If “Barbie” was presupposed to be the Yr of the Woman, then what do you name the three-month stretch of 2024 that gave us “Love Lies Bleeding,” “Drive-Away Dolls,” and a musical “Imply Women” with lesbian intern Reneé Rapp? Scorching Sapphic… Spring?
Really, that’s not half-bad. It’s only a disgrace Kamala Harris misplaced the election, Charli XCX steered the girlies flawed, and Brat Summer season turned out to be a launch social gathering for the fashionable Republicans’ debut EP, “Now That’s What I Name Fascism!” Fall.
To paraphrase a bi-coded owl from an nearly completely heterosexual TV present, “Once you take a look at one thing via rose-colored glasses, all of the pink flags simply seem like flags.” It’s a painful factor to yearn for popular culture controversies that may’ve exhausted us a 12 months in the past. The place is the annual railing towards shopper tradition? How can we get again to No Kink at Delight discourse? Please, expensive God, can somebody yell at me on social media for quoting “BoJack Horseman” when “Tuca & Bertie” was proper there?!
Historical past might have predicted the ultraconservative backlash we’re residing via in 2025, however that doesn’t make experiencing it any simpler. For hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ folks around the globe, this Delight Month has been an intersectional clusterfuck blanked in nervousness, confusion, and grief. Certain, you’ll be able to nonetheless watch “Changing into,” that documentary about Michelle Obama from 2020, on Netflix and the previous First Girl could deliver you some consolation. However even her most well-known recommendation (“After they go low, we go excessive…”), doesn’t hit the identical when in every single place you look democracy is on fireplace.
Lately, the very best lesbian films are any lesbian films — homophobic propaganda however. Trump has used the federal authorities to wage struggle on variety, fairness, and inclusion initiatives throughout the nation. He’s bought an particularly heavy axe to grind within the schooling sector, which implies preserving imperfect and even controversial texts about queer and genderqueer life is now important. With that in thoughts, we’ve overhauled IndieWire’s record of the best hits for gay ladies.
We’ve nonetheless bought outdated entries written by former colleagues we miss dearly, and there’s no less than a dozen titles that didn’t transfer an inch on our rating. Nonetheless, increasing to 40 movies in all, our new picks replicate a posh combine. Borrowing one other lesson from “Barbie” (which actually ought to have had a single lesbian character in it, don’t you assume?), ladies can’t be every thing to everybody. That very same philosophy has been utilized right here. You’ll discover gold-star initiatives in the direction of the highest, however we’ve additionally introduced some divisive initiatives in addition to a handful of so-called “lesbian classics” which can be merely queer-coded.
Trans ladies are ladies, and their lesbian tales, experiences, and identities seem all through. Bi-erasure sucks worse than being sacrificed to the satan by a boy band, so we’ve additionally made room for “Jennifer’s Physique” and some extra films that go each methods. That mentioned, the seminal girl-on-girl disaster-piece “Merciless Intentions” didn’t make the minimize, and sadly, “Ghost World” nonetheless doesn’t really feel prefer it belongs right here. (Possibly these are bettered suited to one thing just like the Gayest Films That Aren’t Explicitly Homosexual?)
This record received’t work for each girl or nonbinary one that loves ladies and nonbinary folks. What one lesbian would possibly see as a daring and important entry in queer canon (hi there, “Tár”) one other could dismiss as tawdry and inconsequential (hi there once more, “Tár.”) However isn’t that the form of battle we miss having? Learn on for IndieWire’s record of the 40 Finest Lesbian Films Ever Made. —Alison Foreman
With editorial contributions by Jude Dry, David Ehrlich, Jamie Righetti, and Tambay Obenson.
40. “Imply Women” (dir. Mark Waters, 2004)
The musical model of this 2004 basic teen comedy is arguably the “gayer” rendition of the story — and never simply because Renee Rapp performs Regina George, though that’s actually a part of it. However the 2004 unique, as a lot because it reveals its age in the way it makes use of the label of lesbian as a punchline, is a extra very important queer textual content, as loads of women who grew up with it discovered themselves enthralled within the advanced net of resentment, admiration, and jealousy that types between new to high school Cady (Lindsay Lohan), final imply lady Regina (Rachel McAdams), and embittered outcast Janis (Lizzy Caplan). There’s a lot queer coding to the masochistic tango these women dance with one another, notably within the iconic monologue the place Cady extolls how Regina has consumed her each thought. Its lesbianism is likely to be principally subtext, but it surely’s sufficient to earn “Imply Women” a everlasting place in any queer film evening value its salt. —WC
39. “Rebecca” (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1940)
Ostensibly, Daphne Du Maurier’s novel “Rebecca” is a romance between the unnamed younger narrator and the rich older Englishman Maxim de Winter who sweeps her off her ft and onto his property Manderlay. However their relationship, introduced via the unreliable eyes of the second Mrs. de Winter, has all the time been poisonous and controlling, deliberately rotten to the core. The actual love story of “Rebecca” is the obsessive loyalty and adoration in the direction of its deceased title character, Maxim’s first spouse, that Manderlay housekeeper Mrs. Danvers holds lengthy after her passing. Whereas some would possibly argue that the e book’s depiction of her love, coded fairly clearly queer, traffics in predatory lesbian stereotypes, there’s true poignency and romance to Danvers devotion to her beloved Madame. Within the celebrated 1940 movie adaptation, Judith Anderson brings each depraved horror villain presence and sharp pathos to the character, making her probably the most memorable and enduring icon of considered one of Alfred Hitchcock’s biggest works. —WC
38. “Jennifer’s Physique” (dir. Karyn Kusama, 2009)
A advertising marketing campaign targeted totally on Megan Fox’s intercourse enchantment and a public that didn’t fairly get what it was going for resulted in “Jennifer’s Physique” flopping on the field workplace when it first launched, solely to endure far previous its preliminary launch as a queer cult basic, one with themes of feminine rage towards patriarchial violence. Fox stars because the titular Jennifer, who turns into demonically possessed and remerges as a chilly succubus in search of vengeance. Her goal is males, but it surely’s her nerdy greatest pal Needy (Amanda Seyfried) she has probably the most chemistry with, and their kiss that’s the movie’s most iconic second. For anybody who has ever skilled a homoerotic friendship from hell, “Jennifer’s Physique” is a horror film that’s all too acquainted. —WC
37. “All About Eve” (dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950)
One of many biggest films ever made, “All About Eve” is ostensibly the story of a bunch of straight ladies being passive-aggressive backstabbers towards one another. However the movie has all the time been catnip for queer cinephiles, and queer readings of its themes have existed for many years. In lots of respects, Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Broadway drama paved the best way for a lot of others female-focused movies about obsession and id, about ladies who desperately wish to turn out to be different ladies. Eve Herrington’s (performed with verve and a brief minimize to die for by Anne Baxter) ruthless quest to usurp the profession of aged theater star Margo Channing (Bette Davis) is likely to be one motivated primarily by a want for the highlight, however there’s a sexual cost to all of it the identical, a sticky fixtation that’s thrillingly looks like a mixture of love and hate. Loads of films on this record, from the explicitly to the implicitly queer, owe their existence to “All About Eve.” —WC
36. “Shiva Child” (dir. Emma Seligman, 2020)
A farce became a stress cooker thriller, “Shiva Child” is at its core a relatable story of a bisexual millennial determining what she needs. Rachel Sennott broke out in Emma Seligman’s movie taking part in Danielle, a directionless younger girl who grapples with emotions of inadequacy and resentment when she attends a shiva along with her dad and mom. Additionally there are her sugar daddy (Danny Deferrari), his spouse (Dianna Agron), and her rather more profitable ex-girlfriend (Molly Gordon), compounding all the numerous stressers driving Danielle loopy over 78 near-real-time minutes. It’s a painfully relatable coming-of-age story for a lot of a queer particular person, one which’s thrillingly romantic at occasions because of Gordon and Sennott’s irresitable chemistry. —WC
34. “Think about Me & You” (dir. Ol Parker, 2005)
These days, lesbian rom-coms are….nonetheless fairly uncommon, sadly, however mainstream sufficient that Hallmark bought in on the motion. In 2005, discovering one with a comparatively huge launch was a close to fruitless endeavor, which made “Think about Me & You” one thing to rejoice. In lots of respects, Ol Parker’s British import could be very a lot a traditional rom-com: a lady (Piper Perabo) will get married to a pleasant however boring man (Matthew Goode) just for her to seek out and fall for the particular person she ought to really be with. The important thing distinction is that the particular person she ought to really be with can be a lady (Lena Headey). “Think about Me & You” very a lot follows all of the beats that you simply’re accustomed to, and is perhaps a contact stale for it, however the actors are charming, the jokes are witty, and the feelings are heightened from the issues protecting the leads aside being much more lifelike, private, and painful. It’s the clearest cinematic signal that just about something is healthier if it’s homosexual. —WC
33. “Fried Inexperienced Tomatoes” (dir. Jon Avnet, 1991)
Having simply received her Oscar for “Distress,” Kathy Bates didn’t know how one can stick up for her co-stars Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary-Louise Parker on the “Fried Inexperienced Tomatoes” press tour. Bates and Jessica Tandy served because the movie adaptation’s narrators, however have been disproportionately featured in its protection. That is sensible when you think about the film principally hid the specific lesbian romance on the middle of Fannie Flagg’s 1987 e book. Talking with IndieWire, Bates mentioned she regretted not doing extra to prop up the much less established actresses on the 1991 movie — calling director Jon Avnet’s heartbreaking Alabama dramedy “their story.”
Nonetheless, the lesbian subtext within the candy and melancholy connection shared by Idgie and Ruth on the world-famous Whistle Cease Cafe is unmissable. Masterson and Parker make a lush-yet-rustic fantasy from the enchanting love of a faculty trainer and a bee charmer. They might not kiss, however you’ve by no means seen ardour as fiery because the surprises hiding on this principally quaint movie about combating patriarchy. —AF
32. “Clouds of Sils Maria” (Olivier Assayas, 2014)
A ravishingly acted and written psychological drama, “Clouds of Sils Maria” might be greatest remembered because the movie that helped cement Kristen Stewart as each a fantastic actor and as a lesbian icon. However there’s a lot extra to Olivier Assayas’ movie, a meditation on fame, picture, and growing older constructed across the efficiency and persona of Juliette Binoche, taking part in a job based mostly partly on herself. She’s Maria Enders, a profitable actress who reluctantly agrees to star in a revival of the play that made her well-known, however this time taking part in the elder girl reasonably than the younger ingénue. Retreating to the Sils Maria settlement within the Alps, she prepares for the position along with her assistant Valentine (Stewart), and within the course of, the boundaries of their relationship and the one within the play start to blur. Wealthy and sharp, the movie turns into a stunning two-hander that provides each Binoche and Stewart house to create good chemistry collectively. —WC
31. “The Favorite” (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos, 2018)
A daring imaginative and prescient set throughout the grotesquely aristocratic spectacle of early 18th century English royalty, “The Favorite” is a darkish but comedic story of three dominant ladies competing for love and energy with reckless abandon. Director Yorgos Lanthimos creates an extremely full of life, although insular, universe, toying with actual occasions to function assist and motivation for the interiority and conflicts of the movie’s characters. Unfolding like a bed room farce, principally throughout the partitions of a Royal Palace that’s cut-off from the realities of the period’s expansive historical past, it’s a world dominated by strategic maneuvers, seductions, even pineapple consuming and the occasional duck race. It’s via the tangled ties of a frail Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) with two different scheming and bold ladies — her shut pal and advisor Girl Sarah (Rachel Weisz), and Sarah’s indigent cousin turned status-seeking chambermaid Abigail (Emma Stone) — that the story plunges right into a maelstrom of unscrupulous conduct and unpredictability, that epitomizes the expression “palace intrigue,” as a nation’s destiny lies throughout the relations amongst ladies who’ve succumbed to the excruciating issues of affection. —JD
30. “Kissing Jessica Stein” (dir. Charles Herman-Wurmfeld, 2001)
Earlier than she was often known as Jon Hamm’s (ex-)associate, Jennifer Westfeldt was the plucky author and star of this indie romantic comedy a few neurotic Jew who, like a bisexual Woody Allen, simply can’t make up her thoughts. Westfeldt performs the titular, Jessica, who comes throughout a pre-Craigslist private advert so completely written it leaves her speechless (a rarity for her). When the particular person on the opposite finish seems to be a girl named Helen, performed by co-writer Heather Jeurgenson, Jessica embarks on the slowest-moving lesbian love affair in historical past. It’s the form of New York romance that not often will get made anymore: There’s charming montages to Ella Fitzgerald’s model of “Manhattan,” a “the place did she come from?” hilarious greatest pal (Jackie Hoffman), and a lovably overbearing Jewish mom (Tovah Feldshuh). With out spoiling the ending (in case you haven’t seen it, you actually ought to), there are legitimate causes to want “Kissing Jessica Stein” have been just a little bit gayer. However the movie is rather a lot like its protagonist; so rattling pretty, it’s no surprise everybody needs to kiss it. —JD
29. “D.E.B.S.” (dir. Angela Robinson, 2004)
A intelligent motion parody that was a lot smarter than its mainstream advertising marketing campaign understood, “D.E.B.S.” is sort of a queer “Charlie’s Angels” set on the college from “However I’m a Cheerleader,” with broader business enchantment. A forbidden love story between a teen spy and an evil however scorching worldwide diamond thief, the film options early performances by Jimmi Simpson (“Westworld”) and Jordana Brewster (“The Quick and the Livid”). Set at an underground authorities academy for teen tremendous spies, the D.E.B.S. are chosen by their solutions to questions hidden in an SAT-like check. It’s stupidly enjoyable, sweetly romantic, and much more subversive than it will get credit score for. —JD
28. “I Can’t Assume Straight” (dir. Shamim Sarif, 2008)
Comphet looms bigger over this British romance a few betrothed heiress (Lisa Ray) who falls for a delicate younger author (Sheetal Sheth) whereas making ready for her lavish marriage ceremony to a rich man (Daud Shah). On her fourth heterosexual engagement, Tala most likely ought to have realized that she was discovering fault in each man that regarded her manner as a result of she is just…not drawn to males. However when the stress of pursuing actual love with a girl proves an excessive amount of for her strict understanding of societal acceptability, the duty-bound magnificence abandons her Leyla to dash again to a life she doesn’t need.
Based mostly on Shamim Sarif’s novel of the identical identify, “I Can’t Assume Straight” sees the filmmaker and creator adapt her personal work to create a culturally distinct consideration of familial obligation. The 2008 movie received’t resonate with all audiences — it’s stilted at occasions, awkward extra typically, and may’t choose a perspective on non secular homophobia — but it surely affords a compelling sufficient rom-com, two leads with crackling chemistry, and among the greatest sapphic lover letters in cinematic historical past. “Each evening I empty my coronary heart, however by morning it’s full once more…” —AF
27. “All Over Me” (dir. Alex Sichel, 1997)
Angst-ridden youngsters are available all shapes and predilections, a reality this prettily gritty coming-of-age movie celebrates. Two years after Larry Clark’s controversial “Children” got here out, “All Over Me” correctly queered up New York’s counterculture as seen via the eyes of Claude (Allison Folland), a mild loner who follows her wild greatest pal, Ellen (Tara Subkoff), round like a tragic pet. She has an opportunity at breaking free when she meets pink-haired cutie Lucy (Leisha Hailey), however will get pulled again in when Ellen’s boyfriend drama turns into dire. By Hollywood requirements, Claude’s standing as an unconventional lead solely provides to the movie’s rebellious appeal. Like “Desperately Looking for Susan” with kissing, or “Children” with out homophobia, “All Over Me” borrowed from the greats and but feels wholly unique. —JD
26. “The Children Are All Proper” (dir. Lisa Cholodenko, 2010)
In lots of respects, “The Children Are All Proper” looks like an excessive product of the Obama-era, resting itself on the query of the issues and tensions that may spark in a long-lasting queer union. Annette Bening and Julianne Moore star as Nic and Jules, a pair with children whose relationship get examined when their son tracks down his organic father, charming restaurant proprietor Paul (Mark Ruffalo). Whereas Lisa Cholodenko’s retains the following drama comparatively gentle, the feelings are charred and painful, as Paul’s presence opens up resentments buried beneath Nic and Jules’ picturesque LA life. Bening and Moore are terrific, bringing all of the historical past wanted to know these two ladies, and all of the love and grievances they’ve for one another. —WC
25. “Our bodies Our bodies Our bodies” (dir. Halina Rejin, 2022)
You recognize, I went to a “Our bodies Our bodies Our bodies” social gathering as soon as… and none of these folks actually discuss anymore. With a blistering script by Sarah DeLappe, based mostly on a narrative by viral “Cat Particular person” creator Kristen Roupenian, this incisive dissection of aesthetic queerness asks a query certain to make your group chat shake: Are we actually mates — or was this only for the photographs?
A24’s uber-stylish slasher deconstruction works nicely sufficient as a tackle the horror style, but it surely does extra as a tribute to poisonous #wlw friendships and canine whistling within the digital age. Directed by Halina Reijn, Amandla Stenberg leads a cohort of cunty frenemies as they put together to social gathering at a mansion in the midst of a hurricane. When the ability goes out and the group’s premiere fuckboy (oh, hey, Pete Davidson) turns up useless, it takes subsequent to nothing for the supposedly far-left cool children to activate one another like narcissistic jackals.
Rachell Sennnott is bi-coded as ever in her unforgettable flip because the hysterical Alice, however there’s a very superb level placed on the thorny nature of lesbian situation-ships. Right here, Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, and Myha’la Herrold act out a love triangle that might shake even the ladies of “The L Phrase,” with the heel-turn abandonment that always betrays faux queer friendships in full view. As allegations of gaslighting and breadcrumbing splatter the partitions, and the our bodies(our bodies)(our bodies) mount, the bloodbath’s survivors endeavor to unmask a killer in a lineup of individuals they don’t actually like. —AF
24. “Kajillionaire” (dir. Miranda July, 2020)
A singular, odd little romance, “Kajillionaire” tells a narrative about familial estrangement and located neighborhood that marks it as queer even earlier than Evan Rachel Wooden and Gina Rodriguez lock lips. The household on the coronary heart of the characteristic isn’t your typical unaccepting conservative clan, although; as an alternative, Wooden’s Previous Dolio is raised by a pair of manipulative con artists (Richard Jenkins and Debra Winger) who molded her into an emotionally stunted mess whose solely ability is the power to tug off petty scams. When her dad and mom rope Rodriguez’s Melanie into their schemes, Dolio is envious of the opposite girl, however quickly finds on this stranger a possibility for the love and affection she has by no means obtained earlier than. The sparks that fly between the 2 are each stunning and shifting and for all of the surface-level quirk of Miranda July’s dramedy, its biggest characteristic is its splendidly honest beating coronary heart. —WC
23. “Rafiki” (dir. Wanuri Kahiu, 2018)
Initially banned in its house nation of Kenya, this tender queer romance pulses with vivid colours and the electrical butterflies of younger love. The star-crossed romance follows two teenagers, Kena (Samantha Mugatsia) and Ziki (Sheila Munyiva), who fall in love regardless of their households’ political rivalry. Stepping calmly into fraught territory, they have to deal with small-town busybodies and the judgment of their conservative society. Boasting nuanced performances from the 2 charismatic newcomers, Wanuri Kahiu’s assured debut characteristic is a crucial reminder of the wrestle many nonetheless face to dwell out and proud. The primary Kenyan movie to play Cannes, Kahiu received a landmark courtroom case that earned the movie an Oscar-qualifying theatrical run, chipping away at Kenyan anti-LGBT laws within the course of. —JD
22. “Drive-Away Dolls” (dir. Ethan Coen, 2024)
When his inventive partnership along with his brother Joel went on an indefinite hiatus, Ethan Coen was freed as much as discover his true ardour: making shaggy, sapphic b-movie-inspired comedies along with his lesbian spouse, Tricia Cooke. Who knew! The duo’s first in a deliberate casual trilogy (that additionally contains the upcoming “Honey Don’t”), “Drive-Away Dolls” is a slight however candy buddy comedy starring Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan as two Philadelphia lesbians who embark on a highway journey to Tallahassee, uninentionally taking a automobile with some legal cargo within the course of. At 84 minutes, it’s a cheerfully unserious movie, one which delights in putting a pair of thirsty queers in a context many grizzled straight guys have gone earlier than. The script by Cooke and Coen nails the small particulars of the queer world it inhibits, and has a successful duo in Qualley and Viswanathan. It’s a dynamic you’ve seen a thousand occasions earlier than (Qualley’s the free-spirit horndog, Viswanathan is the extra reserved accountable one) however the actor’s make it candy, enjoyable, and just a little horny. —WC
21. “Come See Me within the Good Gentle” (dir. Ryan White, 2025)
A genderqueer poet and their associate battle superior ovarian most cancers in director Ryan White’s “Come See Me within the Good Gentle” — a life-affirming documentary that got here to Sundance at a vital time for LGBTQ folks in American media. This intimate portrait of Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley (additionally a author and poet) brings audiences right into a soulful romance between two artists grappling with life’s most harrowing questions. The love seen right here suggests how you reside your life and take care of the folks in it may be its personal form of artwork kind.
As advanced conversations about impermanence spill into more and more troublesome medical appointments, Gibson and Falley interact with one another and White’s lens to problem how we see id within the face of an all-consuming and transformative sickness. The well-spoken and likable topics foster a beneficiant tone that might earnestly encourage compassion from some much less tolerant viewers, and the challenge total helps increase their voices and platform in a troublesome cultural second. —AF
20. “Blue Jean” (dir. Georgia Oakley, 2022)
There are lots of coming-out movies and dramas about internalized homophobia within the queer movie canon, however few really feel as rapid and painful as “Blue Jean.” Georgia Oakley’s directorial debut grounds its private story within the historical past of Thatcher-era Britain, foregrounding the life of highschool athletics trainer Jean (a riveting Rosy McEwan) as Part 28 — regressive laws that closed LGBT advocacy organizations and restricted dialogue of homosexuality in faculties — is handed by the federal government within the background. These occasions weigh closely on Jean, who presents as straight at work earlier than heading to the homosexual bar along with her girlfriend at evening. It’s particularly terrible when an incident at college forces her to decide on between doing the fitting factor and protecting herself secure. It’s a thorny, emotionally advanced work that delves into the ache of a compartmentalized life with out ever casting judgment on its lead for her actions. —WC
19. “The Extremely True Adventures of two Women in Love” (dir. Maria Maggenti, 1995)
That includes an interracial romance throughout class strains, Maria Maggenti’s 1995 basic was years forward of its time. Inverting the conventions of the day, the story follows an prosperous Black teenager named Evie (Nicole Parker) who falls in love with scrappy white tomboy who’s swooningly named Randy Dean (Laurel Holloman). “The L Phrase” followers could also be shocked by Holloman’s kinetic efficiency because the brooding gasoline station employee from the flawed facet of the tracks, and her smoldering appears to be like maintain the chemistry palpably candy. An enthralling teen romance laced with incisive commentary on class and race, this queer basic does greater than maintain up, it ripens with age. —JD
18. “Set It Off” (dir. F. Gary Grey, 1996)
Within the nice custom of “9 to five” or “Thelma & Louise,” however with three of the most well-liked Black actresses of the time, “Set It Off” stays unmatched at present. It stars Vivica A. Fox, Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, and Kimberly Elise as 4 mates who turn out to be financial institution robbers, every for their very own causes. Whereas lesbians claimed “Thelma & Louise” as their very own from subtext alone, “Set It Off” gave audiences the Queen Latifah of their goals. Cleo was a cocky, loud, swaggering butch — and she or he will get laid. Lastly, a narrative about badass ladies combating the system that stored them down, and nobody might say anybody was studying an excessive amount of into it by calling it queer. “Set It Off” killed on the field workplace, grossing $41 million on a funds of $9 million. That is one remake nobody would query. —JD
17. “Tár” (dir. Todd Subject, 2022)
The subtextual controversies plaguing Todd Subject’s 2023 Finest Image nominee really feel borderline foolish when you think about what “Tár” is definitely about. A cancel tradition allegory starring “Carol” icon Cate Blanchett as a world-famous conductor on the point of self-made collapse, this religious “Black Swan” successor chronicles the downfall of the titular Lydia Tár. She’s predatory and a lesbian, sure, however Subject doesn’t go as far as to recommend that she is predatory as a result of she is a lesbian — as an alternative inspecting the within of a MeToo-era investigation via an atypical character setup that also manages to pluck at common themes for lesbians of a sure success stage.
Calculating in her climb and weaponized by her personal brilliance, the prodigious Lydia Tár wields her energy very similar to a person. She offers skilled favors to those that return them sexually and tosses out her toys with the trash when she’s performed. That’s conduct that may and has been exhibited by queer ladies, however once more, not as a result of they’re queer. Subject doesn’t handle that homophobic perspective on display as a result of he by no means appeared to entertain it in his development of the character. What “Tár” would possibly lack in genuine lesbian authorship it as an alternative makes up for with a radically agender strategy to portraiture that inserts a poisonous homosexual girl as its patriarchal monster: an elitist automaton who by no means bothered to kill the person in her personal head. For those who’re nonetheless questioning if this film a few lesbian is a lesbian film, perhaps it is advisable have a phrase with the one residing in yours. —AF
16. “Love Lies Bleeding” (dir. Rose Glass, 2024)
You recognize what they are saying: Behind each magnetic masc managing an Albuquerque health club there’s a femme bodybuilder heading for Vegas with some critical rage points. In director Rose Glass’ hyperviolent sophomore effort, Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian will make you imagine in love at first sight with the unforgettable lesbian leads of Lou and Jackie. Our desert love birds, swept up in a storm of steroid abuse, home abuse, and hair-trigger espresso desk beatings, are straightforward to like when the motion slows down. Sadly, you’ll spend the vast majority of A24’s romantic and generally surreal crime thriller targeted much less on the pair’s super-hot chemistry (brace your self for a fisting scene!) and extra on their spectacularly screwed up circumstance.
Ed Harris terrifies as Lou’s father, additionally named Lou, and Dave Franco embodies the “all males are canine” ethos as her remarkably shitty brother-in-law J.J. It’s Jena Malone as Lou’s sister Beth who really bewilders, although. You’ll be begging Lou and Jackie to get outta dodge manner earlier than they even take into consideration skipping city. Will it’s too late to run off into the sundown once they’re lastly able to go? —AF
15. “Disobedience” (dir. Sebastián Lelio, 2017)
Sebastián Lelio’s burning-yet-elegant “Disobedience” is greater than the acquainted feminist rebel you would possibly assume. Within the exquisitely melancholic lesbian romance, Rachel Weisz performs Ronit, an excommunicated Jewish girl who unexpectedly returns house after the loss of life of her father. She’s quickly reunited along with her outdated pal Dovid, a conflicted Alessandro Nivola, and Esti, David’s spouse and Ronit’s secret childhood sweetheart as performed by a shapeshifting Rachel McAdams.
The trio’s impromptu exploration of freedom, intimacy, and the conflicts inherent therein affords not only a compelling LGBTQ love story, however a strong reflection on the foundations we select to comply with and people we battle to defy. It additionally spurs the pièce de résistance of spit kink cinema in a intercourse scene between Ronit and Esti that’s deeply genuine in its consideration of lesbian connection: a frantic flurry of impassioned embraces and fingers sliding into mouths. The scene was one thing of A Second in 2017, and stays the topic of playful debate amongst sapphic cinephiles to today. —AF
14. “Born In Flames” (dir. Lizzie Borden, 1983)
Set in a post-revolutionary America, Lizzie Borden’s feminist agitprop movie stays as bracingly radical because the day it was made. Shot guerilla type in Nineteen Eighties New York Metropolis, the movie is an ingenious mash-up of energizing unique musical numbers, free-wheeling handheld motion pictures, and information footage of precise demonstrations and police violence. The story is instructed via two underground feminist radio hosts who mobilize their factions after the Black radical founding father of the Girl’s Military is suspiciously killed in police custody. Although this wildly ingenious movie defies categorization, it’s best described as an afro-futurist political sci-fi comedy — the one considered one of its variety. That includes performances from a younger Kathryn Bigelow, Eric Bogosian, and civil rights activist Florynce Kennedy, “Born in Flames” is a crucial affirmation of lesbian political energy. —JD
13. “Go Fish” (dir. Rose Troche, 1994)
Impressed by the success of Todd Haynes’ “Poison” and pissed off by lesbian movies that regarded nothing like their precise lesbian lives, Rose Troche and Guinevere Turner determined to take issues into their very own palms by taking pictures a tiny little indie known as “Go Fish” in 1994. Filmed in black and white in Chicago for an estimated $15,000, “Go Fish” went on to make roughly $2.4 million, proving Indies might make a revenue. Turner performed Max, a headstrong author who begins courting the older and quieter Ely (V.S. Brodie) regardless of preliminary reservations. Max’s mates, a jovial lesbian peanut gallery, supply unsolicited recommendation and loads of laughs. Nobody dies, and nobody comes out: a novelty for homosexual movies on the time. “Go Fish” not solely modified the sport for queer cinema, however for indie movie of every kind. —JD
12. “Excessive Artwork” (dir. Lisa Cholodenko, 1998)
The debut effort from “The Children Are All Proper” director traced a much less controversial love story (no switching groups right here), and nonetheless sparkles with that first-feature appeal. Syd (Radha Mitchell) is a younger artwork critic assigned to an enormous profile on infamous photographer Lucy Berliner (Ally Sheedy). Troublesome and mysterious, Lucy is Syd’s window into her glamorous world of eccentric bohemian artists. That features Lucy’s heroin-addicted German girlfriend, Greta (Patricia Clarkson, who steals each scene she’s in). Syd and Lucy discover themselves equal to one another, and a harmful affair begins. Utilizing pictures as each flirtation and cinematic gadget, “Excessive Artwork” generally looks like a recent “Carol.” In fact, it was filmed practically twenty years earlier than. —JD
11. “Bottoms” (dir. Emma Seligman, 2023)
Eventually, a raunchy, imply highschool comedy for the gays! From “Shiva Child” director Emma Seligman, “Bottoms” performs like a queer parody of basic intercourse comedies like “American Pie” or “Superbad,” besides far weirder and extra related than these movies might ever hope to be. Seligman creates a demented, surreal cracked mirror of the everyday film highschool for the movie’s “ugly, untalented gays” to mess around in, the place soccer video games are fights to the loss of life and lessons final two minutes earlier than the bell rings. Rachel Sennot and Ayo Edebiri, because the egocentric lesbian losers who begin a phony battle membership as a half-baked scheme to make out with cheerleaders, are the proper actresses for Seligman’s imaginative and prescient. They convey a singular comedic wit that makes their incessantly irritating characters deeply entertaining. Certain, the 2 finally atone for his or her actions, however a part of what makes “Bottoms” a lot enjoyable is that it lets its lesbian leads behave so, so terribly. —WC
10. “Saving Face” (dir. Alice Wu, 2004)
Premiering on the Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition in 2004, Alice Wu’s buoyantly charming romantic comedy turned an instantaneous queer basic, seamlessly balancing cinematic artistry with heartfelt comedy. A satisfying mix of heart-fluttering romance and familial woes, Wu’s movie is loosely based mostly on her personal experiences popping out to her conventional Chinese language household. That includes a efficiency from “Twin Peaks” icon Joan Chen, the movie follows Wil (Michelle Krusiec), a surgeon who meets and falls for ballet dancer Vivian (Lynn Chen). Accustomed to prioritizing work and household over romantic bliss, she should study to not let love move her by. —JD
9. “Portrait of a Girl on Fireplace” (dir. Céline Sciamma, 2019)
Celine Sciamma’s luscious tour-de-force virtually calls for to be seen on the large display, however its delicate glances and wealthy performances supply a lot to unpack on repeat viewings. There are solely 4 characters within the movie, all ladies: a painter, her elusive topic, her mom, and their maid. The setting is a humid and practically empty manor home on an island in Brittany, the a part of France that bears the closest resemblance to England.
A British austerity permeates the movie’s first act, all chilly shoulders and sidelong glances between the ladies, however Sciamma delivers the French ardour by the movie’s fiery conclusion — after which some. Whereas the romance is undoubtedly the center of “Portrait,” Sciamma additionally seamlessly infuses the movie with proof of girls’s restricted choices, or reasonably, the endlessly inventive methods they discovered to skirt the foundations. Shut out by a house nation that stubbornly refuses to honor its nice ladies filmmakers, this film itself stands ablaze in defiance of and in evident contradiction to the dominance of males. Burn it down. —JD
8. “Mulholland Drive” (dir. David Lynch, 2001)
Is “Mulholland Drive” an actual lesbian film? Extra like compulsorily heterosexual, perhaps. And but, within the wake of David Lynch’s passing, the surrealist thriller from 2001 — about an amnesiac girl (Laura Harring) and a younger actress (Naomi Watts) who fall prey to the fickle goals of Los Angeles — captures probably the most sapphic facet of the late visionary director audiences ever knew. It may also be learn as providing a layered lesbian perspective on the attract of fame, weaving an iconic blonde wig and one of many chilliest neck kisses ever carried out on movie into the eerie query, “Do I wish to be along with her… or do I wish to turn out to be her?”
That predatory narrative can be extra problematic if its tough edges weren’t ensnared within the threads of a messy psychological thriller. Blurring the strains between greater than intercourse and affection, the connection between Betty and the self-proclaimed Rita is extra spiritually satisfying than one thing like “The Proficient Mr. Ripley” by its viery nature. Nonetheless, the depth you see in Lynch’s feminine characters right here will influence how critical of a “lesbian movie you contemplate “Mulholland Drive” to be. There’s a girlishness to the tragedy that unfolds between Harring and Watts that remembers a sleepover gone sideways, a deep and private ache that means the form of mattress loss of life some heartbroken lesbians can by no means come again from. —AF
7. “The Watermelon Girl” (dir. Cheryl Dunye, 1996)
In 1996, there have been solely so many photos of Black ladies onscreen, fewer of Black lesbians. That’s precisely why, when Cheryl Dunye forged herself as a documentarian in her characteristic debut, this intelligent meta-theatrical gadget added one other layer to what nonetheless would have been an enthralling micro-budget love story. Cheryl is a younger Black lesbian residing in Philadelphia who turns into obsessive about studying a few Black actress from the Thirties, whom she dubs The Watermelon Girl. Based mostly on Dunye’s expertise hitting wall after wall whereas researching Black actresses, she invented the character as a fantasy and reclamation. The oh-so-90s-it-hurts aesthetic extends to Cheryl’s plum job as a video retailer clerk, the place she picks up Diana (Guinevere Turner) and takes courting recommendation from her hilarious butch buddy, Tamara (Valarie Walker). With cameos from Camille Paglia, Toshi Reagon, and Sarah Schulman, this film has lesbian icons popping out of its… wherever. —JD
6. “Desert Hearts” (dir. Donna Deitch, 1986)
This groundbreaking basic was among the many first occasions lesbians bought to sit down in a movie show with popcorn and see just a little piece of themselves on the silver display. Set within the Nineteen Fifties and in Reno, Nevada, it follows English professor Vivian Bell (Helen Shaver) as she awaits a divorce and begins a brand new life. Buttoned up and fragile, Vivian is straight away drawn to firecracker Cay Rivers (Patricia Charbonneau), a younger sculptor who isn’t afraid to go after what she needs. “Desert Hearts” could very nicely have been the primary lesbian film to not contain a love triangle with a person or finish in a tragedy. With sweeping visuals and a number of advanced feminine characters, the endurance of this historic movie can’t be denied. —JD
5. “Pariah” (dir. Dee Rees, 2011)
Each filmmaker will get her crack at a coming-of-age story that mirrors her personal, and people tales tackle rising significance when coming from not often seen views. Buzzing with the electrical energy of repressed sexuality lastly breaking free, “Pariah” follows teenage Alike (Adepero Oduye) as she embraces her queerness and masculine gender expression. The digicam virtually aches as Alike modifications out of her baseball hat and t-shirt on the practice house to Brooklyn, donning a girly sweater so as to calm her dad and mom’ suspicions (Kim Wayans and Charles Parnell). We soften alongside Alike as she lights up with the primary tingles of affection, seeing herself for the primary time via the needing eyes of Bina (Aasha Davis). Cinematographer Bradford Younger (“Arrival”) movies Alike’s first nights out on the membership in wealthy, saturated colours. The film pulses with the rhythm of old flame and the price of self-discovery. —JD
4. “Carol” (dir. Todd Haynes, 2015)
Every time Todd Haynes’ unspeakably lovely Patricia Highsmith adaptation involves thoughts, it brings among the novel’s final phrases together with it: “It will be Carol, in a thousand cities, a thousand homes, in international lands the place they’d go collectively, in heaven and hell.” In that gentle, a spot on a listing of the last decade’s greatest movies hardly looks as if a lot of a attain.
Dropped at life by the cautious genius of Phyllis Nagy’s script, the supple glow of Ed Lachmann’s 16mm cinematography, and two of probably the most extraordinary performances ever dedicated to celluloid (which isn’t to brush outdated Harge beneath the rug the place he belongs), Haynes’ Carol is greater than only a bone-deep melodrama a few mutual infatuation throughout a repressive time. It’s greater than a vessel for Carter Burwell’s swooning career-best rating, or Sandy Powell’s seductive costumes, or the uncommon queer romance that gave its characters a contented ending — an ending that resonates via Cate Blanchett’s coy smile with the blunt power of each inconceivable dream Carol Aird has ever had for herself. It’s extra than simply an immaculate response to a long time of “if solely” dramas like David Lean’s “Temporary Encounter,” or a heartstopping collection of small gestures that construct into the only most cathartic final shot of the twenty first century. It’s all of these issues (and extra!), however most of all it’s an indivisibly pure distillation of what it feels wish to fall in love alone and land someplace collectively. —DE
3. “However I’m a Cheerleader” (dir. Jamie Babbit, 1999)
Many homosexual rom-coms attempt to replicate the gooey, heteronormative requirements of their straight counterparts, simply with homosexual folks as an alternative of a person and a girl. That makes Jamie Babbit’s triumph “However I’m a Cheerleader” all of the extra particular, a very queer movie by all metrics that straight critics couldn’t get however the queers who noticed it might see themselves in. Minting each Natasha Lyonne and Clea Duvall as queer icons — and together with an current homosexual icon within the type of RuPaul — the movie takes the horrifying subject of conversion remedy camps and turns them right into a joke, as Lyonne’s girly Megan will get shipped to True Instructions to assist her turn out to be straight, solely to seek out herself and her sexuality. It’s campy, foolish, and hilariously humorous in its lampooning of gender roles and heteronormativity, but in addition deeply honest and wonderful, a mild story of turning into your true self. It’s the holy grail of lesbian rom-coms — and queer rom-coms typically. —WC
2. “The Handmaiden” (dir. Park Chan-wook, 2016)
When South Korean auteur Park Chan-wook selected as supply materials the lesbian historic fiction novel “Fingersmith,” by Welsh creator Sarah Waters, it appeared just a little out of left area. However altering the setting from Victorian England to Japanese-occupied Korea was an excellent transfer, and one which infused this chilly thriller a few con man and the 2 ladies he embroils in his plot with untold magnificence. Chan-wook elevates the e book’s tawdry parts to fetishistic extremes, turning out an erotic thriller each bit as beautiful as it’s sinister. Min-hee Kim is prim and alluring as Girl Hideko, by no means totally dropping the facade at the same time as she falls for her spirited handmaiden, Sook-Hee (Tae-ri Kim), who’s tasked with conning her out of her inheritance. As each ladies make do with the hand life has dealt them, they uncover ardour within the shared wrestle. —JD
1. “Sure” (The Wachowskis, 1996)
Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly are nonetheless flooding basements as Corky and Violet within the lethally horny “Sure.” The red-hot lovers are on the middle of the Wachowskis’ good 1996 directorial debut — a glossy and ferociously queer crime caper that bottled the filmmaking duo’s neo-noir aesthetic years earlier than “The Matrix.” When a former inmate-turned-plumber outdoes herself because the handywoman [wink] for a mafioso’s bored girlfriend, the ladies’s explosive chemistry sparks an concept for a harmful scheme.
The double-crossing of Caesar (Joe Pantoliano) isn’t on wheels just like the antics of Bonnie and Clyde, or their femme-for-femme counterparts Thelma and Louise. However the suspense of a pointy script, paired with the claustrophobia of an more and more tense Chicago condo advanced, delivers a splendidly oppressive impact. Spectacular bursts of terror and comedy, notably from a revved-up henchman performed by Christopher Meloni, pepper an environment that’s in any other case thick with romance.
Effortlessly steamy, the movie’s unforgettable lesbian leads… and the controversial use of full frontal nudity in a sapphic intercourse scene… nearly bought “Sure” an NC-17 score. That’s a testomony to the genuine fearlessness of the Wachowskis, Gershon, and Tilly: a lightning-strike inventive staff that even being apparent made beautiful artwork from the act of seducing you. —AF
