With every year there’s more and more great content featuring lesbian, gay, or bisexual characters. Some of it is even good! Let’s take a look some of the best lesbian movies on Netflix that you can be watching right now.
The Half Of It
A lot of love has been heaped on this movie by writer/director Alice Wu, who you may know from her previous film Saving Face, which also comes highly recommended. And all the love is absolutely justified.
The Half Of It is a modern twist on the story of Cyrano de Bergerac and follows teenager Ellie Chu, an Asian-American who lives with her immigrant widowed father. When a jock at her school hires her to write love letters in his name to a girl at her school, lots of feelings build in some more and some less expected places.
The movie is slow-paced and sweet with a good dose of melancholy and an excellent cast. Leah Lewis carries the film as a pensive, closeted high-school loner, and everyone is a pleasure to watch. While not the most novel movie ever made, I did love that it didn’t always do the obvious thing, and there is a lot of subtle joy in the gentle moments between people. Must watch!
Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga
Even if you’re not a fan of Bollywood – or maybe especially if you aren’t – this movie is worth a watch. At the very least, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (which translates as “How I felt when I saw that girl”) is an interesting change of pace.
If you’re hoping for a steamy romance, you’ll have to look elsewhere, as Indian cinema is generally more coy about public displays of affection than Western movies. If you’re looking for a sweet romance, however, look no further.
The story is well-known by anyone who likes lesbian movies: Girl meets girl, people don’t approve, drama ensues – but we’re spared the tragic ending so prevalent several decades ago.
Expect some catchy singing, exciting dancing, and a sweet romance you don’t want to miss. Recommended.
D.E.B.S.
(Only available in Canada)
D.E.B.S. is a wonderful, campy marvel of a film that started out as a short film before it was turned into a feature film. It’s about school girls who are also paramilitary agents in training. Things get complicated when Amy (Sara Foster), one of the D.E.B.S., runs into supervillain Lucy Diamond (Jordana Brewster) and sparks fly.
This humorous film was written and directed by Angela Robinson, who went on to write and direct several episodes for The L Word and later Professor Marston and the Wonder Women. If you like cute and silly comedy films, this one is a must watch.
The Runaways
Before Joan Jett founded Joan Jett & the Blackhearts and gave us hits like (her version of) I Love Rock’n’Roll and I Hate Myself For Loving You, she got her start in a band called The Runaways. They were enormously successful, at least in Japan, and ended up very influential in music history.
The film stars Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett and the resemblance is at times uncanny. If you only know her from the dubious Twilight movies, you’re missing out. (And if you need more convincing that the girl can act, go check out Happiest Season.)
While the film contains lesbian content, it’s certainly not the main focus. Regardless, the film is definitely worth a watch. Recommended.
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women
(Only in Canada)
Another movie by Angela Robinson of D.E.B.S. fame, this one tells the story of how Wonder Woman (the comic book character) was created by psychologist William Moulton Marston. Part of this story is the polyamorous relationship he was in with two women.
While it’s it’s been disputed that the relationship between the two women in his life really was romantic, it’s nonetheless an interesting story about an interesting relationship you don’t see every day on TV. Recommended.
Hannah Gadsby Nanette
If you haven’t heard about Nanette yet, you might have been living under a rock for the past few years. Which is fine, of course, no judgement!
Nanette has made a huge splash on the comedy scene when Hannah Gadsby toured this amazing stand-up routine across the world as her farewell tour. In fact, it was so successful that the Australian quickly decided not to part ways with comedy after all!
While the show is both funny as well as upsetting in how it holds up a mirror to comedy and the jokes people make about trauma, it is definitely worth watching and thinking about.
It’s mentioned here because Hannah Gadsby is an out lesbian and a unique queer voice. After Nanette, do yourself a favor and also watch Douglas, which is equally clever, even funnier and will make you feel bit less shell-shocked than Nanette will. Highly recommended.
Wanda Sykes Not Normal
And while we’re on the topic of stand-up comedy, there’s also Wanda Sykes: Not Normal. Wanda Sykes has a coarse but very lovable sense of humor as well, and since she surprisingly (to me!) came out as gay in 2008, her French wife and her family life have also been a great source of material for her comedy.
