Courtesy of FX; Netflix; A24
The saying may be that when the sun's out, it's guns and buns out. But let's be honest, sometimes when temperatures are through the roof all you really wanna do is relax, blast the air conditioner, and binge some quality queer TV shows and movies.
Just me? Nah.
Good news, August is seriously bringing the heat with all manner of LGBTQ+ shows and movies. From trans-Atlantic rom-coms to spine-chilling horror films, and the return of the highly anticipated gay heart-warmer, Heartstopper, August is chockablock with must-watch programming!
Here are the queer and queer-inclusive television shows and movies you don’t want to miss this August.
All film and series descriptions are courtesy of their respective studios and networks.
Big Brother follows a group of people living together in a house outfitted with 94 HD cameras and 113 microphones, recording their every move 24 hours a day. Each week, someone will be voted out of the house, with the last remaining Houseguest receiving the grand prize of $750,000.
Where to watch: CBS & Paramount+
This season, the Rez Dogs find themselves stranded in Cali and have to figure out their way back home. After making it back to Okern, Elora considers the idea of college, Bear comes across a conspiracy theorist named Maximus (Graham Greene), Willie Jack grows more invested in healing her community, and Cheese, well, he still lives with his grandmother who’s not his grandmother. Meanwhile, the aunties, uncles, and elders explore their pasts and try to heal old wounds.
Where to watch: FX
Nick and Charlie navigate their new relationship; Tara and Darcy face unforeseen challenges and Tao and Elle work out if they can ever be more than just friends. With exams on the horizon, a school trip to Paris, and a prom to plan, the gang has a lot to juggle as they journey through the next stages of life, love, and friendship.
Where to watch: Netflix
In contemporary Paris, German filmmaker Tomas (Franz Rogowski) embraces his sexuality through a torrid love affair with a young woman named Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos), an impulse that blurs the lines which define his relationship with his husband, Martin (Ben Whishaw). When Martin begins an extramarital affair of his own, he successfully gains back his husband’s attention while simultaneously unearthing Tomas’ jealousy. Grappling with contradicting emotions, Tomas must either embrace the confines of his marriage or come to terms with the relationship having run its course.
Where to watch: In theaters
Alejandro is an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador, struggling to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York City. As time on his work visa runs out, a job assisting an erratic art-world outcast becomes his only hope to stay in the country and realize his dream. From writer/director Julio Torres comes a surreal adventure through the equally treacherous worlds of New York City and the U.S. Immigration system.
Where to watch: In theaters
Alex Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez), the son of the President of the United States (Uma Thurman), and Britain’s Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine) have a lot in common: Stunning good looks, undeniable charisma, international popularity … and a total disdain for each other. Separated by an ocean, their long-running feud hasn’t really been an issue, until a disastrous—and very public—altercation at a royal event becomes tabloid fodder, driving a potential wedge in U.S./British relations at the worst possible time. Going into damage-control mode, their families and handlers force the two rivals into a staged “truce.” But as Alex and Henry’s icy relationship unexpectedly begins to thaw into a tentative friendship, the friction that existed between them sparks something deeper than they ever expected.
Where to watch: Prime Video
Ben, a struggling filmmaker, lives in Berkeley, California, with his girlfriend, Miko, who works for a local Asian American film festival. When he’s not managing an art-house movie theater as his day job, Ben spends his time obsessing over unavailable blond women, watching Criterion Collection DVDs, and eating in diners with his best friend, Alice, a queer grad student with a serial dating habit. When Miko moves to New York for an internship, Ben is left to his own devices and begins to explore what he thinks he might want.
Where to watch: In theaters
There's no denying that it's all about him Damien. After experiencing his first encounter with heartbreak Damien dives into the chaotic world of college life. Damien stumbles around campus like the other lost freshmen doing his best to keep his eyes glued to his books and off of shirtless jocks, frat boys, and handsome intellectuals. But Damien's level of discipline may prove to be no match for the ways of a manipulative college senior who threatens to establish a degrading reputation for the freshmen. Damien's cousin Kendall begins his own journey of self-discovery. Kendall not only reconnects with himself but with a love from his past - a cute church boy. It's a forbidden love that may require Kendall to turn his back on the person who has aided him in keeping his sexuality secret from friends, family, and their church for years - his mother.
Where to watch: On VOD
Season three finds Charles, Oliver & Mabel (played by Steve Martin, Martin Short & Selena Gomez) investigating a murder behind the scenes of a Broadway show. Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd) is a Hollywood action star whose Broadway debut is cut short by his untimely death. Aided by co-star Loretta Durkin (Meryl Streep), our trio embarks on their toughest case yet, all while director Oliver desperately attempts to put his show back together. Curtains up!
Where to watch: Hulu
In season four of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, after an epic summer at Camp Shallow Lake, the Wildcats return to East High where they will prepare a stage production of “High School Musical 3: Senior Year.” On their first day back, the principal announces that Disney has decided to make the long-awaited “High School Musical 4: The Reunion” movie on location at their beloved high school, and our Wildcats will be playing featured extras in the movie. It’s season four, and it’s now or never.
Where to watch: Disney+
In season 7, alliances are turned on their heads. Old wounds are weaponized. Loyalties are tested. Betrayal takes on epic proportions. Enemies become wary friends. And Bobby Axelrod returns, as the stakes grow from Wall Street to the world.
Where to watch: Showtime
Talented, ambitious, and backstabbing hairstylists gather for a competition in England, only to find one of their own murdered before judging can begin. Winding through neon-lit halls and backstage dressing rooms, competitors unspool long-simmering resentments and secrets as they search for the killer among them, in this devilishly funny whodunit from debut filmmaker Thomas Hardiman.
Where to watch: In theaters & VOD
F.L.Y. is a slice-of-life comedy about two exes, Max and Rafael, who get stuck living together. Having not seen each other in years and with a new boyfriend in tow, things get off to a rocky start as Max navigates the situation with Raf, who just moved to LA with the dream of becoming the next drag superstar.
Where to watch: Puerto Rico Film Festival, August 16 – 20, more festival dates to come.
Bennie Upshaw (Mike Epps), the head of a Black working class family in Indianapolis, is a charming, well-intentioned mechanic and lifelong mess just trying his best to step up and care for his family — wife Regina (Kim Fields), their two young daughters (Khali Spraggins, Journey Christine) and firstborn son (Jermelle Simon), the teenage son (Diamond Lyons) he fathered with another woman (Gabrielle Dennis) -- and tolerate his sardonic sister-in-law (Wanda Sykes), all without a blueprint for success. But the Upshaws are determined to make it work, and make it to the next level, together. In this upcoming part, the Upshaws continue to ride life’s ups and downs, including new jobs, bigger dreams, health struggles and some major life surprises but still hanging on with the love that comes with family.Where to watch: Netflix
When a group of friends escape the city to spend the weekend in an abandoned hotel, a pervading eerie energy begins to illuminate the cracks in their little family unit. Ruthie Nodd (Gayle Rankin) inherits the hotel from her grandmother and with bad childhood memories threatening to burst to the surface, Ruthie wants to sell the hotel and never return. But her partner Cal (Hari Nef) drags her there with the hopes of returning it to its former glory. They're joined by their friend Maddie (Rad Pereira) and grifter Fran (Annabelle Dexter-Jones), whose unhinged seduction threatens to drive a wedge between the couple. As the friends dance, cook, flirt, and fight up and down the halls of the hotel, they begin to find themselves indelibly entwined in the hotel's seductive embrace and start doing bad things.
Where to watch: Shudder & AMC+
Rose (Marin Ireland) is a pathologist who prefers working with corpses over social interaction. She also has an obsession — the reanimation of the dead. Celie (Judy Reyes) is a maternity nurse who has built her life around her bouncy, chatterbox six-year-old daughter, Lila (A.J. Lister). When one tragic night, Lila suddenly falls ill and dies, the two women's worlds crash into each other. They embark on a dark path of no return where they will be forced to confront how far they are willing to go to protect what they hold most dear.
Where to watch: In theaters
Set after the fall of the Empire, “Star Wars: Ahsoka” follows the former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy.
Where to watch: Disney+
Feña, a young trans guy bustling through life in New York City, is afflicted with an incessantly challenging day that resurrects ghosts from his past. Laundromats, subway turnstiles, and airport transfers are the hectic background to this emotional drama that overlaps past, present, and future. Settling the disharmony of transitional upheaval in relationships familial, romantic, and platonic is Feña’s task at hand, and his resulting juggling act is equal parts skillful, fumbling, and honest. In negotiating his obliqueness, the poignant moments he finds between himself and others – as the distance between them closes – are warm, true, and touching.
Where to watch: In theaters
Courtesy of FX
This season, Archer and The Agency are finding their own way with Lana at the helm. Her goal is to make money while also making the world a better place, but she quickly finds out that running a spy agency isn’t so cut and dry.
Where to watch: FXX
