Best gay films of all time

Before he was charming us as the smarmy Patrick in Challengers or yanking at our emotions with his portrayal of Prince Charles in The Crown, Josh O’Connor got his breakout role as a depressed, alcoholic sheep farmer named Johnny in God’s Own Country. In this romantic drama, Johnny has seemingly given up on life, until a migrant worker from Romania comes to give Johnny’s family an extra pair of hands and a new romance develops, which gives our protagonist a new perspective on life.

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Years after wrapping his Emmy-winning turn as David Rose on Schitt’s Creek, Dan Levy made his directorial debut with Good Grief, another project that explores the beauty and complexity of being queer.

In fact, generally describing it as a ‘ghost story’ feels like a short change – even though that’s sort of what it is – given how in touch it is with the innate human need to be loved, seen and understood. [More]

Starring: Divine, Mark Payne, Greg Gorman, Mink Stole

Directed By: Jeffrey Schwarz

Critics Consensus: Celebrating its subjects without ever losing sight of their story, The Queen is a fascinating time capsule that has only gained resonance since its release.

As he reconnects with them and forms a relationship with the endearing man who lives downstairs in his building (Paul Mescal), he learns a great deal about living in the present, and Haigh relays an extremely moving story about opening oneself up to love. Latching onto cancelled fantasy show The Pink Opaque – giving Buffy – via a stack of VHS, a shared obsession that appears to open a rift in reality.

Here, we have teenage cheerleader Megan Bloomfield (Natasha Lyonne) who is sent to a conversion therapy camp to try to “cure” her lesbianism. However, when Ellie starts developing feelings for Aster, things get complicated.

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If there’s one thing gays love, it’s horror, and this South Korean thriller directed by Park Chan-wook (Oldboy) is packed with suspense.

Treasure (Yolonda Lee) is a juvenile inmate who engineers a transfer to adult jail hoping to find her birth mother. The performances are wild, expressive and still a joy to behold, even after 14 seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race, which owes the film a great debt for paving the way toward the mainstreaming of drag culture. stands for “gay best friend,” and it’s an acronym that’s been used to refer to a woman’s gay friend, often in a tokenizing way.

But despite the term’s icky origins, G.B.F. takes this idea and turns it on its head, resulting in a chaotic teen comedy classic.

Tennis movies are sexy to begin with, but this modern love triangle takes it to the next level and scores an ace.

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Alice Walker’s masterful 1982 novel is transformed into a star-studded epic, thanks to the work of director Steven Spielberg and a cast that includes Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, and Oprah Winfrey in her debut film role.

Synopsis: Teenage Alike (Adepero Oduye) lives in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood with her parents (Charles Parnell, Kim Wayans) and younger sister [More]

Starring: Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Aasha Davis, Charles Parnell

Directed By: Dee Rees

Critics Consensus:Disclosure engrossingly illuminates the history and effects of the way transgender lives are depicted onscreen -- and outlines how much progress still needs to be made.

Set in 1930s Japanese-occupied Korea, the film acts as a reimagining of the 2002 novel Fingersmith. It’s not, and he won.

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Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Cast: Brad Davis, Jeanne Moreau, Franco Nero

There is no subtext in Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s posthumously released final feature (get a load of those phallic pylons lining the harbour as the good ship Le Vengeur delivers its sweaty seamen to the port of Brest).

It’s the age-old story of an anxious suburban girl, awkward Agnes (Rebecka Liljeberg), who falls for a confident firebrand, in the process learning how to love life and stand on her own two feet. [More]

Starring: Eamon Farren, Lev Gorn, Mark Nelson, Lynn Cohen

Directed By: Isabel Sandoval

Critics Consensus: Though the costumes are beautiful and the art direction impeccable, what stands out most from this debut by fashion designer Tom Ford is the leading performance by Colin Firth.