LGBTQ+ Films To Add to Your Watchlist

Hannah Smith ’26

Executive Arts & Entertainment Editor

Here are three incredible LGBTQ+ films that you may have missed that you should definitely add to your watchlist and where they’re streaming.

Jane Schoenbrun’s horror-drama “I Saw the TV Glow” is about a teenage boy, Owen, his friend Maddy and their obsession with a late-night television show called “The Pink Opaque.” As the years progress and the show continues, their reality begins to shift and the border between the show and real life becomes imperceptible. This film is wildly atmospheric, blending nostalgia with trauma to create something deeply unsettling and equally familiar and comfortable. The horror style starts off very similar to “Goosebumps” with villains like the Ice Cream Man and evolves into something far more sinister and visceral. It gets under your skin, providing more of a feeling of despair rather than fear through physical jumpscares and gore.

“I Saw the TV Glow” includes different gender and sexual identities and emphasizes the idea of finding yourself, often repeating the phrase, “there’s still time,” meaning it’s never too late to embrace who you are. Written and directed by Schoenbrun, a transgender woman, it focuses on the fear of finding and accepting your true identity. It stars Justice Smith (“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”) as Owen and Jack Haven, a nonbinary actor best known for their work in “Atypical,” as Maddy. “I Saw the TV Glow” is streaming on HBO Max.

Rose Glass’ “Love Lies Bleeding” stars Kristen Stewart (“Twilight”) and Katy O’Brian (“Twisters”) as a couple in this ultra-violent romance-crime thriller. The film centers around a gym manager, Lou (Stewart), and her partner Jackie (O’Brian), a bodybuilder, who find themselves mixed up with Lou’s criminal family. Because of all the steroids Jackie takes, the film feels like a drug-induced fever dream, blending hard-core violence with Lou and Jackie’s extreme relationship to make quite the film.

“Love Lies Bleeding” is heavily influenced by camp films of the 80s with a modern, surrealist twist. In an interview with Letterboxd back in 2024, Glass identified Paul Verhoeven’s “Showgirls,” David Cronenberg’s “Crash” and John Badham’s “Saturday Night Fever” as major inspirations for the film, highlighting the erotic and extravagant aspect to the film. You can watch “Love Lies Bleeding” on Hulu.

“Will & Harper” is a documentary following two friends, Will Ferrell, famous comedy actor, and Harper Steele, a transgender comedy writer, on their cross-country road trip as they process their new reality together. It’s all about the life of a trans woman, what it means to transition later in life and what it means to be a friend to someone who is transitioning. The film emphasizes trans rights and the treatment of transgender people across the United States. It has a stacked cast filled with “Saturday Night Live” icons like Seth Myers, Kristen Wiig, Tina Fey and Bowen Yang.

This comedy documentary is profoundly moving and heartwarming. It shows the good and the bad, it’s vulnerable, it’s infuriating, it’s empowering, it’s everything you could ask for from comedy legends like Ferrell and Steele. “Will & Harper” is currently streaming on Netflix.