Pride month is here at last. Corporations are rainbow-ifying their logos as stores roll out their pride collections. The profit-hungry virtue signaling rightfully garners an eye-roll from many in the LGBTQ+ community. Sometimes, this makes it difficult to focus on all the positives that come with Pride month — like celebrating identity and self-acceptance…and some much-needed queer content on the silver screen. So, if you’re looking to head to the movies and watch queer protagonists in the spotlight, we’ve got you covered.

‘The Neighbor’ | Premiere: June 2, 2023

The Italian drama The Neighbor will not be a light and breezy viewing experience, and it will likely conjure a couple of tears (if not a bubbling breakdown). But, the love between the two primary protagonists — and their unshakeable bond — is inspiring. 

They are pitted against homophobic parents and a local group of men willing to use violence to scare them away. How much emotional and physical abuse can the two withstand? How much parent-child toxicity is too much to endure? Together, they will fight. Together, they will stand tall. Together —  even as a harrowing incident threatens to change all they have come to know. 

‘Blue Jean’ | Premiere: June 9, 2023

England. 1938. Margaret Thatcher is in power, and her conservative-leaning government is readying to pass a law stigmatizing gays and lesbians. Jean is a gym teacher forced to lead a double life — one that safeguards her career by pushing her romantic and personal life into the shadows and behind closed doors. Yet, when a new student arrives and winds up in the same queer space as her teacher, Jean is forced to confront the decisions she has made. Is she a role model or a coward? How can she be a proud teacher— a woman responsible for educating and sculpting young minds — who shows this girl that the way to live as a queer woman is to hide. 

The BAFTA-nominated Blue Jean took home the Venice Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award and four British Independent Film Awards. The movie is a tear-jerking rollercoaster, traversing through themes of self-acceptance, chosen family, bullying, societal stigma, sexual discovery, and more with narrative precision and emotional authenticity. 

‘Jagged Mind’ | Premiere: June 15, 2023 (Hulu)

If you’d rather watch a queer-themed movie from the comfort of your couch, Jagged Mind is a perfect option. The sci-fi drama follows a woman plagued by blackouts and bizarre visions. She comes to realize that she is trapped in a series of time loops, which may or may not be related to her mysterious new girlfriend.

Jagged Mind stars The Originals’ Maisie Richardson-Sellers across from Westworld’s Shannon Woodward in a film directed by Kelley Kai — the genius behind I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking). The film is based on the short feature film First Date, which premiered as part of Hulu’s Bite Size Halloween. This sci-fi-centric sapphic tale is technically part of Hulu’s horror slate, so hopefully you like eerie atmospheric tension and edge-of-your-seat suspense. 

‘Sublime’ | Premiere: June 20, 2023 (VOD)

16-year-old Manuel and Felipe are best friends. They’re in a garage rock band together, and they’ve been thick as thieves since childhood. Making music together adds a degree of intimacy and intensity to their relationship (especially for Manuel). Their friendship hits a bump in the road when Felipe starts dating a girl, and Manuel has to come to terms with his feelings of jealousy. 

Manuel begins dating a girl as well, but his bubbling sexual and romantic attraction to Felipe burns beneath the surface — unaddressed. Manuel retreats into himself, unsure of how to explain his feelings, and unsure of how to be around Felipe comfortably. Eventually, he lashes out. Sublime is both a coming-of-age and coming-out story that highlights sexual discovery in a tender and relatable way for queer adolescents. 

‘Every Body’ | Premiere: June 30, 2023

The Focus Feature film Every Body brings much-needed and far-too-delayed cinematic representation to the intersex community. The film follows three individuals whose childhoods were marked by nonconsensual surgeries and internalized shame. Yet, today, they are thriving adults who refuse to live in secret. They refuse to hide who they are for the comfort of those too ignorant to love and accept them. As for the three inspiring individuals, we’ve got actor and screenwriter River Gallo, political consultant Alicia Roth, and Ph.D. student Sean Saifa Wall. Today, the three spearhead an international sociopolitical movement advocating for the intersex community and an end to damaging (both psychologically and physically) unnecessary surgeries. 

The film works to educate people about the intersex community, the modern medical treatments being forced upon them, and the social stigma surrounding those who do not fit into the binary (and refuse to mar themselves to do so).