Not every great queer movie has to be about coming out.
Watching a great coming-out scene is one of life’s truest joys. But sometimes when you watch an LGBTQ+ movie, you want to just watch something and not think about how complicated — and sometimes painful — coming out can be.
A lot of these movies are comedies and are more on the lighter side of queer stories, but others have their fair share of drama. It’s just that that drama isn’t centered around them coming out. LGBTQ+ people can have other problems, you know.
These 15 movies center around queer characters and storylines, but no one has any coming-out scenes. Enjoy!
1. Anything's Possible
This is a rare movie about an LGBTQ+ teen that doesn’t feature them coming out. While it’s definitely a coming-of-age movie, Kelsa (Eva Reign) is already out to her school as a trans girl, and instead of her coming out, it’s about her finding love.
2. Booksmart
This high school comedy is about two best friends, one of whom is gay. Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever star as Molly and Amy, two girls who got good grades throughout high school and want to go to one big party before they graduate. Amy has a great gay plot that doesn’t involve her coming out.
Streaming on Peacock3. Bros
Billy Eichner’s delightful romantic comedy burst into theaters and has tons of sweet gay moments, but none of them involve coming out. Instead, the movie follows jaded podcaster Bobby (Eichner) as he meets and falls for a man who’s totally not his normal type (Luke Macfarlane).
4. Bound
Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly play leather-bound lovers in this tense mob thriller from The Wachowskis. Tilly starts the movie as a queer sex worker kept by a male mob member, but when she meets the lesbian next door, the two fall in love and plot to steal her man’s money.
5. Fire Island
Joel Kim Booster’s modern gay-daptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice follows a group of gay friends who go to Fire Island and experience class differences, drama, and love. And no one comes out.
Streaming on Hulu6. Jennifer's Body
Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried star in this high school horror/comedy as best friends who sometimes like to share a bed and makeout — and Jennifer likes to kill and eat boys. It’s a classic!
Streaming on Max7. Knock at the Cabin
M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film is an apocalyptic thriller about a gay couple (Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge) who go to spend a weekend at a cabin in the woods when four mysterious strangers knock on the door and hold them hostage.
Streaming on Peacock8. Party Monster
This film is based on the true story of Michael Aig, the “King of the Club Kids” in 1990’s New York. Based on James St. James’ memoir Disco Bloodbath, the movie starred Macaulay Culkin as Aig as he descended into drugs, hedonism, and eventually, murder.
Streaming on Peacock9. Rent
The iconic musical from Jonathan Larson follows a group of friends living in New York City. Among the group are Tom Collins, a gay philosophy teacher, Angel, a drag queen, bisexual performance artist Maureen, and lesbian lawyer Joanne. It’s a great movie about chosen family and the AIDS crisis.
10. Monica
Trace Lysette delivers a career-best performance in this powerful and moving family drama. When Monica (Lysette) learns that her mother (Patricia Clarkson), who kicked her out years ago when she came out, has dementia, she returns home to help take care of her. It’s one of the most intimate and full portrayals of a trans woman’s life on screen.
Available to rent on YouTube11. Shiva Baby
Shiva Baby is a tense comedy from Emma Seligman. It stars Rachel Sennott as Danielle, a young bisexual woman who is having an affair with a married man. When the man, his wife, and his baby show up at a shiva she’s attending, all hell breaks loose.
Streaming on Hulu12. Supernova
Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci star as longtime partners in this romantic drama from 2020. This isn’t a happy movie, it deals with dementia, aging, and death, but it’s a truly beautiful film you won’t regret watching.
Streaming on Hulu13. Tár
Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett stars as Lydia Tár, a world-renowned conductor and a predatory lesbian. The film was nominated for six Oscars, and once again, Blanchett delivers a brilliant performance as a complicated lesbian character.
Available to rent on YouTube14. Tick, Tick... Boom!
This is a biopic and musical about Rent writer Jonathan Larson based on his own musical about himself writing a musical. A character based on Jonathan’s real-life gay best friend is portrayed by out actor Robin de Jesus, and the scenes with him are some of the best in the movie.
Streaming on Netflix15. To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar
This classic drag comedy follows two drag queens (Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes) who take a drag princess (John Leguizamo) under their wings and on a cross-country road trip. When their car breaks down and a cop harasses and assaults them, they hide out in a small town where they quickly enter the hearts of the locals.
