If “Barbie” was imagined to be the Yr of the Lady, then what do you name the three-month stretch of 2024 that gave us “Love Lies Bleeding,” “Drive-Away Dolls,” and a musical “Imply Ladies” with lesbian intern Reneé Rapp? Sizzling 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 time turned out to be a launch celebration for the trendy Republicans’ debut EP, “Now That’s What I Name Fascism!” Fall.
To paraphrase a bi-coded owl from an nearly completely heterosexual TV present, “Whenever you take a look at one thing by rose-colored glasses, all of the crimson flags simply seem like flags.” It’s a painful factor to yearn for popular culture controversies that may’ve exhausted us a yr in the past. The place is the annual railing towards client tradition? How can we get again to No Kink at Satisfaction discourse? Please, expensive God, can somebody yell at me on social media for quoting “BoJack Horseman” when “Tuca & Bertie” was proper there?!
Historical past may have predicted the ultraconservative backlash we’re residing by in 2025, however that doesn’t make experiencing it any simpler. For hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ folks world wide, this Satisfaction Month has been an intersectional clusterfuck blanked in anxiousness, confusion, and grief. Positive, you possibly can nonetheless watch “Turning into,” that documentary about Michelle Obama from 2020, on Netflix and the previous First Woman might convey you some consolation. However even her most well-known recommendation (“Once they go low, we go excessive…”), doesn’t hit the identical when in all places you look democracy is on hearth.
Today, the perfect lesbian motion pictures are any lesbian motion pictures — homophobic propaganda however. Trump has used the federal authorities to wage conflict on variety, fairness, and inclusion initiatives throughout the nation. He’s received 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 listing of the best hits for gay ladies.
We’ve nonetheless received outdated entries written by former colleagues we miss dearly, and there’s at the very least a dozen titles that didn’t transfer an inch on our rating. Nonetheless, increasing to 40 movies in all, our new picks replicate a fancy combine. Borrowing one other lesson from “Barbie” (which actually ought to have had a single lesbian character in it, don’t you suppose?), ladies can’t be all the pieces to everybody. That very same philosophy has been utilized right here. You’ll discover gold-star tasks in the direction of the highest, however we’ve additionally introduced some divisive tasks in addition to a handful of so-called “lesbian classics” which are 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 motion pictures that go each methods. That stated, the seminal girl-on-girl disaster-piece “Merciless Intentions” didn’t make the reduce, 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 Motion pictures That Aren’t Explicitly Homosexual?)
This listing gained’t work for each lady or nonbinary one who loves ladies and nonbinary folks. What one lesbian may see as a daring and important entry in queer canon (hi there, “Tár”) one other might dismiss as tawdry and inconsequential (hi there once more, “Tár.”) However isn’t that the type of struggle we miss having? Learn on for IndieWire’s listing of the 40 Finest Lesbian Motion pictures Ever Made. —Alison Foreman
With editorial contributions by Jude Dry, David Ehrlich, Jamie Righetti, and Tambay Obenson.
40. “Imply Ladies” (dir. Mark Waters, 2004)
The musical model of this 2004 traditional 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 authentic, as a lot because it exhibits its age in the way it makes use of the label of lesbian as a punchline, is a extra important queer textual content, as loads of women who grew up with it discovered themselves enthralled within the complicated net of resentment, admiration, and jealousy that varieties between new to high school Cady (Lindsay Lohan), final imply woman 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, significantly within the iconic monologue the place Cady extolls how Regina has consumed her each thought. Its lesbianism is likely to be principally subtext, however it’s sufficient to earn “Imply Ladies” a everlasting place in any queer film night time 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 toes and onto his property Manderlay. However their relationship, introduced by 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 may argue that the ebook’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 one among Alfred Hitchcock’s best 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 traditional, 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, however it’s her nerdy finest good friend 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 best motion pictures 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 need to turn into different ladies. Eve Herrington’s (performed with verve and a brief reduce 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 need 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 motion pictures on this listing, from the explicitly to the implicitly queer, owe their existence to “All About Eve.” —WC
36. “Shiva Child” (dir. Emma Seligman, 2020)
A farce changed into a strain cooker thriller, “Shiva Child” is at its core a relatable story of a bisexual millennial determining what she desires. Rachel Sennott broke out in Emma Seligman’s movie taking part in Danielle, a directionless younger lady who grapples with emotions of inadequacy and resentment when she attends a shiva together with her mother and father. Additionally there are her sugar daddy (Danny Deferrari), his spouse (Dianna Agron), and her far more profitable ex-girlfriend (Molly Gordon), compounding all the various 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 instances due to 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 received 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 have a good time. In lots of respects, Ol Parker’s British import may be very a lot a traditional rom-com: a woman (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 truly be with. The important thing distinction is that the particular person she ought to truly be with can also be a woman (Lena Headey). “Think about Me & You” very a lot follows all of the beats that you simply’re acquainted with, and is perhaps a contact stale for it, however the actors are charming, the jokes are witty, and the feelings are heightened from the problems conserving the leads aside being much more practical, 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 gained her Oscar for “Distress,” Kathy Bates didn’t know 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 heart of Fannie Flagg’s 1987 ebook. Talking with IndieWire, Bates stated 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 college instructor 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 finest remembered because the movie that helped cement Kristen Stewart as each an excellent actor and as a lesbian icon. However there’s a lot extra to Olivier Assayas’ movie, a meditation on fame, picture, and ageing constructed across the efficiency and persona of Juliette Binoche, taking part in a task 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 lady relatively than the younger ingénue. Retreating to the Sils Maria settlement within the Alps, she prepares for the position together 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 inside 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 energetic, although insular, universe, toying with actual occasions to function help and motivation for the interiority and conflicts of the movie’s characters. Unfolding like a bed room farce, principally inside 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 by the tangled ties of a frail Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) with two different scheming and impressive ladies — her shut good friend and advisor Woman 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 habits and unpredictability, that epitomizes the expression “palace intrigue,” as a nation’s destiny lies inside the relations amongst ladies who’ve succumbed to the excruciating problems of affection. —JD
30. “Kissing Jessica Stein” (dir. Charles Herman-Wurmfeld, 2001)
Earlier than she was generally known as Jon Hamm’s (ex-)companion, 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 lady named Helen, performed by co-writer Heather Jeurgenson, Jessica embarks on the slowest-moving lesbian love affair in historical past. It’s the type 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 finest good friend (Jackie Hoffman), and a lovably overbearing Jewish mom (Tovah Feldshuh). With out spoiling the ending (should 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 loads like its protagonist; so rattling beautiful, it’s no marvel everybody desires 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 faculty from “However I’m a Cheerleader,” with broader industrial 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 take a look at. It’s stupidly enjoyable, sweetly romantic, and much more subversive than it will get credit score for. —JD
28. “I Can’t Suppose 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 means as a result of she is solely…not drawn to males. However when the strain of pursuing actual love with a lady 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 Suppose Straight” sees the filmmaker and writer adapt her personal work to create a culturally distinct consideration of familial obligation. The 2008 movie gained’t resonate with all audiences — it’s stilted at instances, awkward extra usually, and might’t decide a perspective on spiritual homophobia — however it provides a compelling sufficient rom-com, two leads with crackling chemistry, and a number of the finest sapphic lover letters in cinematic historical past. “Each night time 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 in all shapes and predilections, a truth 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 by the eyes of Claude (Allison Folland), a delicate loner who follows her wild finest good friend, 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 allure. Like “Desperately In search of Susan” with kissing, or “Children” with out homophobia, “All Over Me” borrowed from the greats and but feels wholly authentic. —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 problems and tensions that may spark in a long-lasting queer union. Annette Bening and Julianne Moore star as Nic and Jules, a pair with youngsters 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 understand, I went to a “Our bodies Our bodies Our bodies” celebration 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” writer Kristen Roupenian, this incisive dissection of aesthetic queerness asks a query positive to make your group chat shake: Are we actually associates — or was this only for the pictures?
A24’s uber-stylish slasher deconstruction works properly sufficient as a tackle the horror style, however it 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 celebration at a mansion in the midst of a hurricane. When the facility goes out and the group’s premiere fuckboy (oh, hey, Pete Davidson) turns up lifeless, it takes subsequent to nothing for the supposedly far-left cool youngsters 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 wonderful 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 would shake even the ladies of “The L Phrase,” with the heel-turn abandonment that usually 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 group that marks it as queer even earlier than Evan Rachel Wooden and Gina Rodriguez lock lips. The household on the coronary heart of the function isn’t your typical unaccepting conservative clan, although; as an alternative, Wooden’s Outdated 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 talent is the flexibility to tug off petty scams. When her mother and father rope Rodriguez’s Melanie into their schemes, Dolio is envious of the opposite lady, however quickly finds on this stranger a chance 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 best function is its splendidly honest beating coronary heart. —WC
23. “Rafiki” (dir. Wanuri Kahiu, 2018)
Initially banned in its residence nation of Kenya, this tender queer romance pulses with vibrant 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 evenly into fraught territory, they need to cope with small-town busybodies and the judgment of their conservative society. Boasting nuanced performances from the 2 charismatic newcomers, Wanuri Kahiu’s assured debut function is a vital reminder of the wrestle many nonetheless face to dwell out and proud. The primary Kenyan movie to play Cannes, Kahiu gained a landmark court docket 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 artistic 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 consists of 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 automotive with some felony 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 profitable duo in Qualley and Viswanathan. It’s a dynamic you’ve seen a thousand instances 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 attractive. —WC
21. “Come See Me within the Good Gentle” (dir. Ryan White, 2025)
A genderqueer poet and their companion 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 essential 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 look after the folks in it may be its personal type of artwork kind.
As complicated conversations about impermanence spill into more and more tough 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 would earnestly encourage compassion from some much less tolerant viewers, and the venture general helps enhance their voices and platform in a tough 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 instructor Jean (a riveting Rosy McEwan) as Part 28 — regressive laws that closed LGBT advocacy organizations and restricted dialogue of homosexuality in colleges — 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 together with her girlfriend at night time. It’s particularly terrible when an incident at college forces her to decide on between doing the precise factor and conserving herself protected. It’s a thorny, emotionally complicated 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 Ladies in Love” (dir. Maria Maggenti, 1995)
That includes an interracial romance throughout class strains, Maria Maggenti’s 1995 traditional 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 stunned by Holloman’s kinetic efficiency because the brooding fuel station employee from the flawed facet of the tracks, and her smoldering seems to be hold the chemistry palpably candy. A captivating teen romance laced with incisive commentary on class and race, this queer traditional 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 unequalled as we speak. It stars Vivica A. Fox, Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, and Kimberly Elise as 4 associates who turn into 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 desires. Cleo was a cocky, loud, swaggering butch — and she or he will get laid. Lastly, a narrative about badass ladies combating the system that saved them down, and nobody may 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 Area, 2022)
The subtextual controversies plaguing Todd Area’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 non secular “Black Swan” successor chronicles the downfall of the titular Lydia Tár. She’s predatory and a lesbian, sure, however Area doesn’t go as far as to recommend that she is predatory as a result of she is a lesbian — as an alternative analyzing the within of a MeToo-era investigation by 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 like a person. She provides skilled favors to those that return them sexually and tosses out her toys with the trash when she’s carried out. That’s habits that may and has been exhibited by queer ladies, however once more, not as a result of they’re queer. Area doesn’t handle that homophobic perspective on display as a result of he by no means appeared to entertain it in his building of the character. What “Tár” may lack in genuine lesbian authorship it as an alternative makes up for with a radically agender method to portraiture that inserts a poisonous homosexual lady as its patriarchal monster: an elitist automaton who by no means bothered to kill the person in her personal head. In case you’re nonetheless questioning if this film a few lesbian is a lesbian film, perhaps it’s worthwhile to have a phrase with the one residing in yours. —AF
16. “Love Lies Bleeding” (dir. Rose Glass, 2024)
You understand what they are saying: Behind each magnetic masc managing an Albuquerque fitness center 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 consider 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 simple to like when the motion slows down. Sadly, you’ll spend the vast majority of A24’s romantic and typically 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 actually bewilders, although. You’ll be begging Lou and Jackie to get outta dodge means earlier than they even take into consideration skipping city. Will or not 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 riot you may suppose. Within the exquisitely melancholic lesbian romance, Rachel Weisz performs Ronit, an excommunicated Jewish lady who unexpectedly returns residence after the loss of life of her father. She’s quickly reunited together with her outdated good friend 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 provides not only a compelling LGBTQ love story, however a strong reflection on the foundations we select to comply with and people we struggle 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 at the present time. —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 Eighties New York Metropolis, the movie is an creative mash-up of energizing authentic musical numbers, free-wheeling handheld motion pictures, and information footage of precise demonstrations and police violence. The story is advised by two underground feminist radio hosts who mobilize their factions after the Black radical founding father of the Lady’s Military is suspiciously killed in police custody. Although this wildly creative movie defies categorization, it’s best described as an afro-futurist political sci-fi comedy — the one one among its variety. That includes performances from a younger Kathryn Bigelow, Eric Bogosian, and civil rights activist Florynce Kennedy, “Born in Flames” is an important 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 fingers by capturing 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 may make a revenue. Turner performed Max, a headstrong author who begins relationship the older and quieter Ely (V.S. Brodie) regardless of preliminary reservations. Max’s associates, a jovial lesbian peanut gallery, provide 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 allure. Syd (Radha Mitchell) is a younger artwork critic assigned to a giant profile on infamous photographer Lucy Berliner (Ally Sheedy). Tough 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 images as each flirtation and cinematic system, “Excessive Artwork” typically looks like a up to date “Carol.” In fact, it was filmed practically twenty years earlier than. —JD
11. “Bottoms” (dir. Emma Seligman, 2023)
Finally, a raunchy, imply highschool comedy for the gays! From “Shiva Child” director Emma Seligman, “Bottoms” performs like a queer parody of traditional intercourse comedies like “American Pie” or “Superbad,” besides far weirder and extra related than these movies may ever hope to be. Seligman creates a demented, surreal cracked mirror of the standard 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 courses final two minutes earlier than the bell rings. Rachel Sennot and Ayo Edebiri, because the egocentric lesbian losers who begin a phony struggle membership as a half-baked scheme to make out with cheerleaders, are the proper actresses for Seligman’s imaginative and prescient. They carry a singular comedic wit that makes their ceaselessly irritating characters deeply entertaining. Positive, 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 traditional, 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 be taught to not let love cross her by. —JD
9. “Portrait of a Woman on Fireplace” (dir. Céline Sciamma, 2019)
Celine Sciamma’s luscious tour-de-force virtually calls for to be seen on the massive display, however its delicate glances and wealthy performances provide loads 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 ladies’s restricted choices, or relatively, the endlessly artistic methods they realized 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 obvious 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 lady (Laura Harring) and a younger actress (Naomi Watts) who fall prey to the fickle desires of Los Angeles — captures probably the most sapphic facet of the late visionary director audiences ever knew. It will 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 need to be together with her… or do I need to turn into 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 Gifted Mr. Ripley” by its viery nature. Nonetheless, the depth you see in Lynch’s feminine characters right here will impression how critical of a “lesbian movie you take into account “Mulholland Drive” to be. There’s a girlishness to the tragedy that unfolds between Harring and Watts that recollects a sleepover gone sideways, a deep and private ache that means the type of mattress loss of life some heartbroken lesbians can by no means come again from. —AF
7. “The Watermelon Lady” (dir. Cheryl Dunye, 1996)
In 1996, there have been solely so many pictures of Black ladies onscreen, fewer of Black lesbians. That’s precisely why, when Cheryl Dunye forged herself as a documentarian in her function debut, this intelligent meta-theatrical system added one other layer to what nonetheless would have been a captivating 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 Lady. 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 relationship 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 traditional was among the many first instances lesbians received 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 instantly drawn to firecracker Cay Rivers (Patricia Charbonneau), a younger sculptor who just isn’t afraid to go after what she desires. “Desert Hearts” might very properly 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 complicated 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 growing 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 adjustments out of her baseball hat and t-shirt on the practice residence to Brooklyn, donning a girly sweater in an effort to calm her mother and father’ 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 by 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 past love and the price of self-discovery. —JD
4. “Carol” (dir. Todd Haynes, 2015)
Each time Todd Haynes’ unspeakably stunning Patricia Highsmith adaptation involves thoughts, it brings a number of the novel’s final phrases together with it: “It might 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 an inventory of the last decade’s finest movies hardly looks as if a lot of a attain.
Delivered to 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 comb outdated Harge below 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 cheerful ending — an ending that resonates by Cate Blanchett’s coy smile with the blunt power of each not possible dream Carol Aird has ever had for herself. It’s extra than simply an immaculate response to many years of “if solely” dramas like David Lean’s “Temporary Encounter,” or a heartstopping collection of small gestures that construct into the one 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 prefer 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 lady. That makes Jamie Babbit’s triumph “However I’m a Cheerleader” all of the extra particular, a really queer movie by all metrics that straight critics couldn’t get however the queers who noticed it may see themselves in. Minting each Natasha Lyonne and Clea Duvall as queer icons — and together with an present 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 into 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 delicate story of turning into your true self. It’s the holy grail of lesbian rom-coms — and queer rom-coms generally. —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 writer Sarah Waters, it appeared just a little out of left discipline. However altering the setting from Victorian England to Japanese-occupied Korea was a superb 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 ebook’s tawdry parts to fetishistic extremes, turning out an erotic thriller each bit as attractive as it’s sinister. Min-hee Kim is prim and alluring as Woman Hideko, by no means absolutely dropping the facade whilst 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. “Certain” (dir. The Wachowskis, 1996)
Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly are nonetheless flooding basements as Corky and Violet within the lethally attractive “Certain.” The red-hot lovers are on the heart of the sibling Wachowskis’ function directorial debut from 1996 — a glossy and ferociously queer crime caper that bottled the filmmakers’ neo-noir aesthetic years earlier than “The Matrix.” When a former inmate-turned-plumber outdoes as herself because the handywoman [wink] for a mafioso’s bored girlfriend, their explosive chemistry sparks an thought for a harmful scheme.
The double-crossing of Caesar (Joe Pantoliano) will not be on wheels just like the antics of Bonnie and Clyde, and even Thelma and Louise, however the suspense of the Wachowskis’ sharp script paired with the claustrophobia of a Chicago condominium winds up splendidly oppressive. Spectacular bursts of ardour and comedy — significantly from a revved-up henchman performed by Christopher Meloni — pepper air that’s in any other case heavy with romance.
Effortlessly steamy, the movie’s unforgettably lesbian leads and controversial use of full frontal nudity nearly received it caught with an NC-17 score. That’s a testomony to the expertise of the Wachowskis, Gershon, and Tilly: a lightning-strike artistic staff that even being apparent about it make a beautiful sapphic artwork from the act of seducing you. —AF