A romantic drama about a happily married woman who discovers she has been in denial about being a lesbian. She awakens to her sexual orientation during an affair with a female college professor and then tries to come to terms with her newfound lifestyle.

An erotic horror film depicting a love triangle develops between a beautiful yet dangerous vampire (Catherine Deneuve), her cellist companion (David Bowie), and a gerontologist (Susan Sarandon). A film review writes,  “The remarkable scene of the lesbian love of Miriam and Sarah is among the most erotic in cinema history, never being vulgar.”

A professor of literature who is awaiting her divorce papers, is unexpectedly seduced by a carefree, assertive young lesbian.

Comments by lesbians who see this as their all-time favorite lesbian movie:

💬  “Lots of universal emotions.”

💬  “I love the late Jane Rule!”

💬  “it was the first one I’ve ever seen, and secondly, because it resonated with me so profoundly”

Based on a book by Fannie Flagg about a friendship between two women at the turn of the century in Irondale, AL, a small town outside of Birmingham.

This low-budget film was set in the Pacific Northwest. A famous heterosexual author, Clair, attends a writer’s retreat for women where she rooms with another author. The movie follows their journey, which culminates in a sexual encounter.

This 1992 American sports comedy-drama is about two sisters joining the first female professional baseball league and struggling to help it succeed amid their growing rivalry. This is a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL).

An uptight and conservative woman, working on tenure as a literacy professor at a large urban university, finds herself strangely attracted to a free-spirited, liberal woman who works at a local carnival that comes to town.

An American comedy-drama that tells the story of two very different high school girls who fall in love.

Corky, a tough ex-con, and her lover Violet devise a scheme to steal millions of stashed mob money and set up Violet’s crooked boyfriend, Caesar, to take the fall. 

💬 “It represented a great butch femme dynamic. I think Jennifer Tilly played one of the best femme characters I have seen in a lesbian movie. Bound is a thriller. Loved it.”s

A fantasy animation that follows Utena Tenjou, a tomboy high school student who is drawn into a series of sword duels to win the hand of Anthy Himemiya, a mysterious student known as the “Rose Bride”.

‘Gia’ is a historical drama film based on the life and death of Italian-American model Gia Marie Carangi, widely believed to have been the world’s first supermodel. Seventeen-year-old Gia moved to New York and was signed by Wilhelmina Models. This is the story of Gia Carangi, a top fashion model from the late 1970s – spanning her life from her rise to the forefront of the modeling industry to her untimely death.

Maggie, 19, works at a lesbian/LGBT bookstore. Her mom’s getting divorced and invites herself to stay with Maggie. Complicating matters, Maggie’s new girlfriend moves in as well, but Maggie is not out to her mom. 

💬  “it was the best of my generation”

💬  “Better than chocolate was my coming out movie. I watched it when I was 30. After that, it took me about four years to completely come out and divorce my husband. I have never looked back.”

💬  “I really wanted to be the feminine woman in that movie. Before that, I probably had Inkling that I was gay, but that was the aha moment.”

A satirical comedy about a naive teenager who is sent to a reparative therapy camp after her parents and friends suspect her of being a lesbian.

This romantic tragedy follows the life of a young trans-male, Brandon. This story follows Brandon’s journey for love and acceptance. While technically a love story about gender expression, this was still voted by some lesbians as the best lesbian movie, so it is included here. Besides, who doesn’t love Hillary Swank? 

Three separate storylines about lesbian couples living in three different decades.

A rom-com that focuses on Wilhelmina, a young Chinese American surgeon; her unwed, pregnant mother; and her dancer girlfriend. This movie is centered on Chinese Americans (which hadn’t happened in Hollywood since 1993).

💬  As the lesbian who voted for this movie said, “it didn’t involve either character sleeping with a man, and it was SO romantic and totally relatable. Simply a wonderful, fun movie.”

💬  “Love getting to see women of color and the mother-daughter dynamic.”

An American action-comedy film follows the relationship between a spy-in-training and a supervillain. 

💬 “D.E.B.S. It’s a corny, cute, & funny love story type of movie. Enemies fall in love.”

While technically a series and not a movie, The L Word was voted one of the all-time best movies by lesbians. This Showtime series follows a group of lesbian and bisexual women, along with trans males, who live in West Hollywood, California.

Based on Sarah Waters’ novel of the same name, Fingersmith (a double entendre for pickpocketing and masturbation), this is a period piece set in Victorian England that follows the lives of two women — streetwise pickpocket Sue and sheltered heiress Maud. Their destinies intertwine when a handsome Gentleman aka Richard involves them in a complicated inheritance scam. Little does the Gentleman know that the women are secretly involved with each other.

A British romance about a newlywed bride who becomes infatuated with another woman who questions her sexual orientation, causing a stir among the bride’s family and friends.

💬 “Super sweet and touches on a lot of emotions some of us go through in navigating the path to being true to yourself.”

💬 “My favorite comfort movie. Any time I’m down or sick, this is my go-to”

💬 “Although I like Imagine Me & You because of Lena Headey but the plot of someone has to get dumped and hurt left me kinda mad and sad.”

The intelligent Annabelle starts in an elite Catholic girls’ boarding high school after being expelled from the previous 2 schools. She’s open about being lesbian. She’s attracted to her teacher, Simone.

💬 “Loving Annabelle . It’s a bit taboo, but it’s intense and directed very well. Used to be on Netflix, not sure if it still is”

💬 “My favorite comfort movie. Any time I’m down or sick this is my go to ”s

Fate brings two diversely different women together and sets them on a collision course that will shatter their preconceived notions about love, life, and the power of one’s soul.

A hotel room in the center of Rome serves as the setting for two young and recently acquainted women to have a physical adventure that touches their very souls.

After escaping their nursing home, a lesbian couple sets out for Canada to get married. and along the way, they pick up a young male hitchhiker.

Rebecca has a very unusual secret that not even her best friends know about. The last person on earth she expects to reveal it to is a high-priced escort named Paris.

💬 “It was classy and had over 30 people in it”

💬 “It was a hot and passionate movie”

A chronicle of the tragic love affair between American poet Elizabeth Bishop and Brazilian architect Lota de Macedo Soares.

💬 “Best movie ever!”

A romance film that follows Adèle, a French teenager who discovers desire and freedom as an aspiring painter, Emma, enters her life. The film’s premise is based on the 2010 graphic novel of the same name by Jul Maroh.

💬  “ I admire the challenge of being yourself in times of unacceptance. Love was shown and reciprocated for a lifetime. In this time and era, it is taken so lightly!”

An unexpected affair quickly escalates into a heart-stopping reality for two women whose passionate connection changes their lives forever.

A woman returns to her Orthodox Jewish community that shunned her for her attraction to a female childhood friend. Once back, their passions reignite as they explore the boundaries of faith and sexuality.

Gemma Arterton (left) and Elizabeth Debicki (right) star as socialite Vita Sackville-West and novelist Virginia Woolf in this true story about the love affair behind one of Woolf’s greatest works. A love affair develops between author Vita Sackville-West and literary icon Virginia Woolf, inspiring one of Woolf’s greatest works.

💬 “Vita and Virginia was a sizzling movie based on the true story of the writer Virginia Woolf. It portrayed a slow sensuous attraction between the two women.”

Duck butter (2018)

Duck Butter is billed as a drama rom-com. It’s about the experimental 24 hours Naima spent with Sergio and how these two wounded women reacted to relationship intensity as they compressed a year and a half of getting to know each other into one day.

💬 “It has intensity and comedy and is extremely well-acted.”

A promising young lawyer sees her plans to wed into an important and ultraconservative family in danger when her grandma decides to marry her girl friend.

When a grandmother’s secret past collides with her granddaughter’s secret future and her daughter’s angry present, we follow the love and deceit of three generations. With a simple roll of film, it begins.

A decade after the airing of The L Word concluded, the tight-knit group of friends and lovers returned to the screen as if they had never left. They continue the storylines that started in the first series, adding some new characters (including Rosie) and keeping the drama alive.

A musical comedy adapted for the big screen from the 2018 Broadway show of the same name. A troupe of hilariously self-obsessed theater stars swarms into a small conservative Indiana town supporting a high-school girl who wants to take her girlfriend to the prom

This is a documentary, voted best lesbian Netflix movie that follows the lives of two women — Pat Henschel and pro baseball player Terry Donahue – and their 65-year journey of love (lived out mostly in the closet) and overcoming prejudice.

💬  “It was such a roller-coaster of emotions for me, similar to If These Walls Could Talk. I feel such gratitude and empathy for the lesbians who lived before me and, in their ways, paved an easier trail for me to walk.”

Under pressure to finish her novel and move to Montreal for her relationship, a queer 20-something in Amsterdam searches for what she wants.

💬 “Anne+ on Netflix. I resonated so much with the main character; her introversion, mindset/perspectives, likes, even physical traits.”

Under pressure to finish her novel and move to Montreal for her relationship, a queer 20-something in Amsterdam searches for what she wants.

💬 “Anne+ on Netflix. I resonated so much with the main character; her introversion, mindset/perspectives, likes, even physical traits.”