The 17 Best Gay Sex Movies You Should Have Already Seen By Now! 🏳️‍🌈

Any moviegoer knows that when it comes to sex scenes in movies, there seems to be a rule that says that sex only should be shown when it’s between a man and a woman. In recent years we have luckily seen this rule be completely abandoned.

The growth of queer cinema has done lots to challenge the norm of heterosexual sex in films, portraying some captivating and beautiful scenes of gay sex. The importance of this kind of representation can’t be understated, since it’s necessary for people to know that gay sex exists, and it can be shown just as beautifully as straight sex.

Movies featuring gay sex scenes have come a long way in recent decades. From the eighties to just a few years ago, much has changed: the whole idea of queerness is seen in a completely different way, and so filmmakers dare to show different kinds of sex scenes. This list compiles the movies with gay sex scenes. Some are emotional, some are humorous, but they all are completely queer.

Wondering where to watch? It depends on where you live in the world and which streaming services you have. We link to the streaming service we watch on in each case - be it Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apply TV+, or elsewhere.

You can get one month free of Amazon Pride (or a 6-month trial for students) of Amazon Prime and also get immediate access to FREE Two Day shipping, Amazon Video, and Music. While you won't be charged for your free trial, you'll be upgraded to a paid membership plan automatically at the end of the trial period - though if you have already binged all these, you could just cancel before the trial ends.

Apple TV+ also has a one-week trial, and Hulu has a one-month trial (which can be bundled with Disney!). Another option might be using a VPN to access Netflix titles locked to other regions. Netflix is now available in more than 190 countries worldwide and each country has a different library and availability. US Netflix is (understandably) one of the best. 

While we wish everything could just be in one place - for now, it seems these are the best streaming platforms to watch on.

So, get some popcorn, a glass of wine and a blanket, and snuggle in to watch! We can’t promise all happy endings, but we can promise a rich and varied range of gay sex movies.

  

  
  

The Handmaiden [아가씨] (2016)

The Handmaiden is one of the best gay sex movies ever made. It is, in fact, on the way to becoming one of the most awarded lesbian films of all time: it was both praised at the Cannes Festival and Sitges. Loosely based on a book by Sarah Waters, the film sees the return of renowned director Park Chan-Wook, who manages to turn Water’s Victorian-era story into one set in Korea during the Japanese invasion of the 1930s.

This complex and multi-layered film sees a wealthy Japanese family, made up of a young lady, Lady Hideko (Kim Min-hee), and her uncle, Kouzuki (Cho Jin-Woong), decide to settle in South Korea. There a beautiful mansion full of courtyards, gardens and servants awaits them. Seeking the service of a maid to care for Hideko, the mischievous Sook-hee (Kim Tae-Ri) becomes one of the servants.

She’s a young woman who has earned her living stealing from a gang of Japanese thieves, and now she has been given a task: to facilitate the entry of a false count named Fujiwara (Ha Jung-woo), who is about to steal all of Hideko’s inheritance. However, Sook-hee will find that she has lots in common with Lady Hideko, and their feelings for each other may get in the way of her mission.

The film was highly praised on all accounts, but the acting is perhaps its best aspect. The actresses, Kim Min-hee and Kim Tae-Ri, who are two rising stars in Korea, have enjoyed lots of praise both from critics and audiences. This shouldn’t be taken lightly: in Korean society, being a gay woman (and man) is still very frowned upon.

Yet the film managed to garner lots of praise for showing lesbian love in all its intimacy, which is undoubtedly a great victory for all lesbian women in the world.

High Art (1998)

High Art, by Lisa Cholodenko, tells the story of Syd (Radha Mitchell), a young woman who aspires to work as an editor in an art magazine. While she lives with her boyfriend James, she finds her relationship unstimulating and boring.

Her whole life changes when she meets her neighbor: Syd finds water dripping from the apartment above, so she decides to visit her upstairs neighbor, who turns out to be a beautiful woman by the name of Lucy Berliner (Ally Sheedy). She’s a creative photographer with a mysterious past. Feeling lonely, Syd immediately falls in love with her.

The film shows them getting closer, and a tough relationship develops between these two. One full of guilt and recriminations, made worse by Lucy’s heroin addiction. Yet Syd can’t seem to escape her attraction toward her sensual nature. The two of them become much more entangled when Syd convinces the editor at the magazine she works at to feature Lucy’s work.

The editor actually recognizes Lucy’s name since she’d been a famous artist before. As they reach this deal, the relationship between the two women becomes much closer.

Bound (1999)

Bound, by Lana and Lilly Wachowski, tells a fiery romance between two women. First, there’s Corky (Gina Gershon), a lesbian who has just completed a prison sentence.

Then, there’s Violet (Jennifer Tilly), who’s dating a criminal part of a Chicagoan crime syndicate. The film begins with a premise similar to High Art: even though Violet is in a relationship, she quickly falls in love with Corky, her new neighbor. She looks for an excuse to meet Corky, asking her for help as her ring falls through the drain. As Corky gives her a hand, she realizes Violet’s intentions and actually likes them.

The passion between the two women is instant. The two main actresses have incredible chemistry together, which makes the sex scenes feature in this film much more powerful. But it’s not only an erotic movie: the plot will see Corky and Violet become entangled with Violet’s boyfriend’s criminal dealings, putting both of their lives at risk.

The debut of the Wachowskis couldn’t be better: it’s a great film on its own that actually deals with the subject of queerness, something that the creators would only return to years after their success directing The Matrix and its sequels.

Blue Is the Warmest Colour [La Vie d’Adèle – Chapitres 1 & 2] (2013)

Blue Is the Warmest Colour, by Abdellatif Kechiche, is an extremely intense film that recounts the emotional life of a Parisian woman named Adele (Adèle Exarchopoulos), all the way from her teenage to her adulthood. At the beginning of the film, we will see a girl who goes to high school, surrounded by friends who are just starting to go out with boys. From the beginning, we see how she notices that she’s not like the others.

When she meets Emma (Léa Seydoux), ​​a young art student with blue hair, Adele discovers that what was missing from her life was Emma herself. Little by little, the viewer discovers, together with Adele, the intense love that Emma awakens in her. It also chronicles her doubts and struggles with her high school friends about whether or not she is a lesbian and what it means to love a woman in this day and age.

What is most interesting about the film is the discovery of sexuality and the problems that can lead to decision-making that will affect and change the way of seeing the life of Adele’s character. Blue is the Warmest Colour is a film that talks about love and loss, regardless of the sexuality or orientation of its characters.

It shows how life can be perceived intensely and that, day by day, the human being is constantly rediscovering itself and its feelings. It is a story of love and heartbreak, of growth and maturity, of a relationship that has ups and downs.

Disobedience (2017)

Disobedience, by Sebastián Leilo, was based on the book of the same name by Naomi Alderman. It tells the story of Ronit (Rachel Weisz), who returns to London for the first time since she fled to New York years ago after the funeral of her father, the rabbi of the Orthodox Jewish community of the city. Yet she’s not met with welcoming arms: the community treats her distantly and coldly, and she feels like an intruder.

Her only solace is her reuniting with her two great lifelong friends: Dovid (Alessandro Nivola), his father’s future substitute as a rabbi, and Esti (Rachel McAdams), whose relationship with Ronit isn’t explicit, but it’s quite clear by the way they look at each other that they were more than friends. While many things have changed, there’s one that saddens Ronit the most: Dovid and Esti are now married. Still, the two women will find that their love for each other isn’t over.

This great film is truly set apart by the performances of its main cast: Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams’s portrayal of two lovers who find themselves reunited, but can’t be together, is touching and emotional. And their love feels truly real. In the performance of McAdams especially: with just a look at her face, we get to see so much of what she’s feeling and thinking. It makes this already amazing movie all the more amazing.

Carol (2015)

Considered one of the best lesbian films to ever be put to screen, Carol, by Todd Haynes, has had much cultural impact. Based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith, titled The Price of Salt, the film stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, who brings some of the best performances of their careers.

This film is truly a milestone in the long and hard road of bringing lesbian visibility to the forefront. The lesbian community had been long waiting for a love story on the big screen where they could feel represented. A story that they could feel a part of, where they could feel identified, and wanted to be a part of: a romantic lesbian story. Carol is just that.

The director, Todd Haynes, is well known for telling stories against homophobia and all of his body of work is filled with gay characters and deals with gay problems. Yet he wasn’t the only one responsible for this great film: the script was written by the openly lesbian Phillys Nagi and, in fact, the very author of the book, Patricia Highsmith, was bisexual.

All in all, Carol stands as one of the best examples of lesbian representation in media.

David’s Birthday [Il compleanno] (2009)

David’s Birthday is the second film by Marco Filiberti, an Italian filmmaker known for his captivating stories about gay love and the gay experience in general. Taking inspiration from the classic Italian film Death in Venice, by Luchino Visconti, Filiberti tells a dramatic tale about beauty and obsession. It’s a striking film that sadly isn’t talked about much in gay film circles.

The story goes as follows: two couples of friends decide to spend the summer together. The destination is a beach house at the foot of Mount Circeo. The two couples are, at first glance, very much alike. Yet viewers will quickly find that nothing is as it seems.

First, there’s Matteo, a psychologist married to Francesca. The two of them have a five-year-old daughter named Elena. Then there’s Diego, who is married to Shary. The two of them also have a son, David, who has already moved out of the house and lives in the United States. Ever since he left, their marriage has begun to crumble.

After five years of being away, David decides to visit Italy in order to spend time with his family and celebrate his birthday. Having worked as a model, David is a handsome man, popular with young girls on the beach. However, his father grows concerned when he realizes that David isn’t very interested in them.

In fact, the one whom David is interested in, is his father’s friend, Matteo. And Matteo begins to become obsessed with David’s beauty. Feeling distressed by his wishes towards the young man, he starts to drift apart from everyone else in the group, including his wife. The day before David’s birthday, all comes to a close when Matteo and David end up together without thinking about the consequences.

Law of Desire [La ley del deseo] (1987)

The story of Law of Desire goes as follows: a man receives instructions from a voice on a phone telling him to undress, lie in bed and masturbate. While we don’t see anything explicit, the erotic tension and atmosphere are masterfully crafted.

The film follows Pablo (Eusebio Poncela), a man madly in love with Juan (Miguel Molina), who doesn’t love him back. As he tries to get over Juan, Pablo meets Antonio (Antonio Bandera). Yet this new love isn’t as nice as it seems, as Antonio becomes deeply obsessed with Pablo and will try to have him one way or the other.

Law of Desire was directed by the great Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar. This should be no surprise to those familiar with his work: Almodóvar has long been one of the most forward-thinking directors grace our screens.

With this film, he managed an accurate portrayal of gay love, one that became very influential: this transgressive film was one of the first to show sexual love between two men without censoring it. There are many sex scenes in this film; some are funny, and some are just terribly erotic, but all of them feel completely real and honest.

Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

Wet Hot American Summer, by David Wain, is a comedy film that pokes fun at sex comedies from the eighties. The film featured an ensemble cast with various members from sketch comedy groups and other well-known comedic actors (like Paul Rudd and Molly Shannon). The film was a total disaster: it barely paid its actors, and critics thoroughly panned it. Yet, with time, it became a cult movie.

The film takes place in 1981, on the last day of a summer camp where these old actors play the children. It’s the last day before everyone returns to the real world, but on this last day, the campers will have to deal with some unfinished summer business.

At the center of the action is camp director Beth (Janeane Garofalo), who struggles to keep order while she falls in love with the astrophysics professor (David Hyde Pierce). He doesn’t really care for her, though, since he’s busy trying to save the camp from a piece of a NASA satellite hurtling toward Earth. This is all accompanied by a dangerous waterfall rescue, love triangles, misfits, popular kids, and talking vegetable cans.

While this may not be the most elevated film on the list, it did feature a ground-breaking gay sex scene. Most of the people in Wet Hot American Summer are trying to have sex on this final day of camp, but some of the few who actually manage it are the characters portrayed by Bradley Cooper and Michael Ian Black.

As other people are trying to find a girl for Black’s character (who is a closeted gay man), he and Cooper’s character sneak into a shed and share a sweat-drenched ardent sex scene. While the film came out in 2001, it was surprising to see such an explicit and positive depiction of gay sex in a comedy spoof movie like this.

Christopher and His Kind (2011)

Christopher and His Kind, by Geoffrey Sax, is an excellent 2011 made-for-TV film from the British network BBC. The film focuses on the fight for sexual liberation by gay men, who had a marginalized place in society and had to resort to hidden or differentiated spaces in order to meet people of the same sexual preferences.

One of the most interesting aspects of the film is the fact that it takes place in 1930s Germany, the decade in which Hitler rose to power. If gay people had a tough time at the beginning of the decade, with the arrival of the genocidal regime to power, their situation became beyond what anyone could overcome. 

The film is based on the memoir of writer Christopher Isherwood (Matt Smith), and recounts the years in which he left his native England to live in Berlin and immerse himself in the queer environment of the time.

Isherwood himself was gay, yet he was forced to hide his sexuality from the world. That’s why he decided to move to Berlin: the German city offered many opportunities for queer folk. This film offers some great sex scenes featuring the former Doctor Who: Matt Smith goes all out in some of the harshest and loudest sex scenes ever put to film.

The Normal Heart (2014)

The Normal Heart, by Ryan Murphy, is a film set in the eighties that documents the first years of AIDS in America, its main victims being the gay population. This surprising HBO production shows the best side of the platform: beyond just making high-budget series.

In recent years HBO has started to produce several films that touch on controversial topics and are headed by a great cast of actors. This film stars a great cast coming from Hollywood, with stars such as Mark Ruffalo, Julia Roberts, Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer and Taylor Kitsch.

Based on a true-life story, it chronicles the struggle and disagreements of a group of New York activists who refused to let doctors, the press or politics hide the reality surrounding the growing epidemic of AIDS.

The film focuses on Ned Weeks (Ruffalo), who leads the group that intends to create countermeasures in order to try to stop the epidemic after seeing how many of his friends become victims. With the help of Dr. Emma Brookner (Roberts), he begins an arduous campaign to publicize the growing epidemic and raise awareness of the seriousness of this virus.

Like the film as a whole, the sex scenes in The Normal Heart are romantic yet rough. Of particular note is the one featuring Ruffalo and the gorgeous Bomer, who plays Felix Turner, Ned Weeks’ friend-turned-boyfriend.

Kill Your Darlings (2013)

Kill Your Darlings is a thriller written and directed by John Krokidas. Set in New York in the forties, it tells the story of a tragic true crime committed at Columbia University in 1944 through the eyes of Allen Ginsberg (played by Daniel Radcliffe). For those unfamiliar with Ginsberg, you should know that he was one of the most important writers of the beat generation and that he was a gay man.

The film shows his evolution from being an ordinary student; to a writer and poet with a desire for the coming of the revolution. While at Columbia, he meets Lucien Carr (Dane DeHaan), an attractive and rebellious young man with a mysterious side.

The two of them became romantically involved up until the point that Carr was imprisoned. You see, the film also centers on the murder of Professor David Kammerer (Michael C. Hall) by Carr, for which he faced a harsh trial but a shortened sentence.

Kill Your Darlings features one of the most captivating and emotional sex scenes in film. The director chose to cut between the sex and several key moments in the film (which won’t be spoiled), all the while a poem by Ginsberg is being read on the radio.

While it was surprising to hear that Harry Potter himself was being cast to play this role, it’s evident that he did a great job. His chemistry with DeHann is unparalleled, which makes the sex scene they share all the greater.

I Killed My Mother [J’ai tué ma mère] (2009)

The debut of the amazing actor and director Xavier Dolan, I Killed My Mother premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009. Nobody knew what to expect from this young filmmaker whose film had gotten into Cannes, but when the audience of the festival saw the film, they were in awe: it received a standing ovation and then went on to garner widespread critical acclaim beyond the film festival circuit.

It’s a mesmerizing film that is sure to touch you in some way or another. Dolan’s films are all like that, and his reputation as one of the best filmmakers telling stories about queerness is deserved.

The film follows Hurbert (played by Dolan himself), a young teenager living in a French suburb with his mother, Chantale (Anne Dorval). While the two of them had a good relationship years before, now they both feel like strangers. Chantale divorced Hubert’s father when he was still a child and after the divorce, Richard, his father, abandoned his son and made his life elsewhere.

Hubert hasn’t seen his father in quite some time and blames his mother for this. Yet this was only the beginning of their problems. The only solace Hubert can find seems to be his relationship with Antonin (François Arnaud), his boyfriend. They share an electric sex scene that involves newspapers and lots of paint. It’s terribly hot.

Stranger by the Lake [L’Inconnu du lac] (2013)

Stranger by the Lake, by Alain Guiraudie, is both a romantic drama and a crime fiction film. Told in two very distinct parts, the film tells the story of Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps), a young gay man who travels to a gay nudist beach in a paradisaical place in Provence, France (the Lake of Sainte-Croix).

There he meets an older heterosexual man (Patrick d’Assumçao), the only one who doesn’t go to the lake to flirt with other people, with whom he begins a friendship and almost brotherly relationship. Franck will find himself spending lots of time talking with this gentleman.

His vacation takes a turn however when another man suddenly appears on the beach:  Michel (Christophe Paul) is tall, strong and beautiful and attracts looks from all the men on the beach, including Franck, who becomes deeply infatuated with him.

One night, Franck watches as Michel drowns someone in the lake. Even after discovering that Michel is a murderer, Frank can’t resist his sexual desire, so he goes after him. They do, in fact, establish a relationship. In fact, the couple shares several sex scenes which can only be described with one word: raw.

These graphic encounters are shown without care, displaying full male nudity and the whole sexual act. This is due to the fact that the sex isn’t simulated, meaning that the actors actually had sex for the filming of the movie.

It is, however, quite beautiful: the sexual acts performed right by the beautiful sights of the French Provence capture something quite magical about sex. Stranger by The Lake is an unforgettable movie.

Call Me by Your Name [Chiamami col tuo nome] (2017)

With Call Me by Your Name, Luca Guadagnino convinced both audiences and critics that the best romance stories don’t have to be between a man and a woman and that, in fact, gay love can be just as incredible to see on the big screen.

Set in Italy during the eighties, the film tells a captivating story about the sexual awakening of a teenager, young Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet), who finds his life thrown into disarray when he meets Oliver (Armie Hammer), a sophisticated and attractive 24-year-old American student who comes home as a result of the exchange program promoted by his father, Mr. Perlman (Michael Stuhlbarg).

As the days go by, and after living with Oliver for several days, Elio will see the normality of his life disrupted, which will awaken in both something more than friendship. They share a beautiful sex scene that, while subdued, fits perfectly in the movie’s narrative.

Call Me by Your Name is a story about love, exploration and desire. The director wanted to portray gay relationships in an honest way, and he managed just that. The film poses questions that go beyond gender and sexuality. It thoughtfully recreates the feeling of young discovery, of sexual awakening. It tells a story about love and love loss that is free from all prejudices. Call Me by Your Name will surely captivate you.

Weekend (2011)

Weekend, by Andrew Haigh, is a romantic film that takes place during a weekend in the British city of Nottingham. The film chronicles the relationship between two very different men: romantic Russell (Tom Cullen) and cynical Glenn (Chris New).

They meet in a club and have sex afterward, but their one-night stand and ends up becoming so much more. During the weekend, they share numerous sex scenes. These are shot with much care and intimacy. Overall, they feel real: the sounds and the textures are not those of Hollywood movies or porn films; they are the atmosphere of real-life sex.

Yet in Weekend, the characters do much more than sex. Glenn is conducting a study on homosexuality and why no one seems to dare to talk about it. He says that no one cares that you’re gay as long as you don’t tell them about it: that gayness is openly accepted by lots of people, and even so, it seems that being gay requires playing a part that doesn’t disturb heterosexuals.

Russell feels rightly hurt by this because he himself experiences his homosexuality in that way: his best friends know he’s gay, but he doesn’t dare shake hands with a guy on the street, much less kiss him. He feels ashamed. His time with Glenn, however, may change. Weekend will make you laugh and cry. It’s a true and unforgettable love story that no one should miss, regardless of their sexual identity.

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Brokeback Mountain is a famous romance drama directed by Ang Lee. Adapting a short story of the same name by American writer Annie Proulx, the film became an audience favorite when it was released.

A lot has been said about this film, but one could argue that it still is not enough: it’s a thrilling ride that packs so many emotions and meditations about love and homosexuality. Anyone who has watched it would not be surprised to hear that it won the Oscar for Best Director, together with several other awards praising its music, its story, and its beautifully portrayed characters.

The story places us in 1963; two cowboys yet to meet, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal), await their turn to be hired by rancher Joe Aguirre (Randy Quaid). He will send them out to take care of his flock of sheep in the Brokeback Mountains. During the course of the summer, a love story will emerge between these two cowboys of the time, a forbidden story in those years.

With the danger of being found and killed, they will continue their false lives after that slip of passion. Ennis del Mar will marry Alma (Michelle Williams), while Jack Twist will marry cowgirl Lureen (Anne Hathaway), further complicating their romance. As the years go by, their dalliances and adventures will grow, making many secret escapes to Brokeback Mountain, where the two of them can finally be alone together.

While the film features many sex scenes, only one of them is actually between these two men (and it is, by far, the best one). During one of their trips to the mountain, trying to evade the freezing climate of Wyoming, Del Mar and Twist share a lustful and uncompromising sex scene.

It was so intense, in fact, that during the filming Ledger kissed Gyllenhaal so hard that he broke his nose. This is perhaps the most well-known depiction of gay sex in film, and it’s no joke: director Ang Lee took these two sex symbols of the time and used them to show one of the most iconic sex scenes ever made.