13 Queer Period Films to Watch and Be Thankful for This Holiday Season
| 11/25/21
13 Queer Period Films to Watch and Be Thankful for This Holiday Season
What's hotter than queer love? Queer love in period-accurate costuming. So if you're looking to get your seasonal swoon on during the long holiday weekend, then find your closest fainting couch and grab a few tissues, because it's about to get very romantic -- and gay -- in here.
1. The Favourite
Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) and Abigail (Emma Stone) are rivals who aggressively vie for the love and favor of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) in 18th-century England, in this darkly hilarious film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.
2. Another Country
Rupert Everett and Cary Elwes star as lovers in this film set in the 1930s. Based on the life of double agent Guy Burgess, it focuses on his time at school and his romance with fellow student James Harcourt.
3. San Junipero
In this uncharacteristically sweet and life-affirming episode of Black Mirror, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mackenzie Davis star as lovers who meet in a club in the 1980s in the fun-loving beach town of San Junipero. It takes some sci-fi twists and turns along the way, but the style, soundtrack, and love story will still sweep you away.
4. Christopher and His Kind
Based on a true story, this film captures how British-American author Christopher Isherwood (Matt Smith) and his German boyfriend Heinz (Douglas Booth) met and fell in love during the 1930s, set against the backdrop of the rise of Nazism.
5. Tipping the Velvet
This Victorian lesbian romp is based on the Sarah Waters's best-selling novel of the same name. Protagonist Nan follows the girl she loves into the theatrical world of London, which takes her on a journey of self-discovery and true love.
6. Wilde
Stephen Fry stars as the famed queer writer Oscar Wilde in this tale about him discovering his homosexuality with the help of his boyfriend Lord Alfred Douglas (Jude Law).
7. The World to Come
During the mid-19th century in rural upstate New York, farmers' wives Abigail (Katherine Waterston) and Tallie (Vanessa Kirby) strike up a passionate affair.
8. A Single Man
Based on a novel by Christopher Isherwood (of Christopher and His Kind), this film follows George Falconer (Colin Firth) after the death of his partner. His intent is to end his life, but over the course of the night, his interactions with others change his perspective. These include a Cuban gigolo and one of George's students, who has taken a powerful interest in him.
9. Bessie
This biopic tells the story of legendary bisexual blues singer Bessie Smith and includes her relationship with her lover Lucille -- a fictional character who stands in for Smith's real-life lovers.
10. Maurice
Based on the E.M. Forster novel of the same name, Maurice is a gay love story set in early-20th-century England and follows Maurice Hall from his life in school until he finds his life partner.
11. The Duke of Burgundy
This sumptuous erotic drama set in the 1970s follows two lepidopterists, Evelyn and Cynthia, who engage in increasingly intense battles of dominance and submissiveness.
12. The Handmaiden
This gorgeous psychological thriller, directed by Park Chan-Wook, is based on the novel Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. However, instead of taking place in 1800s England, the story has been moved to Japanese-occupied Korea, where the twisty and erotic plot plays out.
13. Carol
Adapted from Patricia Highsmith's novel The Price of Salt,this achingly beautiful 1950s-set story introduced audiences to Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara) and Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett), whose chance meeting in a department store leads to forbidden love.
