Entertainment
All Of 2018's LGBTQ+ Focused Movies You Need To See, From 'Freak Show' To 'Love, Simon'
2017 was a banner year for LGBTQ+ films, with a multitude of genres, stories, and characters across the rainbow spectrum. Call Me By Your Name got the most attention, but there were biopics like Tom Of Finland and Professor Marsden And The Wonder Women, gritty slice of life drama like Beach Rats, and spooky thrillers like Thelma. While the LGBTQ+ focused movies coming out in 2018 aren't as densely packed as the previous year, there are several coming-of-age movies dominating the scene, reflecting the joys and traumas of realizing who you are and what that might mean to the world around you.
The Miseducation Of Cameron Post and Boy Erased deal with the frightening, and frighteningly real possibility, of gay conversion therapy, to this day only banned in some states. Love, Simon's lead knows he has the support of family and friends, but still wants to stay in the closet — coming out is one of the few elements in his life he has control over, and he's determined to find romance on his own terms.
With 2017 showing queer films can appeal to wider audiences without needing to concern themselves with straight preconceptions, 2018 marks the next step forward, and so far, it's looking bright.
1'The Strange Ones' (Jan. 5)
This eerie, atmospheric thriller follows two brothers on a road trip across the country. What at first appears normal soon takes a darker turn, and not even the basic premise can be trusted.
2'Freak Show' (Jan. 12)
This indie charmer follows self-proclaimed "gender obliviator" Billy Bloom's high school struggle, showing how he feels and deal with the consequences of being himself and debates whether to tone it down and compromise.
3'Saturday Church' (Jan. 12)
Shy, effeminate Ulysses hears music in everything he does. Just as he begins to discover his gender identity, his strict churchgoing mother demands an end to it. Ulysses runs away to the Village, where he finds a community that welcomes him with open arms.
4'The Miseducation Of Cameron Post' (TBD)
A drama that doesn't lose its sense of humor, this story of a young woman forced into gay conversion therapy in 1993 has gotten rave reviews from Sundance, where it just premiered.
5'A Fantastic Woman' (Feb. 2)
After her older lover dies, singer Marina is told by his family to stay away from the life they built together. Determined to be recognized, Marina won't back down.
6'Every Day' (Feb. 23)
This sweet romance follows eternal soul A, who ends up in a different body every day, falling in love with a young woman who accepts them across all bodies. But their love disrupts the lives of the bodies A inhabits, and they have to decide between their own happiness, and taking agency away from others.
7'Love, Simon' (March 16)
Simon finds that staying in the closet is stressing him out. When he encounters an anonymous student admitting the same problem, he comes out, but he has no idea to who.
8'Disobedience' (April 27)
From the director of A Fantastic Woman comes a story of two women who reunite after tragedy pulls them back to their orthodox Jewish community. As they deal with returning to the world they fled, they realize weren't just fleeing religious suppression, but their own desires.
9'Boy Erased' (Sept. 28)
Based on the memoir of Garrard Connelly and featuring Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman, this is the story of a son outed to his religious family. His father, a Baptist pastor, gives him a choice — enter gay conversion therapy, or be forever shunned by everyone he knows.
10'Vita And Virginia' (TBD)
The story behind the historical romance that led to Virginia Woolfe's book Orlando, following Woolfe's romance and friendship with Vita Sackville-West.
As schedules shuffle and film festivals roll through, there's likely to be even more movies reflecting the wider range of humanity outside Hollywood's narrow focus. Given the positive reception of so many LGBTQ+ movies in the past year, it seems that distributors, producers, and the entire film industry are finally taking notice.
