Last Updated on September 6, 2024
Up until a few decades ago, gay and lesbian marriages were almost unheard of. These relationships were considered one of the most aberrant forms of sexual deviancy. In certain countries, same-sex partners were subjected to despicable acts of indignity, including being stoned to death.
However, there has been a tremendous shift in opinion over the years. While gay marriages still attract a considerable level of contempt in some societies around the world, the situation isn’t as bad as it used to be.
Movies have contributed immensely to the paradigm shift in same-sex unions. In this post, we outline 20 best gay-themed marriages ever made.
20. Keep the Lights On (2012)
IMDB Rating: 6.4
Keep the Lights On is a sensational gay-themed drama film about love, sex, friendship, and intimacy. The movie was co-written and directed by Ira Sachs.
It’s based on Sachs’ real-life past relationship with Bill Clegg – a literary agent credited for publishing his own memoir in 2010 that chronicles his struggles with addiction, titled ‘Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man.’ Although the movie isn’t an actual reenactment of Sachs and Clegg’s love affair, it highlights the ordinary struggles faced by same-sex couples.
19. All About My Mother (1999)
IMDB Rating: 7.9
All About My Mother is a gay movie that aptly lives up to its title. It shines a light upon the different roles society expects us to play based on our genders, with a special focus on women.
The protagonist is an aspiring writer called Esteban who’s also determined to uncover the identity of his second mother, a transsexual woman. But the woman’s identity has been carefully concealed by Esteban’s mother, Manuela, who’s also on a mission to find his transvestite father.
18. The Kids Are All Right (2010)
IMBD Rating: 7.0
Nic and Jules are a happily married same-sex couple. They each conceive by artificial insemination from the same sperm donor. Sounds like a bad coincidence, right?
But as it turns out, that’s just the beginning of Nic and Jules’ woes. When the couple gives birth, their children embark on a mission to uncover their father’s identity.
17. Pariah (2011)
IMDB Rating: 7.2
A Brooklyn teenage lesbian named Alike secretly embraces her identity and sets out on a mission to find her first lover. She struggles to confide in her family, seeing as her parents’ marriage is already on the rocks.
Fortunately for Alike, her mother manages to pair her up with her coworker’s daughter. But although Alike develops an instant liking for her potential first love, the relationship doesn’t quite work out as she might have expected.
16. A Fantastic Woman (2017)
IMDB Rating: 7.2
Marina is a transsexual woman working as a waitress while also moonlighting as a nightclub singer. Her life is turned upside down following the death of her older and wealthier partner, Orlando.
As Marina mourns the death of her boyfriend, she faces unwarranted contempt and discrimination from people who have little regard for her privacy.
15. Paris Is Burning (1990)
IMDB Rating: 8.2
Paris Is Burning chronicles New York’s drag scene in the 80s, with a special focus on balls, voguing, race, and the sexual orientation challenges that characterized this era.
The movie delves deeper into the behind-the-scenes real-life struggles of fashion-obsessed poor Black and Latin LGBT people, and how the dreams of gay people were systematically excluded from society back then.
14. Tangerine (2015)
IMDB Rating: 7.1
Tangerine follows a jilted hooker who, after learning that her boyfriend cheated on her while she was incarcerated, teams up with her best friend and embarks on a frantic search for her pimp ex-lover.
The sex worker’s heart is seething in anger and she’s determined to exact vengeance at all costs.
13. Show Me Love (1998)
IMDB Rating: 7.5
Show Me Love’s storyline revolves around two teenage girls named Agnes and Elin, with somewhat conflicting personalities. Agnes is lonely, depressed, but secretly in love with Erin. On the other hand, Eric is outgoing, popular, but bored with life.
Despite their personality differences, Agnes and Elin eventually find love in the most unlikely of ways.
12. Before Night Falls (2000)
IMDB Rating: 7.2
Before Night Falls tells the story of Reinaldo Arenas, a Cuban poet and novelist. The movie highlights Arenas’ deprived childhood and the persecutions he had to endure on account of his sexual orientation, as well as his eventual escape to the USA.
It’s another captivating movie that brings into focus the challenges gay people undergo in societies that still consider LGBTQ couples as sexual miscreants.
11. Mulholland Dr. (2001)
IMDB Rating: 7.9
A grisly car accident on the winding Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac. Frightened and traumatized, the woman seeks refuge in a house belonging to an aspiring Hollywood actress named Betty Elms.
What seems to be an ordinary chance encounter turns into a life-changing experience for both Elms and the amnesiac woman. The duo travel across Los Angeles looking for answers and clues, and eventually discover a lot more about life and reality.
10. The Color Purple (1985)
IMDB Rating: 7.8
The Color Purple’s filmmakers couldn’t have come up with a more befitting title. The purple color is a symbol of elegance, power, and dignity. But in this movie, an African American teenager named Celie shuns all purple clothes, indicating that she’s yet to acquire true independence and self-identity.
As the plot unfolds, you realize that Celie’s challenges aren’t unique to herself. Instead, they’re a blanket representation of the problems African-American women faced around the 20th century, including poverty, violence, racism, incest, pedophilia, and sexism.
9. Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013)
IMDB Rating: 7.7
Blue Is the Warmest Color follows a French teen called Adèle Exarchopoulos, who establishes a deep emotional and sexual connection with an aspiring painter named Léa Seydoux, after the two met in a lesbian bar.
The movie documents the couple’s relationship from Adèle’s high school years until her career as a school teacher, while sufficiently debunking irrational societal perceptions about same-sex unions.
8. Weekend (2011)
IMDB Rating: 7.6
Weekend documents the struggles and eventual triumph of Russell and Glen, a gay couple whose one-night stand unexpectedly develops into a full-blown love affair. Russell and Glen meet at a nightclub on Friday and one thing leads to another.
But instead of the couple never seeing each other again, they mysteriously find themselves spending most of the next day (and night) together, in what appears to lend credence to the saying ‘everything happens for a reason.’
7. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
IMDB Rating: 8.0
Three amateur robbers plan what appears to be an easy-peasy bank job. But everything that could go wrong actually does go wrong. First, one of the robbers panics and flees. Then, the remaining two discover that they arrived after the daily cash pickup.
Frustrated, they embark on a series of blunders that raise suspicion from the local police and trigger a series of intrigues, with gay undertones occasionally punctuating the plot.
6. My Own Private Idaho (1991)
IMDB Rating: 7.0
My Own Private Idaho is set in a fantasy world where love reigns supreme. The movie charts the life of two best friends named Mike Waters and Scott Favor who live as hustlers on the streets of Portland, as they set out on a journey of self-discovery.
The journey turns out to be full of surprises (both pleasant and unpleasant ones) as the relationship between Mike and Scott frequently stumbles along the way.
5. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
IMDB Rating: 7.7
Brokeback Mountain focuses on the theme of discrimination on account of same-sex unions. The discrimination is mostly in the form of homophobia – irrational hatred, fear, and intolerance of LGBTQ people.
If you’re looking for a movie that unravels the various ways homophobia manifests itself, then you should definitely look in the direction of Brokeback Mountain.
4. Call Me By Your Name (2017)
IMDB Rating: 7.9
Set in the summer of 1983 in northern Italy, Call Me By Your Name follows the romantic relationship between a precocious teenager named Elio Perlman and Oliver, an older graduate-student assistant to Elio’s father.
The relationship kicks off as a casual friendship. But Elio soon discovers that he’s sexually attracted to Oliver and attempts to come to terms with it.
3. Boys Don’t Cry (1999)
IMDB Rating: 7.5
This movie is based on the real-life tragic story of Brandon Teena (December 12, 1972 – December 31, 1993), a transsexual man from Humboldt, Nebraska, who was assaulted and murdered in 1993.
The film documents Teena’s struggles as he attempts to discover his sexuality and how he met his death at the hands of two male acquaintances.
2. Carol (2015)
IMDB Rating: 7.2
Aspiring photographer Therese Belivet is working at a Manhattan department store during the Christmas season of 1952. She meets an older woman named Carol Aird, who’s looking to buy her daughter a doll.
Therese advises Carol to buy her daughter a model train set instead. That seemingly routine customer-client conversation sets the women up on the path to a steamy romantic relationship.
1. Moonlight (2016)
IMDB Rating: 7.4
Moonlight is a three-phase life story of Chiron. The movie highlights Chiron’s childhood, adolescence, and early adult life, exploring the challenges he endured trying to discover his sexual identity.
It’s another sobering movie that exposes the struggles gay people go through in their quests to find love.
Conclusion
The above-reviewed gay movies made this list, not only due to their enlightening nature but also for their riveting plots. If you’re looking for an LGBTQ movie that’s both informative and entertaining, you might want to bookmark this collection. Needless to say, you don’t have to be gay or lesbian to fall in love with these gay-themed movies.
