A well-made film based on the emotions and struggles of gay characters can make for a very rewarding film experience. Slowly, especially in recent years, writers have pushed more fleshed-out LGBTQ characters in a variety of genres, so check through this list of critically acclaimed and fan-loved films that you can watch right now.
Also visit: Best lesbian movies on Netflix
Director: Park Chan-wook
Writer: Park & Jeong Seo-kyeong
Inspired by Victorian-era crime novel, the creator of Oldboy moves the action to the first half of the 20th century in Korea and follows a handmaiden who plans to seduce and rob a Japanese heiress.
Watch on: Amazon Prime Video
Director: Tom Ford
Writer: Ford & David Scearce
Colin Firth was Oscar-nominated for his role as George Falconer, a British college professor who is depressed after losing his longtime partner.
Watch on: Tubi, VUDU Free, Roku Free
Director/Writer: Wong Kar-wai
Not the happiest of watches, but Wong Kar-wai is an essential filmmaker. A couple on a trip trying to find new beginnings start drifting further than ever.
Watch on: HBO Max
Director: Matthew Warchus
Writer: Stephen Beresford
Based on the remarkable true story, a group of gay and lesbian activists try to raise money for miners striking in 1984, but the miner's union doesn't want the press of this controversial group helping them.
Watch on: Amazon Prime Video
Director: Sean Baker
Writer: Baker & Chris Bergoch
A Hollywood Christmas Eve becomes eventful for transgender sex worker Sin-Dee Rella when she finds out that her boyfriend/pimp is cheating on her.
Watch on: Showtime
Director: Todd Haynes
Writer: Phyllis Nagy
Another Christmastime story, this time featuring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as an unlikely pair from different worlds who suddenly find their mutual attraction undeniable in the 1950s.
Watch on: Showtime
Director: Jamie Babbitt
Writer: Brian Wayne Peterson
But I'm A Cheerleader is a critically panned cult film that has surged with recognition in the Internet age. Natasha Lyonne plays a typical popular girl at high school who is a parent's perfect child in all but one regard: she is not attracted to men. Her appalled parents stage an intervention and send her off to a gay conversion camp in this satirical comedy.
Watch on: Peacock
Director/Writer: Dee Rees
The least well-known film on this list is an early film from Mudbound director Dee Rees, following a Brooklyn teen who frustratingly desires sexual expression.
Watch on: HBO Max
Director: Sidney Lumet
Writer: Frank Pierson
The infamous story and Life magazine article from 1972 about a Brooklyn bank robbery and hostage negotiation is brought to life by amazing director Sidney Lumet and now-legendary actor Al Pacino.
Watch on: HBO Max
Director: Gus Van Sant
Writer: Dustin Lance Black
Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man ever elected to public office, gets a great biopic with an essential performance from Sean Penn.
Watch on: Hulu
Director/Writer: Lilly and Lana Wachowski
An ex-convict meets the mobster who lives next door to her Chicago apartment and finds herself instantly attracted to the paranoid man's girlfriend. This is the debut feature film from the Wachowskis, who immediately went to work on The Matrix after this film.
Watch on: Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Video
Director/Writer: Barry Jenkins
No list of LGBTQ films would be complete without Moonlight, the Best Picture Oscar-winning A24 film that showcased a unique structure in telling the life of a black gay man in Miami.
Watch on: Showtime
Enjoy!