LGBTQ+representation in mainstream cinema has come a long way since the ’90s. Now, we see more and more queer films being awarded at the Oscars, reaching wider audiences, and achieving international acclaim and success. Streaming services are constantly adding more inclusive titles, such asHorseplay,Fanfic,Lonesome, andYou Can Live Forever. This is partially due to the ’90s being a stepping stone and marking a change in filmmaking, with LGBTQ+ contentbecoming more mainstreamthrough flicks such asThe BirdcageandPhiladelphia.
While films such as those mentioned previously were achieving more commercial success, there was also a surge happening in less accessible works through the rise of New Queer Cinema, a movement of LGBTQ+ movies that produced impactful titles, thus paving the way for more popular content. FromHeavenly CreaturestoParis is Burning, here are the best LGBTQ+ movies of the ’90s.
Updated June 2023: If you are interested in queer cinema, you’re in luck. This article has been updated with additional content and entries byMona Bassil.
11Heavenly Creatures
Directed by Peter Jackson, the 1994 New Zealand dreamlike biographical psychological dramaHeavenly Creaturesstars Kate Winslet as Juliet Hulme, Melanie Lynskey as Pauline Parker, and Sarah Peirse as Honora Parker.
It is based on the infamous 1954 Parker–Hulme murder in Christchurch, and focuses on the relationship between two teenage girls, the wealthy Juliet and the less-privileged Pauline, and their painful health and emotional struggles. They often meet and escape into writing and the arts, creating a fantasy world called The Fourth World. When Juliet has a sexual encounter with a guy, Pauline gets jealous and realizes she has deep feelings for her. The girls then set a plan to murder anyone who is deemed an obstacle to their closeness, namely Honora, Pauline’s mother.
10Philadelphia
One of the most famous and impactful movies from that decade was the legal dramaPhiladelphia, directed by Jonathan Demme andstarring Tom Hanksand Denzel Washington. Hanks plays a lawyer named Andrew Beckett, who, fearing that his career may be compromised, hides his HIV status and sexual orientation. After his colleagues find out, he is fired and then embarks on a legal journey to gain justice.
Related:A Brief History of LGBTQ+ Cinema
Hanks was widelypraised for his performance, and the film dealt with a subject that was often swept under the carpet in that time period. PerThe Hollywood Reporter, Hanks stated that, as a straight actor, he wouldn’t sign on to play a gay character again, citing the importance of hiring LGBTQ+ actors in queer roles. It was, however, a good move at the time to use a household Hollywood name to raise awareness about the community’s struggles.
Written and directed by the Wachowskis, the neo-noir thrillerBoundis a sensual and violent movie. The plot centers on Violet (Jennifer Tilly), who, frustrated with her boyfriend Caesar (Joe Pantoliano), a money launderer for the mafia, starts a side relationship with a lesbian ex-con, Corky (Gina Gershon). The two women then come up with a plan to steal $2 million from the mafia.
In an interview withGadfly, the Wachowskis their philosophy behind the film.
“People at other studios would read the script and say, “If you change Corky to a man we’re really interested.” And we were like, well, that movie’s been made a million times, so we’re really not interested in it. We think that not only gay people or queer people live in closets. Everybody does. We all tend to put ourselves into these boxes, these traps. And so, what we tried to do is we tried to define as many of the characters through the sort of trap that they were making out of their lives. Getting out of the closet was meant to take on a bigger meaning than just the typical gay meaning.”
8The Birdcage
Directed by Mike Nichols and released in 1996,The Birdcagewas another influential film; it was a remake of the 1978 French farceLa Cage aux Folles. The story follows an engaged couple, Val Goldman (Dan Futterman) and Barbara Keeley (Calista Flockhart) who meet their future in-laws. Armand (Robin Williams) is Val’s father, a gay club owner who hides his sexuality and relationship so as not to disturb Barbara’s family, but he does so in full drag to pass for Val’s mother.
PerBBC Culture, the movie “Ridicules the concern surrounding the depletion of so-called ‘traditional values’. By the same token, it empowers its gay characters: they are in control of the reality into which the in-laws enter, and Armand and Albert are never characters that are laughed at,only with.”
7All About My Mother
Pedro Almodóvar is an acclaimed director who has achieved mainstream success and has a famousprofessional relationship with Penélope Cruz. One of his major successes is the 1999 existential dramedyAll About My Mother, centering on a mother, Manuela (Cecilia Roth), who is grieving the death of her teenage son. After she sets out to find her child’s estranged father, who has transitioned and is called Lola. She also reconnects with an old friend, a transgender sex worker, and meets a former nun who is now HIV positive.
It’s a touching and thought-provoking film that uses subtlety in a wayonly Almodóvar has masteredand that won both an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, among many other nods.
6The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Written and directed by Stephen Elliott, the Australian comedyThe Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desertwas released in 1994 and tells the story of a drag queen, Anthony (Hugo Weaving), who agrees to take his act on the road. He invites his fellow performers, Adam (Guy Pearce) and Bernadette (Terence Stamp) in their bus, dubbed Priscilla, but first, they need to repaint it to cover all the homophobic graffiti. The film takes the viewer on a colorful journey and won an Oscar for Costume Design. According toCinema From the Spectrum, “For a film whose nature embraces pride in identity, it never sugarcoats its own subject matter.”
American film director, screenwriter, and producer Todd Haynes may be known for his romantic period dramaCarol.However, before he achieved mainstream success, he made an abstract film calledPoison, which is now considered a queer cult classic.
It is partially based on the work of Jean Genet and is a trio of shorts patched together. InHero, a boy shoots his abusive father; inHorror, a scientist creates an elixir that turns him into a murderous leper; and inHomo, a prisoner finds himself attracted to another inmate he had known in juvie.Poisonis a wild ride and features postmodern elements that comment on queerness and the human condition.
4Boys Don’t Cry
Directed and co-written by Kimberly Peirce, the biographical dramaBoys Don’t Crywas released in 1999 and was the first mainstream film to focuson a transgender character. As queer culture has evolved and has been popularized, the film may seem a little outdated today. However, it was significant upon release.
The plot follows the true tragic story of Brandon Teena, played by Hilary Swank, and how he tried to assert himself as a trans man in his Nebraska town, only to fall victim to a hate crime. It also sheds light on the subsequent, post-mortem trial.
3Totally F***ed Up
Gregg Araki’sTeenage Apocalypse Trilogyis famous for following queer youths around as they struggle to fit into a hetero-normative society. The first installment,Totally F***ed Up, focuses on six teenagers: four gay guys and a lesbian couple. It explores the difficulties of youth in a way that feels authentic, and it acts as a time capsule for queer America in 1993.
2The Watermelon Woman
Directed by Cheryl Dunye and released in 1996,The Watermelon Womanis widely understood as one of the most influential films inNew Queer Cinema. The film stars Dunye as the central character and chronicles the lives of Black lesbians working at a VHS store while they attempt to make a film of their own. This romantic dramedy has been hugely influential in queer cinema history and was the very first feature film helmed by a Black lesbian.
