Lesbian sex: it’s a thing we have, but it’s also a thing we watch other people have on a screen! We love a good lesbian sex scene. These formative cinematic experiences have helped make us the gay sexual creatures we are today.

I recently solicited hot lesbian sex scene tips on twitter and combined that input with my own personal opinion, which includes the opinion that Elena Undone is a bad movie and nobody should have to watch it for any reason AND the opinion that the HBO biopic Gia made me gay.

This is not a comprehensive list, and only represents films available to stream. I imagine if you’re here with me today reading this, you’re probably not looking for recommendations on DVDs to mail-order. Just a hunch!

This post was originally written in 2018 and has been updated in 2021.

Kinky Lesbian Sex Scenes

Bound (1996)

Directed & Written By: Lana Wachowski & Lilly Wachowski

Lana and Lilly were fans of sex-positive guru Susie Bright’s Lesbian Sex World, so they sent her a package in the early ’90s that contained a draft of Bound, asking if she’d honor them with a cameo. (Lana and Lilly are sisters and trans women, at the time that this film was made, they were still presenting as male.) It wasn’t an unusual request or one that particularly interested her, but she was impressed by the studio they were associated with and thus sat down to read the script. She fell in love with it immediately and agreed to the cameo but also offered them a different type of support: “If you don’t think I’m too presumptuous, could I be your lesbian-sex consultant?,” she wrote. “I notice that whenever two lovers fall into an embrace, it doesn’t say exactly what happens next. On behalf of every moviegoer who can’t live through another syrupy, comb all lesbian love scene, could I please, please, please give you my words of advice on what two women like this would do in bed together?”  They said yes, and she did, and holy shit did that decision pay off! Bound is streaming on Hulu.

The Duke of Burgundy (2015)

Directed & Written by: Peter Strickland

The Duke of Burgundy involves an extensive, drawn-out dom/sub relationship between a lepidopterist (somebody who studies butterflies) and the maid she brings into her home who has a lot of very kinky desires. It’s a very… unique film? Also, there’s no actual nudity but the lingerie they’re wearing is so hot that it sort of compensates for itself. The Duke of Burgundy is streaming on Netflix.

Mommy is Coming (2012)

Written by: Sarah Schulman & Cheryl Dunye
Directed by: Cheryl Dunye

Cheryl Dunye’s campy sex comedy set in the Berlin queer underground finds power femme Dylan (Lili Harlow) and charming masc Claudia (played by queer porn performer Papi Coxxx) looking to spice up their monogamous relationship with some sexual adventures. Dylan finds new experiences in a BDSM sex club and Claudia, now presenting as Claude, meets an older woman at the hotel where he works who turns out to be Dylan’s Mom! “With its embrace of older bodies, bodies of color, and bodies that do not fit into any one gender, the film also reflects an ever more fluid sense of erotic queer representation,” writes Julia Bryan-Wilson in ArtForum. “All manner of configurations of desire are on display here, as an astonishing array of objects and appendages are inserted and received in various orifices.” Mommy is Coming is streaming on Amazon.

Professor Marston & The Wonder Women (2017)

Directed & Written by: Angela Robinson

If you don’t want any men in your sex scenes, this isn’t the film for you. But if that element doesn’t turn you off, you’re in for a lesbian-written-and-directed DELIGHT. This movie is hot and kinky as hell and makes you feel like it’s okay to want what you want and it will probably inspire you to go out there and get what you want without shame or inhibition. Professor Marston & The Wonder Women is streaming free on hoopla, Plex, Roku, tubi and Vudu.

The Handmaiden (2016)

Directed by: Chan-wook Park
Written by: Chan-wook Park and Seo-Kyung Chung, adapted from Fingersmith, by Sarah Waters

A beautiful, thrilling, meticulously plotted film; sumptuous and precise and erotically charged throughout. I could watch The Handmaiden ten times and it wouldn’t be enough but nothing will ever beat that first twisty time. Pajaba called it “the lesbian gothic psychosexual romantic thriller of our dreams.” Teo Bugbee at MTV called it “a film dedicated to getting off on the creative potential of sexuality, and by grounding that open exploration of desire in a story where two women find freedom through each other.” The sex itself isn’t kinky, but the movie is so directly about kink that it made the list anyhow. The Handmaiden is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Wow Just a Lot of Lesbian Sex Happening

Concussion (2013)

Directed & Written By: Stacie Passon

After a concussion, a lesbian mom decides to become a sex worker who only sees women clients, leading to a bunch of small trysts and one complicated affair. Once upon a time I was feeling not particularly sexual but knew sex was on the agenda for that evening so I turned off all the lights and watched this movie with as much devoted attention as I possibly could muster and you know what, it worked! Concussion is streaming on Roku with ads or on Amazon.

Duck Butter (2018)

Directed by: Miguel Arteta
Written by: Miguel Arteta, Alia Shawkat

In her review, Heather Hogan wrote that the sex scenes, “which feel real and are not male gaze-y in any way,” were a highlight of this recent release, which sees Naima (Shawkat), a struggling actor in Los Angeles; and Sergio (Laia Costa); meet at a club and hook up and decide to spend a sleepless 24 hours together, having sex once an hour. Duck Butter is streaming on Netflix.

Room in Rome (2010)

Written & Directed by: Julio Medem

This is a terrible film you should probably watch on drugs. It’s also a film composed almost entirely of lesbian sex scenes and the two women involved in those scenes having conversations about their feelings and childhood trauma. Room in Rome is streaming on Direct TV for subscribers.

Below Her Mouth (2017)

Directed By: April Mullen
Written By: Stephanie Fabrizi

“One thing is clear about Below Her Mouth,” wrote Erin Sullivan in her minimally-starred review of Below Her Mouth, “its creators were committed to pulling off a realistic portrayal of what sex between two women can really look like for a mainstream audience. And they did! They did it so much. I’m talking a lot.” There are so many locations within a disaffected brooding artist’s loft/truck to fuck in, you know? And they do. They sure do so much! Below Her Mouth is streaming on YouTube.

Better Than Chocolate (1999)

Directed by: Anne Wheeler
Written by: Peggy Thompson

I’m sorry everybody but this is a mediocre film and the sex scenes give me chronic internalized homophobia but so many of you brought this up on twitter that I felt obligated to include it. It was, for its time, pretty wonderful, and was the first movie to show a trans woman with a lesbian friend group. It does have, to its credit, a lot of sexual content — we’ve got a sex toy collector, we’ve got bodypaint sex, we’ve got shower sex, we’ve got bathroom sex complete with a line of lesbians (patiently??!) waiting to use the bathroom where sex is being had, we’ve got a Mom discovering sex toys! So much sex! Good on everybody involved in this seminal film for having sex! Better Than Chocolate is streaming on Amazon.

A Perfect Ending

Written & Directed by: Nicole Conn

A very hot Mommi has never had an orgasm and her lesbian friends are like “okay you need to see someone” and by “someone” they mean an escort, played by undeniably absurdly hot lesbian actress Jessica Clark!! A steamy affair ignites in a film that finds a new way to be extra at every turn. A Perfect Ending is streaming on Hulu.

Romantic Lesbian Sex

Kiss Me / Kyss Mig / With Every Heartbeat (2011)

Directed By: Alexandra-Therese Keining, Therese Keining
Written By: Alexandra-Therese Keining

One way to check if you’re really falling in love or not is to have sex. Just ask these two ladies who are about to become step-sisters! It’s complicated, sure, but any lesbian could tell you that complicated is just another word for “irresistibly hot.”  With Every Heartbeat is streaming on Kanopy, Roku and Tubi.

I Can’t Think Straight (2008)

Directed by: Shamim Sarif
Written by: Shamim Shaif, Kelly Moss

I Can’t Think Straight is a tale of what happens when two very attractive women sustain intense amounts of sexual tension for a series of minutes, breaking every now and then to release that tension through sex scenes. Erin loved it! I Can’t Think Straight is streaming on Amazon.

Summertime / La Belle Saison (2016) (France)

Directed by: Catherine Corsini
Written by: Catherine Corsini & Laurette Polmanss

The poster for this film is not lying to you. The two women at the center of this story set in 1971 — about a young woman from the French countryside who moves to Paris to get away from her parents, where she falls in with a group of politically engaged feminists and falls in love with their leader Carol — do indeed spend a lot of time naked. They even have great French countryside sex! Summertime is streaming on Amazon.

Ammonite (2020)

Written & Directed By: Francis Lee

This movie is as dull as the fossils it wants us to mediate on but might possibly actually be worth it for the sex scenes? Which come straight out of the grey skies and sit right on your face! Full nudes! Kate Winslet finally takes that dress off!! Ammonite is streaming on Hulu.

When Night Is Falling

Written & Directed by: Patricia Rozema

A professor at a Christian university meets a free-spirited circus performer at a laundromat on the day her dog ran away and died and sparks fly! Before long they are having fully naked lesbian sex that changes the professors life. It’s a pretty typical story for a lesbian movie, but the romance is, as they say, sensual. When Night is Falling is streaming on Amazon Prime, Pluto TV and the Roku Channel.

There’s Only One Sex Scene But It Sure Is Hot!

Je, tu, il, elle (1974)

Written & Directed by: Chantal Akerman

The last 15 minutes of Chantal Akerman’s debut film, about a woman who has a nervous breakdown and gets agoraphobic and then goes on a road trip and hangs out with this guy a lot, she returns to the ex who broke her heart for 15 straight minutes of full-on fully-naked clawing folding connecting yearning lesbian sex. je tu il elle is streaming on the Criterion Channel.

Atomic Blonde (2017)

Directed By: David Leitch
Written By: Kurt Johnstad

My jaw dropped right there in the movie theater when this sex scene began because it was so hot and so real and there it was in a mainstream movie! “Honestly I really thought Atomic Blonde was the best I’ve ever seen,” wrote @nollers on twitter, “which sounds ridiculous because the scenes are so short, but the heat felt real and the progression felt natural and sincere. It was so passionate and honestly, I’m a sucker for the little bit of danger.” Atomic Blonde is available on Amazon and YouTube.

The Watermelon Woman (1997)

Written & Directed By: Cheryl Dunye

Video store clerk and filmmaker Cheryl is making a documentary about Fae Richards, a Black actress only ever credited as “The Watermelon Woman” in her films who Cheryl discovers is a lesbian. Cheryl starts dating Diana (Guinevere Turner) and eventually the two women find themselves having lesbian sex that the Philadelphia City Paper described as “the hottest dyke sex scene ever recorded on celluloid” when it premiered in the late 90s. The Watermelon Woman is streaming on Showtime, Fandor, Kanopy and DirectTV.

Chloe (2010)

Directed by: Atom Egoyan
Written by: Erin Cressida Wilson

An erotic thriller that sees Catherine (Julianne Moore) hiring Chloe (Amanda Seyfried) to attempt to seduce her husband but, of course, we know how these things go — she finds Chloe’s descriptions of hooking up with her husband to be kinda hot and before you know it the two ladies have a romp of their own. Can you endure the entire ridiculous film for three minutes of Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried having lesbian sex? There’s only one way to find out! Chloe is streaming on Amazon Prime Video, DirectTV, Kanopy and Starz.

There’s Only One Sex Scene But It Sure Is Exciting!

Disobedience (2018)

Directed by: Sebastián Lelio
Written by: Sebastián Lelio and Rebecca Lenkiewicz, based on the novel by Naomi Alderman

The first thing anybody ever learned about Disobedience was that it included a lesbian sex scene involving somebody spitting into somebody else’s mouth. “All the wetness, the spitting in the mouth, the pubic hair, the vaginas, but also leaving some of it to the audience to imagine,” said Rachel Weisz to Heather Hogan on the actual telephone, regarding this 6-minute sex scene. “Where is the other woman’s mouth, where are her fingers? It was important for him to focus on our faces to really capture that desire. There’s something very spiritual about their sex. I’m really proud of it.” Disobedience is streaming on Kanopy, Starz and Amazon Prime Video.

Carol (2015)

Directed by: Todd Haynes
Written by: Phyllis Nagy, based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith

Have you heard of this movie? There’s a very nice May/December lesbian romance that eventually consummates itself. Carol is streaming on Pluto, Roku and Tubi with ads, or on IMDB TV and Amazon Prime Video.

Saving Face (2005)

Written & Directed By: Alice Wu

Coming in at #2 on our 200 Best Lesbian Movies of All Time list, Saving Face‘s sex scene is also brief, but it’s such a rewarding and joyful sexual experience for the characters, who are by the way naked. Saving Face is streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Pluto, Roku and Tubi.

Gia (1997)

Directed By: Michael Cristofer
Written By: Jay McInerney, Michael Cristofer

An erotically-charged photoshoot involving lesbian groping through a chain-link fence, followed by intense lesbian sex, followed by and also honestly proceeded by a lot of “Angelina Jolie with her shirt off.” There’s a lot of physical intimacy with her on-again-off-again girlfriend in this film, which is ultimately a tragic, heartbreaking story, based on a heartbreaking real life. Gia is streaming on HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video.

The Carmilla Movie (2017)

Directed By: Spencer Maybee
Written By: Alejandro Alcoba and Jordan Hall

The two women in question shed their period outfits before settling into a solid five minutes or so of lesbian sex, executed with loving, genuine detail. Bonus points for setting it to Uh Huh Her, my own personal Sex Soundtrack of 2007. The Carmilla Movie is available to stream on VHX.

There’s Only One Sex Scene But It Sure Is Revelatory!

Desert Hearts (1985)

Directed By: Robert Louis Stevenson, Donna Deitch
Written By: Jane Rule, Natalie Cooper

Desert Hearts features the first lesbian sex scene in a lesbian-made movie to get a major theatrical release and was #4 on our list of the 200 Best Lesbian Movies of All Time, where Drew describes it as “a period piece decades ahead of its time.” Desert Hearts is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)

Directed by: Jamie Babbit
Written by: Brian Wayne Peterson and Jamie Babbit

This entire film was notoriously de-sexed in order to avoid an NC-17 rating, but the tender, softly soundtracked furtive sex scene between Graham and Megan at conversion camp holds a special place in our hearts. “But I’m a Cheerleader’s sex scene didn’t make me gay,” wrote @DeepLezPower on twitter, “but it definitely helped.” But I’m a Cheerleader is streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Hoopla, Pluto and Vudu.

Princess Cyd (2017)

Written & Directed by: Stephen Cone

The scene is short, but it’s sweaty and sweet and touching and revelatory, too. Plus our very own Ro White is in it! That’s them in the picture! Princess Cyd is streaming on Amazon Prime VIdeo.

Obviously not every great moment in cinematic lesbian sex was included here, which means I bet you’ll have some to add in the comments! FYI, The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love and If These Walls Could Talk 2 are not available to stream, so they are not included here.