Film Friday: 7 All-Time Best LGBTQ+ Pride Films brings you a handpicked selection of iconic LGBTQ+ movies that have shaped cinema, inspired generations, and championed queer voices. Celebrate Pride Month with these unforgettable stories of love, struggle, and freedom. Ideal for film lovers, activists, and allies.
1. Moonlight (2016)
Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight is a poetic coming-of-age drama that quietly shattered boundaries. Told in three chapters, it follows Chiron, a young Black boy in Miami, as he navigates identity, masculinity, and queerness. Through powerful performances and a tender narrative, Moonlight brings visibility to Black LGBTQ+ experiences with grace and realism. Its Best Picture Oscar win was not just historic—it was deeply symbolic. The film explores love, trauma, and silence in a community often ignored, and the intimacy between Chiron and Kevin lingers long after the credits. With minimal dialogue and breathtaking visuals, Moonlight captures what it means to be soft in a world that demands hardness, offering a landmark portrayal of queer identity in cinema.
2. Call Me by Your Name (2017)
Set in the lush countryside of northern Italy, Call Me by Your Name captures the summer romance between 17-year-old Elio and graduate student Oliver. The film is slow, sensual, and rich in atmosphere, reflecting the ache of first love and the bittersweetness of memory. It portrays queerness as something beautiful and natural, not scandalous—a quiet revolution in itself. Timothée Chalamet’s performance, especially in the heart-wrenching final scene, is a raw portrayal of longing and growth. Luca Guadagnino’s direction paints every glance and touch with emotional weight, making this a tender LGBTQ+ classic that transcends time and gender. The film doesn’t dwell on tragedy but instead honours the intensity and purity of queer desire.
3. Paris is Burning (1990)
A groundbreaking documentary, Paris is Burning dives into New York’s vibrant ball culture in the late 1980s, shining a light on Black and Latinx drag queens, trans women, and queer youth who shaped a subculture that continues to influence pop culture. The film is both joyous and tragic—offering fierce runway walks, biting wit, and the harsh realities of poverty, racism, and the AIDS crisis. It gave us iconic terms like “shade” and “realness,” and it immortalised houses like LaBeija and Xtravaganza. Jennie Livingston’s documentary doesn’t just observe; it celebrates resilience, creativity, and chosen family. A must-watch during Pride, it reminds viewers that Pride began as resistance—and these queens were pioneers.
4. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain shattered the mould of mainstream storytelling when it portrayed the forbidden love between two cowboys, Ennis and Jack, across decades. Its quiet, painful intimacy was a radical departure from typical LGBTQ+ narratives of the time. Rather than flamboyance, it gave us silence, repression, and longing in America’s rugged West. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal delivered heartbreaking performances that showcased how societal expectations can destroy personal happiness. The film helped bring queer stories into the centre of American cinematic conversation and remains one of the most emotionally resonant LGBTQ+ love stories ever put to screen. “I wish I knew how to quit you” became a symbol of suppressed love and tragic yearning.
5. Pride (2014)
Pride is the perfect blend of humour, activism, and heart. Based on a true story, it tells of a group of gay activists who supported striking Welsh miners during the 1984 UK miners’ strike. What begins as a culture clash evolves into a beautiful alliance. With a sharp script and standout performances from the likes of Imelda Staunton and Bill Nighy, the film celebrates solidarity across divides. It’s a love letter to intersectional activism and a reminder that LGBTQ+ rights are intertwined with broader struggles for justice. Full of warmth and political power, Pride is both a rousing crowd-pleaser and an essential watch for Pride Month.
6. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
This French period drama directed by Céline Sciamma is a slow-burning tale of forbidden love and feminist longing. When painter Marianne is commissioned to secretly paint the wedding portrait of Héloïse, a woman reluctant to marry, what unfolds is an intense and aching romance built on gazes and stolen moments. The film is visually stunning—each frame is a painting in itself. But beyond aesthetics, it’s a quietly radical film about queer love between women in a world that erases them. There’s no male gaze, no intrusion—just pure, autonomous desire. The film ends not with despair, but with memory and the eternal impact of love. A lyrical, haunting celebration of women who loved in silence.
7. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
This Australian cult classic is a wild, glitter-filled road trip that balances camp and poignancy. Two drag queens and a transgender woman journey across the Outback in a battered bus named Priscilla, performing shows and confronting prejudice. The film is visually outrageous and hilarious, but it also deals with themes of acceptance, identity, and chosen family. Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, and Terence Stamp give unforgettable performances, turning outrageous costumes into symbols of defiance and joy. It paved the way for mainstream depictions of drag and trans lives long before it was common. Priscilla reminds us that queer life is about more than survival—it’s about celebration, sparkle, and the freedom to live out loud.
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