50 Favorite Gay Movies of All Time [Hitlist]

In October 2018, Hadley Freeman at The Guardian, wrote about River Phoenix and she said:

In My Own Private Idaho, probably his greatest performance, he played Mike, a street hustler looking for his mother, who says: “If I had a normal family, and a good upbringing, then I would have been a well-adjusted person … Didn’t have a dog or normal dad anyway, yeah. That’s alright. I don’t feel sorry for myself. I mean, I feel like I’m, you know, well-adjusted.” |source|

She went on to say that:

Unlike most stars who die young, Phoenix isn’t just associated with an early death but also precocious talent. Every young actor, from Leonardo DiCaprio to Timothée Chalamet, who shows early promise gets compared to Phoenix. |source|

My Own Private Idaho (1991) – USA

In this loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Henry IV,” Mike Waters (River Phoenix) is a gay hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves) is the rebellious son of the mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike’s estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.

Latter Days (2003) – USA

Aaron Davis (Steve Sandvoss), a young Mormon, arrives in Los Angeles with three fellow missionaries to evangelize. The group’s promiscuous gay neighbor, Christian (Wes Ramsey), makes a bet he can seduce and sleep with one of them, and his flirtatious ways help Aaron realize he is actually gay. Returning home to small-town Idaho in shame, Aaron is sent to a faith-based center to be cured of his homosexuality — while Christian, who’s fallen in love with him, desperately tries to find him.

A Single Man (2009) – USA

George (Colin Firth) wants to kill himself after his partner of 16 years dies in a car accident. On his last day, his chance meetings with students, colleagues, and his best friend Charley (Juliane Moore) help him make a decision. The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood. It’s also the directorial debut of fashion designer Tom Ford. Colin Firth was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of George Falconer, a depressed, homosexual British university professor living in Southern California in 1962. It also stars Nicholas Hoult and Jon Kortajarena.

Die Beautiful (2016) – Philippines

Trisha Echevarria (Paolo Ballesteros), is a transgender woman whose sexuality is greatly opposed by her father (Joel Torre), causing her to leave their house and live with her best friend Barbs (Christian Bables). At present, Trisha is already dead. She died when she was newly crowned as Binibining Gay Pilipinas. Every day in her wake, Trisha undergoes makeup transformations into different female celebrities, which she owes to the makeup skills of Barbs. The best friends enjoyed doing makeup transformations together when Trisha was still alive. Die Beautiful is directed by the acclaimed Filipino filmmaker Jun Lana.

Bishonen (1998) – Hongkong

Jet (Stephen Fung) is the star gigolo in Hong Kong. Arrogant, sexy, everyone falls in love with him, but he falls in love with no one… until one day he meets Sam (Daniel Wu), the hunkiest policeman to ever pound a beat on Hollywood Road. From then on, Jet changes himself into somebody he is not: innocent, sweet, clean, pure. It’s a way of setting a trap to catch Sam. But unknowingly Jet falls into the trap himself. Things begin to get out of control when it turns out that Sam’s past is part of Jet’s present.

Amphetamine (2010) – Hong Kong

This film stars Byron Pang and Thomas Price. It revolves around the story of a Chinese fitness trainer, Kafka, who meets Daniel, a business executive. The film is directed by acclaimed Hong Kong Chinese filmmaker Scud, the production-crediting name of Danny Cheng Wan-Cheung.

Antonio’s Secret (Ang Lihim ni Antonio) (2008) – Philippines

A 2008 Philippines film by Filipino film director Joselito Altarejos. It tells the story about a teenage boy whose emerging gay sexuality alienates him from his friends and family, until his libertine uncle, Jonbert, comes to live with him and his mother.

Head On (1998) – Australia

One of the most engrossing gay films I have seen through the years. The trailer alone is proof of how affecting it can be.

In terms of iconoclastic daring, Head On has no equal in Australian cinema. It broke so many rules, offended so many polite conventions, attacked so many silences, that it left audiences stunned and gulping for air. It depicts 24 hours in the life of a young man whose life should be full of expectation and promise. Ari is 19, intelligent, reasonably well-educated, articulate, and handsome. He should be happy, embarking on a career with plenty of prospects and friends. Instead, he is unemployed, restless, and desperately unhappy, spiraling out of control in a world of drugs and anonymous meaningless sexual encounters. Ari is caught between everything – between Greek and Australian, between gay and straight, between belief in the future and a sense of hopelessness about the present. The film’s depiction of the second generation of children of Greek migrant parents is exquisitely painful, not to mention shocking. |source|

Happy Together (1997) – Hongkong

Lovers who are happy together are all the same. Lovers whose relationships fall apart are all different, unique in the ways they inflict emotional tortures on themselves and each other. Lai Yiu-Fai (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) and Ho Po-Wing (Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing) were in love when they arrived in Argentina from Hong Kong. But something went wrong while they were driving south in search of adventure……

Our Lady of the Assassins (2000) – Colombia

The writer F. Vallejo (German Jaramillo) returns to Medellin – after an absence of over 30 years. He meets 16-year-old Alexis (Anderson Ballesteros). Alexis is the kind of killer who knocks people off on command. The two are immediately attracted to each other and love grows between them. Alexis is like an Angel of Death openly firing on anybody who rubs him the wrong way. From street to street, church to church, murder to murder, Fernando discovers through Alexis an aspect of the city that he had never experienced. One day, Alexis is killed by an unknown motorbike rider…

This is an extremely engaging film with excellent performances from Jaramillo and Ballesteros. Stephen Holden at the New York Times says:

”Our Lady of the Assassins” couldn’t have succeeded had it been cast with movie stars. Its authenticity derives not only from the streets on which it was filmed but also from its able Colombian cast led by Mr. Jaramillo, an actor, and producer who founded the Free Theater in Bogotá. Mr. Jarmillo’s Fernando is an effete sophisticate who radiates the rueful self-knowledge of a jaded world traveler killing time by figuratively fiddling while Rome burns. |source|

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