Queer Movies to Watch

No, NOT Blue is the Warmest Color or Call Me By Your Name. Stay Far away from those movies. Please. (I also hate Tangerine but to my memory it's only because it looked horrendous and shouldnt be

1.Fire Island-rated r, comedy, romance

tw: drugs & (I'd call it the "ra" word but it might not be) sexual content is shared without consent

cast: Conrad Ricamora, Joel Kim Booster, Bowen Yang, Torian Miller, Margaret Cho, Matt Rogers, Tomas Matos, Zane Phillips

Plot: queer besties go to Fire Island for a their annual week of romance/sex and just fun times. But, something happens that threatens their annual trip and new people make their way into their bubble. Also has: a main character who is anti love versus his friend that is a romantic...love that pairing.

Such a funny and sweet (yet a bit intense) movie.

Fire Island was such a fun movie to watch after going through a movie block (that's where I can''t find any movie I wanna watch and rewatch movies I've definitely seen more than the average person).

2. The Way He Looks-2014- romance/drama

A movie set in Brazil that features a young mlm romance.

Plot: Leonardo is a blind teen who just wants independence and someone to want to kiss him. He tries to talk to Giovana, his friend, about needing space and speaks to his mother about her worrying so much about him. Leonardo isn't just dealing with three people (mom,dad, friend) who hover over him too much, but a bully named Fabio too. All of this causes him to want to study abroad, and to secretly look into it. A student named Gabriel enters the picture and changes Leonardo's life and feelings.

I haven't seen this in so long, but it was one of my first queer films that was centered around teens and I remember thinking it was sweet and feeling very annoyed alongside Leonardo when he was annoyed with people hovering.

3. Crush-2022-coming-of-age rom-com

Starring: Auli'i Cravalho, Rowan Blanchard, Isabella Ferreira, Teala Dunn, and Tyler Alvarez

You might've heard about this one on Tiktok.

Plot: A young artist (Rowan) must join her school's track team or be punished for graffiti she claims she did not do. She decides to use it as an opportunity to get closer to her crush (Isabella), but there's another person she might have been overlooking all along.

It was decent. Cute. No major drama, which I really appreciated. Doesn't feel like a hate crime or anything that'd make me go, "why can't queers just have a corny love story without the pain?" It's cheesy and I love that.

Drama alert: Rowan is apparently biphobic, and there may be beef between Rowan and Auli'li because of it. I didn't know anything till tiktok filled in the details after I watched and went to look for people who saw it. Also, Teala Dunn in the Black community...but hey, there's no hate here. I have no idea how she is these days and I thought her acting was decent here.

4. Moonlight-2016 (no way this came out that long ago...no...I feel like I saw it in 2018 at least)

Warning: This one is centered around Black gay pain.

Plot: Chiron's life in 3 chapters as he grows up in Miami. There's pain, love, support, and self exploration. He grapples with his sexuality and identity while facing the world.

Not gonna lie, this was great. I honestly do not remember a lot of it due to forcing Black pain out of my head as soon as I see it in movies these days, but I do know it's so beautiful and raw. The color grading, the locations...really impressed with those aspects. The storyline was real and I loved the acting too.

5. Handsome Devil-2016-drama/sport (that's what google says okay)

Plot: One loner. One jock. But, they don't hate each other. Nah. They're friends. Deals with sexuality, hypocrisy and snobbery all in an Irish private (boarding) school.

Again, it has been a long time since I've seen this one.

6. The Color Purple-1985-drama/historical drama

cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg was the director, Danny Glover, Margaret Avery, Akosua Busia, Desreta Jackson

tw: domestic violence, all types of abuse, racism (racial slurs), self harm, murder (& lynching), alcohol, death of mother & infant, cultural appropriation, incest, other slurs

A novel by Alice Walker made into a film

plot: 40 years in the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), an African-American woman living in the South who goes through so much abuse. She is married off to "Mister" (Danny Glover) and things get worse, and decides to push through it as she dreams of reuniting with her sister in Africa. She looks for love and companionship elsewhere.

I've seen this movie a thousand times as a little kid and teen. I wouldn't watch it today for 4 reasons:

-too much Black pain for me to watch these days

-Steven Spielberg

-Whoopi Golberg

-I can quote dang near 100% of it, so there's no real need to watch what I can queue up in my head

It is a classic though. That's quite obvious.

7. The Watermelon Woman-1996-romance/comedy (I'd say it had a historical aspect to it)

lowkey a Black cult classic

There are twists in this you won't be ready for, and I think you should look up some facts about it AFTER you watch because I thought it was one thing, when it turned out to be another by the end.

Plot: A Black lesbian is aspiring to make the best film on a not well known 1940s Black actress who was billed as "The Watermelon Woman."

I was introduced to this movie in film school (which was shocking because nothing else we saw had a Black person even near it & half the movies were incredibly dull).

8.Set it Off-A Black Classic- 1996-action/crime (wait this and watermelon woman came out during the same time...what)

Cast: Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, Jada Pinkett Smith, Kimberly Elise, F. Gary Gray(director), Blair Underwood, and John C. McGinley (one of these is not like the others). Look at the cast...banger

Plot: A group of women who are best friends and are dealing with their own monetary issues, decide to start robbing banks. Things get intense. But, it's still funny (in a laid back, natural way, not in a "comedic" way-just people just living life) and entertaining.

We may have the dvd still around here somewhere. It used to be on the TV at least twice a week (and yet, I don't remember sitting and watching it all in 1 viewing...I've seen enough as a kid).

9. Alex Strangelove-2018-rom-com

Plot: A high school senior named Alex Strangelove, plans on losing his virginity to his girlfriend, but he meets a handsome gay guy and starts down the "sexual identity" rabbit hole.

I don't remember seeing it...but I must've? I do remember turning it on when I was with someone at the time, but I doubt I ever saw it fully. I believe this is the one with the awkward sex scene that goes nowhere?

10. Love Simon

A book turned into a movie

starring: Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford,Josh Duhamel , Jennifer Garner, Alexandra Shipp

Plot it up: 17-year-old Simon is in the closet. But, he is falling for an anonymous classmate he's talking to online. He wants to meet this person, and come out (?) and it's all hilarious and scary.

Truly the corniest movie on this list in my opinion (besides A.S since I don't know if I saw it) and not in a very enjoyable way. It was mid at best. But, hey I'm glad it exists because people should see themselves on tv more and it wasn't terrible yk? Just not for me. Apparently the show that came from it has managed to be cornier.