2026 LGBTQ+ Movies

In a small Australian town dominated by a singular, fanatical parish, Ryan and Naim’s desire for each other becomes an entity the two must escape. The Sundance-premiered film, directed by Adrian Chiarella and starring Stacy Clausen, Joe Bird, Mia Wasikowska, and Tyallah Bullock, is not necessarily a feel-good flick, but uses horror to explore queer religious trauma, desire and the end-of-the-world feelings of adolescence.

Elliot, a man with “conflicted and confusing feelings about sex,” gets pulled into the tantalising world of artist Erika Tracy. Erika uses Elliot (among others) as her sexual muse, unleashing a confusing, at times comical question of boundaries, BDSM and bedroom politics. Gregg Araki signs a new movie starring Olivia Wilde, Charli xcx, Daveed Diggs, Cooper Hoffman, and Johnny Knoxville.

Sensuality, pain, desire, longing – aren’t these the things we all want from a queer drama? The Black Ball, directed by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo and starring Penélope Cruz, Glenn Close, and musician Guitarricadelafuente, and which has recently been acquired by Netflix, delivers all four in an exploration of what it means to be queer throughout the ages. The film premiered at Cannes and is said to have received a twenty-minute standing ovation – one of the longest in the festival’s history.

Lesbian icon Hayley Kiyoko’s music-video-turned-book now turns movie! After the death of her mother, Coley moves to Sonya’s town where, over the summer, the two develop feelings for each other. However, the world (as well as the pair’s own internal worlds) seems to keep the two apart. The queer coming-of-age story is a 2020s take on a sweaty, suburban summer of the 2010s.

In the finale to Netflix’s adaptation of Alice Oseman’s soft, dreamy teen romance, Heartstopper Forever follows Nick and Charlie as they navigate their relationship through new responsibilities. Nick’s future at university looms as he prepares to move away, and the two must cope with their relationship’s future with distance between them. The film is being released on Netflix on July 17.

Kris, a queer director, is set to make a new instalment of the washed-up Camp Miasma film franchise. Things become complicated, however, during her attempts to cast the original film’s survivor. ‘Little Death,’ the franchise’s murderer (get it?), may not be so fictional in this Cannes-premiered psychosexual slasher flick directed by Jane Schoenbrun and starring Gillian Anderson, Hannah Einbinder, Jack Haven, and more.

Jordan Firstman’s directorial debut Club Kid is a tongue-in-cheek comedy-drama that personifies the unexpected turns life can take when the previously unknown son of gay party promoter Peter shows up. The Cannes-premiered film is a complex love letter to found family and queer club culture.

The Brazilian film directed by Allan Deberton follows Gugu, a young soccer player who lives with his grandmother Dilma in the country’s north-east. When Dilma starts to show signs of dementia, Gugu tries to hide her illness from his father, who rejects his ‘effeminate’ nature. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, winning its section’s Crystal Bear!

When clean water becomes a commodity available only to the rich and powerful, Kai stumbles upon the wealthy (and pregnant) Mallory. The two are enamoured by one another and begin a passionate, age-gap sapphic affair that threatens to expose all of Mallory’s secrets. Starring Julia Fox, Ashley Moore, Micaela Wittman, director Millicent Hailes presents a unique cinematic experience.

In a Whisper is a drama-mystery that follows Lilia from her private life in Paris to her family’s home in Tunisia after the mysterious death of her uncle. The French-Tunisian co-production explores the blurry line between the identity of one’s family and oneself, in a tonal successor to director and writer Leyla Bouzid’s other works.