Best romantic gay movies

Come for the Irish accents, stay for the classic "outsider new kid falls for the star rugby player" storyline.

WATCH ON AMAZON

High school senior Alex wants to lose his virginity to his girlfriend, Claire. He’s a quiet, glum child whose mother seems to be his only real source of warmth or affection — until he meets Maddy (Jack Haven). It’s a stressful, complex story about a group of gay men — and one straight intruder — gathering together to reminisce and destroy each other emotionally.

Stream on Netflix.

Whoopi Goldberg, Mary-Louise Parker, and Drew Barrymore — in the car and on the run.

Despite some of the heartbreaking moments, it’s not a sad story at all — in fact, it’s a life-affirming ode to the worthiness of real, serious love.

Stream on Tubi.

This sweet love story is as much a coming-of-age film as it is a tender sapphic romance.

Marc Borgmann, played by Hanno Koffler, attempts to suppress his true identity for the sake of his family whilst exploring his actual identity is a certified tearjerker. This is a sweet rom-com for the teens and tweens, with lots of angst and cute moments they might just recognize.

WATCH ON NETFLIX

Attention vintage Hugh Grant fans: Feast your eyes on this oldie but goodie about unrequited love between two men in England before World War I.

WATCH ON AMAZON

Made on a tight budget by a woman, this one follows a professor and a sculptor who fall in love on a Nevada ranch in the 1950s.

Our hearts are already racing. Really, it’s a movie about how one extremely messy man’s insatiable attractions and total inability to communicate result in his deeply hurting the people he loves. He shares stories of his childhood in Kabul and then tells how he fled the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, escaped death, journeyed to Denmark via Russia, and found happiness with his husband-to-be.

The film centers on two male dancers in the National Georgian Ensemble, Merab (Levan Gelbakhiani) and Irakli (Bachi Valishvili). More than anything, it’s a reliably wonderful way to spend an hour and 45 minutes.

Stream on Hulu.

This slow, artful story about a trans woman returning home to care for her mother is for viewers with patience and an appreciation for subtlety.

Stream on Hulu.

This is a classic trope — city girl goes home to her small town and rediscovers herself — except that the city girl is a gay man played by Jesse Plemons and the story is well-written, personal, and funny enough to still feel original.

Stream on Hulu.

This one’s what we call a tearjerker, folks.

The two hit it off, but of course, they run into some obstacles along the way to a loving relationship.

Stream on Hulu.

This iPhone-filmed tale of Sin-Dee Rella (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez), a trans sex worker who finds out her pimp-boyfriend Chester (James Ransome) cheated on her during the six weeks she was in jail, was Anora director Sean Baker’s first feature.

Come for the lesbian fight club, stay for the gratuitously bloody conclusion.

Stream on MGM+.

Shout-out to Yorgos Lanthimos for giving us everything we didn’t know we so desperately needed: an absurdist depiction of 18th-century England starring Olivia Colman as a gay Queen Anne that confronts the anxieties of womanhood while remaining just a bit silly the whole time.

Stream on Disney+.

It’s a family drama, a romance, a coming of age.

It shares Anora’s flippant perspective on violence, but the vivid, tender performances give it heart.

Stream on Hulu.

It’s a cute, corny, and slightly too cringey high-school buddy comedy.