The Queerest Films of All Time
Great films, films that depict the queer experience, queer directors at their queerest, peculiar, perverse, sad and celebratory. I have seen them all, I would recommend most of them, they may be great, but they may just be interesting, unique or a landmark in queer cinema. When I say "queer" I refer to all the initials in the spectrum. There is a severe bias towards films about gay men unfortunately, because that's what I watch the most of, but I have tried to include as diverse a collection as possible, especially from countries that don't make many queer films.
List activity
345 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
264 titles
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsCecilia RothMarisa ParedesCandela PeñaA comedy-drama about a bereaved mother, and overwrought actress, her jealous lover, and a pregnant nun.
- DirectorJean GenetStarsBravoJean GenetJavaTwo prisoners in complete isolation, separated by the thick brick walls, and desperately in need of human contact, devise a most unusual kind of communication.
- DirectorCéline SciammaStarsNoémie MerlantAdèle HaenelLuàna BajramiOn an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.
- DirectorJean VigoStarsJean DastéRobert le FlonLouis LefebvreIn a repressive boarding school with rigid rules of behavior, four boys decide to rebel against the direction on a celebration day.
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsNinetto DavoliFranco CittiFranco MerliIn ancient Arabia, a beautiful slave girl chooses a youth to be her new master, then she is kidnapped and they must search for each other. Stories are told within stories: love, travel and the whims of destiny.
- DirectorJohn WatersStarsDivineDavid LocharyMary Vivian PearceA spoiled schoolgirl runs away from home, gets pregnant while hitch-hiking, and ends up as a fashion model for a pair of beauticians who like to photograph women committing crimes.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsJake GyllenhaalHeath LedgerMichelle WilliamsEnnis and Jack are two shepherds who develop a sexual and emotional relationship. Their relationship becomes complicated when both of them get married to their respective girlfriends.
- DirectorBarry JenkinsStarsMahershala AliNaomie HarrisTrevante RhodesA young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and burgeoning adulthood.
- DirectorJohn Cameron MitchellStarsJohn Cameron MitchellMiriam ShorStephen TraskA gender-queer punk-rock singer from East Berlin tours the U.S. with her band as she tells her life story and follows the former lover/band-mate who stole her songs.
- DirectorTodd HaynesStarsEwan McGregorJonathan Rhys MeyersChristian BaleIn 1984, British journalist Arthur Stuart investigates the career of 1970s glam superstar Brian Slade, who was heavily influenced in his early years by hard-living and rebellious American singer Curt Wild.
- DirectorMarlon RiggsStarsMarlon RiggsMichael BellKerrigan BlackA documentary about the experiences of black homosexual men living in the United States of America.
- DirectorJennie LivingstonStarsBrooke XtravaganzaAndré ChristianDorian CoreyA chronicle of New York's drag scene in the 1980s, focusing on balls, voguing and the ambitions and dreams of those who gave the era its warmth and vitality.
- DirectorGregg ArakiStarsJames DuvalRose McGowanJohnathon SchaechJordan White and Amy Blue, two troubled teens, pick up an adolescent drifter, Xavier Red. Together, the threesome embark on a sex-and-violence-filled journey through an America of psychos and quickie marts.
- DirectorRosa von PraunheimStarsBernd FeuerhelmBerryt BohlenErnst KuchlingA harsh but deeply sympathetic sociological essay film about gay life in Berlin in a time of secrecy and oppression, with no diegetic sound and constant narration, following Daniel's unsatisfying immersion into gay society.
- CreatorAlan BallStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyA chronicle of the lives of a dysfunctional family who run an independent funeral home in Los Angeles.
- DirectorLukas MoodyssonStarsLisa LindgrenMichael NyqvistEmma SamuelssonIn 1975, the dynamics of a Swedish commune begin to change upon the arrival of a beaten wife and her two kids.
- DirectorAleksandr SokurovStarsAndrei ShchetininAleksei NeymyshevAleksandr RazbashA father and his son live together in a roof-top apartment. They have lived alone for years in their own private world, full of memories and daily rites. Sometimes they seem like brothers. Sometimes even like lovers. Following in his father's path, Aleksei attends military school. He likes sports, tends to be irresponsible and has problems with his girlfriend. She is jealous of Aleksei's close relationship with his father. Despite knowing that all sons must one day live their own lives, Aleksei is conflicted; his father knows he should accept a better job in another city, perhaps search for a new wife, but who will ease the pain of Aleksei's nightmares?
- DirectorLuchino ViscontiStarsDirk BogardeRomolo ValliMark BurnsWhile recovering in Venice, sickly composer Gustav von Aschenbach becomes dangerously fixated with teenager Tadzio.
- DirectorJohn WatersStarsDivineDavid LocharyMary Vivian PearceNotorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against a sleazy married couple who make a passionate attempt to humiliate her and seize her tabloid-given title as "The Filthiest Person Alive".
- DirectorTerence DaviesStarsLeigh McCormackMarjorie YatesAnthony WatsonA lyrical reverie about a young Liverpool boy coming of age in the 1950s among his loving family and the austere Catholic Church as he enters the rigors of school, nurtures a bedazzled love of the movies and longs for companionship.
- DirectorPaul HumfressDerek JarmanStarsLeonardo TreviglioBarney JamesNeil KennedyReassigned to a lowly outpost, a Roman guard's Christian beliefs clash with his gay commander's desire for closeness. Being tortured becomes pleasurable.
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsDustin HoffmanJon VoightSylvia MilesA naive hustler travels from Texas to New York City to seek personal fortune, finding a new friend in the process.
- DirectorJohn Cameron MitchellStarsSook-Yin LeePeter SticklesPJ DeBoyA group of New Yorkers caught up in their romantic-sexual milieu converge at an underground salon infamous for its blend of art, music, politics, and carnality.
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsRita TushinghamDora BryanRobert StephensA pregnant teenage girl must fend for herself when her mother remarries, leaving the girl with only a new male friend for support.
- DirectorStewart MainStarsGreg MayorMarton CsokasJohn MaunsellFollowing a pitched battle, a Maori warrior finds a wounded European soldier and helps him back to health. How will this clash of cultures in a time of warfare turn out?
- DirectorRainer Werner FassbinderStarsMargit CarstensenHanna SchygullaKatrin SchaakeA troubled fashion designer strikes up a romance with a much younger woman.
- DirectorFlorian HabichtStarsWarwick BroadheadNiamh PerenA documentary exploring the life of performance artist Warwick Broadhead in which he plays all the interviewees, including God; through artifice he shares deep personal revelation.
- DirectorLeanne PooleyStarsDouglas WrightNeil IeremiaShona McCullaghDouglas Wright escaped small town New Zealand by punishing his body with drugs, alcohol and eventually, extraordinary dance; but facing death, the world renowned choreographer struggles to exorcise demons even he can't dance away.
- DirectorAlain BerlinerStarsGeorges Du FresneMichèle LaroqueJean-Philippe ÉcoffeyLudovic is an innocent seven-year-old child who provokes horror in his community when he dresses in girls clothes and insists he's a girl.
- DirectorGregg ArakiStarsBrady CorbetJoseph Gordon-LevittElisabeth ShueTwo pre-adolescent boys both experienced a strange event and later it affects their lives in different ways. One becomes a reckless, sexually adventurous prostitute, while the other retreats into a reclusive fantasy of alien abduction.
- DirectorToshio MatsumotoStarsPîtâOsamu OgasawaraYoshimi JôThe trials and tribulations of Eddie and other transvestites in Japan.Outrageously singular film, very much from the swinging sixties, but deep within the world of Tokyo "gay boys", often trans. It is part documentary, part juxtaposition, drama, comedy, violent horror, bizarre interpretation of the Greek myth of Oedipus. Though this is proudly queer, it is also a satire, but its sense of humour is so strange that it's difficult to know when it is serious and when it is not.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsAntonio BanderasAsier EtxeandiaLeonardo SbaragliaA film director reflects on the choices he's made in life as the past and present come crashing down around him.
- DirectorTodd HaynesStarsCate BlanchettRooney MaraSarah PaulsonAn aspiring photographer develops an intimate relationship with an older woman in 1950s New York.
- DirectorJean EpsteinStarsGiboisJean-Marie LaotMalgornOn an island off the coast of Brittany four isolated men collect seaweed. Two young best friends have a quarrel and when one's thumb becomes infected his friend must risk his life on the ocean to bring him to the doctor.
- DirectorTodd HaynesStarsEdith MeeksLarry MaxwellSusan NormanA boy shoots his father and flies out the window. A man falls in love with a fellow inmate in prison. A doctor accidentally ingests his experimental sex serum, wreaking havoc on the community.
- DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
- DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsMaribel VerdúGael García BernalDaniel Giménez CachoIn Mexico, two teenage boys and an older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life and each other.
- DirectorPhilippe LesageStarsNoée AbitaThéodore PellerinPier-Luc FunkThree teenagers are shaken up by their first loves in the turmoil of their youth. At a time when others are conforming, they stand their ground and assert their right to love and be free.
- DirectorDerek JarmanStarsNoam AlmazDexter FletcherNigel TerryA retelling of the life of the celebrated 17th-century painter through his brilliant, nearly blasphemous paintings and his flirtations with the underworld.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsSaeed JaffreyRoshan SethDaniel Day-LewisAn ambitious Pakistani Briton and his white boyfriend strive for success and hope when they open a glamorous laundromat.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsEusebio PoncelaCarmen MauraAntonio BanderasA gay filmmaker becomes involved with an obsessive fan while still pining for his absent true love. Meanwhile, he shares a close but complex relationship with his trans sister, an actress.
- DirectorPaul MorrisseyStarsJoe DallesandroGeraldine SmithPatti D'ArbanvilleA man desperate for money and no income, turns prostitute and interplays with a variety of clients and hustlers.
- DirectorKenneth AngerStarsErnie AlloBruce ByronFrank CarifiA gang of Nazi bikers prepares for a race as sexual, sadistic, and occult images are cut together.
- DirectorJohn GreysonStarsIan D. ClarkMarcel SabourinAubert PallascioWhen a bishop comes to a prison to hear the confession of an old friend he is forced to watch a play, performed by the inmates, about their youth together, love and betrayal.
- DirectorArthur J. Bressan Jr.StarsRobert AdamsRobert CarnageyBob MiddletonTwo men meet via a classified ad in 70's San Francisco.
- DirectorTom FordStarsColin FirthJulianne MooreMatthew GoodeAn English professor, one year after the sudden death of his boyfriend, is unable to cope with his typical days in 1960s Los Angeles.
- DirectorTodd HaynesStarsJulianne MooreDennis QuaidDennis HaysbertIn 1950s Connecticut, a flustered housewife faces a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in the outside world.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsBenedict CumberbatchKirsten DunstJesse PlemonsCharismatic rancher Phil Burbank inspires fear and awe in those around him. When his brother brings home a new wife and her son, Phil torments them until he finds himself exposed to the possibility of love.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsGael García BernalFele MartínezJavier CámaraAn examination on the effect of Franco-era religious schooling and sexual abuse on the lives of two longtime friends.
- DirectorFrançois OzonStarsFélix LefebvreBenjamin VoisinPhilippine VelgeWhen 16-year-old Alexis capsizes off the coast of Normandy, 18-year-old David heroically saves him. Alexis has just met the friend of his dreams, who opens his eyes to a new horizon of friendship, art and sexual bliss.
- StarsAl PacinoMeryl StreepEmma ThompsonSeveral disparate but connected individuals go through the AIDS crisis in the mid-1980s.
- DirectorLucio CastroStarsJuan BarberiniRamon PujolMía MaestroTwo men meet in Barcelona and after spending a day together they realize that they have already met twenty years ago.
- DirectorHarmony KorineStarsNick SuttonJacob SewellLara ToshLonely residents of a tornado-stricken Ohio town wander the deserted landscape trying to fulfill their boring, nihilistic lives.
- DirectorGregg ArakiStarsJames DuvalRoko BelicSusan BehshidSix queer teenagers struggle to get along with each other and with life in the face of varying obstacles.
- DirectorRob EpsteinJeffrey FriedmanStarsSara LewinsteinDavid MandellSuzi MandellA collection of profiles of people dead from AIDS who are remembered in the AIDS Memorial Quilt.
- DirectorGregg ArakiStarsMike DytriCraig GilmoreMark FinchLuke is a gay hustler. Jon is a movie critic. Both are HIV positive. They go on a hedonistic, dangerous journey, their motto "Fuck the world".
- DirectorJenni OlsonStarsHarry DodgeLawrence FerlinghettiBeautifully composed landscape shots of San Francisco juxtaposed with voiceover detailing the emotional intricacies of the love affairs of a butch lesbian and the history of Golden Gate Bridge as the world's prime suicide location.
- DirectorArthur J. Bressan Jr.StarsGeoff EdholmDavid SchachterBilly LuxThe film follows a New York City gay man, in a monogamous relationship, becoming a "buddy" or volunteer bedside companion to another gay man dying of AIDS, and the friendship that develops. Restored in 2020.
- DirectorApichatpong WeerasethakulStarsBanlop LomnoiSakda KaewbuadeeHuai DessomA romance between a soldier and a country boy, wrapped around a Thai folk-tale involving a shaman with shape-shifting abilities.
- DirectorMaryam TouzaniStarsLubna AzabalSaleh BakriAyoub MissiouiA middle-aged tailor and his wife find their relationship challenged by the arrival of a handsome new apprentice.
- DirectorRob EpsteinStarsHarvey FiersteinHarvey MilkAnne KronenbergA documentary of the successful career and assassination of San Francisco's first elected gay city supervisor.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsVirginie EfiraCharlotte RamplingDaphné PatakiaA 17th-century nun in Italy suffers from disturbing religious and erotic visions. She is assisted by a companion, and the relationship between the two women develops into a romantic love affair.
- DirectorHettie MacdonaldStarsGlen BerryLinda HenryScott NealJamie is a shy teenager, often bullied at school. His neighbour Ste has a rough time at home, being beaten by his father and brother. This issues bring them together and they find that what they feel for each other is more than friendship.
- DirectorCraig BorehamStarsJosh LaveryJulian OliverMathew WatersCasey, a country lad running from a small-town scandal, finds himself down and out in big city Sydney. When he meets city lad Tib both men find something they have been missing but neither of them knows quite how to negotiate it.
- DirectorSally PotterStarsTilda SwintonBilly ZaneQuentin CrispAfter Queen Elizabeth I commands him not to grow old, a young nobleman struggles with love and his place in the world.
- DirectorTodd HaynesStarsJ. Evan BonifantBarbara GarrickJulie HalstonAn artistic six-year-old boy in 1960s America is obsessed with The Dottie Show. His father is concerned about the show's sexual influence, especially the boy's fascination with a spanking scene.
- DirectorRob EpsteinJeffrey FriedmanStarsLily TomlinTony CurtisSusie BrightA documentary surveying the various Hollywood screen depictions of homosexuals and the attitudes behind them throughout the history of North American film.
- DirectorJohn WatersStarsDivineDavid LocharyMary Vivian PearceWatch as the life of a leader of a menacing group of deviants, explodes in a spectacle of debauchery. Accidentally filmed from beginning to end, on purpose.
- DirectorRosa von PraunheimStarsAngie StardustJayne CountyJudith FlexA film about the teeming flip side of life in Berlin centered on eccentric characters of almost every imaginable sexual orientation, or disorientation.
- DirectorSam MendesStarsKevin SpaceyAnnette BeningThora BirchA sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.
- DirectorHector BabencoStarsFernando Ramos da SilvaJorge JuliãoGilberto MouraThe life of a boy on the streets of Sao Paulo, involved with crimes, prostitution, and drugs.
- DirectorLuca GuadagninoStarsTimothée ChalametArmie HammerMichael StuhlbargIn 1980s Italy, romance blossoms between a seventeen-year-old student and the older man hired as his father's research assistant.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsJames DeanNatalie WoodSal MineoA rebellious young man with a troubled past comes to a new town, finding friends and enemies.
- DirectorJeffrey SchwarzStarsDivineMichael MustoMark PayneHow Divine, aka Harris Glenn Milstead, became John Waters' cinematic muse and an international drag icon.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsLeslie CheungTony Leung Chiu-waiChang ChenA couple take a trip to Argentina but both men find their lives drifting apart in opposite directions.
- DirectorAgniia GaldanovaStarsGena MarvinGena, an artist from a small town in Russia, dresses in otherworldly costumes and protests on the streets of Moscow. She stages radical performances in public, which becomes a new form of art and activism and puts her life in danger.
- DirectorLukas MoodyssonStarsAlexandra DahlströmRebecka LiljebergErica CarlsonTwo teenage girls in small-town Sweden. Elin is beautiful, popular, and bored with life. Agnes is friendless, sad, and secretly in love with Elin.Fucking Åmål
- DirectorIra SachsStarsFranz RogowskiBen WhishawAdèle ExarchopoulosA gay couple's marriage is thrown into crisis when one of them impulsively begins a passionate affair with a young woman.
- DirectorMatthew WarchusStarsBill NighyImelda StauntonDominic WestU.K. gay activists work to help miners during their lengthy strike of the National Union of Mineworkers in the summer of 1984.A group of gay activists in London decide to support the 1984 miners' strike in solidarity.
A very easy film to love. It hits the right note of struggle and solidarity and is very moving. Sometimes a feel-good film can have a strong heart and not feel condescending. - DirectorBasil DeardenStarsDirk BogardeSylvia SymsDennis PriceA closeted lawyer risks his career to bring a blackmailer to justice.
- DirectorJacques DemyStarsCatherine DeneuveGeorge ChakirisFrançoise DorléacTwo sisters leave their small seaside town of Rochefort in search of romance. Hired as carnival singers, one falls for an American musician, while the other must search for her ideal partner.
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsRiver PhoenixKeanu ReevesJames RussoTwo best friends living on the streets of Portland as hustlers embark on a journey of self discovery and find their relationship stumbling along the way.
- DirectorFrancis SavelStarsGianfranco LonghiJean-Jacques LoupmonReinhard MontzA hot young motorcyclist cruises the city - soccer games, cafes, the petrol station - having unsatisfying sexual encounters with other lonely men.
- DirectorDavid BuckleyStarsRobert AberdeenEllen SheppardDon ScottiA musician from Montana finds work and other things at The Continental Baths in New York City, 1974.
- DirectorRainer Werner FassbinderStarsRainer Werner FassbinderPeter ChatelKarlheinz BöhmA suggestible working-class innocent wins the lottery but lets himself be taken advantage of by his bourgeois new boyfriend and his circle of materialistic friends.
- DirectorMax CurrieStarsElz CarradArlo GreenAwhina-Rose AshbyAfter skipping town a decade ago, transgender activist Caz Davis returns to the remote, politically divided dairy community of Rurangi, hoping to reconnect with his estranged father, who hasn't heard from him since before Caz transitioned.
- DirectorXavier DolanStarsAnne DorvalXavier DolanFrançois ArnaudA semi-autobiographical story about Hubert as a young homosexual at odds with his mother.
- DirectorIsaac JulienBernard RoseStarsDavid HockneyDerek JarmanChris LoweA film involving two courageous and innovative artists-one the subject and one the filmmaker-provides a cinematic journey that illuminates the work and enduring importance of the late Derek Jarman.
- DirectorWelby IngsStarsTim RothJordan OosterhofConan HayesJim is preparing for his first professional fight but begins to rethink his life's trajectory and his sexuality after tangling with Whetu, a gay Maori boy who spends his days in an old shack down by the beach.
- DirectorRobert Henry MizerStarsBilly YoungDick HaroldSkip TumalooProto-porn time-capsule involving Billy, who always gets himself into trouble, being rescued and redeemed by an older man.
- DirectorBruce La BruceStarsBruce La BruceG.B. JonesCaroline AzarA lonely hairdresser watches the title sequence of "That Cold Day in the Park" then visits a local park to invite a down-and-out skinhead to his apartment. He draws the silent man a bath and talks to him as he soaks. He locks his guest in a bedroom. Next day, the skinhead leaves through the window and visits his sister, who's making a film called "Sisters of the SLA." He helps with a screen-test. The hairdresser has dreams and fantasies involving the skinhead, the skinhead returns to visit him, and then the filmmaker pays a call on the two men, exposing her brother as faking his silence and pretending a lack of sexual interest. Fantasies can come true.
- DirectorLindsay AndersonStarsMalcolm McDowellDavid WoodRichard WarwickIn this allegorical story, a revolution led by pupil Mick Travis takes place at an old established private school in England.
- DirectorSebastián LelioStarsDaniela VegaFrancisco ReyesLuis GneccoMarina, a transgender woman who works as a waitress and moonlights as a nightclub singer, is bowled over by the death of her older boyfriend.
- DirectorGeorgia OakleyStarsRosy McEwenKerrie HayesLucy HallidayIn 1988, a closeted teacher is pushed to the brink when a new student threatens to expose her sexuality.
- DirectorErnst JohansenLasse NielsenStarsAnders AgensøPeter BjergOve SprogøeTwo precocious boys explore their sexuality at boarding school.
- DirectorAndrew HaighStarsAndrew ScottPaul MescalCarter John GroutA screenwriter drawn back to his childhood home enters into a fledgling relationship with his downstairs neighbor while discovering a mysterious new way to heal from losing his parents 30 years ago.
- DirectorHong KhaouStarsPei-Pei ChengBen WhishawAndrew LeungA young man of Chinese-Cambodian descent dies, leaving behind his isolated mother and his 4-year male lover, who grieve but don't speak a lick of each other's language.
- DirectorLeontine SaganCarl FroelichStarsDorothea WieckHertha ThieleEmilia UndaAt an all-girls boarding school, Manuela falls in love with a teacher, to terrific consequences.
- DirectorRobin CampilloStarsNahuel Pérez BiscayartArnaud ValoisAdèle HaenelMembers of the advocacy group ACT UP Paris demand action by the government and pharmaceutical companies to combat the AIDS epidemic in the early 1990s.120 Beats Per Minute
- DirectorJonas Poher RasmussenStarsDaniel KarimyarFardin MijdzadehMilad EskandariFLEE tells the extraordinary true story of a man, Amin, on the verge of marriage which compels him to reveal his hidden past for the first time.