Queer cinema is a broad category that can be defined in infinite ways; is it a pioneering meditation on forbidden love, like that explored in films like or Is it the scrappy, DIY spirit of in the 1980s, or the New Queer Cinema movement in the 1990s, courtesy of directors like and ? Or are the best examples to be found in the new age of queer cinema we’re witnessing in the 21st century, as major studios finally begin throwing their weight behind telling LGBTQ+ stories on screen, and films like Barry Jenkins’s take home the best-picture Oscar? At the end of the day, the magical thing about queer film is its mutability. It can be a heartfelt ode to two trans sex workers shot on an iPhone like Sean Baker’s a riveting documentary shining a light on an overlooked corner of queer history like , Jennie Livingston’s deep-dive into ; or a lavish studio film with a starry Hollywood cast, like ’s Here, we round up all of our favorite LGBTQ+ films, from forgotten underground hits to splashy, big-budget spectacles. (2024) Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian shine in this queer crime thriller about a bodybuilder en route to a convention in Los Angeles who falls for a gym owner whose familial life of crime soon comes back to haunt them both.
More movies about extremely muscular lesbians, please! —Emma Specter (2024) Jane Schoenbrun’s A24 debut revolves around two lonely high-school kids who become obsessed with a late-night TV show that functions (expertly, I might add) as an al.