Thought: I think there needs to be more lesbian films. More LGBTQ+ films in general- and exploring more genres, and from the views of more ethnicities!! Frustrated with just being represented as the tolken gay supporting role in every show on TV right now, I went on a search to find the best lesbian films where we are the main roles. Enjoy these films, a mix of new and old- in all sorts of genres. I've listed ratings, a synopsis, and where to find them:
1. Portrait of a Lady on Fire- 2019- Romance/Drama
8.1/10 IMBD
98% Rotton Tomatoes
Golden Globe award for Best Foreign Film
Where to watch: Hulu, Amazon Prime (rent)
Directed by a woman, Set in France in the late 18th century, the film tells the story of an affair between an aristocrat and a painter commissioned to paint her portrait.
2. Disobedience- 2017- Drama
6.6/10 IMBD
84% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Amazon Prime (rent)
A woman returns to her Orthodox Jewish community that shunned her for her attraction to a female childhood friend. Once back, their passions reignite as they explore the boundaries of faith and sexuality. I mean Rachel McAdams and Rachel Weisz, come on!
3. Chloe- 2009- Thriller/Drama
6.3/10 IMBD
51% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Hulu (w/add on), Amazon Prime (rent)
Strong female leads, as a woman hires an escort to seduce her unfaithful husband but she gets caught up in the seduction herself, and gets in over her head.
4. Loving Annabelle- 2006- Romance/Drama
6.3/10 IMBD
77% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Amazon prime (free)
Hot for teacher? Annabelle is sent to a Catholic boarding school after she was kicked out of two other schools, and she forms a relationship with one of her teachers.
5. Below Her Mouth- 2016- Romance/Drama
5.5/10 IMBD
22% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Amazon Prime (rent)
Not the best reviews, but what do they know. One word: HOT. An unexpected affair that quickly escalates into a heart-stopping love story for two women whose connection changes their lives forever. Yes there's infidelity, and heat, but there's also very tender moments between these actors that is very deeply moving. One of my favs.
6. Room in Rome- 2010- Romance/Drama
6.1/10 IMBD
40% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
Two young women meet while on holiday in Rome and share a night of intense passion while exchanging stories about their dreadful pasts.
7. Booksmart- 2019- Comedy
7.2/10 IMBD
96% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Hulu, Amazon Prime (rent)
Directed by Olivia Wilde, need I say more?? On the eve of their high school graduation, two academic superstars and best friends realize they should have worked less and played more.
8. Carol- 2015- Drama
7.2/10 IMBD
94% Rotton Tomatoes
Cannes Best Actress Award
Where to watch: Amazon Prime (rent)
Amazing cast. Follows two women from very different backgrounds who find themselves in an unexpected love affair in 1950s New York.
9. My Days of Mercy- 2017- Romance/Drama
6.5/10 IMBD
89% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Amazon Prime (rent), Hulu (w/ add on)
After a female activist protesting the death penalty befriends a woman with opposing views, they begin a passionate relationship that tests their beliefs and their values.
10. Jennifer's Body- 2009- Horror/Comedy
5.3/10 IMBD
45% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Hulu
Maybe not technically a lesbian film, but definite lez-undertones. Plus feminist rage to the max and we love that here. Hello! Way before it's time, I always loved this film. Fucking hilarious. Written, directed, and produced all by women- Following a highschool girl who viciously gets attacked, gets possesed, then starts eating highschool boys. Sounds like a feminist revenge win to me!
11. Good Kisser- 2019- Comedy/Drama
4.4/10 IMBD
86% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Hulu
Jenna and Kate open up their relationship to an alluring stranger in the hopes of spicing up their two-year romance, only for it to expose the faults in their foundation.
12. Saving Face- 2004- Romantic Comedy
7.4/10 IMBD
86% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Amazon Prime (free)
A Chinese-American surgeon, living in Manhattan, is shocked when her single mother shows up on her doorstep pregnant. To help her mom save face and avoid the taboo in the Chinese community of an unmarried woman pregnant. Cultures clash in this film that explores culture shock.
13. The Perfection- 2018- Thriller/Horror
6.2/10 IMBD
72% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Netflix
When troubled musical prodigy Charlotte seeks out Elizabeth, the new star pupil of her former school, the encounter sends both musicians down a sinister path with shocking consequences.
14. RENT- 2005- Musical
6.9/10 IMBD
46% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Amazon Prime (rent), Hulu (w/add on)
This is the film version of the Pulitzer and Tony Award winning musical about Bohemians in the East Village of New York City struggling with life, love and AIDS, and the impacts they have on America.
15. My Summer of Love- 2004- Drama/Romance
6.7/10 IMBD
90% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Amazon Prime (rent)
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.
16. Breaking the Girls- 2013- Crime/Mystery
5.1/10 IMBD
10% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Amazon Prime (rent)
Sara, a college student who was slandered by a classmate, finds herself framed for murder by Alex, who initially proposed the perfect, untraceable crime.
17. Blue is the Warmest Colour- 2013- Drama
7.7/10 IMBD
89% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Amazon Prime (rent)
Still one of my favorite LGBTQ+ films. A highschooler Adèle dates men but finds no satisfaction with them sexually, and is rejected by a female friend who she does desire. Her life is changed when she meets Emma, an older girl with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire and to assert herself and grow as a woman. This movie is just so palpable. It's so very real- an amazing tragic love story that and has moments that will make your heart ache.
18. Pariah- 2011- Indie/Drama
7.2/10 IMBD
95% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Amazon Prime (rent), Hulu (w/add on)
17-year-old African-American Alike lives with her parents and younger sister in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood, and she is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian.
19. Elisa and Marcela- 2019- Drama
6.6/10 IMBD
43% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Netflix
A true story- The first same-sex marriage in Spain to take place after the Roman Imperial era occurred on 8 June 1901. Two women, Marcela Gracia Ibeas and Elisa Sanchez Loriga, attempted to get married in A Coruña in 1885. They meet at the school where they both study. What begins as a close friendship ends in a romantic relationship that they must keep secret.
20. Desert Hearts- 1985- Romance
7/10 IMBD
96% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: HBO Max, Amazon Prime (rent)
1950s Nevada, and Professor Vivian Bell arrives to get a quickie divorce. She's unsatisfied with her marriage, and feels out of place at the ranch she stays on, she finds herself increasingly drawn to Cay Rivers, an open and self-assured lesbian, and the ranchowner's daughter.
21. Mulholland Drive- 2001- Mystery/Thriller
7.9/10 IMBD
83% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Hulu (w/add on), Amazon Prime (rent)
After a car wreck on the winding Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a perky Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.
22. Princess Cyd- 2017- Romance
6.7/10 IMBD
95% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Hulu
A 16-year-old girl visits her aunt in Chicago for the summer. While there, she falls for another girl, and she and her aunt challenge each other's sex and spirit.
23. Gray Matters- 2006- Romantic Comedy
5.7/10 IMBD
8% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Amazon prime (free)
About a brother and sister that are extremely close, and the sister realizing her sexuality preference. Not great reviews, but a good cast, and it's nice to have a silly romantic comedy on the list.
24. Bound- 1996- Crime/Thriller
7.3/10 IMBD
89% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Hulu, Amazon prime (rent)
Corky is a lesbian ex-convict who is working in a building as a plumber. Until she meets Violet, the sexy mistress of mafia gangster Caesar who both live next door. Both Corky and Violet have a love affair and Violet encourages Corky to help her steal 2 million dollars.
25. A Perfect Ending- 2012- Romance
5.7/10 IMBD
49% Rotton Tomatoes
Where to watch: Netflix, Hulu,
Rebecca has a very unusual secret, one that not even her best friends know about. The last person on earth she expects to reveal it to is a high priced escort named Paris.
Women are fucking amazing man! Now grab some popcorn, prepare to laugh, cry, be shocked, be shook! And when you're done with these stay tuned! I'm working on a part 2 now!!
Sidenote- Netflix really needs to up their lesbian representation. I had a very hard time finding many movies available there- THE LEAST actually. Even films like Below her Mouth, and Blue is the Warmest Colour that used to be there are missing now. It's really unfortunate. Come on Netflix - Up your game!
xoxo- Vox
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