20 Romantic Gay Movies Perfect For Date Nights

It’s movie date night. You’ve got your date and you’ve got your movie snacks. Now the only question is what the heck should you watch? Don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis, instead throw on one of these sweet and steamy films that put you in the mood for love.

1. Shelter

This sweet little love story follows a young surfer who's big plans for going way to college being upended when he instead has to deal with family obligations. But don't worry love is right around the corner when he finds the warm and waiting arms of his friends older brother.

2. Fire Island

Want romance? Well, look no further than this gay take on Jane Austen's beloved love story Pride and Prejudice. Joel Kim Booster, Bowen Yang, and Margaret Cho star in this film about a group of friends spending what is likely their last summer visiting the iconic gay getaway destination.

3. In From the Side

This gay rugby romance follows two players whose love story starts off as a surprising drunken interlude and blossoms into something more — and more complicated as they are both in long-term relationships. The film was made thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign and was written and directed by former rugby coach Matt Carter

4. Breaking Fast

This WEHO set romance follows Mo (Haaz Sleiman) a practicing Muslim who is contending with a broken heart. On the first night of Ramadan, he happens to meet and strike up a connection with Kal (Michael Cassidy). Mo invites Kal to join him in his iftars (nightly meals eaten during the holiday). Over the course of those meals, the two grow closer and their connection deepens.

5. The Thing About Harry

There’s a reason rivals turned love interests is a classic trope: because it works. It’s put to excellent use here in this sweet Freeform original starring Jake Borelli and Niko Terho as high school enemies who have to put that aside when they are forced to drive together to a friend’s engagement party — on Valentine’s Day no less.

6. Call Me By Your Name

If you or your date haven’t already seen this modern queer classic, bump Call Me By Your Name right to the top of your movie-watching queue. Luca Guadanino directs this sensual tale of a young man (Timothée Chalamet) who enters into a romance with an older man (Armie Hammer) when he is hired by his father as a research assistant. Sparks fly, there’s a thing with a peach. Yeah, this is a date night must-watch.

7. Maurice

If your date night vibe is super romantic (and with a happy ending) then go for an all-time queer fave: Maurice. Hugh Grant in the peak of his floppy-haired British dreamboat status stars in this English drama based on the E.M. Forster novel of the same name. The story follows the titular Maurice’s journey through love and heartache as he comes to accept and embrace his sexuality.

8. Bros

What’s more romantic than laughter? If you and your date want to snuggle up and giggle, Bros is a perfect date night watch. Starring Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane, Bros follows the trials, and tribulations of two commitment-wary men falling in love. It’s sweet, hilarious, and a bit raunchy — sounds like the perfect way to spend a night to us!

9. My Policeman

Harry Styles stars in this sexy and romantic film about a police officer (Styles) who ends up falling for a male school teacher (David Dawson). The two connect and engage in a passionate affair that is complicated in part simply by taking place in 1950s Britain when homosexuality was still illegal.

10. The Way He Looks

The Way He Looks is a 2014 Brazilian coming-of-age romantic film that follows Leo, a blind high school student, and Gabriel, a new student at school. Leo’s best friend Giovana is interested in Gabriel, but Leo and Gabriel slowly become closer. The Way He Looks won the Teddy Award for the best LGBT-themed feature, and the FIPRESCI Prize for the best feature in the Panorama section. The film also has a 91 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

11. Boys

Jongens, translated as Boys, is a 2014 film from the Netherlands. The film follows Sieger, a fifteen-year-old boy who lives with his widowed father and his brother. Sieger, along with two other boys — Tom and Marc — are chosen to represent their local athletics team at a national championship relay. Marc and Sieger begin a secret relationship, with Sieger insisting he’s not gay. Over the course of the film, Sieger learns to accept his sexual orientation. (Spoilers ahead: If you want to plan a double feature, pair Boys with The Way He Looks. Both romantic coming-of-age films end with cute couples riding away together on bikes.)

12. Weekend

Weekend is an award winning and critically acclaimed film with a 95 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes that Roger Ebert called “a smart, sensitive, perceptive film.” The film follows two men, Russell and Glen, who start a sexual relationship the week before Glen plans to leave the country.

13. God's Own Country

Johnny (Josh O’Connor) is hard on the outside, disinclined to be vulnerable, and the labor of caring for his family’s farm and his ailing father seems to be taking a toll on him emotionally. The arrival of Gheorghe (Alec Secareanu), a Romanian migrant worker whose presence is to lend an extra hand, shakes up Johnny’s life. Though Johnny sleeps with men occasionally, he discards them easily. But Gheorghe’s presence is different for Johnny; for Johnny, Gheorghe represents the complexity of masculinity, that it does not have to be defined by hardness, meanness, and power. That masculinity can be soft, caring, gentle, tender, and compassionate. That’s how director Francis Lee approaches the film, textural and tactile in its emotional and sexual moments. For God’s Own Country, queerness is of the earth.

14. Boy Culture

Boy Culture is a 2006 film adapted from Matthew Rettenmund’s 1995 novel of the same name. The film follows an escort who describes his romantic relationships with his two roommates and an older client. It won Best Screenplay at Outfest in Los Angeles.

15. Big Eden

Big Eden is a romantic comedy that follows Henry Hart, a successful gay New York artist who returns to his rural Montana hometown to care for his grandfather. Henry is forced to confront his unresolved feelings toward his high school friend Dean, while being completely oblivious to Pike’s feelings toward him. The film won awards at several LGBT film festivals, including Outfest, San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, and Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.

16. North Sea Texas

North Sea Texas is a 2011 coming-of-age Flemish drama that follows Pim, a teen boy who lives with his troubled mother, and falls in love with his best friend Gino. The film received positive critical reviews, and has an 81 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

17. Rag Tag

Rag Tag is a British-Nigerian drama that premiered at the 2006 San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival. The film follows two childhood friends, Raymond (known to his friends as Rag) and Tagbo (or Tag for short), who are reunited after losing touch for years, and take their relationship to the next level.

18. In the Grayscale

In the Grayscale is a 2015 Chilean drama that follows Bruno, an architect who has separated from his wife and is starting to explore his bisexuality. Bruno meets Fer, an out gay history teacher to whom he has a strong attraction, while working on a public monument in Santiago.

19. Beginners

Beginners is a 2010 romantic comedy-drama following Oliver, who is reflecting on the life and death of his father Hal. The film is based on the true-life coming out of writer and director Mike Mills’ father at age 75. The film is filled with flashbacks of recently out Hal exploring his life as an openly gay man, and enjoying his relationship with Andy, his much younger lover.

20. Pit Stop

Pit Stop is a 2013 American film that follows two gay men in a small town in Texas. They begin to build a relationship through their interactions at the local gas station. Pit Stop won the Texas Grand Jury Prize at the 2013 Dallas International Film Festival.