The Lesbian-themed movies I have seen (from best to worst)
Excluding tv-series.
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- DirectorTodd HaynesStarsCate BlanchettRooney MaraSarah PaulsonAn aspiring photographer develops an intimate relationship with an older woman in 1950s New York.Really the first first-rate lesbian film made in my opinion. Production values and budget are here totally something else than those typical indie films and that certainly adds more quality. Great cast, great music, great atmosphere, great everything.
- DirectorThom FitzgeraldStarsOlympia DukakisBrenda FrickerKristin BoothA lesbian couple escape from their nursing home and head up to Canada to get married. Along the way, they pick up a young, male hitchhiker.Wonderful actors in a bittersweet story which is so real that you can taste it. The raunchiness is not maybe everybody's cup of tea, but I love this drama with a great sense of humour.
- DirectorRodrigo GarcíaStarsGlenn CloseMia WasikowskaAaron Taylor-JohnsonAlbert Nobbs struggles to survive in late 19th-century Ireland, where women aren't encouraged to be independent. Posing as a man so she can work as a butler in Dublin's most elegant hotel, Albert meets a handsome painter and looks to escape the lie she has been living.This movie is not on many lesbian lists here and I wonder why. These brave bygone era women dressed as a man for various reasons but as this movie shows, they could also be with other women freely because of that. And Albert Nobbs handles this subject admirably. Kudos for Glenn Close and Janet McTeer.
- DirectorAlexandra-Therese KeiningStarsRuth Vega FernandezLiv MjönesKrister HenrikssonA young woman engaged to be married finds herself in an affair with her soon-to-be stepmother's lesbian daughter.Well done, Swedes. Reflective, believable and very well done drama with enough hotness to warm even the coldest winter day. This is what I want from a Lesbian film, precisely.
- DirectorMax FärberböckStarsMaria SchraderJuliane KöhlerJohanna WokalekIn 1943 Berlin, a Nazi officer's wife meets and starts a passionate affair with a Jewish woman.Possibly the most ambitious film here. The subject matter (Nazis, Jews, gays) is destined to make an impact, and when the historical and aesthetic values are high, there's not much to complain. Also inspired me to know more about the real Aimée & Jaguar.
- DirectorBruno BarretoStarsGlória PiresMiranda OttoTracy MiddendorfA chronicle of the tragic love affair between American poet Elizabeth Bishop and Brazilian architect Lota de Macedo Soares.Complicated relationships and past traumas between women I knew nothing about beforehand. Executed and acted very well, this piece of real history is one of the best lesbian-themed films around.
- DirectorDagmar HirtzStarsCharlotte SchwabAnn-Kathrin KramerPeter LerchbaumerSuccessful management consultant Catherine must face Maren as her new assistant. The young woman is very ambitious but has been employed by junior Boss Grosser to spoil Catherine's career. Despite all circumstances they work perfectly well as a team--and fall in love. Catherine, a married mother of teenage twins, is shaken up by the new situation. Is she willing to live her life with Maren, an open lesbian?"This is your life. In the end, you're only accountable for yourself". That intelligent remark sums up well this drama with a dose of humor with it. Business environment wasn't ideal setting for me, but enjoyable (and the most enjoyable leading ladies) flick on the whole.
- DirectorMaria Sole TognazziStarsMargherita BuySabrina FerilliFausto Maria SciarappaMarina and Federica have been together for five years now, they share the same apartment, bed, face cream, they laugh, they fight, but even so sometimes they are not sure if they're a couple or not.To be or not to be... in a relationship with a woman? Fast-paced, lively and mature film with a refreshing approach and dose of witty humor. And the actresses are top notch, especially Sabrina Ferilli.
- DirectorDonna DeitchStarsHelen ShaverPatricia CharbonneauAudra LindleyWhile waiting for her divorce papers, a repressed professor of literature is unexpectedly seduced by a carefree, spirited young lesbian.Groundbreaking film, and includes a love scene which still is one of the boldest ones out there. A bit too slow going to be really entertaining, but this is the one film every lesbian should (and probably have) watch.
- DirectorJames KentStarsMaxine PeakeAnna MadeleySusan LynchA look at the life of 19th-century Yorkshire landowner Anne Lister (1791-1840), who lived openly as a lesbian and kept diaries chronicling the details of her daily life.Good tv-movie (the TV-series Gentleman Jack took this story to a new level), and highly unusual experience to witness so modern character at the eve of Victorian era. Definitely recommended, even more because this is a true story.
- DirectorSylvie VerheydeStarsHélène FillièresRaffaëla AndersonAnthony DelonA lonely wife secretly starts an affair with a female dance teacher, at the distress of her husband.A reflective film with an atmosphere and background music all of its own. Lot is happening without much words or explanations, and the two main actresses are well worth of your time.
- DirectorOl ParkerStarsPiper PeraboLena HeadeyMatthew GoodeA newlywed bride becomes infatuated with another woman who questions her sexual orientation, promoting a stir among the bride's family and friends.Very Richard Curtis-like romantic comedy. Compared to the best ones he has made, this has no chance, but thanks to (again) lovely leading ladies and great overall cast, it has enough appeal to more than one viewing.
- DirectorCatherine CorsiniStarsCécile de FranceIzïa HigelinNoémie LvovskyA young woman moves from the French countryside to Paris and begins a passionate love affair with a feminist leader in this drama set in 1970s France.City vs. countryside, freedom vs. duty, liberation vs. convention. What wins and does it matter in the end? This time travel to the 70's flows like water and offers plenty of erotica and natural beauty in its various forms.
- DirectorAnnabel JankelStarsBilly BoydGregor SelkirkAnna PaquinIn 1950s small town Britain, a doctor develops a relationship with her young patient's mother.Prejudice and heartache in 1950's Scotland, but in the end hope beckons. Very nice movie with not that much 'new things' in this time and age, but who cares. Only minus is some of the actors' thick Scottish accent which can be hard to understand.
- DirectorShamim SarifStarsLisa RaySheetal ShethAntonia FreringA young woman engaged to be married finds her life changed forever when she meets her best friend's girlfriend.It hardly could be more of an eye candy than here, these two women are probably every lesbians ideal couple. The movie itself greatly improves with their presence, but has good enough story line to make it one of the best movies of its subject matter.
- DirectorPawel PawlikowskiStarsNatalie PressEmily BluntPaddy ConsidineIn the Yorkshire countryside, working-class tomboy Mona meets the exotic, pampered Tamsin. Over the summer season, the two young women discover they have much to teach one another, and much to explore together.Interesting, different take on youthful love which is idealistic, confused and just can't last. Gorgeous scenery and gorgeous summer days and two outcasts in a world of their own.
- DirectorPaul WeitzStarsLily TomlinJulia GarnerMarcia Gay HardenA teenager facing an unplanned pregnancy seeks help from her acerbic grandmother, a woman who is long estranged from her daughter.The main theme here is teen abortion, not Lily Tomlin's failing lesbian affair, but it doesn't matter. This short study of three generations of women is interesting, well-written piece of cinema.
- DirectorCharles Herman-WurmfeldStarsJennifer WestfeldtHeather JuergensenTovah FeldshuhA woman searching for the perfect man instead discovers the perfect woman.Nice attempt from these two young ladies. Fun and also witty at times, and despite a bit unsatisfactory ending, has enough that urban New York charm (in the same vein of Woody Allen) to carry it through.
- DirectorMelanie MayronStarsPiper LaurieBrooke AdamsEmily BaldoniWhen a grandmother's secret past collides with her granddaughter's secret future and her daughter's angry present, can the love of three generations be enough to accept decades of deceit. With a simple roll of film it begins.Lesbian love in the 60's. Grandma remembers when she sow her wild oats and more secrets comes to the surface. Very watchable drama between three generations of women.
- DirectorLisa CholodenkoStarsAnnette BeningJulianne MooreMark RuffaloTwo children conceived by artificial insemination bring their biological father into their non-traditional family life.Authentic, believable look at the life of long-term lesbian couple with children - and with very famous actresses. Not bad film at all.
- DirectorKate JohnstonShauna MacDonaldStarsKate TrotterChristine HorneShauna MacDonaldA lesbian with commitment issues befriends a widowed mother who is visiting her workaholic daughter.A pleasant experience. This kind of small-scale dramas don't leave any deep marks, but have enough substance to keep you interested. Points for two lovely leading ladies and an intelligent (if at times a bit too laborious) dialogue.
- DirectorShamim SarifStarsLisa RaySheetal ShethParvin DabasA drama centered on two women who engage in a dangerous relationship during South Africa's apartheid era.Lisa Ray and Sheetal Sheth make magic again on the big screen, and really light up this otherwise quite average movie.
- DirectorAbdellatif KechicheStarsLéa SeydouxAdèle ExarchopoulosSalim KechioucheAdèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire and to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adèle grows, seeks herself, loses herself, and ultimately finds herself through love and loss.Three hours of eating, talking of art and pretty graphic sex. Not the masterpiece for me like for so many other viewers, but still very natural, well made film.
- DirectorNicole ConnStarsNecar ZadeganThunderbird DinwiddieGary WeeksFate brings two diversely different women together, and sets them on a collision course that will shatter their preconceived notions about love, life and the power of one's soul.When Elena Met Peyton. Great, believable lead actresses, especially Traci Dinwiddie, make this film better than it otherwise would have been. Annoying music, soppy handling and oh so typical American juxtaposition church vs. gays are especially the downfalls.
- DirectorClare BeavanStarsGeraldine SomervilleElizabeth McGovernJanet McTeerDaphne Du Maurier, author of "Rebecca" and "Jamaica Inn," becomes attracted to the wife of a publisher and to an actress.Again true story, concentrating on novelist Daphne du Maurier's relationships with two women outside her marriage. Quite nicely done, but no satisfaction or happy endings.
- DirectorRadley MetzgerStarsEssy PerssonAnna GaëlBarbara LaageTwo young girls experience awakening sexuality in the heated atmosphere of a Swiss girls' boarding school...Well...! Based on writer Violette Leduc's own experiences in boarding school, this is not "love that dare not speak its name", but "tell it like it is". It's all very 60's, no matter what decade they live in the movie, and all action happens in words. But props by presenting all so natural fashion without any shame or explanations.
- DirectorPatricia RozemaStarsPascale BussièresRachael CrawfordHenry CzernyAn uptight and conservative woman, working on tenure as a literacy professor at a large urban university, finds herself strangely attracted to a free-spirited, liberal woman who works at a local carnival that comes to town.Too artsy-fartsy for my taste, but the bold and beautiful love scenes makes it worth watching.
- DirectorRichard LaxtonStarsJenna AugenNeal BarryClaudie BlakleyIn post-war London, Viv Pearce is dating Reggie and runs a dating bureau with Helen Giniver, who lives with her older lover, authoress Julia Standing. Viv's younger brother Duncan, a gay man made to feel ashamed of his orientation, has been in prison and is sought out by his ex-cell-mate, Robert Fraser, who served time as a conscientious objector and is now concerned for the young man's welfare. Viv encounters Kay Langrish, a wealthy, reclusive, butch lesbian and for both women this evokes memories of the period three years earlier (1944) when Kay was an heroic ambulance driver in a happy, loving relationship with Helen -- before Kay introduced her to her ex-lover Julia. At that time, Viv and Reggie are forced to procure the services of a dentist moonlighting as an abortionist. About to die from blood loss, and having been abandoned by Reggie, Kay saves her from prosecution by claiming she was a married woman who had miscarried. Three years before that (1941) Kay and Julia are still an item and Viv meets unhappily married soldier Reggie on a train. Kay pulls Helen from the wreckage of a bombed house, finding the innocent young woman she has always wanted to love and care for. We also learn the gruesome details of why Duncan was in prison, which follows a suicide pact with the boy he loved, in response to the war and the draft. As the scene returns to 1947 there are happier endings for some and optimist outlooks for others as they move forward.After great "Tipping the Velvet", this is my second peek at Sarah Waters' novels. Fairly good, but grim story of straight, gay and lesbian relationships during and after WWII. Extra lenght could have mean some extra interest.
- DirectorMoira ArmstrongStarsSophie WardKerry FoxNathaniel ParkerAlice has married the rich but boring Martin. When they move to a small village Martin starts flirting with Clodagh, but she is more interested in his wife Alice.This movie is pretty good until the hysterical ending. Plus the two leading ladies have no chemistry at all.
- DirectorJamie BabbitStarsNatasha LyonneClea DuVallMichelle WilliamsA naive teenager is sent to rehab camp when her straitlaced parents and friends suspect her of being a lesbian.Fun and campy. The whole thing could be just a one big tasteless joke, but the script is good enough to carry the movie. The chemistry is completely missing, though, I would never imagine a more unsuitable pair than these two women.
- DirectorDonatella MaiorcaStarsValeria SolarinoIsabella RagoneseEnnio FantastichiniNothing - not her father, not the church - can stop unruly Angela from being with her childhood best friend and great love, Sara in a 19th century Italian village.Quite harsh look on lesbian life in the 19th Century Italy. Raw feelings and desperation, but not much happiness.
- DirectorJohn SaylesStarsLinda GriffithsJane HallarenJon DeVriesA happily married woman comes to realize herself of being a repressed lesbian after she has an affair with a female college professor, and then tries to come to terms with her newfound lifestyle.Is this the first real lesbian movie? (No, as I have found out) Pretty realistic and modern look to the lesbian world and considering this is made thirty years ago, it is really brave film. Not as interesting or entertaning as it could have been, though.
- DirectorMaria BeattyStarsJanna Lisa DombrowskyHans PiesbergenSusanne SachßeSince his wife's death, Arthur, a peculiar and severe surgeon, cloisters his teen daughter Lucille inside a strange mansion. Desperate, Lucille tries to commit suicide and ends up with her face completely burned and bandaged. Arthur, with the assistance of his aunt, prepares a weird skin graft in order to give back Lucille a face, a face that resembles his beloved and deceased wife. To take care of her, the father then hires Joan, an attractive nurse with a somber past. Lucille and Joan start a forbidden and passionate love affair.Scientific experiments, English with an accent, gloomy piano music: maybe not much as a movie (some strange tale about a patient and her recovery) but the main attraction here are the sensual, erotic scenes between the patient and her caregiver.
- DirectorNouchka van BrakelStarsMonique van de VenMaria SchneiderMarijke MerckensYoung mother of two Eva is send on holiday to France by her husband to relief her stress. There she meets lesbian Liliane who lives in a commune.It figures that Dutch made it all look so natural even in 1979. Despite being a film from my early childhood, dated is not the word here. Very sensible, maybe even too sensible [read: dry] look on woman's life who finally founds her real voice and wants to act on it. True story.
- DirectorRainer KaufmannStarsIna WeisseErika MarozsánUlrich NoethenSuccessful designer Marie has a loving husband and two children. But fate offers more. When she meets the fiancée of their friend Dom, the two women fall for each other. This comes out and life gets out of control. Can there be a long-term solution?You can't have your cake and eat it too, or torn between two loves, the old and the new. Quick passion in a quick movie, which managed to left me somewhat cold. Similarities to Kiss Me are notable.
- DirectorVirginie DespentesStarsEmmanuelle BéartBéatrice DalleSokoA Love Story Of Two Women Who meet up in their late forties and attempt to retrieve the romance they had in their youth.Well, it's different. This movie has a gloomy subject matter but has interesting elements. Not your typical lesbian romance for sure.
- DirectorMaria MaggentiStarsLaurel HollomanNicole Ari ParkerMaggie MooreAn adventurous love story between two young women of different social and economic backgrounds who find themselves going through all the typical struggles of a new romance.Watching these girls half my age isn't current for me anymore, so their schoolgirlish antics didn't really interested me. Not bad movie at all, just juvenile.
- DirectorJeanette L. BuckStarsLaura CarsonRusty ClaussNancy DalyA sexy, romance about two woman who unexpectedly fall in love during a winter's stay in the resort town of Cape May.Nice little movie to watch once, but lacks any real interest. As realistic as a film made in US can be.
- DirectorJane AndersonMartha CoolidgeAnne HecheStarsVanessa RedgraveMarian SeldesPaul GiamattiTrio of stories about lesbian couples in three different decades.Three different stories, all of them quite lame. It's been awhile since I saw this, but see it again isn't in my agenda.
- DirectorChris Vander StappenStarsMarie BunelHélène VincentTsilla CheltonJuly 1969 . After two years spent in Canada, Sacha is back in her small Belgian town. She has two disturbing news to break to her family : the first one is that instead of being married - or at least engaged - as expected - she has a Canadian ... girlfriend ! The second is not much better : instead of graduating as a radiologist in Montréal she has left medical school whereas all the family -despite financial difficulties - has made enormous sacrifices to support her.How will her nearest and dearest react?It's 1969 in Belgium and the eve of Moon landing. But the main theme is: will she come out as a lesbian to her family and tell she's not the doctor her mother desperately wants her to be. Curious, original film, but in parts confusing and repetitive and altogether too far from my liking zone.
- DirectorPatricia RozemaStarsSheila McCarthyPaule BaillargeonAnn-Marie MacDonaldScatterbrained Polly gets a job as a secretary in Gabrielle's art gallery. Polly aspires to be a professional photographer, and idolizes Gabrielle for her artistic ability. When Gabrielle rekindles an old romantic relationship with the younger painter Mary, Polly becomes jealous, and discovers Gabrielle is not who she claims to be.I don't know if you should call this strictly a lesbian movie, but in any case, it doesn't work. Uninteresting and odd, with no sensible plot.
- DirectorJeanne CrépeauStarsDominique LeducStephanie MorgensternMarcel SabourinTwo friends meet after 15 years. One of them is in love with the other. One night she comes clean and is rebuffed by her shocked friend - at first.I saw this with abysmal subtitles, so there maybe was more to it than I realized. Or maybe not. Lots of singing, dancing and nonexistent plot didn't grab my attention that much. Light and harmless film overall which doesn't hurt anybody.
- DirectorAnne WheelerStarsWendy CrewsonKaryn DwyerChristina CoxMaggie, 19, works at a lesbian/LGBT bookstore. Her mom's getting divorced and has invited herself to stay with Maggie. Maggie hasn't told her, she's lesbian. Her new girlfriend moves in as well.Well, I would choose chocolate in any day! Unbelievable, campy and annoying film, that is hard to watch all the way through.
- DirectorJosiane BalaskoStarsVictoria AbrilJosiane BalaskoAlain ChabatAfter learning of her husband's infidelities, a housewife invites an itinerant lesbian to move in with them. None of their lives will ever be the same again.The worst lesbian film I have seen or ever I'm likely to see. Obnoxious farce which is not funny, just pathetic.