Star-studded lesbian Christmas rom-com The Happiest Season lands on Hulu tomorrrow but after you’ve finished watching “The Happiest Season” a few times you might think to yourself, “What other lesbian movies are on Hulu? I bet lesbian movies are all over Hulu!” More specifically: “Where can I see two women stare longingly into each other’s eyeballs?????” Well good news! we have you covered.
Portrait of a Lady On Fire
#7 on our 200 Best Lesbian Movies List
The invention of lesbian cinema is a project as old as cinema itself,” wrote Drew Gregory in her review. “But every once in a while there is a work of art so specific, so complex, so new in its oldness and old in its newness, that it moves the craft, our craft, to another level of seeing.”
Professor Marsden and the Wonder Women
#14 on our 200 Best Lesbian Movies List
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“Writer/director/longtime lesbian favorite Angela Robinson did a really subversive thing with the most talked-about period film of the fall of 2017,” writes Heather Hogan of one of my most favorite lesbian movies of all time. “She brought an ardent screenplay, a soaring score, and unapologetically gauzy sunlight to bear on the story of the man, his wife, and their lover who created the most iconic female superhero of all time in the hopes that she would prepare the world for matriarchal rule — with a healthy side of bondage.
The Girl King
Queen Kristina of Sweden, who was crowned at the age of six, will not abide the conservative ideals of her culture, especially when she falls in love with a woman. Solidly mediocre.
Liz in September
#197 on our 200 Best Lesbian Movies List
It’s not great, this film about a straight girl who stays at a lesbian beach resort and ends up getting seduced by the resident Lothario. “This film has so much potential to be, if not fun, at least not an unending pit of despair,” Erin wrote of it at the precise moment it became clear it would remain an unending put of despair. “Now we’re in an underwater world of existential reeling.”
A Simple Favor
#45 on our 200 Best Lesbian Movies List
One of my personal favorite lesbian movies on Hulu is actually a resolutely bisexual movie, in which Blake Lively wears incredible suits, seduces everybody in her sight and orchestrates some intense schemes around the surprisingly charming earnest widow mommy-vlogger played by Anna Kendrick. It’s twisty and fun and also, Linda Cardellini plays a lesbian artist who loves knives.
#47 on our 200 Best Lesbian Movies List
“Have you seen Booksmart?” Is a question a lot of lesbians were asking each other last summer. Everybody really enjoyed this film, produced by Olivia Wilde, about two best friends, Molly (played by queer actress Bernie Feldstein and Amy (lesbian) who discover that the kids who devoted themselves to studying throughout high school only to discover that the kids who also had social lives ALSO got into exclusive colleges and so they decide to get all of their socializing in on one night. “Every joke lands, even a running character gag that could have easily become grating in less skilled hands,” writes Heather Hogan. “The stakes become clear, the conflict is heartbreaking, and gosh is the resolution ever earned.”
Hearts Beat Loud
#76 on our Best Lesbian Movies of All Time List
This indie summer comedy features “effortlessly cool” Kiersey Clemons as Sam, enjoying her last summer at home making music with her cool Dad and, of course, falling for Rose (Sasha Lane). “I just love this movie. It’s light, perhaps even fluffy, and yes a bit twee,” wrote Carmen. “But you know what, who cares? When was the last time a motion picture centered itself on the premise that a teenage, mixed race, black lesbian is worthy of support and love from everyone surrounding her? It’s simple and tender and because of those things it’s groundbreaking. It sneaks right up on you and barrels into your heart.”
Princess Cyd
#31 on our 200 Best Lesbian Movies List
Heather called this the most hopeful queer film of 2017, and it made plenty of mainstream magazines’ best-of lists too. It hits all your coming-of-age hotspots about first queer love and sexual discovery. What’s especially refreshing about this one is that there’s no hand-wringing from anyone about their sexuality and every woman with a major part comes away from their summer together more content and connected. Plus, our very own Malic White is in it!
The First Girl I Loved
#116 on our 200 Best Lesbian Movies List
“First Girl I Loved is earnest and awkward, hilarious and touching,” wrote Mey in her review. “While it doesn’t quite reach the level it aspires to, it’s still a huge step forward from the sad or just plain bad stories we’re used to seeing on the silver screen.”
Elena Undone
The story of a mother/pastor’s wife and a well-known lesbian writer who cross paths and are instantly drawn to one another. Meanwhile I am drawn into another room where anything but this film is playing.
Vita & Virginia
#177 on our 200 Best Lesbian Movies List
We all love Vita and Virginia and also, they loved each otherr. I asked Drew if this movie was good and she said “no, but it wasn’t bad. It’s very fine.”
Desert Hearts
#4 on our 200 Best Lesbian Movies List
Based on the classic novel by Jane Rule, this understated love story is adapted into a movie about straightlaced Columbia professor and divorcee Vivian, who escapes her life and ends up falling for cowgirl Cay. It was a big deal when it came out and — surprise! — it’s a lesbian movie that holds up on Hulu, even years later.
A.W.O.L
#127 on our 200 Best Lesbian Movies List
“Talking about class can be ugly,” wrote Sarah Fonseca in her glowing review of AWOL, a love story set in a rarely-portrayed rural landscape and confronts new conversations issues of class, race and gender. “Yet as AWOL asserts, when you dare to comment, sometimes it frees up room for beauty to unfurl.”
All About E
An Australian film that dares to ask, “Can E keep the money, conquer her demons, AND get the girl?” More importantly: why are there so many men going through a sort of random plot about men who are mad at other men instead of it being a long and romantic meditation on the face of Mandahla Rose??!!? Someone paint her picture!!
Anchor and Hope
Eva and Kat have lesbian names and live on a boat until Eva decides she wants to have a baby, but Kat is like, “what why I love our bohemian lifestyle” and then Kat’s BFF comes to visit they’re like, maybe he could be the father??? There’s a sex scene in the first ten minutes. Has anybody seen this?
Adam
#104 on our 200 Best Lesbian Movies List
Trans director Rhys Ernst headed up this adaptation of the book by Ariel Schrag — an adaptation which included adjusting the book’s most notoriously offensive inclusions. The premise of the story sounds unpleasant — a cis guy visits his queer sister for the summer and is mistaken for trans guy and just runs with it. Adam will bring you right back to 2006, in all its problematic messy glory. It also includes a trans woman dating a cis woman, something we rarely get to see in movies or television! Leo Sheng (The L Word: Generation Q) co-stars in a cast that also features cameos by faves like MJ Rodriguez, Theo Germaine and Julia Weldon.
Margarita With a Straw
#110 on our 200 Best Lesbian Movies List
“Yes, this is a ‘disabled person discovers their sexuality’ movie, but Laila is never healed (literally or figuratively) by that discovery,” wrote Carrie Wade in her review of Margarita With a Straw, a love story between two disabled women of color, “presented without sensationalism or pandering.”
The Color Purple
This film adaptation of the Alice Walker novel does not contain that book’s explicit romantic relationship between Celie and Shug. In 2011, Steven Spielberg told Entertainment Weekly that he was “the wrong director to acquit some of the more sexually honest encounters between Shug and Celie” in the film, but that he “basically took something that was extremely erotic and very intentional, and I reduced it to a simple kiss,” in hopes of a PG-13 rating. However, the groundbreaking blockbuster film remains worth watching.
Foxfire
#41 on our 200 Best Lesbian Movies List
This feminists-strike-back film based on Joyce Carol Oates’ novel stars Angelina Jolie as Legs Sadowsky, a badass sex bomb in a leather jacket who gets four other high school girls to risk it all by speaking out against their teacher’s sexual harassment and eventually form a girl gang, complete with spooky meetings in an abandoned house and wonton tattooing. It was on this set that Jolie fell for lesbian model Jenny Shimizu, who plays a queer teen rejected by her conservative family.
Happiest Season — debuts November 25 2020
This hotly anticipated holiday rom-com co-written and directed by Clea Duvall stars the one and only Kristen Stewart as Abby, who’s meeting her girlfriend Harper’s (Mackenzie Davis) family for the first time. But, big surprise! They don’t know that Harper is gay!
So there you have it, all the lesbian and queer movies on Hulu that we could find! And we searched high and low! Which are you most excited to dust off and revisit, or watch for the first time?
Want more streaming lesbian movies?
I’ve seen Anchor and Hope and it is DECIDEDLY mediocre and far too caught up in men and their ability to ruin lesbian domestic bliss (ie The Kids Are Alright vibes). However, it is partially in Spanish which is a fun change, and it has Tonks from Harry Potter as a fit dyke, soooo it’s worth a watch.
I may have screamed a little with joy when I saw the title of this. I’m so excited to watch Portrait of a Lady on Fire! Thank you for letting us know it’s on Hulu now! And for the rest of the list :)
Would love to get a review from the team for Adam, since with what I have read thus far about the movie, I am unsure about giving it any money to find out if it is okay to watch or just flaming BS.
I wrote about it for Thrillist.
https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/adam-movie-review-lgbtq-trans-controversy
Really enjoyed the Thrillist article- thank you Drew.
Okay, so I just finished watching Vita & Virginia for the first time. Too funny to see an article about it now!
I took it off my list because all the reviews said it was terrible. What was your take?
For my part I really liked it. I loved seeing Virginia brought to life, her struggles, her sexuality. And Vita, the original Shane ! And oh my the wardrobe is divine.
Caveat : now that I’ve seen a few Movies Without Men™ , if I were to see Vita & Virginia again I might find it grating.
Thank you for writing this. Finding good lesbian/queer cinema is so difficult.
I hate wasting 2 hours just to be mad by the end.
Adam is a Transphobic diaster of a film. It’s offensive that you included it in the list.
I’m hurt to have to even post this to remind Autostraddle how deeply offensive this film is to so many queer people.
Nice 👍
Desert Hearts definitely holds up. I saw it the year it was released, and it shook my world. Still does.
Maybe if I watch Elena Undone again it’ll make sense. But do I really want to do that to myself?
I did it once & not worth it for the one acceptable scene it has.
I’ll have to check these out! I got a hulu subscription just to watch happiest season
If you like A Simple Favor I cannot recommend enough A Simple Podcast. It’s got three queer hosts and they have an episode where they interview Paul Fieg and one dedicated entirely to the costumes and they even interview Blake motherfucking Lively herself. Do yourself a favor
As someone who loves A Simple Favor so much that I “accidentally” bought two copies, thank you so much for that recommendation!
I LOVED Princess Cyd. How cool is that!
It took me forever to finally decide to watch Booksmart a while back but I’m so glad that i did.
I might have to resubscribe to HULU…*sigh*
I was able to watch Liz in September. I wanted to like it, but that plot was not for me. Having a bet if she can sleep with the straight girl reminds me of those cis-het movies where guys bet if he can get with a certain girl.
Ummm I’ll take yr word for it that The Girl King is solidly mediocre but those coats are AMAZING! I want onnneeee.
FYI for those lacking a Hulu subscription (or who don’t want to pay for it), check to see if your cell phone or cable provider includes a free subscription. I get a basic (aka with commercials) Hulu subscription included with my Sprint cell phone plan, and my mom gets hers with her Xfinity cable package. Worth a look if you are paying for phone/cable anyway!
I still think Portrait of A Lady on Fire should be number one on this list. What Celine Sciamma does with this film in my mind was Oscar worthy as a director. She so got screwed as did the actresses. So few words but everything throughout the film builds with each look. We know just what the actresses, characters are thinking, feeling with out ever saying as much.
And at the end when Marianne sees the portrait of Heloise and she is holding the book open to the page that Marianne drew her picture on it lets us know that she still loves her and thinks of her. The last night they were together Heloise tells Marianne I feel regret. Marianne tells Heloise do not feel regret but “remember” That is also I think what the final scene is about when they are both at the opera and the music playing is the one Marianne played for Heloise on the piano. Once again I think Heloise is sad, but remembering.
Attempted to watch “A Simple Favor” last night. Couldn’t finish it. And probably won’t revisit.