Welcome to your weekend streaming recommendations, a.k.a. the Weekend Watch, a handy guide to the queerest film and TV content that’s just a click away!
Drag is everywhere, baby! Between RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 9 premiering tonight, the We’re Here hosts heading off to glam up a new city this week, and Jinkx Monsoon’s recent villainous turn as Maestro in the latest season of Doctor Who, the queens have fully taken over our television screens—and we’re gagging!
With that in mind, this week’s column highlights streaming picks that feature memorable roles or cameos from former “RuGirls,” proving that stepping into the Werk Room is just the beginning. These divas are acting down!
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Read on for movies and TV series featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants.
Dumplin’
This adorable and occasionally biting 2018 dramedy, directed by Anne Fletcher, stars the talented Danielle Macdonald as Willowdean, the overweight daughter of a local Texan pageant star (Jennifer Aniston). Willowdean—or Dumplin’, as her mother calls her—decides to enter a pageant as a form of protest against her mortified mother, and eventually enlists the help of some Dolly Parton-loving drag queens, including Ginger Minj’s Candee Disch, to get her and her friends ready for the show. Dumplin’ is a sweet movie and Macdonald is endlessly charming.
Now streaming on Netflix.
A Star Is Born
Do we really need to explain what this 2018 musical romance is about? It’s Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper making sweet music together, obviously! Cooper, who also directs, incorporated not one but TWO Drag Race contestantss into the film, Shangela and Willam Belli, who appear during a pivotal trip to a drag bar. Gaga and Cooper are absolutely spellbinding in this beautiful movie, and our RuGirls only enhance the experience. Just get your tissues ready, because A Star Is Born is one of cinema’s ultimate tearjerkers.
Now streaming on Max. Available to rent digitally on Apple TV, Microsoft Store, Amazon, and Fandango at Home.
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
This 2018 musical stars Max Harwood as Jamie, a gay teen in Sheffield, England, who wants nothing more than to be a drag queen. Directed by Jonathan Butterell, this effervescent adaptation of the West End musical is a joyous and colorful coming-of-tale filled with drag realness. In addition to drag culture being a central theme, THE Bianca Del Rio makes a cameo as Ms. Haylock, the school art teacher. Del Rio appeared as one of the lead roles, Loco Chanelle, in the West End production of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. Additionally, the absolutely incredible actress Sarah Lancashire stars as Jamie’s mother and we love her.
Now streaming on Prime Video.
Tales Of The City
The 2019 update to the iconic Tales Of The City series, stars Laura Linney as Mary Ann Singleton—and hottie Murray Bartlett as her gay best friend, Michael Tolliver—as she returns to 28 Barbary Lane, San Francisco. This series, based on Armistead Maupin’s novels about a group of friends in The Bay Area, explores queer life in the city and deals with contemporary topics in the LGBTQ+ community including PrEP, trans identity and bisexuality. Bob The Drag Queen recurs throughout as Ida Best, the manager of the local burlesque bar.
Now streaming on Netflix.
The Kicker…
In this absolutely bonkers clip from Saturday Night Live, RuPaul discovers who she believes is the next great drag superstar… Pete Davidson’s recurring character, Chad, who is surprisingly well prepared for a career on the stage. Honestly, he kind of slays?
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Whether you like your drag campy, raunchy, heart-warming, or stinky, we’ve got movie recommendations fit for a queen.
