Until the Tenties, mainstream media representation of queer people was generally curated for straight viewers. This meant that filmmakers working with queer stories had to lean into stereotypes for laughs or suffuse queer stories with tragedy in order to gain public sympathy. That’s how we ended up with weepies like Philadelphia, Boys Don’t Cry, and Brokeback Mountain. 

To this day, I believe that these movies were part of a conspiracy to make queer people depressed. After all, if we saw happy endings for ourselves on screen, then we would eventually think bigger and want marriage equality or something. But if we only saw sad endings, then we would never experience joy and thus never gain enough power to turn everyone gay.

I guess we’ll never know if my theory is true or not (it is), but one thing is undeniable: Queer movies are a lot happier these days. It’s almost as if studios and streamers have remembered that at least 10% of their audience, statistically, is queer, even if not openly so. And what do queer people want? Well, the same thing everyone else wants! A bunch of undemanding movies to binge while covered in Cheeto dust on Saturday afternoons. And in that spirit, here are seven of the best queer movies with happy endings.

Oh, by the way, SPOILER ALERT. We literally just told you that these all have happy endings.

Fire Island (2022)

Any adaptation of a Jane Austen novel is bound to have a happy ending. Fire Island, which follows a group of friends in the titular queer paradise, is no exception. As a bonus, the Pride and Prejudice riff features hilarious performances from stars Bowen Yang and Joel Kim Booster, as well as a bevy of spot-on cultural references.

The Thing About Harry (2020)

There’s an enduring stereotype about bi or pan men which states that they only pursue no-strings hookups with gay men, rather than committed romantic relationships, because they fear social repercussions or vulnerability. Thankfully, this rom-com challenges that stereotype by coupling the proudly pansexual Harry with the prickly gay Sam. On top of that, Harry is Sam’s former high school bully, which brings a collective queer fantasy to life. Also, the movie is directed by legendary Queer as Folk star Peter Paige!

Anything’s Possible (2022)

Movies with trans characters have taken even longer to lighten up than their cis counterparts. However, thanks to director Billy Porter, this Amazon film not only delivers a trans-tastic happy ending, but accomplishes it in smart, big-hearted style. At its core, Anything’s Possible is a standard coming-of-age teen rom-com, but that’s still a step forward for inclusivity. 

Bros (2022)

This movie is actually good, y’all. It’s developed an unearned reputation for being mediocre due to its poor box office and because of some sassy think pieces by self-hating queers, but the movie’s satire of millennial cis white gay men is pretty spot-on. The ending is a bit contrived, but still joyful, and that’s something to celebrate. And can we blame star Billy Eichner for being salty that the movie underperformed? This was his baby. 

Carol (2015)

This movie was almost the lesbian Brokeback Mountain – that is, a devastatingly bleak Oscar nominee, but with lesbians. However, thanks to its source novel, 1952’s The Price of Salt, the Cate Blanchett stunner spins a relatively happy ending for its two leads. That way, audiences get the trembling, forbidden queer love of classic lesbian films, but without the ending that makes them devour three tubs of ice cream.

Bottoms (2023)

This hilarious movie had the most misleading name of anything in 2023, but that’s forgivable. The movie, about a pair of horny queer buddies who accidentally incite murderous chaos by trying to get laid, packs on the laughs. All of this culminates in one of the most gory and shocking happy endings of any of the rom-coms on this list.

Starrbooty (2007)

Oh, you thought this list would only include “critically-acclaimed” films? Where do you get off? This send-up of blaxploitation and sexploitation films is one of the campiest, messiest, and cringiest things that RuPaul has ever written and starred in, and that’s saying a lot! That said, it also technically has a happy ending. Just check its Wikipedia page, which literally says in its Plot section: “Everyone who deserves to lives happily ever after.” I don’t know what else to tell you. This is a supremely silly and endearingly entertaining film, and as a huge plus, it features full-frontal male nudity. Who says queers can’t have it all?