This dark-yet-earnest drama is intimate and contemplative, providing a tender, carefully-realized examination on sexuality, religion, individuality, and self-discovery.
Though it's ultimately Hedges' central performance that proves to be the most impacting, providing a nuanced and quietly compelling look at this tormented character.
It's also benefitted greatly by its strong ensemble, which also includes Edgerton in a supporting role, Xavier Dolan, and a rare dramatic performance from Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea. Though often a somber and harrowing film, Edgerton's drama is also filled with quiet moments of empathy and reflection.
#Gay movies netflix instant movie#
(opens in new tab)Īlso Consider: Looking: The Movie ( HBO Max (opens in new tab))īased on Garrard Conley's memoir of the same name, Boy Erased, director Joel Edgerton's sophomore feature, Jared Eamons (Lucas Hedges), the son of Baptists (Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman), including a preacher, who is forced into gay conversion therapy after his sexuality is discovered. Taking place over the course of a single-day, Tangerine follows Sin-Dee Rella (Rodriguez), a transgender sex worker who recently finished a 28-day prison sentence, and her friend, Alexandra (Taylor), who is also a transgender sex worker, who discover that Chester (James Ransone), Sin-Dee's boyfriend, is cheating on her.įrom director Sean Baker ( The Florida Project), Tangerine is filled with warmth, humor, heart, and tremendous insight, providing an entertaining, engaging and immensely heartfelt indie darling that provides key representation for its trans characters. Though it first gained press for the way it was filmed, as it was shot on three iPhone 5S smartphones, Tangerine's success derives not merely from how it was made but through its smart writing, inventive filmmaking, engaging characters, picturesque locales, and its winning performances from Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor. (opens in new tab)Īlso Consider: Pain & Glory ( Starz (opens in new tab)) This immensely gorgeous and riveting adaptation of Tarell Alvin McCraney's unpublished play is one of the finest films of the 2010s. Though the circumstances surrounding its Best Picture win might've overtaken the story, Moonlight's extraordinary award season success (including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Mahershala Ali) was a major achievement for representation and artistic expression. Exploring in stark detail the difficulties he faces with his sexuality and identity, it's a heart-wrenching story filled with profound moments of spellbinding emotional honesty, captured vividly and beautifully by a trio of actors - Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes, respectively - in the lead role. In Barry Jenkins' poignant, personal sophomore film, Moonlight, we get a revealing, engrossing look at a young African-American man's life from three different stages: youth, adolescence, and early adulthood. (opens in new tab)Īlso Consider: Brokeback Mountain ( Starz (opens in new tab)) You should also check out the 1984 documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk. As a result, Milk is a rousing, impactful tribute to Milk's legacy. But even with the tragedy present in this sad story, it's still filled with hope, optimism, and a clear desire to inspire positive change into the world. Told with tender observation and smart craftsmanship, Van Sant's confident direction and assured, elegant storytelling provide a captivating and engrossing look at this lost political advocate, one who was taken much too soon and under deeply tragic circumstances. In his Oscar-winning performance, Sean Penn plays Harvey Milk, the late San Francisco gay rights politician and activist who was the first openly-gay person elected into public office in California, in 2008's Milk, director Gus Van Sant's stirring and moving portrait of this important political figure.