(Photo by A24)

200 Best LGBTQ+ Movies of All Time

Our list of the 200 Best LGBTQ+ Movies of All Time stretches back 90 years to the pioneering German film, Mädchen in Uniform, which was subsequently banned by the Nazis, and crosses multiple continents, cultures, and genres. There are broad American comedies (The Birdcage), artful Korean crime dramas (The Handmaiden), groundbreaking indies (Tangerine), and landmark documentaries (Paris Is Burning). Over the last few years, we added titles like the documentary Welcome to Chechnya, about LGBTQ+ activists risking their lives for the cause in Russia; Certified Fresh comedy Shiva, Baby; and Netflix’s The Old Guard, a rare movie about super beings that showed a same-sex relationship between two of its heroes.

Culled from a longlist of hundreds, movies considered for the list prominently feature gay, lesbian, trans, or queer characters; concern itself centrally with LGBTQ+ themes; present its LGBTQ+ characters in a fair and realistic light; and/or be seen as a touchpoint in the evolution of queer cinema. Every movie here is Fresh, from at least 20 reviews. They’re ranked by Tomatometer, with Certified Fresh films first. And we recognize that some of the films in the list will re-ignite healthy debates that have been fixtures of discussion around LGBTQ+ films — straight actors playing gay characters, cis actors playing trans characters, and the historical dominance of white male perspectives. We’d encourage those debates to continue, respectfully, in the comments section below. (And speaking of comments: yes, we know that But I’m a Cheerleader is missing — we love it too! — but it’s Rotten.)

For our most recent update to the list, we’ve added mainstream comedies Fire Island and Bros, thriller Knock at the Cabin (featuring two pairs of husbands whose vacation is interrupted by the potential apocalypse), Disney feature Strange World (with the studio’s first openly gay lead character), Blue Jean (a British drama set during the Thatcher premiership), the extremely well-reviewed Girl Picture), France’s magical realist The Five Devils, and Cannes 2023 debuts Monster and Strange Way of Life.

For now, join us as we celebrate the work of hundreds of filmmakers whose talents and risks have opened up the possibilities of cinema.

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Best LGBTQ+ Movies
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