Valentine's Day is a perfect holiday to spend at home, regardless of whether you're single, dating, or blissfully wed. Netflix and chilling is an ideal way to celebrate V Day; but are you in the mood to revel in the beauty of love or sneer at the hopelessness of relationships? Want to laugh at the horrors of dating or get out a cathartic cry? Here's your guide to the queer classics that will magically manipulate your emotions.
1. Weekend
This beautifully restrained film tells the story of two young gay British men who meet at a club, hook up, and fall in love over the course of an eventful weekend. One of the guys is introverted and half-closeted, while the other is brash, gregarious, and wears his sexuality on his sleeve; their worldviews complement each other and their chemistry is explosive. Through passionate conversations, many drug-fueled, they alternately challenge, confuse, and confound each other. It's a grown-up, no-holds-barred exploration of modern love between men, and even the sex is honest. Directed by Andrew Haigh, who's moved on to executive-produce HBO's Looking, the film well deserved its status as a critical darling.
2. Edge of Seventeen
Not to be confused with the Hailee Steinfeld starrer released in 2016, this ‘90s indie darling tossed it back to the mid-'80s with a story about an Ohio teen obsessed with New Wave culture — especially Annie Lennox and the Eurythmics. While working at an amusement park in the summer before college, Eric discovers he’s way more into his coworker Rod (Andersen Gabrych) than he is to his devoted girlfriend/best friend, Maggie (Tina Holmes). Luckily, his manager Angie (Lea DeLaria) is on hand to offer sage coming out advice.
3. Trick
A quintessential film for a generation of gay men, 1999’s Trick took a lighthearted look at the pleasures and pitfalls of one-night stands as Gabriel (Christian Campbell) and Mark (John Paul Pitoc) discover that hooking up in Manhattan isn’t as easy as it looks and romance can blossom at the most unexpected times.
4. The Broken Hearts Club
A heartwarming movie about gay friendship and the hunt for love, The Broken Hearts Club is hard to dislike. In the film, no one's relationship is perfect; many of the gay and bi characters struggle with commitment and fidelity, a universal theme for our community. By the end, you'll feel like all these guys will eventually figure it out.
5. The Boys in the Band
Mart Crowley's hit play became the first famous gay film ever. Vito Russo said of the movie, "The internalized guilt of eight gay men at a Manhattan birthday party formed the best and most potent argument for gay liberation ever offered in a popular art form." No, it wasn't representative of what gay life was like‚ but it was representative of what gay life was like for those alcoholic men, in that city, at that time. Crowley's quotable script was shocking, real, and hysterically funny. With Cliff Gorman, Leonard Frey, Kenneth Nelson, and Frederick Combs, and directed by William Friedkin (of Cruising fame). It's the perfect Valentine's day movie for those looking for bitchy quips to hurl around.
6. Happy Together
This 1997 Hong Kong was ahead of its time. The unflinchingly real look at a dysfunctional (and, at times, abusive) relationship between two young men is difficult, but rewarding, viewing. Ho and Lai may not be able to make it work, but their love is never in doubt.
7. My Own Private Idaho
Gay director Gus Van Sant's meandering story follows River Phoenix, who plays Mike, a troubled gay street hustler, and his best friend (played by Keanu Reeves) from the streets of Portland to Seattle to Italy and Idaho. Along the way, the film explores love and loss, betrayal and the street life a lot of LGBT kids find themselves in. It's a bit of a gay Easy Rider and a must-see; poignant, emotional, frustrating, and definitely without a happy ending.
8. Brokeback Mountain
The music, the acting, the sparse, lovely dialogue - Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain was a masterpiece in so many regards. The 2005 film shook up cinema, as one of the first major Hollywood films to center on a gay love story. The ending is indeed tragic; so if you're seeking a way to expunge tears this day, here's your movie.
9. Moonlight
This Oscar-winner is indeed a harrowing tale of a young black man's maturation and sexual awakening, but it's also a tender love story that culminates at the end of this cathartic queer tale. The lovely payoff will have you floating.
10. My Beautiful Laundrette
Combining racism, class issues, and gay love in one sudsy mix sounds like a recipe for heavy-handed treacle, but Stephen Frears's My Beautiful Laundrette is as entertaining as it is culturally resonant. The story of a Pakistani man and a street punk falling in love, challenging the conventions of Thatcher-era London, and classing up a laundromat in the way only gay men can do, My Beautiful Laundrette was immediately met with praise and its screenplay nominated for an Oscar. The film's punk was played by the brilliant Daniel Day-Lewis, while director Frears had a massive hit this year on television with A Very English Scandal.
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This beautifully restrained film tells the story of two young gay British men who meet at a club, hook up, and fall in love over the course of an eventful weekend. One of the guys is introverted and half-closeted, while the other is brash, gregarious, and wears his sexuality on his sleeve; their worldviews complement each other and their chemistry is explosive. Through passionate conversations, many drug-fueled, they alternately challenge, confuse, and confound each other. It's a grown-up, no-holds-barred exploration of modern love between men, and even the sex is honest. Directed by Andrew Haigh, who's moved on to executive-produce HBO's Looking, the film well deserved its status as a critical darling.
2. Edge of Seventeen
Not to be confused with the Hailee Steinfeld starrer released in 2016, this ‘90s indie darling tossed it back to the mid-'80s with a story about an Ohio teen obsessed with New Wave culture — especially Annie Lennox and the Eurythmics. While working at an amusement park in the summer before college, Eric discovers he’s way more into his coworker Rod (Andersen Gabrych) than he is to his devoted girlfriend/best friend, Maggie (Tina Holmes). Luckily, his manager Angie (Lea DeLaria) is on hand to offer sage coming out advice.
3. Trick
A quintessential film for a generation of gay men, 1999’s Trick took a lighthearted look at the pleasures and pitfalls of one-night stands as Gabriel (Christian Campbell) and Mark (John Paul Pitoc) discover that hooking up in Manhattan isn’t as easy as it looks and romance can blossom at the most unexpected times.
4. The Broken Hearts Club
A heartwarming movie about gay friendship and the hunt for love, The Broken Hearts Club is hard to dislike. In the film, no one's relationship is perfect; many of the gay and bi characters struggle with commitment and fidelity, a universal theme for our community. By the end, you'll feel like all these guys will eventually figure it out.
5. The Boys in the Band
Mart Crowley's hit play became the first famous gay film ever. Vito Russo said of the movie, "The internalized guilt of eight gay men at a Manhattan birthday party formed the best and most potent argument for gay liberation ever offered in a popular art form." No, it wasn't representative of what gay life was like‚ but it was representative of what gay life was like for those alcoholic men, in that city, at that time. Crowley's quotable script was shocking, real, and hysterically funny. With Cliff Gorman, Leonard Frey, Kenneth Nelson, and Frederick Combs, and directed by William Friedkin (of Cruising fame). It's the perfect Valentine's day movie for those looking for bitchy quips to hurl around.
6. Happy Together
This 1997 Hong Kong was ahead of its time. The unflinchingly real look at a dysfunctional (and, at times, abusive) relationship between two young men is difficult, but rewarding, viewing. Ho and Lai may not be able to make it work, but their love is never in doubt.
7. My Own Private Idaho
Gay director Gus Van Sant's meandering story follows River Phoenix, who plays Mike, a troubled gay street hustler, and his best friend (played by Keanu Reeves) from the streets of Portland to Seattle to Italy and Idaho. Along the way, the film explores love and loss, betrayal and the street life a lot of LGBT kids find themselves in. It's a bit of a gay Easy Rider and a must-see; poignant, emotional, frustrating, and definitely without a happy ending.
8. Brokeback Mountain
The music, the acting, the sparse, lovely dialogue - Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain was a masterpiece in so many regards. The 2005 film shook up cinema, as one of the first major Hollywood films to center on a gay love story. The ending is indeed tragic; so if you're seeking a way to expunge tears this day, here's your movie.
9. Moonlight
This Oscar-winner is indeed a harrowing tale of a young black man's maturation and sexual awakening, but it's also a tender love story that culminates at the end of this cathartic queer tale. The lovely payoff will have you floating.
10. My Beautiful Laundrette
Combining racism, class issues, and gay love in one sudsy mix sounds like a recipe for heavy-handed treacle, but Stephen Frears's My Beautiful Laundrette is as entertaining as it is culturally resonant. The story of a Pakistani man and a street punk falling in love, challenging the conventions of Thatcher-era London, and classing up a laundromat in the way only gay men can do, My Beautiful Laundrette was immediately met with praise and its screenplay nominated for an Oscar. The film's punk was played by the brilliant Daniel Day-Lewis, while director Frears had a massive hit this year on television with A Very English Scandal.
Got a news tip? Want to share your story? Email us.
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