The Best LGBT Films
These are the greatest LGBT films (or LGBT-themed films) that I've seen. In order. To make the list, it had to be primarily LGBT-themed or majorly LGBT-themed, and/or featured a main character who was LGBT and his/her LGBT orientation was a main focal point. This is why certain excellent films such as Capote (9/10) didn't make the list. Yes, Truman Capote was gay, yes he is portrayed as such, yes it shows his partner, BUT the primary focus of the film was Capote's alcoholism and his writing of “In Cold Blood” (and that is FINE, again, it was an EXCELLENT film, just not a LGBT film in my opinion).
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- DirectorJames IvoryStarsJames WilbyRupert GravesHugh GrantTwo English school chums find themselves falling in love at Cambridge. To regain his place in society, Clive gives up Maurice and marries. While staying with Clive and his wife, Maurice discovers romance in the arms of the gamekeeper Alec.Great performances, a well-made film, and has a happy ending. Tragic endings are VERY common in LGBT cinema, so when a happy ending comes long, it is downright refreshing. Maurice is a classic.
- 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.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsKim Min-heeHa Jung-wooCho Jin-woongA woman is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, but secretly she is involved in a plot to defraud her.
- DirectorDaniel RibeiroStarsGhilherme LoboFabio AudiTess AmorimLeonardo is a blind teenager searching for independence. His everyday life, the relationship with his best friend Giovana, and the way he sees the world change completely with the arrival of Gabriel.Touching and refreshing LGBT coming-of-age film about a young blind teenager who falls for his new friend Gabriel. This one totally blew me away. Fantastic performances by the young cast.
- DirectorAndrew HaighStarsTom CullenChris NewJonathan RaceAfter a drunken house party with his straight mates, Russell heads out to a gay club. Just before closing time he picks up Glen but what's expected to be just a one-night stand becomes something else, something special.
- DirectorMorten TyldumStarsBenedict CumberbatchKeira KnightleyMatthew GoodeDuring World War II, the English mathematical genius Alan Turing tries to crack the German Enigma code with help from fellow mathematicians while attempting to come to terms with his troubled private life.
- 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.
- DirectorLisa CholodenkoStarsAnnette BeningJulianne MooreMark RuffaloTwo children conceived by artificial insemination bring their biological father into their non-traditional family life.
- DirectorRussell MulcahyStarsSigourney WeaverHenry CzernyRyan KelleyTrue story of Mary Griffith, gay rights crusader, whose teenage son committed suicide due to her religious intolerance. Based on the book of the same title by Leroy Aarons.I've never bawled my eyes out as much as I did during Prayers for Bobby. Totally and unflinchingly sad true story of a young man who commits suicide because of his religious and intolerant mother (played by Sigourney Weaver). Weaver is outstanding as a mother who becomes a gay rights activist in the name of her son she lost to intolerance.
- 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.
- DirectorStephen ChboskyStarsLogan LermanEmma WatsonEzra MillerCharlie, a 15-year-old introvert, enters high school and is nervous about his new life. When he befriends his seniors, he learns to cope with his friend's suicide and his tumultuous past.
- 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.
- DirectorLukas DhontStarsEden DambrineGustav De WaeleÉmilie DequenneThe intense friendship between two thirteen-year old boys Leo and Remi suddenly gets disrupted. Struggling to understand what has happened, Léo approaches Sophie, Rémi's mother. "Close" is a film about friendship and responsibility.
- DirectorLuca GuadagninoStarsMike FaistJosh O'ConnorZendayaTashi, a former tennis prodigy turned coach, turned her husband into a champion. But to overcome a losing streak, he needs to face his ex-best friend and Tashi's ex-boyfriend.
- DirectorJoel EdgertonStarsLucas HedgesNicole KidmanJoel EdgertonThe son of a Baptist preacher unwillingly participates in a church-supported gay conversion program after being forcibly outed to his parents.
- DirectorDexter FletcherStarsTaron EgertonJamie BellRichard MaddenA musical fantasy about the fantastical human story of Elton John's breakthrough years.
- 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.Iconic and controversial, Brokeback Mountain was groundbreaking nonetheless. Heath Ledger (in particular) and Jake Gyllenhaal deliver excellent, heartbreaking performances.
- DirectorDaniel RibeiroStarsGhilherme LoboTess AmorimFabio AudiThe arrival of a new student in school changes Leonardo's life. This 15 year-old blind teenager has to deal with the jealousy of his friend Giovana while figuring out the new feelings he's having towards his new friend, Gabriel.
- DirectorStephen DaldryStarsMeryl StreepNicole KidmanJulianne MooreThe story of how the novel "Mrs. Dalloway" affects three generations of women, all of whom, in one way or another, have had to deal with suicide in their lives.
- 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.
- DirectorAndrew AhnStarsJoel Kim BoosterBowen YangMargaret ChoA group of queer best friends gather in Fire Island Pines for their annual week of love and laughter, but a sudden change of events might make this their last summer in gay paradise.
- DirectorDuncan TuckerStarsFelicity HuffmanKevin ZegersFionnula FlanaganA transgender woman takes an unexpected journey when she learns that she had a son, now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York.
- DirectorStephen DunnStarsAaron AbramsJack FultonJoanne KellyA creative and driven teenager is desperate to escape his hometown and the haunting memories of his turbulent childhood.
- 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.
- DirectorDee ReesStarsAdepero OduyeKim WayansAasha DavisA Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.Beautiful coming-of-age film. Sheer poetry.