If you’re in the mood to watch something a little bit (or a lot) queer, here are 25 excellent LGBTIQ movies currently available to stream on Stan.
Last updated: June 10, 2022
54: The Director’s Cut (1998)
Watch on StanMark Christopher’s disco drama 54 about the titular nightclub was probably never going to be an awards magnet (although Mike Myers did get strong Oscar buzz). But when the film’s distributor Miramax saw all the references to homosexuality they promptly demanded cuts and added a straight romance. This director’s cut restores most of what was changed and while the quality of the new footage isn’t exactly of the highest standard, it makes for an infinitely better movie than what audiences got in 1998.
52 Tuesdays (2015)
Watch on StanAustralian director Sophie Hyde filmed in Adelaide over an entire year, reconvening the cast once a week to tell the story of a teenager girl’s response to the transition of their transgender parent. Winner of many awards including at the Sundance Film Festival, it is a complex and form-stretching experiment. Tilda Cobham-Hervey was the breakout star, later going on to star in productions like Hotel Mumbai and as Helen Reddy in I Am Woman.
Appropriate Behaviour (2014)
Watch on StanIt’s not very often you get to see an openly bisexual lead of Iranian heritage on screen in a story of same-sex attraction! Desiree Akhavan wrote, directed, and starred in this Brooklyn-shot indie romantic comedy as a woman desperate to cling onto at least one of her identities and make it stick. It is very much a film from the era of Girls, but Akhavan creates such memorably awkward chaos that it has its own unique, distinct charms.
The Battle of the Sexes (2013)
Watch on StanIf you were a fan of the excellent dramatisation of the same name from 2019 starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell, then go back and watch James Erskine and Zara Hayes’ documentary. Its themes of equality in sport speak true even to this day, reaching back into the tennis era of the 1970s. Hearing from Billie Jean King herself is a real treat.
Bound (1996)
Watch on StanYears before they took on The Matrix, the Wachowski sisters threw their hats into the ring with this erotic thriller. A perfectly cast pairing of Gina Gershon (fresh off Showgirls) and Jennifer Tilly (before she became the Bride of Chucky) make this more than just a standard thriller about lovers pulling off a mob heist in sexy black dresses. May have started as a Coen Brothers riff, but turns its meagre budget into a winningly inventive film noir for a modern age.
Boys in the Trees (2016)
Watch on StanAustralian writer and director Nicholas Verso has worked on a variety of locally-made young adult television like Nowhere Boys and Grace Beside Me. Similarly, his feature debut is tale of teenagers being confronted with the realities of their increasingly adult world on Halloween night. It’s loaded with queer subtext, and a plea to listen to the stories of LGBTIQ youth in order to change minds and save lives.
The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)
Watch on StanThere’s no “sure, Jan” about it. This camp classic takes the absolute piss out of the original 1970s series, while still paying homage the wholesome family-oriented vibes it was known for. While nothing here is especially LGBTIQ themed (although there is a fab RuPaul cameo), Betty Thomas’ goofy meme-inspiring comedy has been adopted by queer audiences for how thoroughly and entertainingly it spoofs the heteronormative domestic ideal of America, and for how hilariously warped its endless parade of gags and send-ups are.
Carol (2015)
Watch on StanDirector Todd Haynes and writer Phyllis Nagy took a chance at adapting a definitive work of lesbian pulp literature (Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt) for the arthouse and it paid off. The film follows a wealthy 1950s repressed housewife (Cate Blanchett) and her affair with a younger paramour (Rooney Mara), herself in a loveless heterosexual relationship. It is told with exceptional attention to detail and beautiful craft. Carter Burwell’s score deserves special praise, and the film’s final shot has become rightly famous.
Frida (2002)
Watch on StanWhile not as explicit on the subject of Frida Kahlo’s bisexuality as many might hope for, Julie Taymor’s exquisite biopic of the Mexican artist’s life is a nonetheless breathtaking experience. Exceptionally beautiful and covering most of Kahlo’s life, it does put a spotlight on how her romances with both sexes inspired her work. Frida Kahlo is played wonderfully by Salma Hayek in an Oscar-nominated performance.
Gayby Baby (2015)
Watch on StanThis Australian-made documentary from 2015 takes viewers into the realities of raising a child as a same-sex couple. It’s a compassionately made documentary that’s ultimately all about our similarities. Director Maya Newell would later follow this up with the stunning In My Blood It Runs, proving her empathy is as strong as her talent behind the camera.
Geography Club (2014)
Watch on StanOne for the teens. Students at a high school form the un-coolest recreation club they can think of as a means of hanging out without anybody knowing—the ‘geography club’ is actually a support group for LGBTIQ kids. Pitch Perfect’s Cameron Deane Stewart and Hairspray’s Nikki Blonsky star in this sweet film about building up the strength to accept yourself before anybody else.
Holding the Man (2015)
Watch on StanOne of the best works of Australian queer writing, Timothy Conigrave’s memoir Holding the Man was finally adapted for the big screen with this 2015 film by Neil Armfield. While it is initially a bit odd to see grown men play high schoolers in the 1970s, by film’s end during the height of the AIDS epidemic, audiences likely won’t be able to think about much beyond its heartbreaking romance, and the generations of men and women who never got to share in the hard-fought equality of the 21st century.
Ideal Home (2018)
Watch on StanA particularly odd movie about a particularly odd pairing. Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd of all people star as a couple whose extravagant life on a New Mexico range is interrupted by the arrival of an unexpected kin. While they take to being fathers surprisingly well, it shifts their relationship and that of those around them. Ideal Home is all about the chemistry of its cast, who work overtime to make it laugh-out-loud funny.
Lilting (2014)
Watch on StanCultural and generational divides make up the tender, yet sombre core of this drama from Cambodian-born director Hong Khaou (he would later make Monsoon with Henry Golding). With her son’s passing, a mother (Cheng Pei-Pei) attempts to make sense of the appearance of another young man (Ben Whishaw) who was her son’s secret partner, even though they don’t speak the same language and each hold different memories.
Man in an Orange Shirt (2017)
Watch on StanOkay, so we’re cheating a little bit with this one. Based on the Patrick Gale novel, this is a two-part made-for-television movie—but at just 60 minutes each episode, we like to think of this as just a single two-hour movie. Set across two different eras, post-WWII and the current day, are two different yet connected love stories. Exquisitely made, it stars Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Julian Morris.
Mommie Dearest (1981)
Watch on StanYou have truly never seen anything quite like Mommie Dearest. Ever since its scandalous debut in 1981, this cult classic has become a staple of queer culture. Drag queens perform lip syncs to its infamous monologues and one-liners (“No! Wire! Hangers! Ever!”), gay audiences flock to viewing parties, Faye Dunaway’s performance as Hollywood legend Joan Crawford and outrageous costumes are the epitome of camp, and none other than John Waters is on the record as one of its biggest fans. It’s the biggest mother of them all and deserves to find new audiences.
Moonlight (2016)
Watch on StanFor some, this American triptych about one young black boy’s evolution to adulthood is probably best known for being the other film in La La Land’s Academy Award snafu moment. That’s too bad, really, because Barry Jenkins’ masterfully made Moonlight remains a powerful film about self-discovery in the midst of turmoil. An evocative, compelling film that rightfully won three Academy Awards (and probably should’ve won more) including for Mahershala Ali’s performance as Juan.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985)
WATCH ON STANThere is a reason this film—the first (of many) sequels to Wes Craven’s iconic original—has the reputation as the gayest slasher movie ever made. With its storyline about a teenage boy who gets possessed by nightmare invader Freddy Krueger, this maligned ‘80s classic is deserving of your time for being so completely unique. And if the subtext isn’t enough, there’s also a gay S&M bar—and one character even has a Limahl poster.
Orlando (1992)
Watch on StanSally Potter is one of the more eclectic filmmakers to have emerged out of the United Kingdom in the 1990s. Picking up where queer icon Derek Jarman left off (the director of Jubilee and Blue died of AIDS complications in 1994), Potter poached Jarman regulars Tilda Swinton and costume designer Sandy Powell to adapt this Virginia Woolf novelette in sumptuous detail. A tale of an androgynous spirit who possesses Swinton’s body across time and genders, Orlando speaks to many things but most contemporaneously to the evolution of gender as a social construct.
The Queen of Ireland (2015)
Watch on StanSure, you could watch Some Like It Hot on Stan—okay, that is recommended, but it ain’t a LGBTIQ film—but if you want to see a real drag queen at work, check out Rory O’Neill, aka Panti Bliss. Before Australia’s own same-sex marriage plebiscite in 2017, Panti Bliss set out to change the minds of Irish voters as their country went to the polls. Panti Bliss’s kindhearted approach is instrumental and wins over a public who’d only ever seen drag queens as farce in Hollywood movies.
The Sum of Us (1994)
Watch on StanThis sweetly affecting film is not necessarily forgotten, but often neglected when discussions of Australian queer cinema of the 1990s arise (it was released the same year as The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Muriel’s Wedding). Starring Jack Thompson and Russell Crowe, this heart-warming film leaves the standard conflicts behind and instead tells a more modern story of a straight father and gay son living together in the age of Mardi Gras and sexual freedom in Sydney.
Studio 54 (2018)
Watch on StanThis documentary takes a more classical approach than the fictional entry at the top of our list to telling the story of the New York City landmark’s rise and fall in all of its deliciously hedonistic detail. With a thumping disco soundtrack and anecdotes that’ll make you do a spit take, Studio 54 spotlights the nightclub as an emblem of its era, and digs into what made it the centre of the celebrity universe.
The Talented Mr Ripley (1999)
Watch on StanAt some point, queer viewers got fed up with seeing LGBTIQ characters becoming just another tragic statistic, or confirming the contorted, twisted mindset of homophobic society. But that doesn’t mean that queer characters could no longer be conflicted, complex and, yes, villainous. Matt Damon stars as a social leech whose infatuation with the mind and body of Jude Law is kind of understandable (Law has never been sexier) until it turns deadly. Shot on the coast of Italy, Anthony Mingella’s film (also starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett and Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a decadent, twisted thriller.
Thelma (2017)
Watch on StanJoachim Trier finally broke through to larger recognition with his 2021 romantic dramedy The Worst Person in the World, which was nominated for two Academy Awards. Prior to that, however, was this moody and atmospheric thriller about a young woman with peculiar abilities. Think of it as a Scandinavian twist on Brian De Palma, although its themes around female sexuality are a bit more nuanced than that. An intriguing blend of genres that probably shouldn’t work, but which proves to be remarkably effective.
Two of Us (2020)
Watch on StanThe story of this French drama could easily be supplanted onto something far less impressive, but first-time writer-director Filippo Meneghetti pares it back. It is thankfully closer in tone to Anthony Hopkins’ film The Father than one of those old school ‘disease-of-the-week’ TV movies. Nina and Madeleine, played superbly by Barbara Sukowa and Martine Chevallier are the heart of Two of Us, as ageing lovers torn apart by disease and the secrets they have held from their families.
UPDATES
Titles are added and removed from his page to reflect changes to Stan’s catalogue. The reviews no longer available on this page can be read here.
