15 Binge-worthy Queer-themed series and movies that you should try to watch
When it comes to concept, narrative, camera work, and other technical aspects, queer-themed movies and series have been revolutionary. In our fast-paced society, these films not only boost our mental and emotional health and put us in a good mood, but they can also raise awareness of social and cultural change.
Let me recommend some queer-themed series and movies for you to consider watching if you’re searching for something to binge on!
Love, Simon (2018)
Love, Simon is primarily an endearing, sincere high school rom-com movie in which the guy gets the guy, yet it does touch on the difficulties of being homosexual and closeted since the main protagonist Simon (Nick Robinson) isn’t yet out to his friends or family.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0cbWdlQg_8
A Fantastic Woman (2017)
In this well-regarded drama, Daniela Vega plays Marina, a trans woman whose spouse passes away unexpectedly. When Marina learns that her late partner’s family is transphobic, an already bad scenario gets even worse. When it was first released, A Fantastic Woman broke barriers by becoming the first picture from Chile to win the Oscar for best foreign language film. Additionally, it is the first movie to win an Oscar that features a transgender actor and a central plot.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJHex4ZitgA
Pride (2014)
When the miners went on strike in 1984, which is when this movie is set, people came together all around the UK to collect money for the miners and their families. A group of London-based gay and lesbian activists who saw their own persecution as a reflection of Margaret Thatcher’s government’s treatment of the miners organized one of the largest fundraising events.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZfFvsKDuUU
Disclosure (2020)
This Netflix documentary examines the development of transgender representation in media, illuminating both successful and unsuccessful cases. Laverne Cox from Orange Is the New Black and other trans actresses, activists, and celebrities contribute to guiding the conversation.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSgvWixY-ZQ
Orlando (1993)
Orlando, a 1992 adaption of the infamous Virginia Woolf book, stars Tilda Swinton as Orlando, an immortal English aristocrat who, after centuries of living as a man, changes into a woman. Potter’s Orlando plays with ideas of the fourth wall as freely as it does with conceptions of gender and sexuality, and it is gorgeously produced and performed.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MorOaD61KUI
Happy Together (1997)
This movie is about two Hong Kong men Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu Wai’s characters, Lai and Ho, who migrate to Argentina from Hong Kong in quest of a better life. However, their relationship quickly degenerates into abuse, resulting in breakups and the need to find solace with other suitors.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VPvFaAWX9U
Call Me By Your Name (2017)
Elio, a 17-year-old, falls in love with Oliver, a handsome doctoral student who is working as an intern for Elio’s father in 1980s northern Italy, in Luca Guadagnino’s exquisite, sensual adaptation of the André Aciman novel.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9AYPxH5NTM
Heavenly Creatures (1994)
Two New Zealand schoolgirls (played by then-newcomers Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey) who use their imaginations to escape their own reality are the subject of this film. But when they decide to plan a murder, in one of the most infamous true crime tales ever, their relationship becomes heated and dangerous.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ2yZjnPwQc
Disobedience (2017)
In this drama movie, played by Ronit (Rachel Weisz) and Esti (Rachel McAdams), a woman returns to the neighborhood where she was rejected many years previously because she is attracted to a childhood friend. When she personally meets with that same woman and experiences those same old feelings, things only become worse.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEVonh8bjC0
Viva (2015)
Jesus (Héctor Medina), a teenage hairdresser, conflicts with his father Angel (Jorge Perugorra), who doesn’t understand what he’s doing, after his aspirations of becoming a drag performer come true. As they have different expectations of one another, the two men struggle.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S097UTL057I
Elisa & Marcela (2019)
In this 1885 historical romantic-drama film, characters Elisa (Natalia de Molina) and Marcela (Greta Fernández) have a close friendship that develops into a forbidden love that they must keep a secret. In order to marry the woman she loves in 1901, Elisa takes on a male identity.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU9aZo8EdjI
POSE (2018-2021)
Pose is charged with energy, grace, and confidence. A series that follows the story of ball culture and the gay and trans community, the rising of AIDS crisis, and capitalism. This series is set in New York in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Pose twirls between aesthetic opulence and drama.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t4YuPXdLZw
RuPaul’s Drag Race (2009-)
To win a cash reward, a crown, and the title of “America’s Next Drag Superstar,” a group of skilled drag queens compete in tasks to the most well-known drag queen in the world, RuPaul. In addition to drama, this series popularized drag and gave queer artists from all over the world and America a platform. Drag Race has raised awareness of LGBTQ stories and issues ever since its 2009 debut.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=042y0qEYpB4
Dear White People (2017-2021)
This comedy-drama series, which follows the lives of Black students at Winchester University, shows the social justice issues through the lives of these students. It addresses everything, including sexual assault and racial inequality. Dear White People (based on the 2014 film of the same name, Dear White People) broke down barriers in terms of queer representation by featuring several Black LGBTQ people in its core cast and then following up with commendable storylines.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y18tYzD4Log
Queer Eye (2018-)
The “Fab Five” of the American reality television series Queer Eye are Antoni Porowski, a specialist in food and wine, Tan France, a fashion enthusiast, Karamo Brown, a culture expert, Bobby Berk, a design enthusiast, and Jonathan Van Ness, grooming expert. This series advocates for LGBTQ+ inclusion in conservative states and aids community members in self-acceptance to genuinely love and care for oneself.
