Bury Your Gays and Other Tropes: “LGBTQ+” Films to AVOID
by prideposterstudios | created - 7 months ago | updated - 7 months ago | PublicHaving watched a LOT of LGBTQ+ films for those offering good representation, save yourself a lot of time by checking out these ones that well and truly miss the mark- whether intentionally or otherwise...
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1. The Prom (2020)
PG-13 | 130 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
A troupe of hilariously self-obsessed theater stars swarm into a small conservative Indiana town in support of a high-school girl who wants to take her girlfriend to the prom.
Director: Ryan Murphy | Stars: Meryl Streep, James Corden, Nicole Kidman, Kerry Washington
Votes: 29,260
2. The Deep End (2001)
R | 101 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A woman spirals out of control while trying to keep her son from being found culpable in a murder investigation.
Directors: Scott McGehee, David Siegel | Stars: Tilda Swinton, Goran Visnjic, Jonathan Tucker, Peter Donat
Votes: 11,992 | Gross: $8.82M
3. Loving Annabelle (2006)
Not Rated | 77 min | Drama, Romance
The intelligent Annabelle starts in an elite Catholic girls' boarding high school after being expelled from the previous 2 schools. She's open about being lesbian. She's attracted to her teacher, Simone.
Director: Katherine Brooks | Stars: Erin Kelly, Diane Gaidry, Laura Breckenridge, Michelle Horn
Votes: 13,488 | Gross: $1.10M
4. Adam (I) (2009)
PG-13 | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Adam, a lonely man with Asperger's Syndrome, develops a relationship with his upstairs neighbor, Beth.
Director: Max Mayer | Stars: Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving
Votes: 35,782 | Gross: $2.28M
5. The Rules of Attraction (2002)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The incredibly spoiled and overprivileged students of Camden College are a backdrop for an unusual love triangle between a drug dealer, a virgin and a bisexual classmate.
Director: Roger Avary | Stars: James Van Der Beek, Ian Somerhalder, Shannyn Sossamon, Jessica Biel
Votes: 53,336 | Gross: $6.53M
6. The Wedding Banquet (1993)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
To satisfy his nagging parents, a gay landlord and a female tenant agree to a marriage of convenience, but his parents arrive to visit and things get out of hand.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Winston Chao, May Chin, Ah-Lei Gua, Sihung Lung
Votes: 17,156 | Gross: $6.93M
7. Get Real (1999–2000)
TV-14 | 60 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Follow the dysfunctional Green family as the parents face a midlife crisis and the kids go through their teenage years.
Stars: Jon Tenney, Debrah Farentino, Eric Christian Olsen, Christina Pickles
Votes: 643
8. A Single Man (2009)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
An English professor, one year after the sudden death of his boyfriend, is unable to cope with his typical days in 1960s Los Angeles.
Director: Tom Ford | Stars: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode, Nicholas Hoult
Votes: 117,796 | Gross: $9.17M
9. Beach Rats (2017)
R | 98 min | Drama
A Brooklyn teenager spends his days experimenting with drugs and looking online for older men to meet.
Director: Eliza Hittman | Stars: Harris Dickinson, Madeline Weinstein, Kate Hodge, Neal Huff
Votes: 16,463 | Gross: $0.47M
10. I Killed My Mother (2009)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Romance
A semi-autobiographical story about Hubert as a young homosexual at odds with his mother.
Director: Xavier Dolan | Stars: Anne Dorval, Xavier Dolan, François Arnaud, Suzanne Clément
Votes: 31,424
11. My Summer of Love (2004)
R | 86 min | Drama, Romance
In the Yorkshire countryside, working-class tomboy Mona meets the exotic, pampered Tamsin. Over the summer season, the two young women discover they have much to teach one another, and much to explore together.
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski | Stars: Natalie Press, Emily Blunt, Paddy Considine, Dean Andrews
Votes: 21,792 | Gross: $0.99M
12. All Over Me (1997)
R | 86 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Claude and Ellen are best friends who live in a not-so-nice area of New York. They're involved in the subculture of '90s youth, complete with drugs, live music, and homophobia. All is ... See full summary »
Director: Alex Sichel | Stars: Alison Folland, Tara Subkoff, Cole Hauser, Wilson Cruz
Votes: 3,454 | Gross: $0.15M
13. First Girl I Loved (2016)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Romance
Seventeen-year-old Anne just fell in love with Sasha, the most popular girl at her LA public high school. But when Anne tells her best friend Clifton - who has always harbored a secret crush - he does his best to get in the way.
Director: Kerem Sanga | Stars: Dylan Gelula, Brianna Hildebrand, Mateo Arias, Pamela Adlon
Votes: 4,051
14. Is It Just Me? (2010)
Unrated | 93 min | Comedy, Romance
A socially shunned columnist finds his romantic match online, but messaging under the wrong account causes his sleazy roommate's picture to be forwarded, creating an identity mix-up.
Director: J.C. Calciano | Stars: Nicholas Downs, David Loren, Adam Huss, Michelle G. O'Neil
Votes: 3,378
15. I Am Michael (2015)
Not Rated | 98 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Based on the fascinating true-life story of Michael Glatze, a gay activist who becomes a Christian pastor after identifying as a heterosexual.
Director: Justin Kelly | Stars: James Franco, Zachary Quinto, Emma Roberts, Charlie Carver
Votes: 5,897
16. Giant Little Ones (2018)
R | 93 min | Drama
Two popular teen boys, best friends since childhood, discover their lives, families, and girlfriends dramatically upended after an unexpected incident occurs on the night of a 17th birthday party.
Director: Keith Behrman | Stars: Josh Wiggins, Darren Mann, Taylor Hickson, Maria Bello
Votes: 9,781 | Gross: $0.18M
17. The Kids Are All Right (2010)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Two children conceived by artificial insemination bring their biological father into their non-traditional family life.
Director: Lisa Cholodenko | Stars: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska
Votes: 134,466 | Gross: $20.81M
18. Mysterious Skin (2004)
Unrated | 105 min | Drama
Two pre-adolescent boys both experienced a strange event and later it affects their lives in different ways. One becomes a reckless, sexually adventurous prostitute, while the other retreats into a reclusive fantasy of alien abduction.
Director: Gregg Araki | Stars: Brady Corbet, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elisabeth Shue, Chase Ellison
Votes: 76,352 | Gross: $0.70M
19. High Art (1998)
R | 101 min | Drama, Romance
A young female intern at a small magazine company and a drug-addicted lesbian photographer slowly fall in love while exploiting each other to advance their respective careers.
Director: Lisa Cholodenko | Stars: Radha Mitchell, Ally Sheedy, Patricia Clarkson, Gabriel Mann
Votes: 11,116 | Gross: $1.93M
20. Fourth Man Out (2015)
Unrated | 86 min | Comedy, Drama
A car mechanic in a small, working class town comes out of the closet to his unsuspecting, blue-collar best friends.
Director: Andrew Nackman | Stars: Parker Young, Evan Todd, Chord Overstreet, Jon Gabrus
Votes: 10,846
21. Dream Boy (2008)
R | 88 min | Drama, Romance
Based on the novel "Dream Boy" by Jim Grimsley, this film chronicles the relationship between two gay teenagers in the rural south in the late 70's.
Director: James Bolton | Stars: Stephan Bender, Thomas Jay Ryan, Diana Scarwid, Tom Gilroy
Votes: 4,376 | Gross: $0.01M
22. Better Than Chocolate (1999)
R | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Maggie, 19, works at a lesbian/LGBT bookstore. Her mom's getting divorced and has invited herself to stay with Maggie. Maggie hasn't told her, she's lesbian. Her new girlfriend moves in as well.
Director: Anne Wheeler | Stars: Wendy Crewson, Karyn Dwyer, Christina Cox, Ann-Marie MacDonald
Votes: 8,756 | Gross: $2.01M
23. Papi Chulo (2018)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Drama
A lonely TV weatherman strikes up an unusual friendship with a middle-aged Latino migrant worker.
Director: John Butler | Stars: Matt Bomer, Alejandro Patiño, Elena Campbell-Martinez, Wendi McLendon-Covey
Votes: 1,818 | Gross: $0.08M
24. Loev (2015)
92 min | Drama, Romance
A weekend trip between friends takes a sudden turn, making them each question what love is and what it means to them.
Director: Sudhanshu Saria | Stars: Dhruv Ganesh, Siddharth Menon, Shiv Panditt, Dixit
Votes: 2,844
25. Daddy Issues (I) (2018)
81 min | Drama, Romance
Maya, a queer pixie artist, meets and falls madly in love with her insta-crush: the sexually fluid fashionista, Jasmine. It's all gumdrops and fairytales until Maya discovers Jasmine's passionate relationship with a secret sugar daddy.
Director: Amara Cash | Stars: Madison Lawlor, Montana Manning, Andrew Pifko, Kamala Jones
Votes: 843
26. Straight Up (I) (2019)
Not Rated | 95 min | Comedy, Romance
Todd and Rory are intellectual soul mates. He might be gay. She might not care. A romantic-comedy drama with a twist; a love story without the thrill of copulation.
Director: James Sweeney | Stars: James Sweeney, Katie Findlay, Dana Drori, James Scully
Votes: 3,319
27. Fox and His Friends (1975)
Not Rated | 123 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A suggestible working-class innocent wins the lottery but lets himself be taken advantage of by his bourgeois new boyfriend and his circle of materialistic friends.
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Stars: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Peter Chatel, Karlheinz Böhm, Adrian Hoven
Votes: 6,757
28. Law of Desire (1987)
NC-17 | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Thriller
A gay filmmaker becomes involved with an obsessive fan while still pining for his absent true love. Meanwhile, he shares a close but complex relationship with his trans sister, an actress.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Eusebio Poncela, Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Miguel Molina
Votes: 14,087
29. Margarita with a Straw (2014)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama
A rebellious young woman with cerebral palsy leaves her home in India to study in New York, unexpectedly falls in love, and embarks on an exhilarating journey of self-discovery.
Directors: Shonali Bose, Nilesh Maniyar | Stars: Kalki Koechlin, Revathi, Sayani Gupta, Hussain Dalal
Votes: 4,107
30. Set It Off (1996)
R | 123 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Desperation drives four inner-city women to bank robbery in Los Angeles, then they start mistrusting each other.
Director: F. Gary Gray | Stars: Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, Kimberly Elise
Votes: 18,476 | Gross: $36.05M
31. Consequences (2018)
TV-MA | 95 min | Drama
After being sent to a youth detention centre, 18-year-old Andrej has to fight for his place within the group of inmates while getting closer to Zeljko, their informal leader, and struggling to keep his repressed secret in the dark.
Director: Darko Stante | Stars: Matej Zemljic, Timon Sturbej, Gasper Markun, Lovro Zafred
Votes: 2,443
32. Take Me to the River (2015)
Not Rated | 84 min | Drama
A Californian teenager's plan to come out at his Nebraskan family reunion gets derailed when a bloodstain on his young cousin's dress makes him the unwitting suspect of abuse.
Director: Matt Sobel | Stars: Logan Miller, Robin Weigert, Josh Hamilton, Richard Schiff
Votes: 2,724
33. Matthias & Maxime (2019)
Not Rated | 119 min | Drama, Romance
Hidden feelings come to light and threaten the bond of a group of friends in their late 20s.
Director: Xavier Dolan | Stars: Gabriel D'Almeida Freitas, Xavier Dolan, Pier-Luc Funk, Samuel Gauthier
Votes: 9,127
34. Your Name Engraved Herein (2020)
Not Rated | 118 min | Drama, Romance
In 1987, as martial law ends in Taiwan, Jia-han and Birdy fall in love amid family pressure, homophobia and social stigma.
Director: Kuang-Hui Liu | Stars: Edward Chen, Jing-Hua Tseng, Leon Dai, Shih-Sian Wang
Votes: 7,909
35. Summer of 85 (2020)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, Romance
When 16-year-old Alexis capsizes off the coast of Normandy, 18-year-old David heroically saves him. Alexis has just met the friend of his dreams, who opens his eyes to a new horizon of friendship, art and sexual bliss.
Director: François Ozon | Stars: Félix Lefebvre, Benjamin Voisin, Philippine Velge, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
Votes: 13,367
36. Lust Life Love (2021)
99 min | Drama, Romance
A star-crossed love story set in the world of polyamory and sex parties in New York City.
Directors: Benjamin Feuer, Stephanie Sellars | Stars: Jake Choi, Stephanie Sellars, Jeanna Han, Makeda Declet
Votes: 285
37. The Heiresses (2018)
TV-14 | 98 min | Drama
Marcelo Martinessi's stunning debut The Heiresses is an immersive and emotionally compelling look into the lives of the privileged, through the tribulations of a hesitant woman in quiet crisis.
Director: Marcelo Martinessi | Stars: Norma Codas, Margarita Irun, Ana Brun, Yvera
Votes: 3,284 | Gross: $0.08M
38. Mambo Italiano (2003)
R | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The son of Italian immigrants to Canada struggles to find the best way to reveal to his parents that he's gay.
Director: Émile Gaudreault | Stars: Luke Kirby, Peter Miller, Ginette Reno, Paul Sorvino
Votes: 6,955 | Gross: $6.24M
39. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
R | 134 min | Drama, Romance
Ennis and Jack are two shepherds who develop a sexual and emotional relationship. Their relationship becomes complicated when both of them get married to their respective girlfriends.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams, Randy Quaid
Votes: 382,510 | Gross: $83.04M
40. Call Me by Your Name (2017)
R | 132 min | Drama, Romance
In 1980s Italy, romance blossoms between a seventeen-year-old student and the older man hired as his father's research assistant.
Director: Luca Guadagnino | Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar
Votes: 316,227 | Gross: $18.10M
41. Laurence Anyways (2012)
Not Rated | 168 min | Drama, Romance
A drama that charts ten years in a transgender woman's relationship with her lover.
Director: Xavier Dolan | Stars: Melvil Poupaud, Emmanuel Schwartz, Suzanne Clément, Nathalie Baye
Votes: 22,217
42. Kissing Jessica Stein (2001)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A woman searching for the perfect man instead discovers the perfect woman.
Director: Charles Herman-Wurmfeld | Stars: Jennifer Westfeldt, Heather Juergensen, Tovah Feldshuh, Esther Wurmfeld
Votes: 17,443 | Gross: $7.02M
43. Alex Strangelove (2018)
TV-MA | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Alex, high school class president, nerd and a straight A student, has been dating Claire a long time. They decide to sleep together but then he meets a gay guy and he's confused.
Director: Craig Johnson | Stars: Michael Abela, Daniel Doheny, Brendan Archer, Madeline Weinstein
Votes: 19,546
44. Knock at the Cabin (2023)
R | 100 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
While vacationing, a girl and her parents are taken hostage by armed strangers who demand that the family make a choice to avert the apocalypse.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan | Stars: Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Nikki Amuka-Bird
Votes: 115,624
45. Make Up (2019)
TV-MA | 86 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
On a remote holiday park in Cornwall, a young woman is drawn into a mysterious obsession when she suspects her boyfriend has cheated on her.
Director: Claire Oakley | Stars: Molly Windsor, Joseph Quinn, Stefanie Martini, Theo Barklem-Biggs
Votes: 1,960
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