Just this past week, Orion Pictures released the trailer for their new film Bottoms, which follows two girls who start a fight club at their school as a means to hook up with cheerleaders before they graduate. Based on the trailer, it’s a raunchy yet violent film full of laughs. Unfortunately, it won’t be hitting theaters until August, a full two months after Pride Month. No matter. The trailer was just a taste of something to look forward to.
With Pride Month comes a lot of options to celebrate, from TV shows to movies. This list focuses on the best comedy movies. Most are not strictly comedies, but they are fun and deliver a lot of laughs. What’s more, most actually have happy endings, something that is often missing from movies of this nature. Here are the top ten LGBTQ+ comedy movies.
10 Fire Island
Anyone who loved Bros from Billy Eichner is sure to love this one.Fire Island is a 2022 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and follows the actor Noah as he and his friend Howie on an annual trip to Fire Island in New York with their friends for a wild week of mischief and mayhem. What they soon find out is that this year's trip will be their last.
This movie is a fun rom-com that delivers laughs and feels in the same vein as the Eichner flick, but also tackles serious themes and subjects of being a queer youth in New York with ease in a film that’s down to Earth and fun. Although this movie is fairly new, it’s sure to reach a level of cult status as one of the better recent LGBTQ+ comedies.
9 My Beautiful Laundrette
This movie comes from High Fidelity director Stephen Frears and follows a story of transgressive and endearing love and the culture clash of a gay man in Thatcher-era England. It also happens to feature the breakout role for one of the most celebrated actors in modern memory. Omar is a young man taking care of his elderly father in England when he's allowed to manage a dilapidated laundromat owned by his uncle.
It’s a chance to increase his fortunes, but it soon leads to the rekindling of an old romantic flame when an old love (Daniel Day-Lewis) comes back into his life. Unfortunately, this man happens to be the leader of a group of skinheads who attack him and his friends. My Beautiful Laundrette is one of the best British films of the 20th Century by many, although it has largely gone under the radar to most. However, upon its release in 1985, it did earn an Academy Award nomination for screenwriter Hanif Kureishi.
8 The Thing About Harry
The Thing About Harry is about unexpected love after heartbreak, which comes courtesy of the channel Freeform. Following a breakup with his boyfriend Malcolm, Sam isn’t looking to get into a relationship anytime soon. His ex Malcolm wasn’t just his lover. He was his best friend. A boundary Sam crossed for love that he isn’t looking to cross again.
And it doesn’t seem a possibility when he reluctantly agrees to take a road trip with his old high-school bully back to their hometown. Harry had tormented Sam for being gay, but oddly enough, he’s recently come out as pansexual himself. As the two get to know each other more, Sam’s perception of Harry starts to change. He soon begins to wonder if he can start to see Harry as a friend, or maybe more.
7 The Half of It
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In this Cyrano de Bergerac retelling, we have an excellent film from director Alice Wu that serves as a representation of both lesbians and AAPI people. The Half of It sees shy high schooler Ellie form a close friendship with a sweet jock named Paul. She agrees to help him get close to his crush through text, but Ellie, unfortunately, has feelings for the same girl, making her attempt to separate her loyalty and her desires all the more difficult.
What makes this movie great is its exploration of familiar themes like belonging and miscommunication, as well as its contrasting of queer Chinese American identity against a small-town white backdrop. It’s ultimately a warm heartfelt tale about love and friendship that’s full of laughs and heartfelt messages that is sure to be enjoyable for anyone, regardless of their orientation.
6 Shiva Baby
Here’s a hilarious highbrow movie that serves as a representation of the bisexual community. Also, anyone interested in seeing Bottoms may be interested in Shiva Baby, seeing as it was made by the same director, Emma Seligman. Shiva Baby follows Danielle, a bisexual Jewish woman who attends a shiva, only to run into the two people she wanted to avoid at the very event. When both her sugar daddy and ex-girlfriend make an appearance, Danielle is forced to spend the day navigating the trouble that comes with them and keep all hell from breaking loose. That’s easier said than done, though.
Shiva Baby was critically acclaimed by critics upon its release, praising the direction from Seligman, the screenplay, performances, score, and representation of bisexual and Jewish peoples. It also happened to receive praise for its portrayal of anxiety-inducing claustrophobia. It’s always good to give attention to lesser-known afflictions.
5 Booksmart
Fans might remember this one. It was pretty popular when it first came out in 2019. Think of it as Superbad, but for girls. Booksmartfollows two high achieving high school seniors on the eve of their graduation when they find out that they spent their entire time in school being squares by choosing their studies over partying. Looking to make up for the lost time in a single night, the two friends set out to have a rager of a night, leading to love being found, their friendship tested, and a whole lot of chaos happening along the way.
Booksmart isn’t exclusively for the LGBTQ+ community, but one of the main characters is an out lesbian with a character arc. And the resulting romantic scene is both electric and awkward, just like typical high school experiences. Fans should give this film a watch because if it doesn’t bring back nostalgia, at the very least it’s a fun time.
4 The Birdcage
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Here’s a film that was considered a bit radical for its time. Why, because it portrayed two middle-aged gay dads as normal. 1996's The Birdcage stars comedy legends Nathan Lane and the late Robin Williams as Armand and Albert, a gay couple who own and run a drag club in Miami. When their son Val brings home a conservative senator's daughter, the two decide to help their son impress him by posing as two straight males, resulting in their going to hilarious lengths to be convincing.
This film shows that gender is a performance, with wit and absurdity while also refraining from being preachy in the ways that one might expect in a movie about confronting conservatives with their fear of queers. The drag performances are only the icing on the cake, as they steal the show every time.
3 3. Saving Face
Here’s another great film director Alice Wu. Saving Face follows the relationship between Hwei-Lan and her lesbian daughter Wil as they learn to live together after Hwei-Lan is kicked out by her mother for becoming pregnant out of wedlock. Wil is still closeted to her mother. The film follows both of their romantic pursuits, but despite this, it’s about their relationship as they learn to support one another despite their differences in generation and culture.
This 2004 film is unique in that it’s a gay movie that doesn’t focus on romance and actually has a happy ending. Bonus points also go to Alice Wu for fighting to keep her characters Chinese rather than whitewashing.
2 Love, Simon
Love, Simon follows Simon, a closeted gay teen who starts an anonymous chat with another closeted gay teen at his school. The problem is he doesn’t know the true identity of the mysterious Blue. The two confide in one another about their lives and insecurities in living with their shared secret, connecting romantically without ever meeting. However, Simon’s secret isn’t secret for long when a classmate finds his information and uses it to blackmail him, forcing Simon to put everything on the line to keep his secret and find the boy of his dreams.
Despite the story, this is an enjoyable movie for everyone, as some fans can relate to many of the film's themes, such as loneliness and awkwardness in a high school setting. Whether the characters are straight or not doesn’t matter because this movie just makes the viewer feel so good. It does have some tear-jerking moments, though. But it ends well.
1 Fried Green Tomatoes
Fried Green Tomatoes may be an odd movie for the number one spot, given that no LGBTQ+ relationship is identified. But it’s very much about one. Evelyn Couch experiences marital troubles that no one else seems to take seriously, causing her to be a little short on confidence. That all changes when she meets Ninny Threadgoode on one of her visits to the nursing home. Through her stories about a woman named Idgie Threadgoode, Evelyn soon finds the confidence to change her life.
While the relationship between Idgie and Ruthie is not explicitly called a relationship, the novel on which this film is based is pretty clear. Their devotion to one another is obvious throughout, and they have a pretty full life together, from opening a café to raising a child. Fried Green Tomatoes is a lesbian classic. One just needs to have an open mind.
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