50 Favorite Gay Movies of All Time [Hitlist]

What we have here are basically ‘coming of age’ tales with a twist, and you obviously know that! With a prominent place in this hitlist, C.R.A.Z.Y. is a big favorite since the time it was released 15 years ago.

C.R.A.Z.Y.  (2005) – Canada

Teenager Zachary Beaulieu (Marc-André Grondin) is confused about his sexuality and that conflicts with his Canadian-Catholic upbringing which alienates his father Gervais (Michel Côté) and confuses his mother Laurianne (Danielle Proulx). Forcing himself to like girls, Zachary also has to cope with his older brothers, who don’t make his life any easier, but when he finally accepts his true feelings, will his family still accept him?

Eye For Film’s Jenny Kermode hits the bulleye with bellow review:

Although C.R.A.Z.Y is in part a gay coming-of-age story, it’s told without the explicit sex one might expect, making this film much more in line with the work of Gus Van Sant than Gregg Araki. The privacy that is accorded to Zac’s experiences (his two sexual encounters with young men happen off-camera) is actually somewhat refreshing, with a subtlety that seems far more in keeping with the character’s reluctance to come to terms with being gay. The film is also a sometimes bizarre family drama infused with a mixture of the qualities that make French Canadian cinema great: devout spirituality, odd folklore and the kind of irreverent humor that fundamentalists think ought to go straight to hell. |source|

That spirituality also applies to Asian Catholics like me (and many others), so when sex is explicit, the normal reaction is that of guilt. Yet, how can anyone be guilty of sex? C.R.A.Z.Y. maybe an ‘insane’ title for a movie, yet its characters are the most sane – given that they have values they want to protect. Zach’s dilemma is not only trying to ‘find himself’ but to reconcile his true identity with his family’s beliefs.

Giant Little Ones (2018) – Canada

A coming of age, gay drama film, directed by Keith Behrman. The film stars Kyle MacLachlan and Maria Bello as the parents of a teenage boy (Josh Wiggins), whose lives are upended after their son and a friend are involved in an incident after a party.

Hidden Kisses (Baisers cachés) (2016) – France

During an evening out, 16-year-old Nathan kisses Louis, a classmate. They are caught in the act by Louis’s girlfriend Laura, who photographs and put the photo on the web. A snowball effect immediately follows. Discovering his son’s homosexuality Nathan’s father initially won’t speak to him. Meanwhile, Louis, who is recognizable in the photo, denies his homosexuality and even joins in the bullying of Nathan.

Get Real (1999) – UK

Steven (Ben Silverstone) spends his school days longing for all-star athlete John (Brad Gorton). But John has a gorgeous girlfriend, and Steven is still in the closet about being gay. The only one who knows the teenager’s secret is his friend Linda (Charlotte Brittain). After a curious run-in with John in a public restroom, Steven starts to wonder if the jock is straight after all. When they start a romance, it threatens to expose the truth about both of them. Joe Reid at Decider puts this film in perspective after more than 2 decades:

One of the things about gay lives that end up being reflected most starkly by the movies is that gay people very seldom get teenage love stories. Certainly not ones that end well. Get Real is a charming and well-observed movie out of Britain in the late ’90s that does its level best to deliver one such gay high-school love story, and it is fraught as hell. The problem in real life is, among many other factors, one of logistics. It’s only been relatively recently that gay people have started coming out in high school, and even when they do, the numbers game of it all works against them. In the movies, the problem is one of narrative weight. So much of any kind of gay teen story involves coming out, coming to terms, self-denial, the scorn of others, self-acceptance, et cetera. That simply ends up crowding out any kind of traditional notion of a teenage love story. |source|

Being 17 (Quand on a 17 ans) (2016) – France

Directed by André Téchiné and starring Kacey Mottet Klein, Corentin Fila, and Sandrine Kiberlain. The script was written by Téchiné in collaboration with Céline Sciamma. The plot follows the romantic and sexual awakening of two seventeen-year-old boys as their initial animosity, expressed in violence, morphs into love. Being 17 borrows its title from the second half-line of the first verse of Roman, (1870) by Arthur Rimbaud: On n’est pas sérieux quand on a dix-sept ans.

Love, Simon (2018) – USA

A romantic comedy film directed by Greg Berlanti, written by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, and based on the novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. The film stars Nick Robinson, Josh Duhamel, and Jennifer Garner. It centers on Simon Spier, a closeted gay high school boy who is forced to balance his friends, his family, and the blackmailer threatening to out him to the entire school, while simultaneously attempting to discover the identity of the anonymous classmate with whom he has fallen in love online.

Beautiful Thing (1996) – UK

Shy Jamie (Glen Berry) and athletic Ste (Scott Neal) are teen boys who live near each other in the London projects. Both boys think they could be gay, and finally explore their feelings when Ste is allowed to stay over at Jamie’s place after an incident with his abusive father. There, the boys grow close and open themselves up to the idea of homosexuality, while Jamie’s caring mother, Sandra (Linda Henry), and quirky teen neighbor, Leah (Tameka Empson), offer much needed emotional support.

Jongens (2014) – The Netherlands

A sexually awakening gay teen athlete, Sieger (Gijs Blom) finds himself in a budding relationship with his mutually attracted relay race teammate, Marc (Ko Zandvliet). Originally made for TV, Dutch female director Mischa Kamp received such an enthusiastic response to the film that they released it in Dutch moviehouses, as well as, granted rights for showing in the US, Germany, and the UK.

North Sea Texas (2011) – The Netherlands

North Sea Texas is a 2011 Flemish drama film and the first feature from cult director Bavo Defurne, starring Jelle Florizoone and Mathias Vergels. The screenplay was written by Bavo Defurne and Yves Verbraeken and is based in the 2004 children’s novel Nooit gaat dit over by André Sollie.

The Way He Looks (2014) – Brazil

Also known as Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho – literally, “Today I Want to Go Back Alone” is a Brazilian coming-of-age romantic drama film based on the 2010 short film I Don’t Want to Go Back Alone (Eu Não Quero Voltar Sozinho). It was directed, written and co-produced by Daniel Ribeiro, and stars Ghilherme Lobo, Fabio Audi, and Tess Amorim, reprising their roles from the short. What makes this film a standout is how fiercely independent Lobo’s character is, even though he is disabled. Below is the official synopsis:

Set against the music of Belle and Sebastian, Daniel Ribeiro’s coming of age tale, The Way He Looks is a fun and tender story about friendship and the complications of young love. Leo is a blind teenager who’s fed up with his overprotective mother and the bullies at school. Looking to assert his independence, he decides to study abroad to the dismay of his best friend, Giovana. When Gabriel, the new kid in town, teams with Leo on a school project, new feelings blossom in him that make him reconsider his plans. Meanwhile, Giovana grows jealous of this new found companionship as tensions mount between her and Leo.

Main protagonist Leo (played with such gusto and engagement by Ghilherme Lobo) is a fiercely independent character who wants to break free from his parent’s watch and he will do just about anything to leave the familial abode. While this is a coming of age gay love story, it is also a character study of an individual who defies his ‘norm’ and live deliberately.

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