From My Beautiful Launderette to Carol, the best LGBTQIA+ films to watch now
Photo 12 / Alamy Stock Photo1/14Call Me By Your Name, 2017
This flim, directed by Luca Guadagnino, is set in rural Northern Italy over the summer of 1983. It stars Timothée Chalamet as Elio, a 17-year-old Jewish-Italian, and the son of a professor of archaeology who invites a 24-year-old graduate student, Oliver played by Armie Hammer, to live with their family over the summer to help him with his paperwork. Despite Elio resenting the arrival of Oliver at the start their friendship evolves as they go for long walks into town. Elio indirectly confesses his feelings to Oliver and their relationship takes off. The just over two hour long films takes you on a journey to Turin during a heady blissful summer.
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The Handmaiden, 2016
Director Park Chan Wook cleverly reimagines Sarah Waters’s novel set in Victorian Britain as a 1930s Korean romance that is arguably one of the best films of the last decade. Set during Japan’s occupation of Korea, a pickpocket disguises herself as a handmaiden to rob a wealthy Japanese heiress, but both women discover some unexpected emotions. Praised for its depiction of sexuality and powerful performance, this psychological thriller is a riveting story that will surprise audience members.
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A Single Man, 2010
Based on the 1964 novel by Christopher Isherwood and set in southern California, the film follows an ‘unhappy single day in the life of an unhappy single man’. George Falconer, played by Colin Firth (who won an Oscar for the role), is a discreet gay man whose partner of 16 years, Jim, has tragically died in a car accident. Shock and Grief overwhelm Falconer, who begins to plan his own suicide that evening. Julianne Moore plays Falconer's best friend and confidante Charley, a fellow English expat and semi-alcoholic divorcee, who brings a lighthearted and fun energy to an otherwise bleak situation.
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The Favourite, 2019
Set in early 18th century England, the film's plot examines the relationship between cousins Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (played by Rachel Weisz) and Abigail Masham (played by Emma Stone), who are vying to be the court favourite of Queen Anne (played by Olivia Colman). Against the backdrop of brilliant costume design and the lavish decor of Hatfield House, dark humour and sexual power plays make for an unusual and gripping period drama. The film picked up a plethora of awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actress for Coleman's performance as the monarch.
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Carol, 2015
Carol is based on the romantic novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, that was republished as Carol in 1990. It stars Rooney Mara as Therese Belivenet, an aspiring photographer, and Cate Blanchett as Carol Aird, a glamorous older woman going through a difficult divorce. The outfits are incredible, think fur coats and bright red lips, as Blanchett and Mara deliver their roles with poise and flare. Rumbling in the background of their relationship is Carol’s husband, Harge, who is petitioning to the judge to consider a ‘morality clause’ against Carol, threatening to expose her homosexuality in order to win custody of their child.
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Bound, 1996
Before the Wachowski sisters broke out to international stardom with The Matrix, they made their debut with this critically acclaimed 1996 romantic gangster film. Jennifer Tilly plays Violet, a woman married to an abusive mafioso (Joe Pantolinao). She falls in love with her neighbor Corky (Gina Gershon), who both scheme to rob her husband and his violent gangster pals. Praised for its dark content and themes of love, Bound is not for the fainthearted with its extreme scenes of violence. But for those who love gangster films, this one features remarkable performances and is a must-see.
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Rope, 1948
Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1948 film is well known for its innovative use of long camera takes, but the movie was groundbreaking for many different reasons. The film has been praised retrospectively by LGBT film critics for its subversive gay subtext. Set entirely in one room, the film focuses on two old school friends Brandon and Phillip (John Dall & Farley Granger) who commit the ‘perfect murder’ by strangling their prep school friend. However, their scheme begins to unravel when their old prep school master Rupert Caldwell (James Stewart) grows suspicious of them. Due to hints throughout the film as well as Dall, Granger, and screenwriter Arthur Laurent’s own sexuality, the relationship between Brandon and Phillip has been interpreted by many critics as a gay relationship. As always with Hitchcock, the suspense is handled masterfully.
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Moonlight, 2016
Offering a memorable new take on the traditional coming-of-age genre, Barry Jenkins’ 2016 drama won widespread critical acclaim – and scooped up the highly coveted Best Picture Oscar in 2017 (after an initial moment of confusion, when La La Land was mistakenly announced instead). The film follows a young boy named Chiron growing up in Liberty City in Miami amid the crack epidemic, who finds an unlikely source of counsel and wisdom in a local drug dealer, Juan. With a gifted cast including Trevante Rhodes, André Holland, Janelle Monáe, Ashton Sanders, Jharrel Jerome, Naomie Harris and Mahershala Ali, Moonlight touches on powerful themes like sexuality, identity, community and love, and well deserves its reputation as one of the most important films of the 21st century.
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Dog Day Afternoon, 1975
Based on a true story, this classic film won an Oscar for its screenplay and its star Al Pacino a Bafta for his performance. Pacino plays Sonny Wortzik, an amateur criminal who takes a bank hostage with crime partner Sal (John Cazale). Whilst hostage negotiations take place, Sonny becomes a folk hero amongst New York’s citizens. What starts out as a tense and intuitive social commentary takes a shocking twist in its final act when we find out Sonny’s motivations for the robbery. Praised for its progressiveness regarding LGBTQ+ issues, Pacino and director Sidney Lumet delivered one of the all-time great crime dramas. that transcended 1970s social norms.
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Philadelphia, 1993
One of the first mainstream Hollywood films to deal with the Aids Crisis head-on, Tom Hanks won an Oscar for his performance as Andrew Beckett, a man suffering from the disease. He employs prejudiced lawyer Joe Miller (Denzel Washington) to sue his former company for wrongful termination, believing they fired him after finding out about his condition. Almost equally famous for Bruce Springsteen’s chart-topping song Streets of Philadelphia, director Jonathan Demme’s film is a groundbreaking and heart-wrenching story of injustice and love during the Aids epidemic.
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Blue is the Warmest Colour, 2013
This film sparked a lot of attention when it hit screens, both controversy at its raw depiction of sexual scenes and adulatory, rapturous praise, it went on to win the Palme d’Or as well as the FIPRESCI Prize. It casts Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux as the protagonists (ahead of Seydoux being scouted for a role in James Bond). Set in France, 15-year-old Adèle catches a glimpse of blue-haired art student Emma while crossing the road – it’s not for a while until they eventually meet at a lesbian bar and proceed to establish a deep emotional and sexual connection. The film is a tender coming-of-age story about a one-time introverted Adele, as she struggles with her sexual identity, and moves into an all-consuming relationship – will she be able to withstand the emotional weight that falling in love brings? The greatest weight, of course, being heartbreak.
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Brokeback Mountain, 2005
Directed by Ang Lee and starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, the film depicts the complex emotional and sexual relationship between Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist in the American West between 1963 and 1983. It won a multitude of awards including three Oscars out of eight nominations. It starts in the Wyoming Mountains where they first meet, hired to herd sheep; their relationship evolves from there, bringing with it great complexities as they move on with their lives marrying different women but continuing to unite on ‘fishing trips’.
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My Beautiful Laundrette, 1985
Ranked by the BFI as the 50th greatest British film of the 20th century it is set in London during the Thatcher years – illustrated by the complex divide between the Pakistani and English communities – and focuses on Omar, played by Gordon Warnecke, a young Pakistani man living in London, and his reunion and eventual romance with his old friend, a street punk named Johnny, played by Daniel Day-Lewis. The two become the caretakers and business managers of a launderette originally owned by Omar’s uncle Nasser – will class and aspirations get in the way of their business and relationship? This is well worth seeing.
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God’s Own Country, 2017
This romantic drama was Francis Lee’s directorial debut, it stars Josh O’Connor as Johnny, a young sheep farmer whose life is transformed by the arrival of a Romanian migrant worker, to his family’s farm in Yorkshire. Johnny lives on the farm with his father, Martin, who has suffered a stroke, and his grandmother, and because of the situation, he spends much of his time running the farm. In his free time, he binge drinks and has furtive sexual encounters with other men. As Johnny’s father’s health deteriorates and Johnny’s connection with the new farm hand escalates, it makes for very compelling viewing.