Best Gay Films Of 2026: Every LGBTQ+ Movie You Need To Watch This Year
From a wartime love story starring Paul Mescal to an Australian horror film about conversion therapy gone wrong, 2026 is shaping up to be a remarkable year for queer cinema. Here are the films worth your time.
Queer cinema in 2026 is refusing to stay in one lane. There are war epics and slasher films, drag comedies and coming-of-age romances, intimate art-house portraits and blockbuster franchise send-offs. What they share is a confidence that feels genuinely new. These aren’t films that apologise for their queerness or bury it as subtext. They lead with it.
The History Of Sound
Dir. Oliver Hermanus • Paul Mescal, Josh O’Connor • MUBI / Fandango at Home
It feels like we’ve been talking about this one for ages, and now we can actually see it! Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor play two young men who meet during World War I and travel rural New England, recording folk songs, and quietly falling in love. Oliver Hermanus directs with restraint and warmth. It premiered at Cannes and is now streaming on MUBI, with Blu-ray released in March 2026.
Leviticus
Dir. Adrian Chiarella • Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen, Mia Wasikowska • Neon • 19 June 2026
The breakout film of Sundance 2026. Set in a conservative Christian community in regional Victoria, two teenagers begin exploring their attraction before a conversion ritual accidentally releases a violent entity. Adrian Chiarella turns conversion therapy into a literal monster. Neon snapped up the rights for US5 million. One for the Aussie film fans.
Pillion
Dir. Harry Lighton • Alexander Skarsgård, Harry Melling • A24 / Max • Released February 2026
Alexander Skarsgård plays a mysterious biker who draws a timid gay man (Harry Melling) into an intense BDSM relationship. Gay director Harry Lighton crafts a romantic dramedy that treats kink with both humour and genuine tenderness. It premiered at Cannes 2025 and hit US theatres via A24 in February 2026, with digital rental available from late March. Expect it on Max later this year.
Jimpa
Dir. Sophie Hyde • Olivia Colman, John Lithgow, Aud Mason-Hyde • Theatrical • Released February 2026
Olivia Colman plays filmmaker Hannah, who takes her trans nonbinary teen Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde) to Amsterdam to visit their ageing gay grandfather Jimpa (John Lithgow). When Frances asks to stay for a year, Hannah must reconsider her parenting and family stories. A multigenerational queer drama that opened in Australian cinemas on 19 February 2026.
Mother Mary
Dir. David Lowery • Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel, Hunter Schafer • A24 • 17 April 2026
David Lowery directs Anne Hathaway as an iconic pop star who reunites with her estranged best friend and former costume designer (Michaela Coel) on the eve of her comeback. Hunter Schafer also features. Hathaway performs seven original songs on the A24 Music soundtrack. The queer tension between Hathaway and Coel drives the whole thing.
Peter Hujar’s Day
Dir. Ira Sachs • Ben Whishaw, Rebecca Hall • Criterion Channel / Digital rental • Available now
Ben Whishaw plays legendary gay photographer Peter Hujar in this intimate biographical drama set over a single December day in 1974 New York. Ira Sachs directs with his usual sensitivity, and Whishaw disappears into the role. It premiered at Sundance 2025, had its theatrical run through Janus Films, and is now streaming on the Criterion Channel with Blu-ray scheduled for May 2026.
Girls Like Girls
Dir. Hayley Kiyoko • Maya da Costa, Myra Molloy • Focus Features • 19 June 2026
Hayley Kiyoko adapts her viral 2015 music video and 2023 novel into a feature-length coming-of-age lesbian romance. Kiyoko co-wrote the screenplay with Stefanie Scott, who starred in the original video. Marc Platt produces. It is the kind of teen queer love story that an entire generation wished they had growing up, and Focus Features is giving it a proper theatrical release on 19 June.
Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma
Dir. Jane Schoenbrun • Hannah Einbinder, Gillian Anderson • Mubi • 7 August 2026
Jane Schoenbrun, the nonbinary filmmaker behind I Saw The TV Glow, returns with a queer meta-horror about a young director hired to resurrect a slasher franchise. When she visits the reclusive star of the original film (Gillian Anderson), they fall into a world of desire, fear, and delirium. Mubi is handling the theatrical release. Expect it to be divisive and brilliant.
Stop! That! Train!
Dir. Adam Shankman • RuPaul, Ginger Minj, Jujubee • Bleecker Street • 12 June 2026
RuPaul plays the President of the United States in this drag-fuelled disaster comedy. Ginger Minj and Jujubee star as train stewardesses who must save a high-speed train from a catastrophic storm. Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Michelle Visage round out a stacked ensemble. It is pure camp, deliberately ridiculous, and probably exactly what you need after all the heavy dramas on this list.
Dance For Your Life
Dir. Luke Cornish • Conor Bann-Murray, Emily Smith • Mushroom Studios / Theatrical • Opens April 2, 2026
Ten dancers from Sydney’s Brent Street school fly to London to audition for international choreographer Dean Lee in this high-stakes documentary follow-up to the hit series Dance Life. Filmmaker Luke Cornish captures the raw emotion and fierce competition as these young performers fight for limited spots. Following the massive success of the original docuseries, the feature hits local cinemas tomorrow, April 2, 2026.
Narciso
Dir. Marcelo Martinessi • Diro Romero, Manuel Cuenca • FIPRESCI Prize, Berlinale 2026 • TBA 2026
Under a suffocating 1959 Paraguayan dictatorship, the charismatic Narciso returns from Buenos Aires with rock and roll in his veins, becomes a radio sensation, and is desired by both men and women. Director Marcelo Martinessi frames queer visibility as an act of political defiance. It won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin Film Festival. International release dates are pending.
Heartstopper Forever
Dir. Wash Westmoreland • Kit Connor, Joe Locke • Netflix • Late 2026
The finale of Netflix’s beloved LGBTQ series arrives as a standalone movie. Written by Alice Oseman, it adapts the sixth and final volume of the graphic novel series and follows Nick and Charlie as they face long-distance university life. Connor and Locke are also executive producers this time. The film won’t drop before Oseman’s final book publishes in July, so expect a late 2026 release.
The Black Ball (La bola negra)
Dir. Javier Calvo & Javier Ambrossi • Penélope Cruz, Glenn Close • Theatrical • 2 October 2026 (Spain)
Inspired by an unfinished play by Federico García Lorca, this Spanish drama traces the interconnected lives of three gay men across three moments in Spanish history: 1932, 1937, and 2017. Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close headline a cast that also includes rising Spanish star Manu Ríos. The title refers to the method used to reject a young gay man from a social club in Granada. International release dates are yet to be confirmed.
What else to keep on your radar
Beyond these, a handful of film and streaming titles are worth tracking. Bridgerton‘s fourth season (Netflix, January 2026) centres on bisexual Benedict Bridgerton’s love story. Interview With The Vampire returns for a third season on AMC, following Lestat’s rock-star arc alongside Louis. And Good Omens wraps up as a single 90-minute movie on Prime Video, giving Aziraphale and Crowley the farewell fans have been pushing for.
On the documentary side, The Ballad Of Judas Priest follows Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford, who came out as gay in 1998. Give Me The Ball! documents tennis legend Billie Jean King’s groundbreaking career and activism. Both are expected in the second half of 2026.
