Films with LGBTQ+ representation are steadily on the rise, and films debuting in 2023 are proving to be no exception.
While queer media has made great strides in recent years, it can still be difficult to find movies with queer representation that are prominent and accurate to the queer experience. 2022 was a good year for queer movies, and the new year also has a good amount of queer films on the horizon.
10/10 Nimona Is A Queer Animation Film Finally Making Its Way To Screen
Nimona has had a long and tumultuous road during its development and production period. Blue Sky was the latest studio developing the animated film, but when Disney acquired the studio, they shuttered it and Nimona along with it. Luckily, Netflix saved the film, and it will finally see the light of day in the summer of 2023.
Nimona is a graphic novel adaptationthatfollows a young shape-shifter named Nimona, a supervillain's sidekick. She must help her mentor's enemy, a Knight framed for a crime he didn't commit, and she realizes the monster he is out to slay may be Nimona herself. The movie features main queer characters and a shape-shifter protagonist that embraces gender fluidity and uses it as a superpower.
9/10 Good Grief Is Dan Levy's Raw Directorial Debut
Good Grief is the latest project from popular queer actor Dan Levy. The Netflix film will be Levy's directorial debut and is a melancholy comedy movie that explores grief in interpersonal relationships. Levy's character Marc loses his mother and enters a marriage he's comfortable with to distract himself from processing his loss. However, the sudden death of his husband forces him to confront his feelings.
8/10 Femme Is A Revenge Thriller About Getting Justice
Femme, originally a 2021 BAFTA-nominated short film, is being adapted as a full-length feature that has fans excitedly raving. Marketed as a drag queen revenge thriller, it follows a young drag queen named Jules, who is the victim of a humiliating hate crime that destroys his life. He then encounters one of his attackers in a gay sauna and becomes infuriated, beginning a thrilling revenge plot on the deeply closeted Preston.
This film, currently in post-production and eyeing to debut in 2023, draws on themes of queer rage and reclaiming your power after having it taken from you by not only an oppressor but also a society that allows that kind of hate to be fostered.
7/10 Knock At The Cabin May Be The Biggest Queer Movie Of 2023
Knock At The Cabin is set to be one of the most popular LGBTQ+ films released of the year. The M. Night Shyamalan psychological horror film is his first R-rated film since 2008. It follows a family on vacation taken captive by four total strangers who present them with a terrifying choice to avert the apocalypse. The family must decide what they believe is real to survive the horrifying encounter.
The film's protagonist family has two dads, played by Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge. In addition to these two stars, the film has notable actors Dave Bautista and Rupert Grint in its stacked cast. With the queer horror genre growing, this film will be a popular addition to the genre's roster. Knock At The Cabin releases on February 3rd.
6/10 Eileen Is A Mysterious Queer Story About Forbidden Desires
Eileen is an adaptation of the popular novel by author Ottessa Moshfegh. The film is a drama-mystery that follows a woman named Eileen who is trapped caring for her alcoholic, former-cop father and working as a secretary at a juvenile detention center. She falls into an intense relationship with a coworker who urges her to explore hidden urges, but this coworker is hiding dark secrets from her new friend.
5/10 My Animal Is An Animalistic Sapphic Horror Story
My Animal is a queer horror movie slated for Sundance. Paramount has already picked it up for global distribution rights, so this film that is currently in post-production will be able to reach a wider audience sometime in 2023. The film centers on an outcast hockey goalie named Heather, played by Bobbi Salvör Menuez, who falls for a newcomer figure skater named Jonny, played by Amandla Stenberg. As the relationship deepens, Heather must wrestle with dark secrets and contain the beast within.
Queer horror films tend to be very popular among fans, and My Animal will almost surely find a devoted audience when it debuts this year.
4/10 Marry My Dead Body Is A Spookily Funny Foreign-Language Film
Marry My Dead Body is a Taiwanese supernatural-comedy film that sees a prejudiced cop, played by Greg Hsu, accidentally fall into an arranged marriage with a recently deceased male ghost, played by Austin Lin. The cop rejects the marriage and causes bad luck to befall him, including messing up a coworker's case. He has no choice but to work with his ghost-husband to solve the case he messed up and avenge his husband's death so that the paranormal marriage can be ended.
Foreign-language films are growing increasingly popular in the United States due to increased access to streaming services like Netflix, with diverse international catalogs and subtitle and dubbing options. The film will be released in Taiwan on February 10th. Hopefully, Marry My Dead Body will be picked up by a streaming service with international access so the movie can be enjoyed globally.
3/10 The Color Purple Musical Film Breathes New Life Into The Classic Novel
The Color Purple has lived many lives. It's a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, it was adapted into a film made by Stephen Spielberg, a brilliant musical, and now in 2023, the musical is being adapted into a movie. The story of The Color Purple follows a girl named Celie in early 20th-century rural Georgia who grows and finds herself over the course of many different relationships and life experiences.
The queerness in Alice Walker's novel is undeniable, though it was all but erased in Spielberg's adaptation. Luckily it was re-introduced in the musical and will be present once more in the musical film when it debuts on December 20th.
2/10 Strange Way Of Life Is A Long-Awaited Queer Western
Strange Way Of Life is a passion project for director Pedro Almodóvar. The film is a western short film starring Hollywood greats Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal. Pedro Pascal plays Silva, a gunslinger who visits his old friend Sheriff Jake, played by Ethan Hawke, after 25 years. However, Sheriff Jake has other motivations for seeing his old friend than going down memory lane.
1/10 Rustin Is Telling A Queer Story History Had Almost Erased
Rustin is a biographical film of Baynard Rustin, a gay civil rights activist who organized the 1963 March on Washington. However, he has often been erased from the Civil Rights Movement for his proud gay identity. Colman Domingo will play Baynard Rustin, accompanied by stars such as CCH Pounder, Chris Rock, Audra McDonald, Jeffrey Wright, and many more.
The film is slated to release on Netflix in 2023 and is produced by former United States President Barack Obama's and his wife Michelle Obama's production company Higher Ground Productions.
Comments