Let me open this article by quoting this beautiful statement from Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir.
“It is absolutely imperative that every human being’s freedom and human rights are respected, all over the world.”
As she said in her speech at the 2014 Pride festival, the former Prime Minister of Iceland is a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community and a strong advocate for women’s rights.
Although I have limited knowledge of her political career, I think that as a world leader, bravely standing up for her community gives a source of courage and a voice to those who need it.
Growing up in the 90s, I know for a fact there were not many LGBTQ media materials present; you can only count those on your fingers, and the internet is only at the advent of its world invasion.
So, when the world was catching up, I bet every lesbian was scouring the internet to find something of their own.
And without further ado, you might find two or four of these movies on every lesbian’s movie checklist.
Must-See Lesbian Movies
Imagine Me & You
Released in 2006. Imagine Me & You is one of the first and one of the few in the rom-com genre at its time.
“Love at first sight,” as Rachel (Piper Perabo) saw Luce (Lena Headey) as she walked down the aisle about to marry her long-time best friend Heck (Matthew Goode).
Cast: Lena Headey and Piper Perabo
Kyss Mig/Kiss Me
Released in 2011. Kiss Me is another lesbian classic film that is a must-see, and I believe this is one of the few Swedish lesbian movies you could find in the 20s.
Mia (Ruth Vega Fernandez), an architect and closeted bisexual, is ready to settle down with her fiancé. Everything seems to go according to plan until she meets Frida (Liv Mjönes) at her father’s engagement party. And the two cannot deny that instant spark of connection they felt as they saw each other.
Cast: Ruth Vega Fernandez and Liv Mjönes
Blue is the Warmest Color
Released in 2013 in France. I’m just going to say it: the sexy scenes in this film are quite visual and erotic! I heard there was a controversy in the production of this movie between the actors and the director.
Nevertheless, I find the plot of this movie just as raw as how the actors portrayed their roles.
Adele (Adèle Exarchopoulos), a young French student, found herself spellbound by this blue-haired girl (Léa Seydoux) as they happened to cross paths with each other on a busy street.
Cast: Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux
Carol
Released in 2011. Carol is a period film was definitely well-favored by film critics and received a lot of nominations and awards. Carol was named the best LGBT film of all time by the prestigious British Film Institute.
Set in 1952, “Flung out of space” is the serendipitous encounter of Therese (Rooney Mara) and Carol (Cate Blanchett) at the department store on Christmastime. As both ladies sort out their relationship issues with their male partners, their connection with each other grows deeper and deeper.
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Sarah Paulson
Saving Face
Released in 2004. Now, I think we can all agree that the east side of the world is slow to catch up when it comes to passing non-discrimination laws protecting the rights of LGBTQ people. (I so hope in the future we can all respect and recognize each other’s basic human rights.)
And for this Chinese-American movie to be released in the 20s, that was very bold and brave of its makers. In Asian culture, the concept of saving face refers to maintaining or preserving one’s honor and reputation to avoid humiliation or embarrassment.
As Wil’s mom kept looking for her daughter a match, she unknowingly found hers 19 years ago, but Wil (Michelle Krusiec) never really noticed Vivian (Lynn Chen) even though they moved into the same social circle until her grandparent’s anniversary party.
Cast: Michelle Krusiec and Lynn Chen
Below Her Mouth
Released in 2016. Below Her Mouth has jaw-dropping visually artistic sexy scenes that will keep your eyes glued to the screen for the whole length of the movie.
Dallas (Erika Linder), who has a striking beautiful face caught Jasmine’s (Natalie Krill) eye as she was stripping and nailing those shingles on top of a client’s house. As luck would have it, they met again at a bar and Dallas knew she was the one to pursue.
Cast: Erika Linder and Natalie Krill
The Handmaiden
Released in 2016. The Handmaiden is a South Korean psychological thriller movie that is by far has one of the most intriguing plots I’ve heard or seen. Inspired by Sarah Waters’ 2002 novel Fingersmith, the intricate plot twist of this movie will keep you guessing what happens next.
A con man named Count Fujiwara (Ha Jung-woo) hired Sook-Hee (Kim Tae-ri), a pickpocket, to be a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress named Lady Hideko (Kim Min-hee) with the intention of convincing her to marry him so they could swindle the heiress’ inheritance.
Cast: Kim Tae-ri, Kim Min-hee, Ha Jung-woo
Yes or No
Released in 2010. This lighthearted ‘oh so cute’ rom-com Thai lesbian movie will give you butterflies in your stomach. This movie was a treat for the teen millennials at that time, as not so much lesbian content was created 10+ years ago.
Kim (Suppanad Jittaleela) and Pie’s (Sucharat Manaying) love story begins in college as roommates. Their first encounter with each other involved Pie kicking Kim in the stomach as she taught that Kim was a man who sneaked into her room.
Cast: Suppanad Jittaleela, Sucharat Manaying
Pariah
Released in 2011. The film Pariah is a coming-of-age drama that follows the journey of a young African-American teenage girl (Adepero Oduye) as she grapples with the challenges of revealing her lesbian identity to a family and society where homosexuality faces discrimination.
Cast: Adepero Oduye, Sahra Mellesse
Need more? Check out more lesbian movies below.
Lesbian movies list
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Disobedience
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Am I OK
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Love Lies Bleeding
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Ammonite
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Heavy Snow
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My Ex's Wedding
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Happiest Season
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Ride or Die
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The World to Come
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Umjolo: There is No Cure
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Polarized
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Elisa & Marcela
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Fingersmith
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Professor Marston & the Wonder Women
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My Days of Mercy
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Tell It to the Bees
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I Care a Lot
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Moonlit Winter
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Carmen & Lola
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First Girl I Loved
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Rookie
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Freeheld
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Crush
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Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga
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Becks
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Liz in September
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Baka Bukas
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A Secret Love
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I Can’t Think Straight
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Tár
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Thelma
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Billy & Emma
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The Half of It
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Romeo & Juliet
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The Prom
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Do Revenge
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The Firefly
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Anne+: The Film
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Heart Shot
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Bottoms
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Duck Butter
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Vita & Virginia
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Badhaai Do
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Looking for Her
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Room in Rome
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City of Trees
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The Miseducation of Cameron Post
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The World Unseen
Do you want to see more lesbian media content online? Check out these trending TV series and Youtube channels!
Trending TV & Youtube Lesbian Series
The L Word: Generation Q
The original hit lesbian drama series The L Word has returned to the screen with a new set of characters, faces, and even bolder stories to tell about the lives of an LGBTQ+ group of friends living in Los Angeles.
The core characters Bette Porter (played by Jennifer Beals), Tina Kennard (played by Laurel Holloman), Shane McCutcheon (played by Katherine Moennig), and the ever-so-bubbly Alice Pieszecki (played by Leisha Hailey) are still in this sequel.
I want to emphasize that this series was released in 2009, back when the concept of equality for the LGBTQ community was still controversial. The mere existence of this series back then was mind-blowing for me. To have a series entirely dedicated to telling stories about lesbian relationships? It was something unprecedented at that time!
GAP The Series
This next series will shoot up your blood sugar as Sam (played by Sarocha Chankimha) and Mon (played by Rebecca Armstrong) will tickle your gay hearts with their overloaded sweetness towards each other.
GAP The Series, produced by IDOLFACTORY and aired on Channel 3, has made a lot of noise from its date of release until this date of writing.
I caught a whiff of this duo because there is just a lot of mention of them on social media by their fans.
#freenbecky spread like wildfire in the Asian LGBTQ community as soon as it hit the screen.
Here’s the best part you’ll love about GAP: You can watch the whole series for FREE on IDOLFACTORY’s YouTube channel. Check out the above for the first episode.
Show Me Love
Show Me Love, is another rom-com Thai series brought to you by GrandTV. This was just recently released in March 2023 and starred none other than the two prominent beauties of Miss Grand Thailand, Engfa Waraha and Charlotte Austin.
I’d like to believe this series came about because there was a high demand from the fans to have them paired up in a series.
Fans started to pair these two beauty queens as Engfa would openly tease and coyly flirt with Charlotte; thus, #Englot was born.
Unlike GAP The Series, this one comes with a subscription if you want to watch the rest of the series. Only the first episode is free to watch on the GrandTV YouTube channel.
Watch the first episode below.
Update: In August 2023, the full web series will be available to watch on the GrandTV YouTube channel.
Stupid Wife
Ah, the Latin DNA! Just fuego! This love-hate drama romance series called Stupid Wife stars Priscila Reis as Luiza and Priscila Buiar as Valentina.
Ponto Aço Produçes presents a Brazilian online series that was created and is being directed by Priscilla Pugliese and Natalie Smith, who are also the stars of the web series A Melhor Amiga Da Noiva.
Girlfriend Project Day 1
A Korean short web series called Girlfriend Project Day 1 was made available by the Red Q Channel on Youtube.
Two students, Song Hee-ram (played by Bing Hye-jin) and Ahn Ga-in (played by Park Hyeon-woo), examine the psychology of gender and love in this four-part series.
Can’t get enough of queer contents? See more shows in this article – Latest and Upcoming Thai GL series, and Filipino GL series.
