These LGBTQIA+ movies have made generations feel seen. For this list, we’re looking at influential films that follow LGBTQIA+ stories and characters, from a variety of genres.
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00:00 "I'm so sorry. You're still hung up on the fact that I like girls in this world."
00:06 Welcome to Ms Mojo, and today we'll be counting down our picks for the top 20 LGBTQIA+ movies.
00:15 For this list, we're looking at influential films that follow LGBTQIA+ stories and characters
00:22 from a variety of genres.
00:24 "Were you at the White Dog Cafe cruising all the cute girls again?"
00:28 "No, I was home doing something more important than this place, thank you."
00:31 Number 20, All About Eve.
00:35 "What do you do in between the time Margot goes in and comes out?
00:38 Just huddle in that doorway and wait? Oh no, I see the play."
00:44 In 1950, the Hays Code was still going strong in Hollywood,
00:49 the movie industry's method of relentless self-censorship.
00:53 That's why the queer characters in All About Eve, Eve Harrington herself,
00:57 and columnist Addison DeWitt, are the villains.
01:01 Despite this, though, All About Eve remains a landmark in representation,
01:06 even if it had to be coded, especially given the decade it was made in
01:11 and the fact it was a critically acclaimed Oscar winner.
01:14 "Margot, you've got to see her. She worships you. It's like something out of a book."
01:19 "That book is out of print, Karen. Those days are gone."
01:22 "But if you'd only see her, you're her whole life."
01:25 It follows Eve as she ingratiates herself with and slowly replaces
01:30 aging thespian Margot Channing, played by another gay icon, Bette Davis.
01:35 Eve adores Margot, but she adores her future career even more.
01:40 "I'd like anything Miss Channing played in. Would you really, how sweet."
01:44 All About Eve remains an extremely iconic moment in Western LGBTQIA+ cinema.
01:51 Number 19, Happy Together.
01:54 Beloved by cinephiles everywhere, Wong Kar Wai rarely misses with his films.
02:00 Happy Together is no exception.
02:02 This 90s romance stars Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung as La Yiu-Fai and Ho Po Wing,
02:11 respectively, two immigrants from Hong Kong living in Argentina.
02:22 Their relationship is toxic and generally unpleasant, as the pair repeatedly break up
02:28 and then get back together on even rockier footing than before,
02:32 marred by jealousy and trapped in poverty.
02:35 But it's a beautifully shot masterpiece and a true mediation on the complexities of love
02:49 and relationships, and has since been recognised as one of the greatest films in history.
02:55 Number 18, Call Me By Your Name.
02:58 "So what do you do around here?"
02:59 "Read books, transcribe music, swim at the river."
03:06 Set against the background of rural Italy, celebrated director Luca Guadagnino brings
03:12 to vivid life the 2007 novel of the same name. The story follows 17-year-old Elio
03:19 and his sultry relationship during the summer of 1983 with his father's assistant,
03:25 24-year-old grad student Oliver. The film is beautiful in every sense of the word,
03:32 capturing the pure essence of first love and first heartbreak amidst a gorgeous location.
03:38 By all accounts, Call Me By Your Name has blown critics away, receiving the longest-ever standing
03:44 ovation at the New York Film Festival and having the best opening for a gay romance
03:50 since Brokeback Mountain 12 years earlier.
03:54 "I love this, Oliver."
03:55 Number 17, Longtime Companion.
03:58 "Outbreak occurs among men in New York and California."
04:02 This movie derived its title from what the New York Times called the same-sex partner of somebody
04:08 who died of AIDS in the 1980s. Longtime Companion chronicles the early years of the AIDS epidemic
04:15 in the United States and the effects that it had. The first wide-release film to actually
04:21 talk about AIDS, it revolves around a group of characters trying to keep going in the face of
04:26 this devastating crisis, which had already killed 120,000 Americans by the time the movie came out.
04:35 "He has a high fever."
04:36 "How high?"
04:37 "105."
04:39 A heartbreaking story about grief and death, Longtime Companion also radiates a deep sense
04:45 of warmth, friendship, and courage.
04:48 "She has all these exercises where you look at yourself in the mirror and you say,
04:52 'I love my ears, I love my nose, I love myself.'"
04:55 Number 16, Milk.
04:57 "My name is Harvey Milk, and I want to recruit you."
05:00 Sean Penn stars in the role of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person to be elected to
05:06 public office in the United States. Though he only served as a member of the San Francisco
05:12 Board of Supervisors for about 11 months, until his tragic assassination in 1978,
05:20 the movie charts his campaign for office and the many LGBT+ people and allies who helped him on
05:27 his way.
05:28 "Dan, it's more than an issue."
05:31 His optimism, courage, and eventual martyrdom have all served to make Harvey Milk one of the
05:37 most important politicians in US history. Only a year after the movie's release,
05:44 Milk was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to commemorate his life.
05:50 "Can two men reproduce?"
05:52 "No, but God knows we keep trying."
05:55 Number 15, Weekend.
05:57 "Come on, put your leg over."
05:58 This bittersweet British movie captures a chance encounter between two men who form an intense
06:05 relationship over the course of a brief weekend. Meeting just days before one of them is planning
06:12 to leave the country, audiences are acutely aware that as the minutes go by, Glenn and Russell are
06:19 running out of time together. Weekend also discusses many social and political issues
06:25 faced by LGBTQIA+ people in the modern world in depth, such as heteronormativity and gay marriage.
06:34 This makes it down to earth and incredibly relevant to the lives and struggles of queer people today.
06:40 "I couldn't be more proud of you than if you were the first man on the moon."
06:47 Number 14, All About My Mother.
06:49 "What did you go to the coronation?"
06:50 "I went after my son's heart."
06:56 The central theme of All About My Mother is one of sisterhood and companionship
07:02 between all women, including the prominent trans characters in its message. The vibrant
07:07 visuals, bitter irony, and all-round tragic comedy of this poignant Spanish-language movie
07:13 have been lauded by critics and theatregoers for decades.
07:18 Nurse Manuela's son Esteban is killed at the movie's outset in a car accident,
07:24 leading her to go and inform Esteban's other parent, a transgender woman named Lola,
07:30 of the son they never knew about.
07:32 "The only thing I have is my feelings and the gallons of silicone that weigh me like quintals."
07:37 Number 13, Everything Everywhere All at Once.
07:44 "Thank you for doing this."
07:45 "You look really pretty right now."
07:48 The most talked-about film of 2022, Everything Everywhere All at Once was an immigrant story
07:56 disguised as a romp through the multiverse.
07:59 "I'm just telling you now in case my mom says something dumb like you're sad or whatever."
08:04 But the real heart of the movie is, of course, the relationship between Evelyn,
08:09 played by Michelle Yeoh, and her daughter Joy, played by Stephanie Hsu.
08:14 "You, you have to try and eat healthier. You are getting fat."
08:20 Joy is queer, and Evelyn is having a hard time accepting that.
08:26 But slowly, by encountering a villainous parallel universe version of Joy known as Jobu,
08:32 she comes to understand and learn what she needs to do.
08:36 "Joy? Why do you look so stupid?"
08:39 It's a wild ride from start to finish, and it's not until Evelyn can repair her
08:44 relationship with her daughter that she can also repair the multiverse.
08:48 Number 12, But I'm a Cheerleader
08:51 "I myself was once a gay. Now I'm an ex-gay, Megan."
08:57 We've had much bleaker examinations of conversion therapy in recent years,
09:03 with films like The Miseducation of Cameron Post.
09:06 However, one conversion therapy movie remains a cornerstone of queer culture in the 20th century.
09:13 But I'm a Cheerleader, starring Natasha Lyonne and Clea Duval.
09:18 "You don't have any pictures of guys in your locker? Just these?"
09:21 It manages to find the comedy inherent in the dark absurdity of conversion therapy,
09:28 as well as giving a message to struggling queer youth that even if it's hard now,
09:34 you can find your people and you will be accepted.
09:38 "I thought everybody had those thoughts. I just want to be normal."
09:45 Though it was far from a critical darling, it's an iconic film
09:50 that has touched many people and is a classic in the queer canon.
09:54 Number 11, Carol
09:56 "Oh, your perfume."
09:58 "Yes."
09:59 "It's nice."
10:01 Todd Haynes' cinematic masterpiece explores the affair between housewife Carol Eyred,
10:06 played by Cate Blanchett, and photographer Therese Belovit, played by Rooney Mara.
10:12 The film is set in New York in 1952. While neither of them feel shame about their love,
10:18 it needs to be kept secret so that Carol won't lose custody of her young daughter
10:23 as she goes through a divorce.
10:25 "I always spend years alone in the crowds. I'm all alone this year."
10:33 Based on Patricia Highsmith's novel The Price of Salt,
10:36 the relationship between Carol and Therese is beautifully translated to the big screen
10:42 and offers an uplifting ending rarely seen in a gay period drama.
10:46 The critically acclaimed Carol goes to show that even in the repressed 1950s,
10:52 love will always win.
10:54 "It's not your fault, Therese."
10:57 Number 10, Some Like It Hot
11:00 "How do they walk in these things, huh? How do they keep their balance?"
11:03 "Must be the way the weight is distributed. Now, come on."
11:05 Another classic movie that was released with Hollywood still under the tyranny of the Hays Code.
11:12 Some Like It Hot defied the code and was so successful in doing so
11:16 that it contributed to its eventual repeal.
11:19 It follows Jerry and Jo, two musicians who disguise themselves as women
11:24 so they can join an all-girl band and escape the mob.
11:28 Not only do many of the characters in the film view the kiss between Jo and Sugar,
11:36 played by Marilyn Monroe, as same-sex, even though the audience knows better,
11:41 but Jerry goes on his own journey with gender identity.
11:44 "I'm good on level with you. We can't get married at all."
11:48 "Why not?"
11:49 And in recent years, the Broadway adaptation of Some Like It Hot
11:53 has made its queer themes even stronger.
11:56 "But you don't understand, Osgood. I'm a man. Well, nobody's perfect."
12:03 Number 9, Love, Simon
12:08 For years, LGBTQIA+ people were wondering where their sappy teen rom-coms were,
12:16 and eventually, we got Love, Simon.
12:19 "So like I said, I'm just like you. I have a totally, perfectly normal life.
12:24 Except I have one huge-ass secret."
12:26 It was both revolutionary and not-revolutionary,
12:30 going over old ground with secret crushes and love triangles,
12:33 but taking all that in a new direction by following a gay protagonist.
12:38 "Abby?"
12:39 "Yeah?"
12:41 "I'm gay."
12:46 "Oh."
12:49 It also deals heavily with coming out and being outed.
12:53 Even if you're surrounded by loving, outwardly accepting people,
12:57 coming out can still be frightening, and Love, Simon doesn't shy away from that.
13:02 "I'm supposed to be the one that decides when and where and how and who knows and
13:06 how I get to say it that's supposed to be my thing, and you took that away from me."
13:10 Plus, it's also got some rarely-seen bisexual representation,
13:15 and an unfortunate rarity, a happy ending for its gay characters.
13:20 Number 8. The Matrix
13:23 "The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now in this very room."
13:29 It's only in recent years that The Matrix, arguably the single most influential action film
13:35 ever created, has been recognised as being about the transgender experience through and through.
13:42 Back in the 90s, neither of the Wachowskis were out as trans women,
13:47 but decades on, and they've talked about what really happened behind the scenes.
13:51 "You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain. But you feel it."
13:56 Ultimately, The Matrix examines gender dysphoria in a way few films have been able to,
14:02 as a deep, irrepressible feeling that something isn't right with the world and the way you are perceived.
14:09 "But you feel it. You've felt it your entire life. That there's something wrong with the world.
14:15 You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad."
14:22 Both Lilly and Lana Wachowski have said that, yes, The Matrix is a transgender metaphor,
14:28 and that if they'd been able to at the time, the movies would have been even more overtly trans.
14:34 "You take the Red Pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."
14:41 Number 7. Brokeback Mountain
14:43 "It's nobody's business but ours."
14:45 The tragic bond between Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar is a landmark love story in queer cinema.
14:53 Ang Lee has been credited, along with A-list leads Jake Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger,
14:59 with paving the way for blockbuster movies to finally show gay characters.
15:04 Named for the location of the unforgettable summer the two characters shared together,
15:09 Brokeback Mountain captures the pain of being closeted, and has become one of the all-time
15:16 greatest romance tales.
15:18 "I wish I knew how to quit you."
15:20 Its cultural impact is undeniable,
15:23 despite it being made the butt of many unpleasant jokes since its release.
15:29 "If you can't fix it, Jack, you gotta stand it."
15:32 Number 6. Paris Is Burning
15:35 "For us, it's as close to reality as we're gonna get to all of that
15:40 fame and fortune and stardom and spotlight."
15:43 While it remains controversial in some circles, this documentary on the bull culture of the
15:49 minorities in 1980s NYC is responsible for putting one of history's most important subcultures
15:57 in the spotlight.
15:58 Jenny Livingston's seminal piece of filmmaking explored the lives of a group of Black and
16:03 Latino gay men, trans people, and drag queens, and brought drag acts and voguing firmly into
16:10 the mainstream.
16:11 Filmed over a period of several years, Paris Is Burning artfully chronicles the most
16:17 important figures in the golden age of drag bulls and is one of the most culturally significant
16:24 documentaries in history.
16:27 "We have had everything taken away from us, and yet we have all learned how to survive."
16:33 Number 5. The Handmaiden
16:36 Park Chan-wook adapted The Handmaiden from a British novel set in the Victorian era,
16:42 Fingersmith, changing the setting from England to Korea under Japanese occupation in the 1930s.
16:49 It followed the romance between Sook-hee and Hideko, with Sook-hee hired by a nefarious
17:06 swindler to trick Hideko so that he can steal her fortune.
17:10 Of course, though, Sook-hee and Hideko fall in love, and we quickly learn that nothing
17:16 is as it seems.
17:17 The twists and turns are mind-blowing, but it's Park Chan-wook himself who elevates The
17:33 Handmaiden to a modern masterpiece.
17:36 It's an outstanding film by every metric. Its writing, acting, cinematography, and directing
17:44 are all superb.
17:46 Number 4. Tangerine
17:54 "Hey, Alexandra, come here."
17:56 The fact that this comedy-drama, set on a sun-soaked Christmas Eve in LA, was shot entirely
18:02 on iPhones isn't the only impressive thing about it. Tangerine aims to capture the realities
18:09 faced by trans sex workers every day, bringing an area of street culture rarely seen in the
18:15 media plenty of much-needed attention.
18:18 Its lead roles, Cindy and Alexandra, are played by first-time trans actresses Kitana Kiki
18:25 Rodriguez and Maya Taylor, and it was shot on a minuscule budget of $100,000. Despite
18:32 its production obstacles, director Sean Baker still released a hilarious, heart-wrenching,
18:39 and age-defining film.
18:41 Number 3. The Watermelon Woman
18:47 This semi-autobiographical film was created by Cheryl Dunye, exploring the intersection
18:54 of lesbian identity and Black identity.
18:57 "I'm tired of you and your projects. The watermelon woman. Who the hell is she? Who
19:01 the hell was she? Who cares?"
19:02 Cheryl works in a VHS store by day, and by night she moonlights as a documentarian, who
19:08 becomes interested in tracking down a Black actress who was featured in a movie about
19:13 the antebellum South.
19:15 "In these films, in some of the films, the Black actresses aren't even listed in the
19:19 credits, and I was just totally shocked by that."
19:22 It's about retracing the life of marginalized identities through cinema, and bringing these
19:28 people and experiences, who would otherwise go completely forgotten, back into the foreground.
19:35 "I'm gonna make a movie about her. I'm gonna find out what her real name is, who
19:40 she was and is, everything I can find out about her."
19:42 Queer people have always existed, and that's the point this movie gets across exceptionally
19:49 well, made even more impressive by the fact it was Dunye's directorial debut.
19:54 Number 2 - Portrait of a Lady on Fire
19:58 "It's been years since I've dreamed of doing this.
19:59 Dying. Running."
20:05 Another lesbian period drama, this one takes us to a remote French island in the 18th
20:11 century. Written and directed by Céline Sciamma, herself a lesbian, with queer actress
20:17 Adèle Annel as one of the leads, Portrait of a Lady on Fire has representation on and
20:23 off camera.
20:24 It examines female desire through a wholly female gaze,
20:38 something there still isn't enough of in cinema today.
20:42 "Look. If you look at me, who am I looking at?"
20:50 The plot has a painter, Marianne, sent to the isolated island to do a wedding portrait
20:56 of Héloïse, who initially refuses to sit for it, and they fall in love.
21:01 "I thought you were afraid."
21:03 "You were right. I'm afraid."
21:10 It's a beautifully shot film and a heartbreaking story, told with complete authenticity.
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21:33 Number 1 - Moonlight
21:37 Moonlight is the kind of groundbreaking film that only comes along once in a generation.
21:44 Exploring what it means to grow up a gay black man in America, it gives a voice to people who
21:50 are underrepresented in contemporary cinema. We see main character Chiron through the many
21:57 stages of his life - his childhood, his adolescence, and later early adulthood - as
22:04 he navigates a complicated world. An astounding exploration of character and identity, this
22:11 masterstroke has taken home more than 150 different awards, including the Oscar for Best Picture.
22:21 "Chiron in trouble always found a way. Yeah, something like that."
22:26 Which queer movie helps you feel seen? Be sure to let us know in the comments.
22:31 "My name...is Neil."
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