Best gay movies of all time
The Most Iconic Gay Movies of All Time
Passionate clip enthusiasts know there’s something extraordinary about seeing our own stories on screen. For queer cinephiles, the magic grows even stronger when personal experiences are mirrored, challenged, or uplifted by unforgettable characters. That’s why Iconic Gay Movies hold a special place in the hearts of many. These films reach beyond usual entertainment; they become windows into cultural moments that shaped lives and broke boundaries. Some made waves during their initial discharge, and others gained a strong following over time.
Film has always been an influential medium, reflecting societal norms, pushing boundaries, and even sparking social transform. LGBTQ+ narratives have transformed over the decades, shedding stereotypes and presenting more authentic stories. In recent years, these cinematic gems have earned critical acclaim, achieved box-office success, and turned into conversation starters. Yet the journey hasn’t been entirely smooth, with censors and critics sometimes standing in the way of unfiltered narratives. Even so, talented filmmakers kept pushing for visibility, forging a path for decent portrayals
Before the word “gay” took roots in our daily life – and before we began to notice movies featuring women, men and all variations of the word “gender” in all kinds of styles – the powerful engine of the industry of visual entertainment was often driven by filmmakers who, even at the dawn of Hollywood, were themselves gay. The word was mentioned rarely and only in private, but the entertainment machine was constantly affected by smart and daring gay filmmakers, creating hit pictures and start significant conversations between the story on the screen and the audience in the dark.
From the 1930s to the early years of the 60s, Hollywood had filmmakers capable of enthralling, entertaining and sometimes scaring the audience. Many of the top directors were LBGTQ+. Many actors and creative people behind the scenes were well established by the studios and its bosses to be gay – but as long as their intimate life was kept silent, their work was more than welcomed.
Among these filmmakers, many were European by birth, working in Hollywood and feeling themselves more at home there than in Europe.
Foremost among this group was James Whale. Born in Dudley, England, in 1889, Whale had been
161 Best LGBTQ+ Movies of All Time
The latest: With out latest update, we’ve added the most recent Certified Fresh films, including Backspot, Good One, Challengers, Bird, Love Lies Bleeding, Queer, Problemista, Fitting In, Housekeeping for Beginners, I Saw the TV Glow, In the Summers, The People’s Joker, National Anthem, Good Grief, Sebastian, FRIDA, Cuckoo, Fancy Dance, Femme, A Nice Indian Boy, and The Wedding Banquet! Watch them and more on Fandango at Home!
Our list of the 200 Best LGBTQ+ Movies of All Time stretches advocate 90 years to the pioneering German film, Mädchen in Uniform, which was subsequently banned by the Nazis, and crosses multiple continents, cultures, and genres. There are broad American comedies (The Birdcage), artful Korean crime dramas (The Handmaiden), groundbreaking indies (Tangerine), and landmark documentaries (Paris Is Burning). Over the last few years, we added titles like the documentary Welcome to Chechnya, about LGBTQ+ activists risking their lives for the cause in Russia; Certified Fresh comedy Shiva, Baby; and Netflix’s The Ancient In this first major critical survey of LGBTQIA+ films, over 100 film experts including critics, writers and programmers such as Joanna Hogg, Mark Cousins, Peter Strickland, Richard Dyer, Nick James and Laura Mulvey, as well as past and present BFI Flare programmers, have voted the Top 30 LGBTQIA+ Films of All Time. The poll’s results represent 84 years of cinema and 12 countries, from countries including Thailand, Japan, Sweden and Spain, as adv as films that showed at BFI Flare such as Orlando (1992), Charming Thing (1996), Weekend (2011) and Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013). The winner is Todd Haynes’ award-winning Carol, closely followed by Andrew Haigh’s Weekend, and Hong Kong quixotic drama Happy Together, directed by Wong Kar-wai, in third place. While Carol is a surprisingly recent production to top the poll, it’s a feature that has moved, delighted and enthralled audiences, and looks set to be a modern classic. “The festival has drawn-out supported my work,” said Haynes, “from Poison and Dottie Gets Spanked in the early 1990s through to Carol which is screening on 35mm later this week in BFI Flare’s Best of Year programme. I’m so pr .The 30 Best LGBTQIA+ Films of All Time