“Other People”
Director: Chris Kelly
Cast: Jesse Plemons, Molly Shannon, Bradley Whitford, Maude Apatow
Synopsis: A floundering gay comedy writer returns home to be with his semi-tolerant family as his mother dies.
What You Need to Know: This hidden gem is one of those rare films that, after delivering countless laughs, will ultimately leave you bawling like a baby. Though the 2016 Sundance premiere only won one of its four possible Independent Spirit Awards (including nominations for Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay), the prize that went to lead Molly Shannon for her role as Joanne embodies the film’s outstanding gravitas. This is the best performance of Shannon’s life, bar none, and a shockingly under-recognized one at that. While Shannon plays against type as a dying mother, “Friday Night Lights” star Jesse Plemons proves his comedic prowess as David, a hapless gay writer still struggling to find acceptance ten years after he came out. If you’ve ever regressed back to age 18 the second you re-entered your childhood home, lost a loved one, or hated the Train song “Drops of Jupiter,” this movie will speak to you. Or, it will at least remind you to never drink on an empty stomach.
“Pariah”
Director: Dee Rees
Cast: Adepero Oduye, Kim Wayans, Aasha Davis
Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Alike struggles with her religious mother and developing lesbian identity in this coming-of-age portrait.
What You Need to Know: Before Dee Rees made “Bessie,” or “Mudbound,” she rocked Sundance 2011 with her sophomore feature “Pariah.” Much like “Moonlight” became a seminal work on Black gay masculinity, “Pariah” tackles questions of family, class, and gender presentation as experienced by a Black teenage girl. As she grapples with her burgeoning gender-nonconformity and attraction to other girls, Alike (a superb Adepero Oduye) has experiences that are relatable to most gay women. Her conservative mother scrutinizes her, a (straight?) girl waffles in her romantic interest, and Alike just can’t seem to fit in. Through it all, “Pariah” remains a powerful, visually grounded film. “This is no afterschool special,” Kevin Jagernauth noted in his review. “‘Pariah’ closes on a bittersweet note and one that sees Alike transformed, slowly establishing herself in a community of those not just bound by sexual identity, but by shared pain and hope.” The film imparts all that pain and hope, via its endearing protagonist, onto its audiences.
“Pride”
Director: Matthew Warchus
Cast: Ben Schnetzer, George McKay, Dominic West, Andrew Scott, Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton
Synopsis: A group of London gay and lesbian activists raise money for families affected by the 1984 British miner’s strike, not all of whom are thrilled about the support.
What You Need To Know: Ultimately a “feel-good” movie that transcends its genre, the film uses the narrative of this true story to depict the difficulties of both gay life in urban London and working-class existence in the English countryside (all in the rising shadow of the AIDS crisis, no less). The film not only won the Queer Palm at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, but it was also nominated for three BAFTA Awards, including Best British Film. Everyone (literally, everyone) is lusting over Andrew Scott as the hot priest in “Fleabag” – so allow me to recommend this film if you want Scott to make you cry even more. – GE
“San Junipero”
Director: Owen Harris
Cast: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mackenzie Davis, Denise Burse
Synopsis: Free-wheeling extrovert Kelly collides with the soft-spoken Yorkie at a 1980s dance party. Despite their instant connection, not everything about them – or where they are – is as it seems.
What You Need to Know: Okay, technically this is a Season 2 episode of “Black Mirror,” but given that it won the Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie, it’s a whopping 61 minutes (the AMPAS counts any film over 40 minutes as a feature), and it’s quickly become an instant lesbian classic since its 2016 debut, it’s going on this list, damn it! Even just two years after its debut, “San Junipero” has already catapulted into gay iconography, taking Belinda Carlisle’s legendary bop “Heaven Is a Place on Earth” right along with it. The episode, penned by showrunner Charlie Brooker, showcases the charms of co-stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mackenzie Davis and reveals a fascinating sci-fi premise. Perhaps most importantly, though, “San Junipero” offers a romance between women that’s unabashedly heartwarming. In a world devoid of happy gay romance films, “San Junipero” gives its protagonists the happy ending they deserve – and astoundingly manages to do so even though (spoiler alert!) both characters die.
“Shortbus”
Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Cast: Sook-Yin Lee, Paul Dawson, Lindsay Beamish, PJ DeBoy, Raphael Barker
Synopsis: Sofia Lin, a sex therapist in a mismatched marriage, pursues new sexual partners and situations in her quest for her first orgasm.
What You Need to Know: Once again John Cameron Mitchell scores a spot on this list. “Shortbus,” his sophomore feature after ‘Hedwig,’ is a 2006 erotic dramedy notable for its scenes containing non-simulated sexual intercourse. The concomitance of bodies and experiences in “Shortbus,” wherein each character is struggling to discover their sexual new normal, makes for a diverse array of sexual encounters. For some characters, like the protagonist Sofia, that makes for bisexual trysts with both men and women – but this isn’t necessarily a post-sexuality, everyone-is-bi kind of narrative. Most notably, the film’s gay protagonist James finds himself caught up in a love quadrilateral with three other men after opening up his monogamous relationship. A modest $2 million picture, “Shortbus” is primarily defined by its balls-out performances. (In certain cases, I mean this literally). The actors, including several ‘Hedwig’ alums, are completely game for this new spin on onscreen sexuality, a kind of revolutionary depiction that Mitchell was determined to try out because, in his words, sex is “too interesting to leave to porn.”
“Stranger by the Lake”
Director: Alain Guiraudie
Cast: Pierre Deladonchamps, Christophe Paou, Patrick d’Assumçao
Synopsis: Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps) falls for Michel (Christophe Paou) even though he’s seen him drown another man at the gay beach they both visit.
What You Need To Know: A sophisticated metaphor for the desperation of love, Alain Guiraudie’s thriller is an unexpected nail-biter that will leave you exasperated. It also features boundary-pushing sex scenes that Guiraudie impressively balances with primal lust and artistry. A 2013 Cannes Film Festival selection, “Stranger by the Lake” was nominated for eight César Awards in 2014, including Best Film and Best Director. If this list isn’t quite twisted enough for you yet, this addition is sure to please. – GE
“Tangerine”
Director: Sean Baker
Cast: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, Mickey O’Hagan, Alla Tumanian, James Ransone
Synopsis: Sin-Dee Rella, a transgender sex worker, enlists her friend Alexandra to help her exact revenge upon her cheating drug dealer boyfriend.
What You Need to Know: If you don’t know much about “Tangerine,” the first feature from “The Florida Project” filmmaker Sean Baker, you’ve likely at least heard that it was filmed on an iPhone. All gimmicks aside, “Tangerine” is a film about two Black transgender sex workers that is equal parts fresh and frenetic. Even more refreshing than seeing two funny, fearless transgender characters played by actual transgender actresses is the way that “Tangerine” centers their friendship, mining their marginalized lives for heartfelt touches of relatability. Much like “The Florida Project,” “Tangerine” depicts its poor characters with a deft balance of empathy and frankness. The film neither mocks nor pities Sin-Dee and Alexandra. Instead, as our own Katie Walsh wrote in her review, “The film takes care to show the danger, the awkwardness, and a sense that this ‘family’ is all you have. It also highlights the discrimination and violence that trans people face, and the very necessary fact that banding together with friends is a means of survival.” Plus, there’s probably nothing more in line with radical LGBTQ resilience than making a film on just $100,000.
“The Handmaiden”
Director: Park Chan-wook
Cast: Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, Ha Jung-woo, Cho Jin-woong
Synopsis: Hapless grifter Sook-hee joins an elaborate plot to steal the inheritance from Japanese aristocrat Lady Hideko – until she realizes she has feelings for her mark.
What You Need to Know: This 2016 epic from “Oldboy” director Park Chan-wook finds lesbian love in the unlikeliest of places – a 2.5-hour crime thriller set in Japanese-occupied Korea. Based on the novel “Fingersmith” by famed lesbian author Sarah Waters, this decidedly on-brand Park Chan-wook take adds in levels of visceral eroticism, threatened sexual violence, and violence in general that weren’t present in the original source material. The results are politically sketchy – I personally take issue with the film’s outlandishly gymnastic lesbian sex scenes – but undeniably eye-popping and fun. Plus, in a cinematic world devoid of lesbian happy endings, it’s beyond thrilling to watch this labyrinthine plot unfold and find its female protagonists still intact by its end. The film’s “sly progressive pleasures,” as our own Jessica Kiang called them in her review, are ultimately too, well, pleasing to write off. Given how few well-made LGBTQ art films exist, and given that “The Handmaiden” is an especially well-made one, I’m guiltlessly putting it on this list.