What to Watch: 7 (Actually Good) LGBTQ+ Rom-Coms to Stream 

Valentine’s Day is, aesthetically speaking, the second queerest holiday. Yes, Halloween is still in first place – I know how the community feels. Hear me out, though. The saccharine decorations, the chalky candy hearts that are better to give than to eat, and all of that pink, pink, pink. If we eschew all the capitalist traditions that straight people think Valentine’s Day is about, we’re left with a day full of love and glitter, and that sounds pretty damn gay to me.

February 14 doesn't have to be about steak dinners or whatever it is the heterosexuals among us do under Cupid’s influence. It can be our thing, too. My favorite February activity, predictably enough, is curling up with a lighthearted romantic film of the LGBTQ+ persuasion — and I’d recommend you do the same! In fact, you can — and should — watch rom-coms any time of year.

However, the chocolate box of queer rom-coms is dismally small. This has been changing in recent years – Fire Island, starring Bowen Yang and Joel Kim Booster came out in 2022, along with Bros starring Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane – but we queer romantics are woefully understocked. As an added disadvantage, the independent nature of queer cinema means that a good chunk of its rom-coms aren’t available to stream anywhere.

Perhaps you have scoured the LGBTQ+ sections of Hulu and Netflix, desperate for something you not only haven’t seen already, but that doesn’t end in tragedy. Generally speaking, queer rom-coms have followed a different trajectory from their straighter counterparts – they’re harder to sniff out and even harder to recognize, often breaking with popular genre tropes.

But we simply cannot allow straight people to have all the fun! As my gift to you, dear reader, I have plumbed the depths of your favorite streaming services and present to you seven (actually good) LGBTQ+ rom-coms for your viewing pleasure:

Quite simply, I am enamored with this movie. If I didn’t get to see a heartwarming gay romance featuring a shy general store owner, then what was the point of being alive?

The film opens with Henry Hart (Arye Gross), a New York City artist, being called back to his small Montana hometown after his grandpa falls ill. Despite his trepidation, and the fact that his closeted ex is also in town, Henry decides to stay until his grandpa is fully recovered. Meanwhile, Pike (Eric Schweig), the quiet shopkeeper, has harbored an unrequited crush on Henry since high school. Love triangles, oh my! 

Watching Big Eden is like a warm soak in a cedar-scented bath. The Montana backdrop is stunning, the love story is awe-inducing, and the whole town is rooting for them. If you want to believe in love, watch this movie – then watch it again for good measure.

This one is a classic, as it should be. It was the first Hollywood movie since The Joy Luck Club to center Chinese Americans, and it’s about cute lesbians falling in love. 

Wilhelmina Pang (Michelle Krusiec) is a closeted surgeon living in New York City. Her single mother tries in vain to set her up with men in their social circle but instead, Wilhelmina develops a crush on — and eventually a relationship with — ballet dancer Vivian Shing (Lynn Chen). Things go topsy turvy when Wilhelmina’s mother, pregnant with an unknown man’s baby, moves into her daughter's apartment. Wilhelmina must decide if she’s going to add to the drama by coming out, or resign herself to a life half lived.

In addition to being a delightful romance, Saving Face is also a fantastic rumination on the labyrinthine relationship between mother and daughter. And is it really a gay rom-com if there isn’t some kind of parental reckoning? 

If Derry Girls had, like, one more gay person in it, it would be a lot like Dating Amber. Experiencing teenagehood in rural Ireland during the mid-1990s, Eddie (Fionn O'Shea) and Amber (Lola Petticrew) strike up a fake relationship to hide their gayness and lesbianness, respectively. Each starts blossoming beneath the beard. After a few secret trips together to Dublin, Amber meets a charming girl named Sarah, and Eddie entertains the idea of actually accepting himself. 

In addition to the puppy love between Amber and Sarah, Dating Amber is ultimately powered by the bond between two queer people who thought they were deeply, deeply alone. Wickedly funny and ultimately hopeful, Eddie and Amber’s story will stick with you. Also, there’s great scenery. 

Growing up as a chaotic and closeted queer girl, I never had characters who looked like me being equally chaotic and queer onscreen. This is all to say, if you have a baby gay in your life, show them this film.

The premise is (weirdly) simple: Ellie (Sophie Hawkshaw) wants to ask Abbie (Zoe Terakes) to formal. Ellie is nervous, and so naturally, her dead lesbian aunt manifests as an unwanted spiritual gay guide. A confused but enamored Abbie rolls with the punches. 

At equal turns sweet and frustrating, Ellie & Abbie follows in the well-worn footsteps of teen rom-coms of yore. Think Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, but with more ghosts and a much smaller budget. It’ll fit right into your sticky-sweet sleepover lineup.

Calling all queer arthouse fans! Calling all queer Shakespeare fans! If you haven’t yet seen Were the World Mine, buckle in and hold onto your fairy wings. Framed as a modern take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the film follows Timothy (Tanner Cohen), an openly gay student who gets mercilessly bullied. When Timothy gets cast as Puck in the school’s production of (you guessed it) A Midsummer Night’s Dream, he becomes Puck. Like, literally. In a cascading series of events, he turns the entire town gay using magic, including his crush – but what will happen after the curtain closes?

When I first saw this movie, I watched it on some random site that most likely gave my computer a virus, but the killer soundtrack, sweet romance, and grounding sentimentality were (and are) well worth it. Much like the play it’s adapted from, Were the World Mine is hazy, romantic, duplicitous and delightful. Plus you can stream it legally now.

Sometimes a family can just be two elderly lesbians, their truck, and a himbo hitchhiker. After 31 years together, hot butch Stella (Olympia Dukakis) and cottagecore queen Dot (Brenda Fricker) find their relationship threatened when their granddaughter threatens to put Dot into a nursing home. Naturally, the pair embark on a Thelma & Louise-style road trip to Nova Scotia to get hitched before that can happen.

Cloudburst is so painfully, memorably funny. For that alone, it’s worth the watch. However, the film is also a reminder that a rom-com doesn’t always have to be about  falling in love. It can also be about staying in love, despite the odds. I’ll warn you, Cloudburst has a bittersweet finish — think of it like a strawberry covered in extra dark chocolate. But remember we aren’t coming in at the beginning of the romance, we’re coming in at the end. Stella and Dot show us who they are at their funniest, and at the culmination of a lifetime of love. It’s a moving thing to witness.

Imagine The Farewell mixed with My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and you get this film. The Wedding Banquet gives us a now-rare mix of sobriety, heart, and hilarity.

Wai-Tung (Winston Chao) is a happily gay Taiwanese realtor living in America with his boyfriend, Simon (Mitchell Lichtenstein). Wai-Tung’s oblivious parents, still living in Taiwan, won’t stop insisting that their son settle down. In a moment of delusion, Simon cooks up a scheme to get Wei-Tung married and secure their friend Wei-Wei a green card. Great plan – until the parents show up.

Near the end of the film, a few distinctly uncomfortable scenes steer us toward a heavier, more ambiguous tone. However, this is ultimately a tender time capsule of ’90s gay love. If you’re looking for a rom-com that showcases  how queer life has changed since then — and how it’s stayed the same — this is your perfect match.

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