The 14 Best Gay/LGBTQ Movies on Netflix for Pride Month

It's always good to know where to find quality entertainment featuring LGBTQ characters, stories and themes. But it's especially good to know during Pride Month. Fortunately, Netflix is host to a virtual library of movies from different genres and around the world that tell these stories with care.

Plus, check out our favorite gay romance movies, LGBTQ+ TV shows, and LGBTQ+ books.

Here are our picks for the best LGBTQ movies on Netflix right now. 

Best LGBTQ Movies on Netflix

1. I Am Jonas (2018) 

Some stunning eye candy (those cheekbones on star Félix Maritaud!) punctuates this powerful, acclaimed coming-of-age drama. Young gay love is part of the plot, so is devastating tragedy. Like the bodies on display, this plot is a beauty, told in non-linear fashion with some suspense and surprise. To ruin it would be a disservice. Just watch it already.

2. Circus of Books  (2019)

West Hollywood's world-famous porn and goodies shop is immortalized even further in this fun, illuminating documentary, a Netflix original.

3. The Boys in the Band (2020) 

Joe Mantello and Ryan Murphy's screen adaptation of a smash revival of a landmark play centers on a gathering of gay men in 1968 NYC. The ensemble cast includes Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer and Jim Parsons.

4. Call Me By Your Name (2017)

An emotionally ripe experience for the senses, Call Me By Your Name was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Timothée Chalamet's star-making breakthrough. James Ivory's Oscar-winning script makes heavy cuts from the last chunk of André Aciman's sexy, enthralling novel. These cuts are right for the screen, though. Ivory keeps a wistful, moving monologue near the end intact, and the film's final moments and last shot are already iconic.

5. Pray Away (2021)

While it seems like by 2023, we should all know that praying doesn't make anyone more or less gay, the concept of "praying away the gay" still is alive and well for many across America. In this documentary about conversion therapy camps and the "ex-gay" movement, filmmakers examine the various organizations over the last few decades that sought to "cure" gays of their homosexuality. Ryan Murphy is a producer on the project, and it is really quite eye opening as to what many in the LGBTQ+ community have to endure as they grow up.

Related: Parade‘s Review of God’s Own Country

6. Disobedience (2017) 

Passions rise and worlds collide in the first English-language feature by director Sebastián Lelio, whose A Fantastic Woman became the first Chilean film to win an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Lelio co-wrote the screenplay of Disobedience with Rebecca Lenkiewicz, and it’s adapted from a novel by Naomi Alderman. Rachel McAdams and Rachel Weisz star as childhood friends whose reignited attraction rocks their Orthodox Jewish community to its core. This critical darling is a provocative and moving tale of desire, faith and family.

7. Alex Strangelove (2018)

All at once joyous, raunchy and disarmingly poignant, this Netflix original movie stars Daniel Doheny as Alex Truelove, a deeply closeted high school senior who loves his girlfriend Claire (Madeline Weinstein), but is overwhelmed with confusion when he falls for a handsome, comfortably out boy named Elliot (Antonio Marziale).

Related: Netflix's Alex Strangelove Is An Edgy, Touching Dramedy About Finding Yourself 

8. The Prom (2020)   

Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Corden, Keegan-Michael Key, Andrew Rannells, Kerry Washington and Jo Ellen Pellman star in Ryan Murphy‘s splashy adaptation of the 2018 Broadway musical of the same name. The feel-good story follows four former Broadway stars who travel to the small conservative town of Edgewater to assist a lesbian teen banned from bringing her girlfriend to the prom. Corden’s performance has received considerable backlash, but most audiences and critics agree this is frothy fun that will put a smile on your face.

9. Other People (2016)

A splendid tragicomic performance from Molly Shannon is the big draw in this dramedy, a semi-autobiographical look at writer/director Chris Kelly's family life. Shannon won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work here.

10. Carol

When it comes to romantic films, queer female-led options can be slim pickings. Luckily, Todd Haynes' Carol is not only a lesbian love story, but a six-time Oscar nominee as well. Set during Christmas of 1952, the film follows Cate Blanchett's wealthy woman trying to leave a loveless marriage as she starts to have feelings for a department store worker played by Rooney Mara. The gorgeous romance is full of beautiful dresses and aching restraint as the two women slowly give in to their feelings.

11. Single All the Way (2021)

Michael Urie, Philemon Chambers, Hocus Pocus' Kathy Najimy and LGBTQ icon Jennifer Coolidge (fresh off her best performance ever, in The White Lotus) star in Netflix's exclusive high-profile rom-com about gay best friends who discover feelings over the holiday season, as one poses as the other's boyfriend. It's hardly an ufamiliar plot (there's some common ground with 2020's runaway streaming hit Happiest Season), but with a cast this great, Single All the Way delivers. This is Netflix's first-ever queer rom-com.

12. I Care A Lot (2020) 

Rosamund Pike won a Golden Globe for a ripper of a performance in J Blakeson's comic thriller about a sketchy con artist who becomes entangled with gangsters. Also factoring in her Oscar nod for Gone Girl a few years back, Pike has enjoyed one of the most fruitful careers of a Bond girl after appearing in the storied franchise.

13. The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021) 

A breakout critical and commercial hit of the pandemic era, Michael Rianda‘s animated sci-fi comedy is about a road-tripping family who must defend each other and all of Earth from uprising technology. The Mitchells vs. the Machines was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 94th Academy Awards. The film has been commended for relatable, inspirational inclusion of LGBTQ character Katie (voice of Abbi Jacobson).

14. Elisa & Marcela (2019) 

AKA Elisa y Marcela, Isabel Coixet‘s erotic historical drama is an account of Marcela Gracia Ibeas and Elisa Sánchez Loriga, and the first same-sex marriage of Spain’s modern era. A Spanish production (in Spanish and Portugese with subtitles), Elisa & Marcela was selected to compete for the Golden Bear at the 69th Berlin Film Festival, and received a limited theatrical release via Netflix.

Related: Best Gay Romance Movies of All Time