Sexuality is a spectrum, not unlike movie interests. Sometimes, you’re in the mood for a drama. Sometimes, you’re in the mood for a comedy. Sometimes, you’re in the mood for an unabashedly gay movie. When that’s the case, your Netflix subscription affords you a solid selection of choices! From Oscar-nominated originals to provocative documentaries, Netflix’s collection of LGBTQ films is among the best of any streamer. Still, it’s not exactly a mind-blowing library, so to help you find something worth your time, we’ve pulled together the best LGBTQ-themed movies on Netflix available right now.
When you’re done going through this list, check out the best LGBTQ films to stream right now on multiple services, the best new movies to stream on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and HBO, and the best Netflix original series you can stream right now.
100m
Genre
Drama, War, Romance
Stars
Gemma Arterton, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Lucas Bond
Directed by
Jessica Swale
As World War II rages across the English Channel, Alice (Gemma Arterton) leads a solitary, quiet life on the seaside cliffs of Southern England. The writer is peacefully, happily alone. But when she finds a young London evacuee on her doorstep with orders to adopt him, she is not pleased. The two soon find, however, that they have a more similar past than expected.
97m
Genre
Drama, Comedy
Stars
Jesse Plemons, Molly Shannon, Bradley Whitford
Directed by
Chris Kelly
Fresh off breaking up with his boyfriend, David (Jesse Plemons) moves from New York City back home to Sacramento to help his sick mother. Forced to move in with his conservative father and much younger sisters for the first time in a decade, David feels like a stranger in his own home. Desperate to extract meaning from the experience as his mother’s health declines, David insists to everyone (including himself) that everything is okay.
95m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Fionn O'Shea, Nicholas Galitzine, Andrew Scott
Directed by
John Butler
When Ned, a musically-inclined 16-year-old, arrives at a new all-male boarding school where everyone’s obsessed with rugby, he doesn’t exactly fit in. However, when he meets one of the top athletes, Conor, the two surprisingly hit it off. But as the two boys grow closer, the authorities at the school begin to question what’s going on.
94m
Genre
Drama, Romance, Comedy
Stars
Scott Evans, Augustus Prew, Michelle Buteau
Directed by
Mike Doyle
After five years together, Adam and Marklin have felt their passionate love affair dull to a simmer. Meanwhile, all their friends are engaged in endless searches for love in New York City, occasionally igniting their own passions but often wallowing in frustration. With their friends’ searches for love as a backdrop, Adam and Marklin must reconcile with one another’s shortcomings while trying to make it through a rut in their relationship.
110m
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Stars
Danielle Macdonald, Jennifer Aniston, Odeya Rush
Directed by
Anne Fletcher
Willowdean (Danielle Macdonald) is the plus-sized, teenage daughter of her small Texas town’s most legendary beauty queen (Jennifer Aniston). Today, her mom runs that local pageant and, just to prove how shallow-minded the pageant is, Willowdean signs up to compete. What starts as a mother-daughter spat, however, escalates into a full-on protest as other outcasts follow Willowdean’s steps to enter the pageant — all spurred on by a group of drag queens who refuse to let the girls settle for less.
132m
Genre
Comedy, Music, Romance
Stars
Meryl Streep, James Corden, Nicole Kidman
Directed by
Ryan Murphy
It’s not as good as it should be given the outrageously talented cast, and James Corden got perhaps one of the most undeserved Golden Globe nominations ever for it, but The Prom is nonetheless fun in a Ryan Murphy all-out glitz and glam sort of way. When a group of Broadway has-beens sees a news story about a small Indiana town that won’t let a teen go to the prom with her girlfriend, they flock to the town in an attempt to revitalize their careers through some performative activism. But soon, they find they might have more depth than they even realized themselves.
87m
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Stars
Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian
Directed by
Sean Baker
Locked up for 28 days, Sin-Dee is back out in the streets on Christmas Eve. Upon finding out that her pimp boyfriend hasn’t been faithful during her lockup, Sin-Dee and her best friend, Alexandra, head out to investigate the scandalous rumor. Their odyssey takes them deep into some of the most interesting and provocative subcultures in Los Angeles.
101m
Genre
Documentary
Stars
Julie Rodgers, Randy Thomas, Yvette Cantu Schneider
Directed by
Kristine Stolakis
A grim examination of the Evangelical church’s war on homosexuality, Pray Away follows five Evangelical men in the 1970s who struggled with being gay in the church. After forming a bible study to help one another, they received more than 25,000 letters from people asking for help, leading to the formation of Exodus International, the world’s largest conversion therapy organization. The leaders, however, could never “pray the gay away.” Today, many of the founders of the conversion therapy movement are now out and openly disavow the movement. Pray Away is the story of their evolution, as well as a look at the profound damage inflicted by the notorious practice.
81m
Genre
Crime, Drama, Romance
Stars
Vanessa Allen, Hannah Brooke, Chris Dettone
Directed by
Aly Hardt
Based on the manga series of the same name, Ride or Die stars Kiko Mizuhara as Rei Nagasawa, a Japanese woman who discovers her friend Nanae (Honami Sato) is suffering from domestic abuse at the hands of her husband. To prove her love to Nanae, Rei murders her spouse, sending the two women on the run from the law. A gutsy road film featuring unmistakable shades of Thelma and Louise, Ride or Die is a pulse-pounding blend of drama and romance led by the powerful dynamic between Mizuhara and Nagasawa.
93m
Genre
Romance, Comedy
Stars
Joan Cusack, Isabela Merced, Odeya Rush
Directed by
Luke Snellin
Adapted from the novel of the same name by Maureen Johnson, Let It Snow is the story of a small town called Waffle Town. Julie Reyes (Isabela Merced), a high school senior who has been accepted to Columbia University, is nervous to leave her ailing mother alone in W.T. When a snowstorm hits the community on Christmas Eve, Julie and her circle of acquaintances will discover the true meaning of the holiday when relationships crack open, romances are revealed, and new futures are created. A pleasant watch for the holiday season and any other time of year, Let It Snow will win you over in more ways than one.
94m
Genre
Drama, Romance, Comedy
Stars
Alia Shawkat, Laia Costa, Mae Whitman
Directed by
Miguel Arteta
Naima (Alia Shawkat) and Sergio (Laia Costa) are growing tired of loving connections that simply don’t make the grade. An aspiring film actress, Naima heads out to a gay bar with a friend where she first meets Sergio. After conversation and flirtation, the two decide to embark on a 24-hour bout of intimacy, an experiment Sergio believes will “fast forward” through the many beats of a romantic relationship. Led by raw performances from both Shawkat and Costa, Duck Butter is not your typical rom-com by any means, and what it may lack in complete originality the film makes up for with its tender tone and earnest acting.
110m
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Stars
Molly Nutley, Christopher Wollter, Fredrik Quinones
Directed by
Helena Bergström
It’s a modern-day Cinderella story with an LGBTQ twist. Dylan is a 23-year-old young woman from a small island who starts to work as a cleaner in a struggling drag club. But she harbors a secret: She wishes she could become a dancer. When the club’s star dancer learns of Dylan’s dreams and discovers she actually has talent, the question becomes: Is it OK if she disguises herself as a man to dance in drag when she’s biologically a woman? Hailing from Sweden, the light-hearted film is dubbed a comedy, making it a fun watch with a group of friends.
104m
Genre
Comedy, Romance
Stars
Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, Alexxis Lemire
Directed by
Alice Wu
Dubbed a loose retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac adjusted to fit the times, Ellie is a shy and lonely teenager who is often commissioned by fellow students to do their homework. She’s more than happy to do so and charges a fee to help her family make ends meet. But she gets a strange request when the school jock, Paul, asks her to ghostwrite love letters on his behalf to his crush, Aster. It works well at the start until Ellie begins to fall for Aster herself, which complicates the situation for everyone involved. It’s a sweet story of what truly makes people fall for one another and the importance of being true and honest to oneself.
94m
Genre
Drama, Music
Stars
Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman
Directed by
George C. Wolfe
This multi-Oscar-nominated film based on the August Wilson play of the same name stars Viola Davis as the title character, a blues singer from the 1920s. Davis mesmerizingly transforms into the influential woman who was not only a talented singer but also an advocate for Black and LGBTQ+ rights, even if she wasn’t as overtly outspoken as others. Rainey made no apologies for her lifestyle, openly dating women at a time when the mere thought was taboo, particularly for a woman of color. While the movie is worth watching for the incredible performances alone, including the late Chadwick Boseman as the ambitious trumpeter Levee Green, it’s an important film that celebrates the LGBTQ+ community.
108m
Genre
Documentary
Stars
Laverne Cox, Bianca Leigh, Jen Richards
Directed by
Sam Feder
This documentary takes a deep dive into the depiction of transgender people in Hollywood and how the stories told through film and television impact transgender people in real life, as well as how they shape and influence the overall cultural landscape. Disclosure features interviews with well-known transgender celebrities, such as Laverne Cox, Candis Cayne, Brian Michael Smith, Chaz Bono, and Lilly Wachowski. It has an almost perfect Rotten Tomatoes rating, with critics praising the documentary for shining a spotlight on the fact that we still have a long way to go for fair and honest representations of LGBTQ individuals on screen.
121m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer
Directed by
Joe Mantello
As important as the message this film portrays is the fact that the cast is made up entirely of openly gay actors. They play a group of gay friends who get together to celebrate a birthday in an Upper East Side Manhattan apartment. But things go awry when the host’s former college roommate, who happens to be straight, shows up uninvited. With an eclectic group of characters and personalities, the 1968-set, Ryan Murphy-produced drama explores the age-old issue of dealing with societal rejection and coming to terms with one’s truth and self-worth. The film is based on a Mart Crowley off-Broadway play from 1968, which was made into a movie in 1970 starring the same cast. The full cast of this new film played the same roles in a Broadway revival of the play in 2018 as well.
118m
Genre
Romance, History, Drama
Stars
Edward Chen, Jing-Hua Tseng, Leon Dai
Directed by
Kuang-Hui Liu
Set in 1988, two young men who have survived martial law in Taiwan discover that they are in love. But they don’t act on it for fear of pressure from their respective families and outright homophobia. The romance film, which was originally titled The Name Engraved in Your Heart, demonstrates the all-too-familiar journey of two men destined to be together but having to deny their truths in light of social stigmas. The movie was actually inspired by real events. The fact that Taiwan was the first Asian country to legalize gay marriage makes this an important film for the LGBTQ community.
92m
Genre
Documentary, History
Stars
Rachel Mason, Josh Mason, Larry Flynt
Directed by
Rachel Mason
This documentary by artist Rachel Mason is a riveting look at the popular and long-running bookstore and gay pornography shop, Circus of Books, in West Hollywood and in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. The store was first established in the ’60s as Book Circus. Rachel’s parents, Karen and Barry Mason, who were working with Hustler publisher Larry Flynt at the time, took over the store in the early ’80s and renamed it Circus of Books. The straight, religious couple with kids, however, kept the nature of their work a secret from family and friends. The business went through many challenges, from being caught in an FBI sting during President Ronald Reagan’s crackdown on pornography, to gaining a reputation for attracting hustlers in the wee hours of the morning. The store served as a refuge for LGBTQ community members during the height of the AIDS crisis, and the film highlights Karen and Barry’s struggles with being so heavily immersed in LGBTQ culture at a time when it was not socially accepted. Rachel’s doc tells the fascinating story of the store’s historical significance for the LGBTQ community, her parents’ role as unintentional activists, and how the internet destroyed the business.
119m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Matthias Schoenaerts
Directed by
Tom Hooper
Loosely inspired by the real story of Danish painters Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener, and based on the novel of the same name by David Ebershoff, The Danish Girl is an intriguing look at Elbe’s journey as one of the first known recipients of sex reassignment surgery. While the historical accuracy of the time (the mid-1920s) left some unimpressed, along with the casting of the cisgender Eddie Redmayne in a transgender role, the performances by the lead stars catapulted the touching film to Academy Award status.
105m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Victor Polster, Arieh Worthalter, Oliver Bodart
Directed by
Lukas Dhont
The story was inspired by Nora Monsecour, a trans female dancer who director Lukas Dhont met when he was a teenager. In the film, Lara (Victor Polster) is a 15-year-old trans girl, just like Monsecour, who aspires to be a professional ballerina. While she has support from some important people in her life as she deals with her gender dysphoria, attending a new school and going through puberty presents its own set of challenges. While the film received some criticism for portrayals of gender dysphoria and self-harm, Monsecour, who provided insight for the film, spoke out in support of it.
111m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Elliot Page, Allison Janney, Tammy Blanchard
Directed by
Siân Heder
Get ready to laugh with this film about Tallulah (Elliot Page), a young woman who ends up caring for a toddler whose mother, Carolyn (Tammy Blanchard), has no interest in raising. With nowhere else to go, Tallulah shacks up with her ex’s mother, Margo (the fantastic Allison Janney), and pretends the child is hers, and thus Margo’s granddaughter. The two women form an unlikely bond, revealing painful secrets as Tallulah tries to hide from both Carolyn and the police.
83m
Genre
Documentary
Stars
Terry Donahue, Pat Henschel, Diana Bolan
Directed by
Chris Bolan
The newest film on this list, this documentary is already receiving tremendous praise after being released in April 2020. Produced by Glee and American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy, A Secret Love tells the story of a pair of All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players who kept their romantic partnership a secret for almost seven decades. Based on the true story of director Chris Bolan’s two aunts, the tremendous sacrifice and weight the two women held on their shoulders for three-quarters of a century will both warm your heart for their intense dedication to one another and make you angry that they felt that couldn’t be freely and openly in love.
99m
Genre
Drama, Comedy
Stars
Hsieh Ying Shiuan, Roy Chiu, Joseph Huang
Directed by
Mag Hsu, Chih-yen Hsu
This black comedy-drama from Taiwan is about Song, a teenager who discovers that his recently deceased father was living a secret life when, after his passing, a strange man named Jay shows up. Not only is Jay listed as the life insurance beneficiary on Song’s father’s will, but he was also apparently his lover. Now Song finds himself caught between his mother Liu, who must deal with the reality that her husband was unfaithful and a closeted homosexual, and the free-spirited Jay, who has turned their lives upside down. The film was selected for the International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards but was not nominated.
99m
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Stars
Daniel Doheny, Madeline Weinstein, Antonio Marziale
Directed by
Craig Johnson
This rom-com follows one seemingly straight teenager’s journey in exploring his sexuality. While still a virgin and with a girlfriend, Alex meets another openly gay teen who has a crush on him and begins to question if he might be bisexual. The film has been praised for taking a refreshing and progressive look at the topic of teen sexuality.
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