22 Best LGBTQ+ Movies of All Time

By Vlad Zakh · August 14, 2026

Romance thought provokingfalling in love

LGBTQ+ cinema has produced some of the most quietly devastating romances of the last three decades, and this list spans coming-of-age comedy, historical drama, and a few genuinely great love stories that just happen to have been overlooked for too long.

Paris Is Burning (1990) 01

Paris Is Burning (1990)

IMDb ★ 7.8

A documentary look inside New York's 1980s Black and Latino ballroom scene.

My Own Private Idaho (1991) 02

My Own Private Idaho (1991)

IMDb ★ 7.0

A narcoleptic hustler searches for his mother alongside a friend from a wealthier world.

A Single Man (2009) 03

A Single Man (2009)

IMDb ★ 7.6

A grieving professor plans his own final day after losing his partner in a car accident.

Brokeback Mountain (2005) 04

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

IMDb ★ 7.7

Two ranch hands' summer affair turns into a decades-long, mostly hidden relationship.

Philadelphia (1993) 05

Philadelphia (1993)

IMDb ★ 7.7

A lawyer fired for having AIDS sues his old firm with the help of a reluctant, homophobic attorney.

Milk (2008) 06

Milk (2008)

IMDb ★ 7.5

Harvey Milk's rise as America's first openly gay elected official, and the assassination that ended it.

Boys Don't Cry (1999) 07

Boys Don't Cry (1999)

IMDb ★ 7.4

A trans man's new life and relationships in a small Nebraska town end in real, brutal violence.

A Fantastic Woman (2017) 08

A Fantastic Woman (2017)

IMDb ★ 7.4

A transgender woman fights to grieve her partner while his family tries to erase her.

Call Me by Your Name (2017) 09

Call Me by Your Name (2017)

IMDb ★ 7.8

A summer romance between a teenager and his father's research assistant reshapes how he sees himself.

Moonlight (2016) 10

Moonlight (2016)

IMDb ★ 7.4

A quiet, three-part coming-of-age story told with real restraint.

Pariah (2011) 11

Pariah (2011)

IMDb ★ 7.1

A Black teenager quietly navigates her sexuality while hiding it from her strict mother.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) 12

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

IMDb ★ 8.1

A painter commissioned to secretly capture a reluctant bride-to-be falls for her instead.

Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013) 13

Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013)

IMDb ★ 7.6

A teenager's first serious relationship shapes years of her adult identity.

Carol (2015) 14

Carol (2015)

IMDb ★ 7.2

Two women's forbidden romance begins over a chance holiday-season department store encounter.

The Handmaiden (2016) 15

The Handmaiden (2016)

IMDb ★ 8.1

An erotic con-artist thriller told in three perspectives, each recontextualizing the last.

Beautiful Thing (1996) 16

Beautiful Thing (1996)

IMDb ★ 7.2

Two teenage neighbors on a London council estate fall for each other despite their circumstances.

Weekend (2011) 17

Weekend (2011)

IMDb ★ 7.4

A one-night stand between two men unexpectedly stretches into an intense, honest weekend.

The Way He Looks (2014) 18

The Way He Looks (2014)

IMDb ★ 7.7

A blind teenager's growing independence collides with his feelings for a new classmate.

Pride (2014) 19

Pride (2014)

IMDb ★ 7.8

A group of London gay activists fund striking miners, forging an unlikely alliance.

Love, Simon (2018) 20

Love, Simon (2018)

IMDb ★ 7.2

A closeted teenager's anonymous online correspondence puts his secret at risk of exposure.

The Kids Are All Right (2010) 21

The Kids Are All Right (2010)

IMDb ★ 6.7

Two teenagers track down the sperm donor behind their two moms' family.

But I'm a Cheerleader (1999) 22

But I'm a Cheerleader (1999)

IMDb ★ 6.3

A teenager sent to gay-conversion camp instead falls for a fellow camper.

Vlad Zakh

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix, built to fix a specific annoyance: most recommendation sites are just algorithm-driven noise. Our lists are researched and organized by who's in a film, where it's from, and the mood you're actually in tonight.