Netflix is looking pretty gay these days. Scrolling through the streaming platform’s catalog, it turns out they have an abundance of totally queer films available for our viewing pleasure.
Netflix has so much LGBTQ+ content, in fact, it might be difficult to know where to start—so here are 10 must-watch films to check out. Some were produced by the streamer and some are just being hosted there, but they’re all excellent and exceedingly queer.
Call Me By Your Name
Before we all found out about Armie Hammer’s creepy cannibal habits (if you’re just finding out now I’m sorry in advance) he was nothing more than a dreamy older man that we could love and lust on through the eyes of the world’s straightest twink, Timothée Chalamet.
Based on the novel of the same name, Call Me By Your Name is the story of a young gay student in 1980s Italy who falls in love with his father’s graduate student assistant. The film is a tender, sprawling romance that is, of course, totally doomed. If you ever wanted to see the kid from Dune get nasty with a peach, this is the movie for you.
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
This documentary centers around the glorious life and mysterious death of pioneering queer rights leader Miss Marsha P. Johnson. Miss Johnson was a transgender icon and activist who had a hand in the 1960s Stonewall Riots that would spark the Gay Rights movement in the United States. Like the brightest of flames, Miss Johnson burned intensely but quickly, and her light was tragically extinguished, her body found floating in the Hudson River. Gone, but never forgotten.
I Am Jonas
I Am Jones is a moody French film about a young man named Jonas who is wrestling with his own sexuality. Similar to Moonlight (an exceptional film unfortunately not currently available on Netflix), the film jumps between Jonas’ sexually experimental teenage years, and his adult life. While Moonlight‘s main character is able to make peace with his own sexuality in his later years, Jonas’ adult life is troubled by his unresolved past.
The Boys In The Band
The Boys In The Band is an ensemble film about a group of gay men at a birthday party. As the night goes on, the cracks in the boys’ seemingly happy facade grow deeper. They struggle with both interpersonal drama and pressure from society at large. The night gets even more intense when someone recommends they play a fun little telephone game – a game where they each call someone that they truly loved. Things get predictably, beautifully messy.
Bruised
Bruised centers around a queer MMA fighter named Jackie Justice, who after falling from grace, decides to mount a glorious and bloody comeback in her sport. While the film often falls into Rocky-esque boxing movie tropes, it is saved by the lesbian love story that unfolds between Jackie and her trainer Buddhakhan. Essentially, Bruised is a lot like Yuri On Ice!!!, the gay anime romance series between a Japanese figure skater and his Russian coach. Except with more violence … and blood … and trauma … and abuse … and … you get the idea.
Mucho Mucho Amor
Mucho Mucho Amor focuses on the life of Walter Mercado, a queer Puerto Rican astrologer and psychic. Mercado recounts his meteoric rise to stardom and the struggles that he faced as a gender-nonconforming person in the entertainment industry. Mercado’s grace, vivacity, and charm shine in this documentary film. The light he gives off is only rivaled by the fabulous wardrobe for which he is known.
Disclosure
Disclosure is a documentary film highlighting trans and non-binary performers in the entertainment industry and recounts Hollywood’s less-than-stellar history with trans representation. Famous trans performers including Laverne Cox (Orange Is The New Black) and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez (Pose) appear to talk about their own successes and struggles in the film, as well as the future of trans representation in showbiz.
While that future is brighter than ever, recent disappointments like the Belgian film Girl highlight why the struggle for positive trans representation is still ongoing.
The Valley of A Thousand Hills
Valley of A Thousand Hills is set within the bounds of the real-life Valley of A Thousand Hills, which is located in South Africa. There a Zulu woman from a conservative village is forced to choose between adhering to the strict gender roles of her people, or to embrace who she is and seek out the woman she loves. While the West has no shortage of queer films, The Valley of a Thousand Hills paints a gorgeous portrait of queerness in a part of the world where such themes are not as frequently explored in cinema.
Nimona
Based on the adorable graphic novel by ND Stevenson, Nimona tells the story of a young shapeshifter whose chaotic neutral antics cause them to stumble across the path of mad scientist Lord Ballister Blackheart. While Blackheart may seem like he’s on the wrong side of the law, the disgraced scientist is only attempting to expose the hypocritical double-dealings of the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroic. That … and get back at his gay ex-lover Ambrosius Goldenloin. Set in a medieval-futurist world, Nimona is a sci-fi fantasy romp that is not to be missed.
Carol
Where would we be without Carol? The film that spawned the immortal “Harold, they’re lesbians” meme is available to stream online, and all is right with the world. Set in the middle of the 20th century, Carol centers around a budding romance between an aspiring photographer and a sophisticated older woman going through a messy divorce.
Hilarious, poignant, and witheringly romantic, Carol paints a picture of lesbian love in a time when such affections were rejected by society at large. Thankfully, Carol doesn’t dwell on the stigma and shame, but rather focuses on the most tender and beautiful aspects of a relationship between two human beings.
What’s your favorite LGBTQ+ movie (on Netflix or otherwise)? Let us know in the comments!
(featured image: Netflix)
