The 50 Best Lesbian Movies Of All Time

A collage of the best lesbian movies of all time, cut up underneath a kaleidoscope effect of various bright colors, so that its hard to pick out any specific details, instead the finale effect is close ups of faces and body parts. In front of the collage are the following words, in white: "The 50 Best Lesbian, Bisexual, & Queer Movies of All Time
Best Lesbian Movies Art by Viv Le

Here at Autostraddle we want every lesbian, every queer woman, and every non-binary person to know that movies should include us and do include us. We want you all to see our lives on screen, through the best lesbian movies, with the variety and quality we deserve.

It’s about more than representation. We believe that the best lesbian movies rank among the very best movies, period. Our stories matter and have too long been ignored. This list, voted on by our team, aims to create a canon of the very best lesbian movies of all time. From serious art films to gross-out comedies, this list has it all.

There is a world of cinema and a world of queer cinema. There are films from the last hundred years waiting to be discovered and new films yet to be made. So grab some popcorn and join us. If you’re looking for even more lesbian movies to watch, check out the Autostraddle Encyclopedia of Queer Cinema.


1. But I’m a Cheerleader

dir. Jamie Babbit, 1999
Watch It

A still from the best lesbian movie of all time But I'm a Cheerleader.  Two girls watching a movie in pink outfits.

Jamie Babbit’s campy lesbian classic received bad reviews upon its initial release. The largely straight male critics just didn’t understand why someone would make a comedy about a subject matter this serious. But this film isn’t for them. This is a biting satire that mocks homophobia and the people and institutions that uphold it — all the while featuring relatable gay characters and joyful queer romance. Natasha Lyonne first earned her crown as honorary lesbian with her hilarious performance and Clea DuVall is a total heartthrob as her love interest. The rest of the cast includes Melanie Lynskey, Michelle Williams, Cathy Moriarty, Mink Stole, and RuPaul — each one of them falling into the movie’s specific tone with perfection. Camp is often associated with gay men, but this movie is explicitly lesbian camp. This is a queer movie made by queer people about queer experiences through a queer lens for queer audiences. It’s the best lesbian movie of all time.

2. Saving Face

dir. Alice Wu, 2004
Watch It

A still from Saving Face. Two women dancing looking into each other's eyes.

Plenty of gay romcoms attempt to fit queerness into the genre, but Saving Face goes beyond what any of its straight counterparts have ever accomplished. Alice Wu’s only film for sixteen years is funny and romantic — it’s also a moving tale of family and community. Michelle Krusiec plays Wil, a Chinese American lesbian surgeon forced to house her mysteriously pregnant mother just as she’s falling for her boss’ daughter played by Lynn Chen. Krusiec and Chen have a timeless chemistry. It’s so fun to watch them flirt and fall in love and navigate how their lives could possibly merge. Joan Chen also gives a really special performance as Wil’s mom. This movie isn’t content to just tell one love story — its ambitions are to show the unpredictable nature of the very concept. Specificity makes for better storytelling and it doesn’t get much better than this enchanting film.

3. Pariah

dir. Dee Rees, 2011
Watch It

A still from the 3rd best lesbian movie of all time Pariah. Two girls laughing in a red-lit room.

Dee Rees’ debut feature is a stunning cinematic achievement. Her artful direction and poignant, specific writing melts into Bradford Young’s remarkable cinematography, the impeccable soundtrack, and a collection of phenomenal actors led by Adepero Oduye. Oduye gives the kind of performance that should be talked about until we stop talking about cinema — finding layers in the realism, lightness in the pain. This is an at times difficult film, but it’s far from maudlin. Rees gives us those first moments of love, those first moments of self-discovery and identification — even if they’re met with rejection and isolation and difficulties. This is a film explicitly about Black queerness — not a single white person appears on screen — and it’s a towering achievement from a Black lesbian filmmaker who’s already left her mark and is only just beginning.

4. Desert Hearts

dir. Donna Deitch, 1985
Watch It

A still from Desert Hearts. Two women look at each other next to a train.

A period piece decades ahead of its time, Donna Deitch’s sweeping romance is a classic that earns that word in quality and burns past it with an ever-present spark. Helen Shaver plays Professor Vivian Bell who’s staying at a Nevadan ranch while she waits for her divorce to finalize. She has taken the first step towards independence, but isn’t sure what’s next. The answer? Cay Rivers. Patricia Charbonneau as Cay has so much easy tomboy femme charm, a sexy dedication to self, and wears pants and shorts unlike any other on-screen character. Their romance is fraught, but absent is the melodrama one might expect from a film made in the 80s about the 50s. It’s a quieter, more grounded affair — that still finds time for an iconic kiss in the rain. You don’t have to believe in love — let one of the best lesbian movies of all time do it for you.

5. The Watermelon Woman

dir. Cheryl Dunye, 1996
Watch It

A still from the 5th best lesbian movie of all time The Watermelon Woman. Cheryl Dunye stands next to Guinevere Turner in a video store.

Mockumentary, romcom, buddy comedy, alternate history, Cheryl Dunye’s debut feature is a work of Black lesbian cinema highly aware of its place within film history. Dunye is so funny and charming — and sexy with love interest Guinevere Turner — the depth of this singular work of lesbian art is only evident with its final title card. It may have been voted fifth by the team, but, for this author, it’s my best lesbian movie of all time. It has jokes, it has a video store meetcute, it has a hot sex scene, but it is also a declaration of an artist’s stubborn autonomy. Dunye isn’t content just to mock or pay tribute — she understands that being a filmmaker with several marginalized identities doesn’t allow her that casual dismissal or easy celebration. She understands the importance of history and that sometimes you have to create your own history. And she’s determined to have fun along the way.

6. Portrait of a Lady on Fire

dir. Céline Sciamma, 2019
Watch It //Also Available on Hulu

A still from Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Two women in 18th century dresses embrace in golden light.

An immediate landmark of lesbian cinema, Céline Sciamma fulfills the promise of her first three features with a gorgeous work of lesbian art that pushes the boundaries of how our gaze appears on screen. This is a movie about love and a movie about creation – specifically about women, specifically about lesbians. Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel are exquisite, giving performances that challenge the very notion of audience watching actors. Claire Mathon’s cinematography is as beautiful as it is pointed — the stunning images always motivated. There is so much eroticism and love and also a push to view these concepts in a way separate from heteropatriarchal structures. Céline Sciamma wants our cinema to be our cinema and with this monumental work she succeeds.

7. Bound

dir. Lana and Lilly Wachowski, 1996
Watch It

A still from the 7th best lesbian movie of all time Bound. A woman in a dirty white tank looks at a high femme in black.

The Wachowskis take a classic film noir story with classic film noir archetypes and queer it in form and content. Gina Gershon plays Corky, the soft butch everyman ready made to get wrapped in things that don’t concern her. This, of course, arrives in the form of Jennifer Tilly’s femme fatale Violet. There’s a deep understanding of the genre that allows them to subvert it — holding onto the excitement and sex appeal, but prioritizing lesbian love and delicious misandry. This is as stylish and exciting as any of the Wachowski’s bigger budget fare and it has sex scenes choreographed by Susie Bright. Queer women are still largely absent from genre films, but this stands as one of the most prominent — and masterful — exceptions.

8. Je, Tu, Il, Elle

dir. Chantal Akerman, 1974
Available on Criterion

A still from the 8th best lesbian movie of all time Je, Tu, Il, Elle. Two nude women embrace in bed.

Chantal Akerman’s debut narrative feature is when she first established her cinematic language of depression. The first half hour of this movie finds a woman named Julie played by Akerman herself remaining entirely in her room. She moves around her furniture, she eats sugar out of a bag for sustenance, and she writes and rewrites a letter to a mysterious someone in her life. She finally leaves, but her time hitchhiking with a random man does not feel like an escape. She is still trapped in her own isolation even when around others. The only moments of release are when she finally arrives at her ex’s apartment — her ex the potential recipient of her letter — and they have sex in an extended ten minute sequence. But they are still exes and these moments can’t last. Whether or not Akerman is focusing on queer women characters, there’s a present queerness in how she views homosexuality and heterosexuality. She really did make movies for the sad gays and what a rare gift in the canon of arthouse cinema.

9. Appropriate Behavior

dir. Desiree Akhavan, 2014
Watch It //Also Available on Tubi

A still from Appropriate Behavior. Desiree Akhavan sits on a New York subway.

Shirin thought she met the only person in the world as sad and cynical as herself. She thought they were meant to be. Now in the wake of her break up she’s spiraling in a flurry of bisexual chaos. Writer/director/star Desiree Akhavan is a once-in-a-generation talent and her humor makes this an easy movie to watch even as Shirin is seeped in melancholy and crisis. Since The Slope, Akhavan has made work that feels deeply grounded in a casual queer perspective. There might be a lot of semi-autobiographical films about people trying to master adulthood, but there’s only one Desiree Akhavan and this film is as special as the filmmaker herself.

10. Mädchen in Uniform

dir. Leontine Sagan, 1931
Available on Kino Now

A still from Mädchen in Uniform. A woman bends down to kiss a girl wearing white pajamas.

The lesbian movie that started it all. With its boarding school setting, central age difference, and near-suicide ending this first known work of explicit lesbian cinema can be credited with shaping the entire lesbian film canon. But it’s more than just a work of history. While its age difference might be too much for some, the film places us squarely in the perspective of new student Manuela. Her love for teacher Fraulein von Bernburg becomes our own adolescent crush as we understand her confused place in gay life. At the dawn of the Holocaust the Nazis tried to burn every copy of this film — they failed. It’s a testament to the scope of queer history, a glorious time capsule, and, simply, a stunning work of art.

11. The Handmaiden

dir. Park Chan-Wook, 2016
Watch It

A still from the 11th best lesbian movie of all time The Handmaiden. A woman with a gloved hand brushes hair out of the face of another woman standing in front of her.

A cinematic miracle pairing two seemingly discordant visions to create one dazzling masterpiece. Park Chan-Wook’s adaptation of Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith keeps the source material’s tight plotting and well drawn characters and combines them with Park’s always remarkable style. Kim Min-hee and Kim Tae-ri crackle with chemistry — no matter who is the cat and who is the mouse in any given moment. This is a thrilling, sexy, horrifying, ultimately romantic and hopeful movie and the whole thing is an absolute ride. Like Bound, it’s a masterful example of what’s possible when queer women are included in genre storytelling.

12. Carol

dir. Todd Haynes, 2015
Watch It //Also Available on Tubi

A still from Carol. Cate Blanchett stands behind Rooney Mara as they look at each other in a mirror.

Todd Hayne’s gorgeous adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt is a poignant coming-of-age movie masquerading as a grand period love story — or, possibly, vice-versa. Therese Belevit is working at a department store for the holidays, spending her time with a man she doesn’t care much for, and daydreaming about being a photographer. Carol Aird is ten to twenty years her senior, going through a divorce, and worried that as a lesbian she’ll lose her daughter. And yet despite all their differences Therese and Carol connect. Therese finds a spark for maturity; Carol finds comfort and an escape. Phyllis Nagy’s script, Carter Burwell’s score, Ed Lachman’s cinematography, and every other technical aspect of the film is just perfect. Rooney Mara as Therese, Cate Blanchett as Carol, and Sarah Paulson as Carol’s friend Abby are all alluring and heartbreaking in their own specific ways. You’ll never think about a Santa hat, leather gloves, or creamed spinach the same way again.

13. All Over Me

dir. Alex Sichel, 1997
Buy on DVD or VHS

A still from the 13th best lesbian movie of all time All Over Me. A girl with pink hair looks at another girl while they sit next to each other on a bed.

A film doesn’t have to be campy to be formally queer. Alex Sichel was given a grant to make a movie about the riot grrrl music scene and instead she made a riot grrrl movie. Even the cinematography and sound design feel dykey. The soundtrack does not disappoint, of course, and this movie has both a painful “in love with my straight(?) friend” storyline and a “first love with a dyke in a band” storyline. And the dyke in the band is played by Leisha Hailey with pink hair! Alex Sichel never got to make another feature, and this film is currently very hard to find, but this was made for dykes and if it’s going to finally get the recognition it deserves that has to start with us ranking it among the best lesbian movies of all time.

14. Olivia

dir. Jacqueline Audry, 1951
Buy on DVD or Blu-Ray

A still from Olivia. A woman sits on a bed next to a girl with her hand around her head.

Long ignored, this recently restored classic of lesbian cinema deserves all its newfound praise and more. It’s one of many films on our best lesbian movies list that involve student/teacher relationships, but it’s the only one to treat that dynamic with the level of nuance it deserves. Audry encourages us to enter Olivia’s point of view, falling just as hard for her teacher crush, only to emphasize how painful the experience is for the young girl. Sometimes fantasies are meant to remain fantasies.

15. Show Me Love (Fucking Åmål)

dir. Lukas Moodyson, 1998
Buy on Blu-Ray

A still from the 15th best lesbian movie of all time Show Me Love. Two girls sit next to each other on the floor with some distance between each other.

Mean-spirited, angsty, and oh so sweet, Lukas Moodyson’s grainy coming-of-age romance captures all the complications of teenagehood. The characters can be cruel — like teenagers tend to be — but it comes from insecurity, awakenings, and romance. Beyond the sour feelings, this is really a triumphant take on love. The moments of joy feel all the more satisfying bursting out of Moodyson’s realism.

16. Professor Marston & the Wonder Women

dir. Angela Robinson, 2017
Watch It //Also Available on Hulu

A still from the 16th best lesbian movie of all time Professor Marston & the Wonder Women. A man demonstrates a rope tie on a woman's wrist while looking at another woman.

Angela Robinson’s career has been defined by injecting revolutionary queerness into film and TV with a casual touch. This is a biopic about the creator of Wonder Woman — as polished and neat as one might expect from the genre. But this is also a story about polyamory, about BDSM, about three individuals fighting to define their own lives and loves. There is power in completely disavowing mainstream forms and there is a different kind of power in mastering them and subverting them from within. Luke Evans and Bella Heathcoate are great as William Marston and the Marstons’ new partner, but Rebecca Hall as Elizabeth Marston truly astounds. The movie doesn’t ignore the complications of their relationship — the external and the internal — but instead allows the relationship and these characters an understanding they were never granted. There’s a reason Wonder Woman is such a popular character: these lives aren’t so rare after all — only on our screens.

17. The Half Of It

dir. Alice Wu, 2020
Available on Netflix

A still The Half Of It. Two girls lie on their bakes in a small pond.

A decade and a half after her landmark debut, writer/director Alice Wu returns with another gay romcom — but this time it’s not a love story. This lesbian take on Cyrano de Bergerac focuses on Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis) a shy, Chinese-American 17-year-old who splits her days taking care of her grieving father and writing essays for her peers for extra money. When a sweet and goofy football player hires her to write love letters to his crush she develops feelings of her own — and all three form an unexpected bond. This movie goes beyond the expectations we place on teen comedies, romcoms, and queer movies. It understands the messiness of adolescence, of love, of queerness. It’s a perfectly imperfect movie and confirms Wu as one of the most confident voices in lesbian cinema. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait as long for her next cinematic treasure.

18. MURDER and murder

dir. Yvonne Rainer, 1996
Available on Kanopy

A still from MURDER and murder. Two older women with short hair laugh next to each other.

If you’re looking for a lesbian movie that begins with a 60-something lesbian saying to her straight friend, “I love eating pussy,” then look no further. A celebration of the ups and downs of a partnership, Yvonne Rainer’s last feature follows Doris and Mildred as they navigate their relationship — through the mundane and through Doris being diagnosed with breast cancer. They are accompanied by a Greek chorus of Doris’ mother, Mildred’s younger self, and Yvonne Rainer the filmmaker. It’s a complex, experimental, and ever so sweet film. The movie more or less takes the stance that all women can be and should be lesbians, and while that may not be true, Rainer is certainly convincing. Also Congressperson Pete Hoekstra used it as an excuse to cut funding from the NEA which is unfortunately always a good sign.

19. Alice Júnior

dir. Gil Baroni, 2019
Available on Netflix

A still from the 19th best lesbian movie of all time Alice Júnior. A trans girl with sparkly eye makeup puts a hand to her lip while looking in the mirror.

In some ways Alice Júnior hits all the regular beats of the teen movie genre — new student, bullies, quirky friends, mean teachers, nice teachers, a desire for a first kiss. And yet the film is a totally fresh take on the queer girl coming-of-age story. Not only is Alice trans — a detail that is all too rare — but her journey towards queerness is more of a pleasant surprise than an inevitability. In order to survive in the world as a young trans girl, Alice has built up a wall of total self-awareness, total self-confidence, and a delightful stubborn streak. These qualities make her such a fun character to watch. But even the most self-aware teen doesn’t know everything. And while she’s busy crushing on Bruno, Bruno’s girlfriend Taísa is busy crushing on her. The joy and specificity director Gil Baroni and writer Luiz Bertazzo bring to the film makes this a wholly unique work of trans cinema — but its fluidity regarding sexuality make it a unique work of queer women cinema as well.

20. Dirty Computer

dir. Janelle Monáe & others, 2018
Watch It

A still from the 20th best lesbian movie of all time Dirty Computer. Janelle Monáe in pussy pants with Tessa Thompson's head between her legs.

Janelle Monáe has called this unique work of art an “emotion picture” and it’s easy to see why. Yes, it’s on a movie list, but it doesn’t easily fit within the box of feature film or any box really — just like its creator. Monáe and her team created a masterpiece that is at once a sci-fi epic, a visual album, a public coming out, a celebration of queerness/Blackness/femaleness, and an ode to everybody different. It’s also so sexy?? We may never know the details of Monáe’s relationship with Tessa Thompson, but whatever connection they shared is captured on-screen — the love, the sex, the finding yourself through another. Most of us didn’t have to come out under public scrutiny, but we can all use a reminder to be a “free-ass motherfucker.”

21. The Miseducation of Cameron Post

dir. Desiree Akhavan, 2018
Watch It

A still from The Miseducation of Cameron Post. Chloe Grace-Moretz stands on a counter singing into a makeshift microphone.

The best adaptations capture the essence of their source material with a new set of tools. That’s exactly what Desiree Akhavan’s movie of Emily M. Danforth’s contemporary classic accomplishes. Akhavan focuses on the second half of the book, changes the ending, and alters lots of details, but at their core both works are about the ways queer people are brainwashed to doubt their identities. Chloë Grace Moretz is perfect as Cameron. She’s dykey and angsty and headstrong with that depth of vulnerability always peaking through. This is a quiet movie, Akhavan trusting Ashley Connor’s cinematography, Julian Wass’ score, and her actors’ faces to tell the story. Akhavan never lets the seriousness of the subject matter overwhelm the moments of humor and joy — the suggestion that our best hope for holding onto ourselves is to find community.

22. Manji

dir. Yasuzô Masumura, 1964
Watch on Archive.org

A still from Manji. A clothed woman looks up at a nude woman.

Proof that you can’t judge queer cinema by when it was made, Yasuzô Masumura’s semi-exploitation classic is absolutely bonkers. Sonoko, played with a delightfully unhinged energy by Kyôko Kishida, is a lonely housewife who falls hard for Mitsuko at their “art school for ladies.” Mitsuko is played by Ayako Wakao and she really creates a character worth going crazy for. This is a movie of big gay feelings to an extent that would be troublesome if it wasn’t so delicious. Things only get crazier when Sonoko’s husband gets involved — and even crazier when the poisoning begins. Nothing will prepare you for this movie, so you just have to watch it.

23. Good Manners

dir. Juliana Rojas, Marco Dutra, 2017
Watch It

A still from the 23rd best lesbian movie of all time Good Manners. A woman with long hair leans forward and licks the mouth of a woman with short hair.

The best werewolf fairy tale horror lesbian movie musical ever made. Yes, this movie is all of those things and it’s a commentary on race and class differences in Brazil and a story about the nuances of queer motherhood. There’s a lot going on but somehow it all just works. It’s a gorgeous, at times terrifying, at times sexy, movie that is unforgettable to say the least. This isn’t the first movie to find horror in pregnancy and motherhood, but there’s something explicitly queer about this portrayal — and with that a fresh perspective. It deserves as prominent a spot in the canon of horror cinema as it does the canon of lesbian cinema.

24. D.E.B.S.

dir. Angela Robinson, 2004
Watch It

A still from D.E.B.S. A woman in a schoolgirl outfit holds a gun.

Some movies seem to arrive from an alternate dimension — a homonormative utopia where queer audiences get what we deserve. Angela Robinson’s debut is exactly that kind of movie. We can indulge in the subtext of silly action movies all day long, but Robinson makes it the actual story. Why shouldn’t a campy movie about a group of girl spies also be a lesbian romcom? There was no movie like this when it came out and there haven’t really been any since. There’s a casual gayness to the movie that’s responsible for turning countless women queer — aided, of course, by Jordana Brewster as supervillain Lucy Diamond.

25. Water Lilies

dir. Céline Sciamma, 2007
Available on Criterion

A still from the 25th best lesbian movie of all time Water Lilies. Two girls make eye contact in a school gym shower.

Céline Sciamma is one of the best filmmakers working today — lesbian or otherwise — and her talents were already clear in this first film. With a color palette of blues and greys and a moving camera that knows just where to land, Sciamma and cinematographer Crystel Fournier create a visual language that’s poetic and pointed. This is a film about teenage friendship as much as it is about teenage love — a lesbian film at its core. Synchronized swimming has never looked so beautiful and brutal. Being a teenager has never looked so beautiful and brutal. Sciamma is a brilliant lesbian artist and every film from her is a gift.

26. Hide and Seek

dir. Su Friedrich, 1996
Available on Kanopy

A still from the 26th best lesbian movie of all time Hide and Seek. Three young girls sit on a bench together.

Our best lesbian movies list doesn’t include documentaries — this uncategorizable work is the one exception. Mixing real interviews with the tale of a fictional twelve-year-old, Su Friedrich creates a moving masterpiece about lesbian childhoods. Conservative narratives pit queerness against children but Friedrich shows the casual queerness of so many of our younger days. There’s an innocent joy to the way she shows the girls interact and a pointed confusion in how being gay makes someone feel different long before they have the right language to understand why. It’s a simple yet remarkable film from an all-time great cinema artist.

27. I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing

dir. Patricia Rozema, 1987
Available on Kanopy

A still from I've Heard the Mermaids Singing. A woman in a white sweater and button down sits at a cluttered desk.

Bursting with creativity and experimentation, Patricia Rozema’s debut is a remarkable film about finding one’s artistic voice. Sheila McCarthy’s Polly is a strange protagonist — uncertain and passive — but Rozema places us excellently inside her point of view. The movie’s queerness is handled casually as if the film is not about queerness per say, but rather the delayed maturity that many queers experience. The movie is so funny and charming that its emotional core sneaks up on you. The whole journey makes for a unique work of queer cinema.

28. Les Rendez-vous d’Anna

dir. Chantal Akerman, 1978
Available on Criterion

A still from the 28th best lesbian movie of all time Les Rendez-vous d'Anna. A woman on a train rests her head on her hand.

Chantal Akerman’s long takes and static camera are formal invention born from character. Here she tells the semi-autobiographical story of a queer woman filmmaker traveling around Europe promoting her latest film. She encounters strangers, former lovers, her mother, all the while filled with a deep ennui. Nothing Anna does can quite cure her depression, but she just keeps going. She continues on her trip, continues with these interactions, her face always revealing her exhaustion with life. It’s a sad film, but it isn’t tragic. It’s a film about how hard it is to live made by one of the greatest filmmakers to ever try. Akerman is now credited with the greatest movie of all time — she deserves credit for some of the greatest lesbian movies as well.

29. Certain Women

dir. Kelly Reichardt, 2016
Watch It

A still from Certain Women. Kristen Stewart pets a horse next to Lily Gladstone.

Renowned lesbian auteur Kelly Reichardt brings her famous touch of melancholy from her usual setting of Oregon to the plains of Montana. This triptych of stories about lonely women includes Reichardt’s most explicit work about queer women. Lily Gladstone is remarkable as a rancher who falls hard for a law professor played by Kristen Stewart. The infatuation is fairly one-sided, but it’s powerful to watch Gladstone’s shy character follow her heart and yearn for more. Like most of Reichardt’s films, this is a quiet and meditative piece, but its nuance will haunt you long after it ends.

30. Rafiki

dir. Wanuri Kahiu, 2018
Watch It

A still from the 30th best lesbian movie of all time Rafiki. Two girls, one with pink hair and the other in a pink hat, laugh while next to each other on a boat.

Filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu has committed to a style she describes as Afrobubblegum, presenting a “fun, fierce, and fantastical representation” of Africa. This film — initially banned in its home country of Kenya before Kahiu sued — fulfills this promise. It’s a beautiful, colorful celebration of Black queer love. It’s honest about harsh realities, but overwhelms them with its moments of joy.

31. Princess Cyd

dir. Stephen Cone, 2017
Watch It //Also Available on Hulu

A still from Princess Cyd. A nonbinary person kisses the back of a girl in a red bikini.

As sensual as its protagonist and as thoughtful as her aunt, Stephen Cone’s understated masterpiece finds the balance between pleasures of the flesh and mind. Cyd Loughlin is a teenager freely exploring her pansexual desires who spends a summer with her novelist aunt Miranda who is more preoccupied with intellectual discussion, friendship, and food. As Cyd and Miranda challenge each other’s beliefs — and Cyd falls for a hot barista — the film becomes a celebration of the many ways to find enjoyment and connection in life. There’s little plot and minimal drama — just sink into this pleasant world and you’ll find whatever you needed most.

32. Born in Flames

dir. Lizzie Borden, 1983
Available on Fandor

A still from Born in Flames. Four women sit around a radio microphone.

Radical, revolutionary, and still all too relevant, Lizzie Borden’s speculative masterpiece deserves its underground reputation and newfound celebration. Taking place ten years after a socialist revolution in America, Borden’s film examines the ways in which even leftist political structures leave women, people of color, and queer people behind. This is a complicated film that engages in complicated discussions — never afraid to confront the true nature of the issues we face as we attempt to build a better society. Ultimately, the film shows the power of mutual aid and a suggestion that to create real change communities will have to take care of ourselves. This world contains a multitude of revolutions, but Black queer women are at the center of the ultimate revolution. In Borden’s world — our world — change is possible, but the work continues.

33. Second Star on the Right

dir. Ruth Caudeli, 2019
Watch It

A still from the 33rd best lesbian movie of all time Second Star on the Right. A woman cries behind the wheel of a car.

Compared to Frances Ha due to its gorgeous black and white cinematography and messy female protagonist, Ruth Caudeli’s second feature is really its own work of specifically queer creativity. Caudeli reunites with Silvia Varón — her ever-talented muse and IRL girlfriend. She plays Emilia, a bisexual struggling actress in a friend group of straight people. Caudeli takes a trope often used in mainstream media to keep queerness to a minimum and instead explores the reality of someone coming to terms with their identity while lacking community. Emilia is easy to root for even as she drinks too much, hurts the people she loves, and remains stuck in a delayed adolescence. Caudeli captures her with a formal inventiveness rarely granted to this sort of queer story — its heightened style illuminating the emotional weight of these day to day moments.

34. Set Me Free

dir. Léa Pool, 1999
Unavailable

A still from Set Me Free. A girl with her eyes open lies in bed next to a boy and a girl cuddling while asleep.

Don’t you just hate it when the cute girl you made out with starts dating your brother? Being 13 is hard! And it’s certainly hard for Hannah who’s struggling with a terrible home life, a painful crush on her teacher, and, yes, a potential romance fraternally robbed. Her only respite is the cinema where she admires Anna Karina in Jean-Luc Godard’s Vivra sa vie. This is a measured film — far more grounded than Pool’s more famous Lost and Delirious — but with that comes an emotional queer reality. This movie is ultimately a superhero origin story — except replace superhero with queer woman filmmaker.

35. All About My Mother

dir. Pedro Almodóvar, 1999
Watch It

A still from the 35th best lesbian movie of all time All About My Mother.  A woman shapes her fingers to indicate someone being crazy while sitting next to a younger woman.

Often considered Pedro Almodóvar’s crowning achievement, All About My Mother is a tribute to women — to actresses, to mothers, to trans women, to sex workers, to lesbians. With his trademark style of bright colors, raunchy humor, and gorgeous melodrama, Almodóvar’s film is a reminder of the communities we form. The boundaries between family and friendship and lovers are as fluid as the boundaries of sex and gender. Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Penélope Cruz, and Antonia San Juan lead a cast of women that feel real even as they play in Almodóvar’s heightened imagination. This is not usually considered a lesbian film, but probably only because several of its queer women relationships involve trans women. Since its release the film has held a place in the canon of world cinema — it’s time it takes its rightful place in the canon of best lesbian movies as well.

36. Suicide Kale

dir. Carly Usdin, 2016
Watch It

A still from the 36th best lesbian movie of all time Suicide Kale. Jasika Nicole and Brittani Nichols stand across from each other looking serious and leaning on furniture.

This dramedy farce is anchored by four stellar performances, a natural real-life queerness, and an if-mumblecore-was-well-shot aesthetic. Brittani Nichols’ script is astute in its portrayal of queer relationships and sharp in its humor. There’s a casual DIY quality to this movie that makes it seem effortless, but if you’ve watched a lot of low-budget indie films you’ll know that’s not the case. It takes a level of talent, vision, and specificity to make a movie this good and it should be sought out and celebrated as much as any big budget fare.

37. Bessie

dir. Dee Rees, 2015
Watch It // Also Available on HBO Max

A still from Bessie. Queen Latifah wearing white in bed with another woman.

Dee Rees is one of the very best filmmakers around and she elevates her biopic about Bessie Smith beyond the usual HBO movie. The costumes and all the period detail are stunning, but Rees’ film is ultimately a tribute to a queer Black woman artist who refused to compromise — refused to cater to white people or any men — made by a queer Black woman artist at the beginning of her career determined to do the same. Rees is aided by what is truly one of Queen Latifah’s best performances. It’s a perfect combination of material, filmmaker, and star.

38. Imagine Me & You

dir. Ol Parker, 2005
Watch It

A still from the 38th best lesbian movie of all time Imagine Me & You. Two women in knit beanies stand close together.

Out of all the lesbian romcoms, this might be the one that most successfully takes your standard hetero romcom and queers it. Not the deepest, not the most interesting, but the truest to the genre with lots of jokes, lots of heart, and all the right story beats. Piper Perabo plays gay once again and once again steals our hearts, but it’s Lena Headey’s confident gay florist that really makes the movie. Be careful. It just might make you believe in love at first sight.

39. Mommy is Coming

dir. Cheryl Dunye, 2012
Watch It

A still from the 39th best lesbian movie of all time Mommy is Coming. A woman with short hair points a gun with a condom around it at another woman with short hair in the back of a cab.

Cheryl Dunye’s most recent feature is a sex-filled romp through Berlin. Papi Coxx plays Claudia/Claude, a hotel clerk trying to rediscover the spark with her girlfriend Dylan played by Lil Harlow. They end up on separate sexual odysseys with Claudia genderbending while Dylan has a threesome with her best friend. The silliness and sexiness escalates when Dylan’s mother comes to town and some unexpected twists arise. Dunye’s film doesn’t take itself seriously, but its refusal to bend to respectability politics gives it an air of importance. It’s a reminder from Dunye that queer cinema can still be queer and a reminder that she’s an icon for a reason.

40. Blockers

dir. Kay Cannon, 2018

Watch It

A still from Blockers. A girl in black stands by a snack table with another girl in flowery princess garb.

The rare big budget Hollywood comedy that’s thoughtful, progressive, emotional, and beyond fucking hilarious. Kay Cannon’s first film feels effortless in its perfection — filled with great comic performances from its trio of adults and its trio of teens. Virginity pacts are a staple of teen comedies, but never has one been treated with such intelligence and sex positivity. Gideon Adlon plays Sam’s awkward queerness with a funny and sweet authenticity and the movie’s inclusion of her is refreshingly casual. She hasn’t come to terms with her queerness at the film’s beginning but she’s given the space to go on a journey of self-exploration — aided by her friends, family, and a massive crush. It may only be a third queer, but that third is great enough to place it among the best lesbian movies. It’s certainly one of the funniest.

41. Memento Mori

dir. Min Kyu-Dong, Kim Tae-Yong, 1999
Available on Kanopy

A still from Memento Mori. A girl walks along the roof of a school next to another girl who is seated.

Technically the second film in the Whispering Corridors Korean horror series, this film focuses more on the emotions of its trio of queer teen girls than it does easy scares. But this is still a ghost story. Min-ah discovers the shared journal of her classmates Hyo-shin and Shi-eun filled with gay longing. She becomes obsessed with them — the obsession only increasing when Hyo-shin tragically dies. Haunted by Hyo-shin and drawn towards Shi-eun, Min-ah has to confront her own queerness and find a way forward. It’s a melancholy, yet ultimately hopeful film, about adolescence and the possibility of queer futures.

42. Multiple Maniacs

dir. John Waters, 1970
Watch It

A still from Multiple Maniacs. Divine talks to Mink Stole with her arms on her waist.

John Waters lives up to his title Pope of Trash with this raucous celebration of counter-culture deviancy. The movie opens with a group of cishet normals making their way through a free exhibit titled The Cavalcade of Perversions — and then Divine robs them at gunpoint. Waters starts his filmography with a statement and never lets up. This is the only movie on this list where a drag queen is fucked with a rosary in a church. It’s a remarkable sex scene with a level of queerness rarely seen on screen. And, hey, if straight actresses can appear on a list of best lesbian movies then so can drag queens!

43. Foxfire

dir. Annette Haywood-Carter, 1996
Watch It

A still from the 43rd best lesbian movie of all time Foxfire. A young Angelina Jolie in bluish/purple lighting looks at another girl who reaches toward her lips.

Based on Joyce Carol Oates’ novel, Annette Haywood-Carter’s coming-of-age tale about a feminist girl gang is great for a lot of reasons, but short-hair leather jacket wearing knife wielding Angelina Jolie is definitely at the top of the list. She’s so good and so gay and can do so much with a look. It’s no wonder the other girls follow her lead. It’s incredibly satisfying to watch them wreak havoc on all the awful men in their lives, even as things start to cross a line. There’s a real intimacy between the girls when it’s platonic and when it’s romantic.

44. A Date for Mad Mary

dir. Darren Thornton, 2016
Watch It

A still from the 44th best lesbian movie of all time A Date for Mad Mary. Two young women walk along a street at night.

Seána Kerslake makes a difficult character impossible not to love in this unique coming-of-age story. Mary’s discovery of her sexuality threads through every aspect of her self-discovery as she grapples with her recent prison sentence, her best friend’s upcoming wedding, her contempt for her mother, and her new crush. The film balances its subject matter and its tones due to sharp writing and Kerslake’s truly remarkable performance. This is really a gem of a film.

45. Circumstance

dir. Maryam Keshavarz, 2011
Watch It

A still from Circumstance. Two young women lie on a red bed looking up toward the camera.

This is a film of stark contrasts, of sensual close-ups and repulsive close-ups, of freedom and restriction, of great joy and tragic horror. Nikohl Boosheri and Sarah Kazemy are incredible as two young women pushing the boundaries of society in Iran. The moments of freedom between them are so joyful, on a beach, in a bed, in the living room singing “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” It makes the repression all the more painful. One moment this film is devastatingly sexy, the next it’s just devastating.

46. Mosquita y Mari

dir. Aurora Guerrero, 2012
Watch It

A still from the 46th best lesbian movie of all time Mosquita y Mari. Two girls lie on the hood of a car laughing.

Quiet and big-hearted, Aurora Guerrero beautiful coming-of-age story focuses on straight A student Yolanda and new rebel girl in school Mari. As the two girls navigate their families’ expectations, they grow closer, crushes turning to friendship turning to something more. Like many of the best lesbian movies, this film never takes melodramatic turns, instead trusting the grounded truth of its characters. When we’re young the smallest moments mean so much — Guerrero gives these moments the weight her young protagonists deserve.

47. House of Hummingbird

dir. Kim Bora, 2018
Watch It

A still from House of Hummingbird. A woman sits next to a girl in a hospital gown and a bandage on the side of her head.

The only thing gayer than karaoke first dates, shitty families, and friend breakups are loving teachers. Well, Kim Bora’s remarkable 1994-set coming-of-age debut has all four. Ji-hu Park plays the lonely and sensitive Eun-hee who is stumbling through her adolescence in an abusive home. This is a difficult film that’s filled with tragedy and hardship, but it’s far from bleak. In fact, an optimism and hopeful spirit runs deep throughout even its toughest moments. Adolescence is challenging — queer adolescence especially — but one person can make such a difference in showing us a way forward. This is a movie for all the queers who ate lunch in a teacher’s room, this is a movie for all the queers who wondered if a future was possible and then, one day, stopped wondering and started to believe.

48. Valencia

dir. Clement Hil Goldberg & others, 2013
Watch It

A still from Valencia. Angelina Jolie from Gia with Michelle Tea's glasses pasted over her face.

Is there anything queerer than an adaptation of a Michelle Tea book written and directed by a collective of queer filmmakers? Not much! The sections vary drastically in style, casting, and content, but together they create a portrait of a person, a place, and a community — the community of early 90s Mission District San Francisico and the queer community at large. It’s an at times silly, at times serious burst of queer creativity. Not only is this one of the best lesbian movies of all time — it’s a monument of queer collaboration.

49. Tahara

dir. Olivia Peace, 2020
Watch It

A still from the 49th best lesbian movie of all time Tahara. A girl with an autumnal tree behind her looks down at another girl.

There have been a lot of queer coming-of-age movies about a girl in love with her “straight” best friend, but few capture the depth of that experience like Tahara. With the backdrop of a classmate’s suicide and a deliciously awful object of desire, this movie becomes less about the angst of a teenager and more about the search for meaning in a meaningless world. Jess Zeidman’s script is hilarious and specific and director Olivia Peace makes bold choice after bold choice each more effective than the last. The film has a claustrophobic Instagram square aspect ratio, heightened animated sequences, and other sharp formal risks that all work to deepen the story. Cinematographer Tehillah De Castro’s work is phenomenal in moments both bold and subtle. Madeline Grey DeFreece carries the film with a grounded and charming performance and Rachel Sennott as the crush is a hilarious nightmare. This is a teen comedy, but it’s a teen comedy about grief, manipulation, and autonomy. A whiff of horrifying nostalgia gives way to something deeper, something more present.

50. The Children’s Hour

dir. William Wyler, 1961
Watch It

A still from The Children's Hour. Shirley MacClaine looks at Audrey Hepburn and holds her hand.

This classic of lesbian cinema has a bad reputation due to its influentially tragic ending. But just because the movie is bleak doesn’t mean it isn’t still deserving of praise, reexamination, and even enjoyment. Lillian Hellman’s play is a tragedy in the American theatre tradition and that results in this kind of ending. But before that we get her beautiful writing, complex characters, and dynamic relationships. We get Shirley MacLaine with her pageboy haircut and Audrey Hepburn as her object of desire. This is a masterpiece that paved the way for so many future masterpieces — for better or worse.


For more of the best lesbian movies of all time, check out Autostraddle’s Encyclopedia of Cinema.

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!

Drew Burnett Gregory

Drew is a Brooklyn-based writer, filmmaker, and theatremaker. She is a Senior Editor at Autostraddle with a focus in film and television, sex and dating, and politics. Her writing can also be found at Bright Wall/Dark Room, Cosmopolitan UK, Refinery29, Into, them, and Knock LA. She was a 2022 Outfest Screenwriting Lab Notable Writer and a 2023 Lambda Literary Screenwriting Fellow. She is currently working on a million film and TV projects mostly about queer trans women. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Drew Burnett has written 490 articles for us.

40 Comments

  1. Great list!!

    I’m kind of gutted in a weird way that I’ve already seen most of the top 25… but I will be making sure to cross all 50 off as soon as I can. And the main thing is that the good films keep coming!

    • As with my name, I read the book and I rented this film a few years back- each segment is stories from the memoir done by a different creative and one decided to tell a story using/editing Angelina Jolie’s filmography. I have no idea but Valencia is a fascinating experimental work and a fun collaborative effort!

    • Because it is! There’s a sequence in Valencia that uses clips from Gia to tell the story, with the glasses added on top. Its a bit hard to explain but its a bit of a hard to explain movie.

    • Hi JJ, Drew has heard of “Kiss Me” as it is mentioned in the “Autostraddle Encyclopedia of Lesbian Cinema,” an article that came out the same day. The team voted and just has another taste than you… Personally, I was surprised that “Born in Flames” (34) wasn’t up higher on the list, and I for one would have also placed “Circumstance” higher than 45… Further, “Go Fish” was not included in this list at all – a movie that I like more than Autostraddle, according to the reviews… But in the end, people are and remain different in what they like and think are the best queer movies!

  2. This is obviously based on opinion, because no “queer movie list” would exclude have La cage aux folles, Jeffrey, Celluloid Closet, The Names Project etc etc etc etc etc etc

    • The criteria points out it’s specifically a fiction list and that it’s focused on lesbian/queer women/ enbies who date lesbians and queer women. This is not a broader list of a queer movies and a better breakdown of what is/isn’t focused on for the list is in the intro.

    • The criteria points out it’s specifically a fiction list and that it’s focused on lesbian/queer women/ enbies who date lesbians and queer women. This is not a broader list of a queer movies and a better breakdown of what is/isn’t focused on for the list is in the intro of “The Autostraddle Encyclopedia of Lesbian Cinema” that published on the same day if you want more clarification!

    • If I remember correctly, i was able to access Kanopy while I was living outside of the US (I’m from the US so i had a library card to create an account).
      I’m happy to help a fellow A+ member if i can! If you message me on Instagram at la_vida_serena I’m happy to send you my Kanopy login for a bit so you can watch!

  3. Appreciate the work that went into this, it’s awesome – though my own personal list would include much more foreign film. Agree with comment above that Kyss Mig (Swedish) absolutely beats every Rom Com listed here. I can’t get behind But I’m a Cheerleader being number 1… just it’s great as a joke film but it’s one joke that gets carried too far and just hasn’t stood the test of time. I think High Art missing here is very weird considering some of the films that have made it – ditto with When Night is Falling which would be my Rozema pick instead of Mermaids. Others missing for me – Trigger, Prey for Rock and Roll, Fremde Haut, The Monkey’s Mask…. and if your definition of “best” also includes “important” – you can’t deny that Go Fish was important.

    • If it’s any consolation, High Art would also be on my personal top 50. And High Art, Kiss Me, When Night is Falling, and Fremde Haut are included in our encyclopedia.

      Will check out Trigger, Prey for Rock and Roll, and The Monkey’s Mask!

    • Thanks Drew! Love your writing. And please do more podcasts as I miss your voice. So glad to see Desert Hearts ranking so high. Love that film – for years it was the only lesbian film that was actually good.

  4. The 49er gold Starter jacket is a vibrant and eye-catching garment that embodies the spirit of the San Francisco 49ers football team. Crafted with meticulous attention to detail, this jacket combines style and functionality. The dazzling gold color instantly grabs attention, while the iconic 49ers logo proudly displayed on the chest showcases your allegiance to the team. Made from high-quality materials, it offers superior comfort and durability.49er gold starter jacket The Starter jacket features a full-zip closure, ribbed cuffs, and a drawstring hood, providing a perfect fit and protection against the elements. Whether you’re cheering on the 49ers at the stadium or out and about, this gold Starter jacket is a fashionable way to display your team pride.

  5. Appreciate the work that went into this, it’s awesome – though my own personal list would include much more foreign film. Agree with comment above that Kyss Mig (Swedish) absolutely beats every Rom Com listed here. I can’t get behind But I’m a Cheerleader being number 1… just it’s great as a joke film but it’s one joke that gets carried too far and just hasn’t stood the test of time. I think High Art missing here is very weird considering some of the films that have made it

  6. Ready to take your online store to the next level? We’ve got just the solution for you! Our e-commerce expertise empowers businesses to create seamless shopping experiences, from intuitive navigation to secure payment gateways. Boost your sales and customer satisfaction with our tailor-made e-commerce solutions. OnlineRetail

Contribute to the conversation...

Yay! You've decided to leave a comment. That's fantastic. Please keep in mind that comments are moderated by the guidelines laid out in our comment policy. Let's have a personal and meaningful conversation and thanks for stopping by!