The Gay Oscar Nominations: What Are the Best Queer Movies of the Year?

Which movie ruled 20gayteen?

The 2019 Oscars are almost here and while this year's nominees are incredibly diverse, they still are a bit lacking when it comes to the stories that many LGBTQ people are rooting for. Of course, there is some overlap: The Favourite, Can You Ever Forgive Me, Mary Queen of Scots, and the ever-so-problematic Green Book feature some amazing queer characters and scored several nominations, along with A Star Is Born, which was all the gays were talking about for a solid three months. But what else did LGBTQ people actually love and enjoy in 2018? 

So we here at PRIDE gathered our thoughts together, and here are our favorite movies that each of us think absolutely killed it in 20gayteen! Did your favorites make the list?

A Star Is Born

You can call me basic and predictable for liking A Star Is Born, but you know what? There could be 100 people in a room and 99 of them don’t believe in you, but all it takes is one person and it just changes your whole life...Jokes aside, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper gave me life. I started bawling 35 minutes into the film, starting with the moment she first stepped on stage to sing with Cooper, and must have cried on four separate occasions. Both Gaga and Cooper’s acting were phenomenal. Their connection made me question whether I’ve ever actually been in true love. —Zachary Zane

Zachary Zane is a writer for PRIDE. Read more of Zachary’s work here, and follow him on Twitter here!

The Spy Who Dumped Me

If you love spy movies but are just so over the patriarchy, The Spy Who Dumped Me might be your jam. Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon play best friends who have to figure out what to do with a USB drive Kunis’s character is given by her spy boyfriend before he dies, and not get killed themselves in the process. The film centers around female friendship, was directed and co-written by a woman (Susanna Fogel), and features multiple scenes of McKinnon’s character flirting with Gillian Anderson. Gillian! Anderson! If that isn’t a film you want to watch immediately, then maybe you’re straight. McKinnon and Kunis (who never receives the credit she deserves for her comedic chops) play off each other like a dream, and the film truly draws most of its humorous moments from how deeply the two care about each other and how that affects their choices. The only thing that would make this movie better is if the sequel were a crossover with Ocean’s 8. And everyone was gay. —Rachel Kiley

Rachel Kiley is a writer for PRIDE. Read more of Rachel’s work here, and follow her on Twitter here!

A Simple Favor

After Emily (Blake Lively) mysteriously disappears from a small town, stay-at-home-mommy vlogger Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) dives headfirst down a rabbit hole of sex, lies, and murder to bring back her best friend. Or is Emily her lover? And if Stephanie cares so much about Emily, why does she sleep with her gorgeous husband and live in her McMansion? Grab a martini and strap in honey, because this hilariously twisted dark-comedy will have you gasping for breath between your howls of laughter. What sinister secrets bubble under the veneer surface of suburbia, and what lengths will a mom go to to get what she wants?  —Taylor Henderson

Taylor Henderson is the staff writer for PRIDE. Read more of Taylor’s work here, and follow him on Twitter here!

The Favourite

A dark comedy following the backhanded battles for power between high-class ladies of the old English court sounds like the perfect cocktail mix for queer enjoyment. It also happens to be the biggest surprise of my cinephile year with its unapologetically gay stance! Between the thrill of the forbidden, quintessential Biritsh shade, blunt humor, and a narrative steeped in the lesbian and bisexual romances of the highborn, The Favourite remains in my good graces for 2018. —Brendan Haley

Brendan Haley is a writer for PRIDE. Read more of Brendan’s work here, and follow him on Twitter here!

Widows

PSA: This is not your typical heist movie. Widows is a breath of fresh air in a tired genre long-dominated by cocky white men. After a shakedown gone wrong with a catastrophic explosion, the wives of seasoned criminals are left to fend for themselves against the people their husbands stole from. Each woman fights through the hand they're dealt as they band together to take back what is owed them. Gorgeous cinematography and thrilling acting performances by a grief-stricken Viola Davis, the somber and enchanting Elizabeth Dubecki, and the stonefaced Cynthia Eviro build and build with razor-sharp twists into an immensely satisfying end. But watching these women come into their own without the men holding them back are the most gratifying moments of all.  —Taylor Henderson

Taylor Henderson is the staff writer for PRIDE. Read more of Taylor’s work here, and follow him on Twitter here!

Crazy Rich Asians

Director Jon M. Chu’s romantic comedy, an adaptation of author Kevin Kwan’s 2013 novel of the same name, is the first major studio film in 25 years to feature an all-Asian cast since 1993’s acclaimed The Joy Luck Club. In a genre that is overwhelmingly dominated by the narratives of white couples, the fact that this movie portrays typical (albeit extremely wealthy) Asian people navigating their relationships with their romantic partners and their families is groundbreaking. And it’s the thing that Crazy Rich Asians does so well.

Asian characters deserve to be more than kung-fu masters or doctors. Asian characters deserve to do more than just stand in the background. Asian characters deserve to take up all of the dialogue in a film. Asian characters don’t deserve to be fetishized or emasculated. Asian characters deserve a cheesy rom-com. And Asian characters deserve to be in love! And with each other! —Raffy Ermac

Raffy Ermac is the editor-in-chief of PRIDE. Read more of Raffy’s work here, and follow him on Twitter and Instagram!

The Spy Who Dumped Me

In a ridiculous year like 2018, I’m only interested in movies that involve comedy, escapism, happy endings, and women kicking ass. The Spy Who Dumped Me, starring Kate McKinnon and Mila Kunis, delivered all of that, plus Kate McKinnon in a tank top and suspenders. What else do you need?? —Christine Linnell

Christine Linnell is the social media editor of PRIDE. Read more of Christine’s work here, and follow her on Twitter here!

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Between feeling like an outcast and hiding a true identity, superheroism has long been an allegory for growing up queer. It's a healing reclamation for many young LGBTQ folks to imagine themselves behind the mask of our favorite heroes, empowered by what makes them so different. But for the first time with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, I don't have to imagine. I am the superhero. Never in my 26 years have a seen a hero like Miles Morales, a half-Black,half-Puerto Rican teen from Brooklyn who gets bitten by a radioactive spider and...well, you know the rest of the story. Except isn't Peter Parker Spider-Man? And where are all these other Spider-People coming from? And what if Miles isn't cut out for his supposed "destiny." A thrilling and engrossing ride from start to finish, Into the Spider-Verse is the must-see movie of the year for anyone whose dormant inner-hero needs a little push. But if we're being honest, the price of the ticket is worth it just for the Tobey McGuire trilogy callbacks.  —Taylor Henderson

Taylor Henderson is the staff writer for PRIDE. Read more of Taylor’s work here, and follow him on Twitter here!

Black Panther

You know the tired, lame excuse that films with diverse casts don't do well in the box office? Yeah, well, director Ryan Coogler's Black Panther proved it completely WRONG! The fact that the Marvel Studios title broke all sorts of box office records proves how desperately needed visibility is for people of color (especially for Black people in the superhero genre), and while I can't even begin to pinpoint all the great things I loved about Black Panther, I will say that it was nice to see a superhero movie that completely avoids the white savior trope and had so many amazing, badass women! (Okoye's wig-throw is probably one of my favorite moments in cinematic history...) Top it all off with the ah-mazing soundtrack curated and produced by Kendrick Lamar, and I had no choice but to stan! —Raffy Ermac

Raffy Ermac is the editor-in-chief of PRIDE. Read more of Raffy’s work here, and follow him on Twitter and Instagram!

Hereditary

My favorite movie of 2018 is Hereditary. I love horror films, but it's hard to find ones that don't suck, and this one killed. I haven't been affected by watching a horror film since I was little and saw The Sixth Sense. Plus, if you pay attention, it's much more than a horror movie; it's a piece of art about society's fear of the transmasculine, as pointed out by writer Sasha Geffen. All hail Hereditary! —Sophie Saint Thomas

Sophie Saint Thomas is a writer for PRIDE. Read more of Sophie’s work here, and follow her on Twitter here!

Love, Simon

When I saw Love, Simon for the first time earlier this year, it truly dawned on me how, up until this point, I had never seen a teen rom-com lead by a realistic gay character in a movie of this scale. Sure, I've seen plenty of artistic, critically-acclaimed, queer-themed movies that have brought the narratives of LGBT people to mainstream consciousness, but I always still found myself wanting more. Love, Simon is more. Helmed by a major studio with a wide release of over 2,402 theaters during its opening weekend, Love, Simon was a film queer kids all over the country, from the city to the suburbs, had access to. Access that the closeted, teenage me wishes he had when he was struggling to figure out his identity in a space and community he was afraid would reject him. —Raffy Ermac

Raffy Ermac is the editor-in-chief of PRIDE. Read more of Raffy’s work here, and follow him on Twitter and Instagram!