God’s Own Country
The debut feature of English filmmaker – who also brought us in lush historical biopic Ammonite – is one of the most unforgettable queer romances in recent memory. Set among the rugged majesty of the rolling Yorkshire dales, it stars The Crown’s Prince Charles, Josh O’Connor, as an out but emotionally unavailable farmer who can’t bring himself to be intimate with his hook-ups. That is until he hires Romanian migrant worker Gheorghe (Alec Secareanu) to help out. Cue pastoral passion that gently bridges the intimacy gap.
Tangerine
If you didn’t already know, you’d never guess this raucous day-in-the-life misadventure of trans sex workers on a madcap quest for justice across Los Angeles was shot on an iPhone. Utterly sumptuous to look at, writer/director ’s remarkable achievement is all the more incredible for casting two magnetic stars direct from the streets in the shape of fabulous first-time performers Mya Taylor and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez. You won’t forget them in a hurry.
Good Manners
A horror movie of sorts that draws down on dark fables, Brazilian filmmakers Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra’s gloriously wild film also digs deep into the race and class divides that cut a swathe through São Paulo. Without giving too much away, an incredible Isabél Zuaa’s reluctant nanny Clara gets a lot more than she bargained for when she winds up working for the well-to-do Ana (Marjorie Estiano). There’s an undeniable attraction between this pair thrown together from different worlds, but the small matter of newborn bub’s bizarre reaction to a full moon spells trouble ahead…
Monsoon
An aching heart wrecker from Cambodian-British director Hong Khaou (Lilting) casts spunky Crazy Rich Asians lead Henry Golding as Kit, a somewhat lost gay man who returns to Saigon 30 years after his family fled the Vietnam War when he was a kid, looking for a sense of connection. Feeling dislocated from a childhood friend left behind (David Tran), Kit finds solace in the arms of a hunky American (Parker Sawyers). But this captivating exploration of identity is more about the journey than the destination.
A Fantastic Woman
Chilean writer/director ’s empowering film about a trans waitress and cocktail lounge singer who refuses to be crushed by the cruelty of her late lover’s (Francisco Reyes) family took home the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2018. Luminous star and opera singer also made history as the first out trans person to present at the Academy Awards. She deserved all the attention for a truly magnificent turn that shimmers on screen.
Beach Rats
The cut-glass cheekbones of British star Harris Dickinson always lend him a certain rakish appeal. As does his penchant for playing intriguingly queer roles, from a scene-stealing moment in Xavier Dolan’s Matthias & Maxime, to the fever dream that is director Steve McLean’s Postcards From London (available at SBS On Demand from 25 February).But his best foot forward is playing a closeted Brooklyn boardwalk bro in American director Eliza Hittman’s Sundance Film Fest . It’s particularly thrilling when furtively navigating the half-lit world of webcam sex.
Tell It To The Bees
Adapted from the much-loved novel by Fiona Shaw and set in the aftermath of WWII, this fraught lesbian romance plays out in the stifling confines of the sort of small town where everyone minds other folks’ business. Anna Paquin affects a prim Scottish accent as the local doctor and beekeeper who befriends the young son of a struggling factory worker (Holliday Grainger) who has been abandoned by her husband. Directed by Annabel Jankel, it’s a slow burn as the two women gradually fall into one another’s arms, but trouble awaits.
Sequin In A Blue Room
The startling feature debut from Australian writer/director Samuel Van Grinsven is an erotic thriller with lashings of electric blue-hued style to spare. Conor Leach marks a remarkable breakthrough as the androgynous teenage tearaway Sequin, who sneaks out at night to rendezvous with much older men he courts on a gay hook-up app. Ghosting everyone he meets after one session, things get hairy when he breaks his self-imposed rule to pursue a mysterious stranger at a strobe-lit sex party.
For more awesome Antipodean content, also check out about a Māori trans man’s struggles on returning home to his community.
A Date for Mad Mary
Seána Kerslake puts in a spectacular performance as Mary, a troubled young woman recently released from prison who finds most of her mates are now giving her a wide berth, including her soon-to-be-married bestie. Regardless, she sets about finding a plus-one for the wedding. This sharply realised coming-out dramedy has a melancholic edge, but is laced through with plenty of the Irish craic. Adapted from the Yasmine Akram play by director Darren Thornton and his co-writing brother Colin and set in port town Drogheda, north of Dublin, it’s a hoot.
Suk Suk
It’s all-too infrequent that LGBTIQA+ movies shine a light on our queer elders, which is why it’s an absolute joy to luxuriate in writer/director Ray Yeung’s Hong Kong-set tribute to a gradual, halting love teased out between two closeted septuagenarians. Former stuntman and Jackie Chan collaborator Tai-Bo plays a man who finds it easier to demonstrate his affection for the taxi he drives than the divorcee he cruises in a park one day, as played by Ben Yuen. What unfolds on the margins of a society unwilling to accept such a union is breathtaking.
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