflix made a new version just a couple of years ago.) You can stream The Boys in the Band on Kanopy or rent it on Prime Video .
Some of My Best Friends… (1971)
A low-budget melodrama released in the wake of The Boys in the Band , Some of My Best Friends Are… follows the sleazy, drunken wanderings of the patrons of a New York gay bar over the course of an evening. While a little overdramatic (and full of tiresomely self-pitying characters), it’s less theatrical than Boys and more diverse, at least in terms of the queer spectrum. Over the course of the night, we meet gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender characters, as well as a straight guy played by none other than Rue McClanahan. The eclectic cast is a big part of the appeal: McClanahan stars alongside comedian and author Fannie Flagg (best known for her appearances on Match Game in the ’70s and her novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe , which she adapted into a successful ’90s film). Andy Warhol’s muse, transgender Candy Darling, is also in attendance, along with a few other faces you might recognize if you watched too much TV in the 1970s and ’80s. You can stream Some of My Best Friends Are… on MGM+ .
Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
Long before Brokeback Mountain, the queer-themed film had attracted Oscar attention — four nominations for John Schlesinger’s film, though it fared much better at the BAFTAs, actually winning five, including Best Picture. What’s even more remarkable is that despite its dramatic, even tragic, events, the film never once hints that queer identity is at the heart of its characters’ problems. Murray Head plays a free-spirited bisexual artist who simultaneously enters into relationships with a gay doctor (played by Peter Finch) and a straight counselor (the great Glenda Jackson). It wasn’t a huge box office success, but it became one of the year’s most critically acclaimed films. You can stream Sunday Bloody Sunday on MGM+, rent it on Apple TV+, or buy it on Prime Video .
Daughters of Darkness (1971)
Lesbian vampires had a moment in the 1970s, with Daughters of Darkness at the pinnacle of the unlikely subgenre. This trippy, sometimes surreal film crammed plenty of hot, sexy lady vampire action around a story that explores the deconstruction of gender roles while paying clear homage to the films of Louise Brooks and Marlene Dietrich. Valerie and Stefan (Danielle Ouimet and Dark Shadows ’ John Karlen) are a wealthy, recently married couple stopping in Belgium during their European road trip. After choosing a honeymoon suite, they catch the eye of Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory (Delphine Seyrig, an icon at her most iconic)—they appear to be staying in the Countess’s favorite suite. The one she’s stayed in whenever she’s visited—for decades. What else to do but wedge themselves into the marriage? Stefan isn’t exactly straight, either, as it turns out (just ask his “Mother”), and when he also turns out to be a particularly nasty creature, the Countess is on hand to woo his new bride. You can stream Daughters of Darkness on Tubi, AMC+, and Shudder, or rent it on Prime Video .
Female Trouble (1974)
At the center of John Waters’s so-called “Trash” trilogy is Female Trouble , in which Divine plays juvenile delinquent Dawn Davenport, whose pursuit of cha-cha heels leads her down a path of filth and misery more than worthy of (and greatly inspired by) the great Hollywood melodramas. Pink Flamingo may be mentioned more often, but nothing in John Waters’s oeuvre quite like Dawn’s Christmas morning hysteria. Female Trouble is the best and most coherent film from the director’s early, most wonderfully twisted era. You can buy Female Trouble on Prime Video .
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Al Pacino and the late, great John Cazale (who never made a bad movie) star as first-time bank robbers Sonny and Sal, based on two real men . Sonny is desperate for money to pay for his transgender wife’s gender reassignment surgery, so he plans a heist with his friend Sal that ends in a brutal bust. With an eye toward queer liberation, the film takes on the failures of the counterculture while gleefully thumbing its nose at the cops. It’s a great heist movie — one of the best of its era, period — and it doesn’t look down on its protagonist’s bisexuality or his marriage to a transgender woman. You can stream Dog Day Afternoon on Paramount+ or rent it on Prime Video .
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Even if most of the cast is straight, Rocky Horror has gone from cult classic to rite of passage for your queer community, full of gleefully over-the-top characters who either start out as fluid sexes and genders or become so by the end. It’s survived because it’s so much fun (even if, or maybe because, the plot makes almost no sense), and because it’s somehow also caught on with straight people who want to walk on the wild side for a few hours, with Brad and Janet serving as their capable guides. If they can let their hair down and have fun with Dr. Frank-N-Furter and his gang, maybe there’s hope for the world. You can rent Rocky Horror on Prime Video .
La Cage aux Freaks (1978)
You’ll recognize the plot here if you’ve seen The Birdcage , the Robin Williams/Nathan Lane adaptation of the same play. It’s just as good, if not better, and probably more influential as a major American release; however, The Birdcage gets credit for being the first to come along, openly satirizing the stuffy conservatism of nearly two decades ago. Renato (Ugo Tognazzi) runs a drag nightclub in St. Tropez with his partner and star, Albin (Michel Serrault). Things are going swimmingly when Renato’s son brings home the woman he’s going to marry, the daughter of ultra-ultra-conservative parents. What can you do but play it straight? Like the later adaptation, much of the comedy relies on irritatingly broad tropes, but the film’s heart is in the right place, and it’s so good-natured that it’s hard to be mad at it. You can stream La Cage on Tubi, MGM+, and Prime Video .
Cruise (1980)
William Friedkin returned to queer cinema (after The Band Boys ) with much more mixed results, both in terms of the film’s quality and its reception. Based on a novel that was itself inspired by a string of real-life murders, the film stars Al Pacino as a cop sent undercover into New York’s leather scene to find the man who’s been killing his girlfriends. Focusing on the more extreme, but not entirely unrealistic, elements of the gang scene at the time, the film drew protests from gay groups even during production. Given that the number of mainstream gay films was almost zero in 1980, it was hard for people to get behind a depiction of queer life that leaned so heavily toward violence and fisting, no matter how well-intentioned Friedkin was. Ultimately, it’s too silly and pointless (though often quite funny) to be mad about, and the conversation that has arisen around it has given a voice to a growing cinema audience. You can rent The Cruise on Prime Video .
Born in Fire (1983)
“All oppressed people have the right to violence. It’s like the right to pee. You have to have the right place, the right time, and this is IT.” Filmmaker Lizzie Borden cites feminist activist Florynce Kennedy in Born in Fire ; Borden began the film with a focus on white feminists, but over the course of three years of production, she shifted perspective to focus on black women in a story about the punk power of queer women of different social classes coming together in collective action. Adele Berteil plays Isabel, who runs the pirate radio collective Radio Ragazza in an alternative, socialist United States, while Honey (simply “Honey”) plays Honey, the voice of rival Phoenix Radio. In the face of increasing state oppression, the two women and the factions they represent come to the conclusion that liberation ultimately requires more than just talk. You can stream Born in Fire on The Criterion Channel or rent it on Apple TV+ .
Desert Hearts (1985)
After the comparatively more progressive 1970s, the 1980s were an era when queer films were either rightfully HIV/AIDS-focused or all about gay/bisexual serial killers ( Dressed to Kill , Cruising , etc.). Desert Hearts bucks both of those trends in the best way possible. Vivian (Helen Shaver), an English teacher going through a divorce, meets Kay (Patricia Charbonneau), an uninhibited sculptor, on a ranch in Reno. Though Vivian struggles a bit with an unexpected lesbian attraction, the romantic drama avoids tragedy. You can stream Desert Hearts on HBO Max and The Criterion Channel, or rent it on Prime Video .
My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
An early triumph of intersectionality, this adaptation of Hanif Kaueishi’s novel introduces us to Omar (Gordon Warnecke), the new owner of a rundown laundromat who reconnects with his punk ex-boyfriend Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis). It’s a great film about class and racism that gives a vivid portrait of life in the Thatcher/Reagan era of the 1980s. It’s also a novel that suggests there’s hope in moving forward from the mistakes of the past, while reminding us that forgiveness is never guaranteed. You can stream My Beautiful Laundrette on Tubi and Kanopy, or rent it on Prime Video .
Paris is Burning (1990)
Ball culture is still very much alive among us, both in its purest form in major American cities and expanded into the mainstream (more or less) thanks to Madonna and RuPaul’s Drag Race . Paris Is Burning captures the joys and sorrows of a particular moment (New York City in the late 1980s) when gay, trans, and genderqueer black and Latino performers were lighting up stages in something of a golden age of drag, even as racism, poverty, anti-trans violence, and HIV/AIDS were wreaking havoc on their lives. In some ways, it’s a glorious document of a bygone era; in other ways, good and bad, it feels entirely relevant to our current era. When you’re done here, check out 2016’s Kiki , a more recent documentary that updates the history of ball culture (what’s changed, what hasn’t). You can stream Paris Is Burning on HBO Max and The Criterion Channel, or rent it on Apple TV+ .
The Living End (1992)
New queer cinema pioneer Gregg Araki’s best-known film is probably Mysterious Skin , but his angry, freewheeling early work Living Ends is the purest expression of his talent as a filmmaker. Having endured a decade in which queer people were demonized (even more than usual) and then ignored when they faced a plague, Araki responded with a primal scream in which a pair of HIV-positive drifters kill a homophobic cop and embark on a fuck-it-all journey. You can stream Living Ends on Kanopy or rent it on Prime Video .
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
Though played by (apparently) straight cis actors, the three traveling drag queens at the center of Stefan Elliott’s intentionally campy romp bring a sense of fun and adventure to this Australian road trip. The three real-life queens — Cindy Pastel, Strykermeyer, and Lady Bump — on whose lives the film is based were originally set to play themselves before the studio stepped in, so I’m going to knock a few points off for that missed opportunity for authenticity. Still, the film is fun, funny, and positive, a far cry from most queer-themed films of the era. Its worldwide popularity (on a shoestring budget) has almost certainly moved the needle a little in queer, and especially trans, representation. You can stream Priscilla on Kanopy, Tubi, Peacock, and Prime Video .
Jeffrey (1995)
While its synopsis is more about finding love and overcoming the fear of death (HIV/AIDS is the focus), there’s a joyful, frothy quality to Jeffrey that’s understandably lacking in most other films that focus on AIDS. It’s a charming (and sex-positive) romantic comedy with lovable leads Steven Weber and Michael T. Weiss, and a scene-stealing performance from Patrick Stewart. You can stream Jeffrey on Peacock , Tubi, and Prime Video .
The Watermelon Woman (1996)
Cheryl Dunye’s low-budget romantic comedy deserved to have the same cultural impact as another indie hit of the era set in a video store, Clerks, but instead had to settle for cult status. Dunye stars as herself, sort of, as an aspiring filmmaker and a young black lesbian exploring the life of a fictional movie mom from Hollywood’s Golden Age: “The Watermelon Woman.” In addition to being genuinely funny and unpretentious, the film has a lot of smart things to say and smart questions to ask about the lives and experiences of black queer people. You can stream The Watermelon Woman on The Criterion Channel and Kanopy, or rent it on Prime Video .
Bound (1996)
Queer themes abound in the work of Lana and Lilly Wachowski, easily the most successful trans directors in the history of the genre. This transgressive lesbian neo-noir, their very first film, evokes intense emotions in its depiction of the relationship between dueling femme fatales Gina Gershon’s Corky and Jennifer Tilly’s Violet. Queer characters in films of the era might have been the butt of jokes, anger, or sadness, but Bound convincingly proved that same-sex attraction is just plain hot . You can stream Bound on Kanopy and Paramount+ , or rent it on Prime Video .
Happy Together (1997)
The elliptical narrative and deliberate pacing might put off some viewers, but Wong Kar-wai’s candid tale of a gay couple (played by Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-wai) who travel from Hong Kong to Argentina to escape a deeply troubled, even abusive, relationship is a poetic triumph. Don’t let the title fool you: These two aren’t actually supposed to be together, but their performances are mesmerizing, and Wong’s writing is as beautiful as it is memorable. You can stream Happy Together on HBO Max and The Criterion Channel, or rent it on Prime Video .
All About My Mother (1999)
Thanks to the New Queer Cinema movement, the ’90s became a veritable golden age for films with LGBTQ+ themes, often with a righteous anger at the repressive, almost genocidal ’80s as the driving force. Pedro Almodóvar’s films, on the other hand, do something different: they’re colorful and joyful, even when they’re dealing with uncomfortable truths. Here, grieving mother Manuela goes on something of a road trip to find her son’s father, Lola, a trans woman who doesn’t even know she has a son. Along the way, she meets up with her old friend Agrado, herself a trans sex worker who, among the film’s many eclectic characters, serves as Manuela’s rock and the film’s most fully realized person. You can stream All About My Mother on The Criterion Channel or rent it on Prime Video .
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
Rather than describe this film about a genderqueer German rock singer whose botched sex-reassignment surgery leaves her with the titular Angry Inch, I’m just going to sing the entire soundtrack from start to finish. That’s how much the film captivated me and countless other people. You can rent Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Prime Video .
Weekend (2011)
Andrew Haig’s romantic drama about two strangers who spend the titular weekend together is so naturalistic that it almost feels like a documentary. It captures the feeling of modern relationships (even short-term ones) that still feel fresh, more than a decade later. You can stream Weekend on The Criterion Channel and AMC+, or rent it on Prime Video .
Cast Away (2011)
Dee Rees brings a confident, sure-footed style to Pariah , not to mention a stunningly beautiful visual style that ensures the film is unlike any other. It’s a powerful and deeply personal coming-of-age/coming-out story that never feels like a lesbian message film, ushering in a new era of more complex narratives centered on queer characters. You can stream Pariah on Peacock or rent it on Prime Video .
Mandarin (2015)
This is probably the most fun you’ll ever have watching a girlfriend/buddy/revenge comedy about two transgender workers who hunt down a man who did one of them wrong. As heartfelt as it is wacky, it brings us ever closer to a cinematic era in which more and more complex gay men are making their way onto screens. Shot on a couple of iPhones, director Sean Baker and company make a virtue of the intimacy and immediacy that modern technology can bring. You can stream Tangerine on HBO Max or rent it on Prime Video .
Rafiki (2018)
Banned in the film’s home country of Kenya, Rafiki follows two women, Kena and Ziki, who begin a flirtation that blossoms into romance. While there are hints of tragedy in the story of love outlawed by law and society, it’s also bright and cheerful, both in its story and its luxurious presentation. You can rent Rafiki on Prime Video .
Knife + Heart (2018)
Things are running hot on the set of this French gay erotic film, in this ultra-stylish, colorful, psychedelic tribute not only to the Italian gialli of yesteryear, but also to the golden age of porn in the 1970s. You can stream Knife+Heart on Shudder and Tubi, or rent it on Prime Video .
Disclosure (2020)
Sometimes it helps to have everything laid out in front of us, as Disclosure does in an entertaining yet methodical manner. Featuring trans celebrities including Laverne Cox, Jamie Clayton, Chaz Bono, Michaela Jae Rodriguez, Candis Cayne, Lilly Wachowski, Leo Sheng, and many more, it explores the history of trans representation in film, from the good (some) to the bad (most). The central argument is that trans people are far more numerous (and far more diverse) than their cinematic counterparts, and that while there has been progress in terms of authentic representation, it’s been slow. You can stream Disclosure onNetflix .
Island of Fire (2022)
“No fatties, no women, and no Asians,” we hear at one point in this Jane Austen knockoff, which sets it apart from other queer rom-coms in its willingness to tackle shallow stereotypes in the gay community. Queer comedies are often heavily populated by white leads, and it’s refreshing to see a multi-ethnic (mostly Asian-American) cast take center stage, and do so in a Jane Austen-inspired comedy of manners. Among the broader representation, there’s some raunchy comedy in a film that’s as smart as it is silly (and sweet). You can stream Fire Island on Hulu .
Love Lies Bleeds (2024)
For more than a century of films that have often warned about the dangers of queerness or carefully calibrated themselves to be as inoffensive as possible, there seems to be a pivotal moment when we get something as muscular, frenetic, and uncompromising as Rose Glass’s Love, Lies, and Blood. Kristen Stewart plays small-town gym manager Lou; she’s the daughter of a local crime boss (Ed Harris) who has a sister (Jena Malone) who’s being abused by her no-good husband (Dave Franco). It’s all quietly tolerated until bodybuilder Jackie (Katie O’Brien) stops by town. She’s primed and ready for action, falling hard for Lou before they both get caught up in a violent act that sets everything spiraling toward a truly wild final act. These lesbians aren’t anyone’s role models, and the more the merrier. You can stream Love, Lies, and Blood on HBO Max or rent it on Prime Video .