Time Out's The 50 best gay movies: the best in LGBT film-making

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With the help of leading directors, actors, writers and activists, we count down the best LGBTQ+ films of all time

By Cath Clarke, Dave Calhoun, Tom Huddleston, Alim Kheraj, Guy Lodge and Ben Walters Posted: Tuesday June 16 2020

The importance of representation cannot be downplayed. By watching films we are introduced to experiences different to our own. It creates empathy and understanding – a connection between yourself and other people, while also helping us understand ourselves. That’s why, in the last few years, it’s been exciting to see an increase in quality LGBT+ cinema that truly represents different facets of the queer experience.

Films like ‘Moonlight’, ‘Love, Simon’, the Melissa McCarthy-starring ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ and the thrilling ‘A Fantastic Woman’ have all brought much-needed representation to the big screen, while also telling a diverse range of LGBT+ stories. And while we still have a long way to go before queer cinema is entirely mainstream, it’s worth celebrating how far we’ve come even since 2005’s ‘Brokeback Mountain’. So, with that in mind, we asked some LGBT+ cultural pioneers and Time Out writers to share their most essential LGBT+ films to countdown the 50 best gay movies.

First version: By Cath Clarke, Dave Calhoun, Tom Huddleston and Ben Walters Posted: Tuesday November 24 2015

Leading directors, actors, writers and activists – including Todd Haynes, John Waters, Kimberly Peirce and George Takei – share the lesbian, bisexual, trans and gay movies they love the most

Which movies are most beloved for the light they shine on lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans experiences? Which screen stories involving LGBT characters are the most enduring, whether romances, horrors or comedies? Which are the most groundbreaking, politically or artistically? And which simply demand to be watched again and again?

We asked LGBT cultural pioneers – including Xavier Dolan, Christine Vachon, Bruce LaBruce and Roland Emmerich – to share with us their ten best gay movies. Here’s their out-and-proud list of 50 great LGBT movies.

Note: The Terence Davies Trilogy (1983) is actually a compilation of three shorter films:
Children (1976)
Madonna and Child (1980)
Death and Transfiguration (1983)