Netflix has a great selection of LGBT+ films on its platform. Whether you’re in the mood for a smushy romance or a heartbreaking documentary there’s something available for everyone.
Here is our top list for 11 LGBT+ films you need to stream on Netflix. To find out how to view all LGBT+ content on Netflix via a secret code click here.
UPDATED: July 2020
Beach Rats ★★★★
Drama
A young man plays it very cool with his friends while he hides his true sexuality in the new film Beach Rats.
UK born Dickinson is very good as Frankie. He nails down the accent and the attitude almost perfectly. With no previous film credits, he’s a natural and very compelling to watch on the big screen (and boy is he sexy)! Director Eliza Hittman gets almost everything right in this film, with the exception of the last 20 minutes that gets a bit too unbelievable. But it’s Dickinson you’ll remember when the screen credits go up. He’s on to bigger and better things. (TIM BAROS)
I Am Michael ★★★★
Biography
It’s based on the true story of Michael Glatze, who claimed he was no longer gay and became a straight pastor. But in 1999, Michael was in a gay relationship with boyfriend Bennett (Zachary Quinto) and was the editor of the successful real-life XY Magazine, while at the same time living in San Francisco – it was the ultimate gay life and gay lifestyle. But Bennett’s father has a job for him in Halifax, Canada, so they relocate there – it’s a city with not much to do, but they end up hooking up with the young good looking Tyler (Charlie Carver). But after a few panic attacks, and memories of his late father and mother, Michael starts to question his homosexuality – he starts to re-evaluate his life, loves, and takes up to reading the bible for answers, until one day he leaves it all behind for a new life. (TIM BAROS)
King Cobra ★★★★
Biography
Dive into the back story of one of gay porn’s most popular actors, Brent Corrigan.
The film stormed the Toronto Film Festival and had its European premiere at the London Film Festival. The film has stirred up a lot of controversies as it shows the discovery of Brent Corrigan (Garrett Clayton) before two other agents then decide to take charge of his mega career which leads to an infamous murder that shocked the porn industry, remember this is real and true-life story. (PAUL STAG)
Alex Strangelove ★★★
Romance
High school senior Alex Truelove’s plan to lose his virginity to a loveable girlfriend goes awry when he meets the equally lovable Elliot. An easy and inoffensive watch.
Holding The Man ★★★★★
Biopic
Holding the Man is one of the better, or perhaps maybe the best, of all the films that’s dealt with the AIDS crisis. It’s a movie that simply tells a story, a love story so enduring and epic that it’s irrelevant whether the characters are gay or straight. Plus it’s a story that some of us, who were around in the 1980s and 1990s when friends and partners were dying right and left from AIDS, can, unfortunately, relate to.
Corr and Stott are terrific and give it their all (Anthony LaPaglia is especially good as Caleo’s stern and unforgiving father). But it’s in the storytelling where this film excels. Credit goes to director Armfield and writer Murphy for successfully bringing this story to the screen. It’s a story that’s been told a few times (Philadelphia), but not in such a meaningful, and very realistic, way. However it’s Conigrave’s book on which this film is based, it’s his book about his relationship with Caleo, a sort of love letter to him, and we’re all very lucky to be able to see what an amazing, yet heartbreaking, relationship it was. This film is highly recommended. REVIEW: TIM BAROS
Dallas Buyers Club ★★★★★
Biography
This film has been a long time coming. Scriptwriters Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack based it on the hundreds of interviews they had with the film’s main character, Woodroof, and then waited 20 years for the movie to finally get made. Several directors and stars were attached to it until it ended up in the hands of Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallee.
His two principal stars lost a ton of weight for the parts, Jared Leto, as Rayon dropped 30 lbs and Matthew McConaughey a scary 50 lbs. They both gave powerful dazzling performances. It was definitely a stunning change in direction for McConaughey in particular who has established his career so far mainly in rom-coms, but for my two cents (!) it was Leto’s heartbreaking turn as the drug-addicted Rayon that totally bowled me over. It makes one appreciate that Leto has been off our screens for too long. (ROGER WALKER-DACK)
Dreamboat ★★★★
Documentary
An intimate look at gay cruising. Not the type you’d encounter in the woods or a cottage, but at sea. Why is cruising (at sea) so popular with gay men. This documentary follows the stories of five men and their reflections and discoveries as they cross the ocean. And possibly the only actual non-porn blowjob scene you’ll actually see on film.
Ideal Home ★★★
Comedy
Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan (at his campiest best) play, respectively, Paul and Erasmus Brumble (what a name!), a gay couple who have been together long enough, perhaps too long, to be set in their argumentative ways. Brumble is a flamboyant TV chef and Paul is his producing partner, and they live in the stunningly beautiful town of Santa Fe, New Mexico. They run their empire from their adobe house that has views to die for of the landscape which includes turquoise sunsets and rolling luscious mountains. They seem to have it all, but yet there also seems to be something missing in their lives. (TIM BAROS)
McQueen ★★★★★
Biography
Fashion designer Alexander McQueen was a genius He had an eye for fashion but was also a troubled soul. The new documentary McQueen shows the highs, and the lows, of McQueen’s life.
McQueen is an excellent testament to the man who was also called Lee. Through his friends, associates and sister Janet, we really feel that we get to know who Lee actually was ourselves. But it’s through the footage of his fashion shows where we get to see the real talent that he had. His shows were events, some very dark (which explains how deep and troubled he was), and showed how gorgeous, and emotionally beautiful, his creations were. Alexander McQueen died way too young, but through this documentary, you can at least experience his life and work, which was cut way too short. (TIM BAROS)
The Miseducation of Cameron Post ★★★★
Drama
A powerful and understated story of conversion therapy in the heart of the USA. Cameron is forced into a religious gay cure camp to pray the gay away, except, she’s headstrong and clings to her identity.
Behind The Candelabra ★★★★
Biography
Even if one knows little about Liberace, the story is a familiar one, basically a celebrity marriage that goes wrong. The end of Liberace’s relationship with Thorson is already there in the beginning.
When Thorson first meets Liberace, we also meet Liberace’s current lover, a relationship that has obviously soured, so it is no surprise when the scene is replicated later in the film, this time with a young dancer taking the Thorson role, and Thorson taking the role of the disgruntled lover. There is no doubt about the love and affection the two men have for each other at the beginning of the relationship, but things take a bizarre turn when Liberace decides he would like to adopt Thorson, and asks Thorson to undergo plastic surgery to make him look more like Liberace’s younger self. (GREG MITCHELL)
