Narrowing down one of the best films in any style is hard, however for lesbian movies it’s important to start with a reductive question: What’s a lesbian film? What, in actual fact, is a lesbian? (OK, that’s a special piece).
Should the movie focus totally on a homosexual storyline, or can it characteristic sturdy lesbian characters doing one thing totally totally different than simply being lesbians? Is subtext sufficient, or should the sapphic be specific? How a lot cinephile wrath will rain down on us for the absence of a sure current Oscar winner? (Sizzling canine fingers, we argue, are simply not enough!)
In comparison with the stand-outs of queer television, one of the best lesbian films have comparatively little time to convey their perspective on the huge, diverse, (typically) vaginal lesbian expertise. And but, finally, one of the best lesbian movies honor not simply their very own views, but additionally the glory and traditions of all of queer cinema. Sturdy girls, excessive leisure worth, and daring visuals reign supreme.
The next tales of mini skirt-wearing super-spys and longing period-piece lesbians toe a cautious line between caricature and camp. Too usually, lesbian characters are was stereotypes: both unattractive man-haters or bimbos used for titillation and slasher fodder.
These films reclaim cinematic lesbianism; they’re the flicks you will notice performed on a loop within the membership, or at an underground rooftop film night time. Some gained awards; others reached cult standing lengthy after their releases. It’s an inventory as colourful and diverse because the queer neighborhood itself.
With out additional ado, listed below are the 23 greatest lesbian movies ever made.
With editorial contributions by David Ehrlich, Jamie Righetti, and Tambay Obenson.
23. “D.E.B.S.” (dir. Angela Robinson, 2004)
A intelligent motion parody that was a lot smarter than its mainstream advertising and marketing marketing campaign understood, “D.E.B.S.” is sort of a queer “Charlie’s Angels” set on the faculty from “However I’m a Cheerleader,” with broader business enchantment. A forbidden love story between a teen spy and an evil however scorching worldwide diamond thief, the film options early performances by Jimmi Simpson (“Westworld”) and Jordana Brewster (“The Quick and the Livid”). Set at an underground authorities academy for teen tremendous spies, the D.E.B.S. are chosen by their solutions questions hidden in an SAT-like take a look at. It’s stupidly enjoyable, sweetly romantic, and much more subversive than it will get credit score for. —JD
22. “The Extremely True Adventures of two Women in Love” (dir. Maria Maggenti, 1995)
That includes an interracial romance throughout class strains, Maria Maggenti’s 1995 traditional was years forward of its time. Inverting the conventions of the day, the story follows an prosperous Black teenager named Evie (Nicole Parker) who falls in love with scrappy white tomboy swooningly named Randy Dean (Laurel Holloman). “The L Phrase” followers could also be stunned by Holloman’s kinetic efficiency because the brooding fuel station employee from the incorrect aspect of the tracks, and her smoldering appears maintain the chemistry palpably candy. A captivating teen romance laced with incisive commentary on class and race, this queer traditional does greater than maintain up, it ripens with age. —JD
21. “Rafiki” (dir. Wanuri Kahiu, 2018)
Initially banned in its residence nation of Kenya, this tender queer romance pulses with shiny colours and the electrical butterflies of younger love. The star-crossed romance follows two teenagers, Kena (Samantha Mugatsia) and Ziki (Sheila Munyiva), who fall in love regardless of their households’ political rivalry. Stepping calmly into fraught territory, they need to take care of small-town busybodies and the judgment of their conservative society. Boasting nuanced performances from the 2 charismatic newcomers, Wanuri Kahiu’s assured debut characteristic is a crucial reminder of the wrestle many nonetheless face to dwell out and proud. The primary Kenyan movie to play Cannes, Kahiu gained a landmark court docket case that earned the movie an Oscar-qualifying theatrical run, chipping away at Kenyan anti-LGBT laws within the course of. —JD
20. “Heavenly Creatures” (dir. Peter Jackson, 1994)
For the present of Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet collectively we should thank Peter Jackson, even when they don’t trip off into the sundown. Primarily based on a real story of a infamous Fifties New Zealand homicide case, Jackson understood one thing solely beforehand recognized to lesbians: The juicy narrative potential of adlescent lesbian obsession gone horribly awry. In her debut, Lynskey is delightfully unhinged as Pauline Parker, an outcast who develops an intense friendship with the stunning and rich Juliet Hulme, an equally spectacular younger Kate Winslet. Fantasy — that necessity of queer adolescence that always lingers in maturity — turns into more and more actual for the 2 mates, who retreat additional into their shared delusions. Like all loopy lesbian relationships, it ends in tragedy. —JD
19. “Pariah” (dir. Dee Rees, 2011)
Each filmmaker will get her crack at a coming-of-age story that mirrors their very own, and people tales tackle rising significance when coming from hardly ever seen views. Buzzing with the electrical energy of repressed sexuality lastly breaking free, “Pariah” follows teenage Alike (Adepero Oduye) as she embraces her queerness and masculine gender expression. The digicam virtually aches as Alike adjustments out of her baseball hat and t-shirt on the practice residence to Brooklyn, donning a girly sweater in an effort to calm her mother and father’ suspicions (Kim Wayans and Charles Parnell). We soften alongside Alike as she lights up with the primary tingles of affection, seeing herself for the primary time by way of the needing eyes of Bina (Aasha Davis). Cinematographer Bradford Younger (“Arrival”) movies Alike’s first nights out on the membership in wealthy, saturated colours. The film pulses with the rhythm of old flame and the price of self-discovery. —JD
18. “The Favorite” (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos, 2018)
A daring imaginative and prescient set inside the grotesquely aristocratic spectacle of early 18th century English royalty, “The Favorite” is a darkish but comedic story of three dominant girls competing for love and energy, with reckless abandon. Director Yorgos Lanthimos creates an extremely energetic, although insular, universe, toying with actual occasions to function assist and motivation for the interiority and conflicts of the movie’s characters. Unfolding like a bed room farce, largely inside the partitions of a Royal Palace that’s cut-off from the realities of the period’s expansive historical past, it’s a world dominated by strategic maneuvers, seductions, even pineapple consuming and the occasional duck race. It’s by way of the tangled ties of a frail Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) with two different scheming and bold girls — her shut pal and advisor Girl Sarah (Rachel Weisz), and Sarah’s indigent cousin turned status-seeking chambermaid Abigail (Emma Stone) — that the story plunges right into a maelstrom of unscrupulous habits and unpredictability, that epitomizes the expression “palace intrigue,” as a nation’s destiny lies inside the relations amongst girls who’ve succumbed to the problems of affection. A interval tragicomedy with an unexpectedly fashionable really feel, Lanthimos’ tackle the British costume drama, is one thing splendidly distinctive. —TO
17. “The Handmaiden” (dir. Park Chan-wook, 2016)
When South Korean auteur Park Chan-wook selected as supply materials the lesbian historic fiction novel “Fingersmith,” by Welsh writer Sarah Waters, it appeared slightly out of left area. However altering the setting from Victorian England to Japanese-occupied Korea was a superb transfer, and one which infused this chilly thriller a couple of con man and the 2 girls he embroils in his plot with untold magnificence. Chan-wook elevates the e-book’s tawdry parts to fetishistic extremes, turning out an erotic thriller each bit as beautiful as it’s sinister. Min-hee Kim is prim and alluring as Girl Hideko, by no means totally dropping the facade whilst she falls for her spirited handmaiden, Sook-Hee (Tae-ri Kim), who’s tasked with conning her out of her inheritance. As each girls make do with the hand life has dealt them, they uncover ardour within the shared wrestle. —JD
16. “Saving Face” (dir. Alice Wu, 2004)
Premiering on the Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition in 2004, Alice Wu’s buoyantly charming romantic comedy turned an on the spot queer traditional, seamlessly balancing cinematic artistry with heartfelt comedy. A satisfying mix of heart-fluttering romance and familial woes, Wu’s movie is loosely based mostly on her personal experiences popping out to her conventional Chinese language household. That includes a efficiency from “Twin Peaks” icon Joan Chen, the movie follows Wil (Michelle Krusiec), a surgeon who meets and falls for ballet dancer Vivian (Lynn Chen). Accustomed to prioritizing work and household over romantic bliss, she should be taught to not let love go her by. Fourteen years earlier than Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell,” Wu’s movie was additionally populated virtually solely by Chinese language actors (a lot of whom spoke Mandarin within the movie) and was deeply rooted within the immigrant expertise. —JD
15. “Set It Off” (dir. F. Gary Grey, 1996)
Within the nice custom of “9 to five” or “Thelma & Louise,” however with three of the most well-liked black actresses of the time, “Set It Off” stays unmatched as we speak. Starring Vivica A. Fox, Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, and Kimberly Elise as 4 mates who grow to be financial institution robbers, every for their very own causes. Whereas lesbians claimed “Thelma & Louise” as their very own from subtext alone, “Set It Off” gave audiences the Queen Latifah of their desires. Cleo was a cocky, loud, swaggering butch. And he or she will get laid. Lastly, a narrative about badass girls combating the system that saved them down, and nobody might say anybody was studying an excessive amount of into it by calling it queer. “Set It Off” killed on the field workplace, grossing $41 million on a finances of $9 million. Because the success of “Hidden Figures” confirmed, audiences are clamoring for black feminine tales. That is one remake nobody would query. —JD
14. “Desert Hearts” (dir. Donna Deitch, 1986)
Lately celebrating its thirtieth anniversary with a beautiful 35mm screenings on the Museum of Fashionable Artwork, this groundbreaking traditional was the primary time lesbians acquired to sit down in a movie show, with popcorn, and see slightly piece of themselves on the silver display. Set within the 1950’s and in Reno, Nevada, it follows English professor Vivian Bell (Helen Shaver) as she awaits a divorce and begins a brand new life. Buttoned up and fragile, Vivian is straight away drawn to firecracker Cay Rivvers (Patricia Charbonneau), a younger sculptor who is just not afraid to go after what she desires. “Desert Hearts” was the primary lesbian film that didn’t contain a love triangle with a person, or finish in tragedy. With sweeping visuals and a number of advanced feminine characters, the endurance of this historic movie can’t be denied. —JD
13. “Disobedience” (dir. Sebastián Lelio, 2017)
Sebastián Lelio’s burning-yet-elegant “Disobedience” is greater than the acquainted feminist revolt you may assume. Within the exquisitely melancholic lesbian romance, Rachel Weisz performs Ronit, an excommunicated Jewish girl who unexpectedly returns residence after the demise of her father. She’s quickly reunited together with her outdated pal Dovid, a conflicted Alessandro Nivola, and Esti, David’s spouse and Ronit’s secret childhood sweetheart — performed by a shapeshifting Rachel McAdams.
The trio’s impromptu exploration of freedom, intimacy, and the conflicts inherent therein provides not only a compelling LGBTQ love story, however a strong reflection on the foundations we select to observe and people we battle to defy. It additionally spurs the pièce de résistance of spit kink cinema in a intercourse scene between Ronit and Esti that’s deeply genuine in its consideration of lesbian connection: a frantic flurry of impassioned embraces and fingers sliding into mouths. The scene was one thing of A Second in 2017, and stays a topic of playful debate amongst sapphic cinephiles. —AF
Read IndieWire’s guide to The Sexiest Queer Movies Ever Made.
12. “The Watermelon Girl” (dir. Cheryl Dunye, 1996)
In 1996, there have been solely so many photos of black girls onscreen, to not point out black lesbians. Which is precisely why when Cheryl Dunye solid herself as a documentarian in her characteristic debut, this intelligent meta-theatrical system added one other layer to what nonetheless would have been a captivating micro-budget love story. Cheryl is a younger, black lesbian dwelling in Philadelphia who turns into obsessive about studying a couple of black actress from the Thirties, whom she dubs The Watermelon Girl. Primarily based on Dunye’s expertise hitting wall after wall whereas researching black actresses, she invented the character as a fantasy and reclamation. The oh-so-90s-it-hurts aesthetic extends to Cheryl’s plum job as a video retailer clerk, the place she picks up Diana (Guinevere Turner) and takes courting recommendation from her hilarious butch buddy, Tamara (Valarie Walker). With cameos from Camille Paglia, Toshi Reagon, and Sarah Schulman, this film has lesbian icons popping out of its… wherever. —JD
11. “Excessive Artwork” (dir. Lisa Cholodenko, 1998)
The debut effort from “The Children Are All Proper” director traced a much less controversial love story (no switching groups right here), and nonetheless sparkles with that first-feature appeal. Syd (Radha Mitchell) is a younger artwork critic assigned to a giant profile on infamous photographer Lucy Berliner (Ally Sheedy). Troublesome and mysterious, Lucy is Syd’s window into her glamorous world of eccentric bohemian artists. That features Lucy’s heroin-addicted German girlfriend, Greta (Patricia Clarkson, who steals each scene she’s in). Syd and Lucy discover themselves equal to one another, and a harmful affair begins. Utilizing pictures as each flirtation and cinematic system, “Excessive Artwork” typically appears like a recent “Carol.” After all, it was filmed practically twenty years earlier than. —JD
10. “Kissing Jessica Stein” (dir. Charles Herman-Wurmfeld, 2001)
Earlier than she was often known as Jon Hamm’s accomplice, Jennifer Westfeldt was the plucky author and star of this indie romantic comedy a couple of neurotic Jew who, like a bisexual Woody Allen, simply can’t make up her thoughts. Westfeldt performs the titular, Jessica, who comes throughout a pre-Craigslist private advert so completely written it leaves her speechless (a rarity for her). When the particular person on the opposite finish seems to be a girl named Helen, performed by co-writer Heather Jeurgenson, Jessica embarks on the slowest-moving lesbian affair in historical past. It’s the type of New York romance that hardly ever will get made anymore: There’s charming montages to Ella Fitzgerald’s model of “Manhattan,” a “the place did she come from?” hilarious greatest pal (Jackie Hoffman), and a lovably overbearing Jewish mom (Tovah Feldshuh). With out spoiling the ending (if you happen to haven’t seen it, you actually ought to), there are legitimate causes to want “Kissing Jessica Stein” have been slightly bit gayer. However the movie is rather a lot like its protagonist; so rattling pretty, it’s no surprise everybody desires to kiss it. —JD
9. “Go Fish” (dir. Rose Troche, 1994)
Impressed by the success of Todd Haynes’ “Poison” and annoyed by lesbian movies that appeared nothing like their precise lesbian lives, Rose Troche and Guinevere Turner determined to take issues into their very own arms by taking pictures a tiny little indie known as “Go Fish” in 1994. Filmed in black and white in Chicago for an estimated $15,000, “Go Fish” went on to make roughly $2.4 million, proving indies might make a revenue. Turner performed Max, a headstrong author who begins courting the older, quieter Ely (V.S. Brodie), regardless of preliminary reservations. Max’s mates, a jovial lesbian peanut gallery, provide unsolicited recommendation and loads of laughs. Nobody dies, and nobody comes out; a novelty for homosexual movies on the time. “Go Fish” not solely modified the sport for queer cinema, however for indie movie of all types. —JD
8. “Portrait of a Girl on Hearth” (dir. Céline Sciamma, 2019)
Celine Sciamma’s luscious tour-de-force virtually calls for to be seen on the massive display, however its delicate glances and wealthy performances provide a lot to unpack on repeat viewings. There are solely 4 characters within the movie, all girls: A painter, her elusive topic, her mom, and their maid. The setting is a moist and practically empty manor home on an island in Brittany, the a part of France that bears the closest resemblance to England.
A British austerity permeates the movie’s first act, all chilly shoulders and sidelong glances between the ladies, however Sciamma delivers the French ardour by the movie’s fiery conclusion — after which some. Whereas the romance is undoubtedly the center of “Portrait,” Sciamma additionally seamlessly infuses the movie with proof of ladies’s restricted choices, or quite, the endlessly inventive methods they realized to skirt the foundations. Shut out by a house nation that stubbornly refuses to honor its nice girls filmmakers, the movie itself stands ablaze in defiance of — and in obvious contradiction to — the dominance of males. Burn it down. —JD
7. “Born In Flames” (dir. Lizzie Borden, 1983)
Set in a post-revolutionary America, Lizzie Borden’s feminist agitprop movie stays as bracingly radical because the day it was made. Shot guerilla model in Eighties New York Metropolis, the movie is an ingenious mash-up of energizing unique musical numbers, free-wheeling handheld motion pictures, and information footage of precise demonstrations and police violence. The story is instructed by way of two underground feminist radio hosts who mobilize their factions after the Black radical founding father of the Girl’s Military is suspiciously killed in police custody. Although this wildly ingenious movie defies categorization, it’s best described as an afro-futurist political sci-fi comedy — the one one in all its form. That includes performances from a younger Kathryn Bigelow, Eric Bogosian, and civil rights activist Florynce Kennedy, “Born in Flames” is an important affirmation of lesbian political energy. —JD
6. “All Over Me” (dir. Alex Sichel, 1997)
Angst-ridden youngsters are available in all shapes and predilections, a reality this prettily gritty coming-of-age movie celebrates. Two years after Larry Clark’s controversial “Children” got here out, “All Over Me” correctly queered up New York’s counterculture as seen by way of the eyes of Claude (Allison Folland), a delicate loner who follows her wild greatest pal, Ellen (Tara Subkoff), round like a tragic pet. She has an opportunity at breaking free when she meets pink-haired cutie Lucy (Leisha Hailey), however will get pulled again in when Ellen’s boyfriend drama turns into dire. By Hollywood requirements, Claude’s additional child fats made her an unconventional lead, which solely provides to the movie’s rebellious appeal. Like “Desperately Searching for Susan” with kissing, or “Children” with out homophobia, “All Over Me” borrowed from the greats, and stays wholly unique. —JD
5. “Tomboy” (dir. Céline Sciamma, 2007)
The nice AIDS activist and playwright Larry Kramer usually says homosexual individuals are smarter than different folks. If that totally subjective and completely provocative assertion has any advantage, the explanation could be childhood. Homosexual folks grow to be self-reflective early; you grow to be conscious about the world round you by observing your home outdoors of it. There may be not a single movie that captures a extra common queer childhood expertise than Céline Sciamma’s “Tomboy,” a quietly beautiful portrait of a 10-year-old named Laure who strikes to a brand new city and introduces herself as Mikael. It’s the type of film that’ll have you ever ready in your ex’s doorstep simply to speak about it. (True story, however not my very own). “Tomboy” strikes the proper steadiness between lighthearted and heartbreaking, between the enjoyment of a fantasy realized and the cruel sting of actuality. Although the movie got here out in 2011, it feels totally timeless; the golden days of Laure’s summer season might — and do — belong to anybody who acknowledges themselves. —JD
4. “Carol” (dir. Todd Haynes, 2015)
Each time Todd Haynes’ unspeakably lovely Patricia Highsmith adaptation involves thoughts, it brings among the novel’s final phrases together with it: “It could be Carol, in a thousand cities, a thousand homes, in international lands the place they might go collectively, in heaven and hell.” In that gentle, a spot on an inventory of the last decade’s greatest movies hardly looks like a lot of a attain.
Delivered to life by the cautious genius of Phyllis Nagy’s script, the supple glow of Ed Lachmann’s 16mm cinematography, and two of essentially the most extraordinary performances ever dedicated to celluloid (which isn’t to comb outdated Harge below the rug the place he belongs), Haynes’ Carol is greater than only a bone-deep melodrama a couple of mutual infatuation throughout a repressive time. It’s greater than a vessel for Carter Burwell’s swooning career-best rating, or Sandy Powell’s seductive costumes, or the uncommon queer romance that gave its characters a cheerful ending — an ending that resonates by way of Cate Blanchett’s coy smile with the blunt power of each inconceivable dream Carol Aird has ever had for herself. It’s extra than simply an immaculate response to many years of “if solely” dramas like David Lean’s “Temporary Encounter,” or a heartstopping sequence of small gestures that construct into the one most cathartic final shot of the twenty first century. It’s all of these issues (and extra!), however most of all it’s an indivisibly pure distillation of what it feels prefer to fall in love alone and land someplace collectively. —DE
3. “Certain” (dir. The Wachowskis, 1996)
Earlier than The Wachowskis turned a worldwide sensation with “The Matrix,” and lengthy earlier than both got here out as transgender, the directing duo confirmed early indicators of queerness with “Certain.” A noir thriller starring Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly as ex-con Corky and femme fatale Violet, “Certain” gave the world essentially the most luxurious companions in crime that queer cinema has ever seen. Recent out of the joint and arrange with a gig as a handyman, Corky catches Violet’s eye whereas plugging a leak in her boyfriend’s condominium, a crooked mobster by the identify of Caesar (the all the time glorious Joe Pantoliano). Violet quickly learns Corky is nice with all types of plumbing, and so they start a secret love affair. Determined to run off collectively, they hatch a plan to steal tens of millions from Caesar’s bosses and pin the blame on him.
Tilly makes use of her signature husky voice to cover her cleverness behind a ditzy persona, and Gershon proves her appearing mettle by rocking that bike jacket in addition to any true leather-based dyke. Sporting its noir influences proudly on its sleeve, “Certain” is just not solely a traditional lesbian movie, but it surely’s additionally the one Wachowski-directed mission firmly outdoors the sci-fi style. That makes it a uncommon window into this iconic directing duo, and one which LGBT viewers have proudly embraced into the fold. —JD
2. “Mulholland Drive” (dir. David Lynch, 2001)
In love all nice issues should come to an finish, however with David Lynch these ends are often rather a lot darker and bloodier than regular. The plot of “Mulholland Drive” has been puzzled over since its launch in 2001, with vignettes that recall “Pulp Fiction” interweaving with mysteries about id and love, and blanketed by purposefully shaky timelines. Whereas the steamy intercourse between Naomi Watts and Laura Harring might sound sudden, it’s grounded partly by one in all cinema’s most puzzling and lovely scenes, as Rebekah Del Rio sings till she actually drops, bringing each girls to tears. “Mulholland Drive” may expose the seedy underbelly of Hollywood, but it surely additionally exhibits the escapism that love can present, and the lengths we are going to go to maintain that stability alive. —JR
1. “However I’m a Cheerleader” (dir. Jamie Babbit, 1999)
For the idea, the chemistry, and the camp, Jamie Babbit’s “However I’m a Cheerleader” takes the cake. Unapologetically queer in all senses of the phrase, (that is the type of film for which phrases like “offbeat” and “quirky” have been invented), this movie makes low finances look cool. When it got here out in 1999, it was the ultimate gasp of the New Queer Cinema, a bridge between the indies that introduced the primary wave of homosexual tales to the display and the post-Ellen period that paved the way in which for extra business fare like “The L Phrase.” At its coronary heart was a love story as candy and horny as an viewers may hope for.
Set within the current day with a daring retro aesthetic, the film stars a younger Natasha Lyonne as Megan, an harmless cheerleader despatched to a rehab for homosexual and lesbian teenagers. The sufferers put on pink and blue uniforms whereas studying about gender roles and getting ready for straight-sex simulations. After all, placing a bunch of homosexual youngsters in a home collectively is sure to create some sexual pressure, and Megan‘s homosexual little coronary heart stands no likelihood towards the darkish and brooding Graham (Clea Duvall). Babbit delivers one of the best of each worlds with a real and touching romance that blossoms amidst the wildly entertaining satire. That includes an all-star solid that features RuPaul, Melanie Lynskey, Michelle Williams, Cathy Moriarty (“Patti Cake$”), Eddie Cibrian, and temporary appearances by Julie Delpy and Ione Skye, “However I’m a Cheerleader” has all the things. —JD
