25 gay period dramas that will take you back in time

There’s no time like the present, but sometimes you just want to visit the past.

Forbidden romances, defiance in the face of bigotry, and of course, some pretty fantastic costumes are all hooks of gay period dramas, but these films also provide us with a look at gay history. These 18 movies will take you back in time (without the struggle of, you know, actually having to live in the past).

RELATED: 13 Lesbian & Bi Period Dramas That Will Take You Back in Time

1) Strange Way of Life

Queer auteur Pedro Almodóvar's entry into the gay cowboy subgenre is one that can't and won't get over! Set in the 1860s and starring two or favorite heartthrobs, Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke, this short film follows two former lovers reunited after 25 years, but now on opposite sides of the law.

2) Of An Age

Of An Age is set in the summer of 1999 as a 17-year-old Serbian-born, Australian amateur ballroom dancer experiences an unexpected and intense 24-hour romance with a friend’s older brother.

3) Operation Hyacinth

In this Netflix original thriller set in 1985 Poland, Robert is a young police officer inn communist Warsaw who is hunting down a serial killer targeting gay men. In the process he meets and falls for an informant named Arek (Hubert Milkowski) who completely changes Robert's life.

4) Halston

This Ryan Murphy docudrama series stars Ewan McGregor as the iconic, queer fashion designer Halston.

Firebird | Official Trailer HD | 2022

Firebird is set at the height of the Cold War and follows a troubled soldier who forms a forbidden love triangle with a fighter pilot and his female comrade amid the dangerous surroundings of a Soviet air force base.

6) The Boys in the Band

Set in 1968 a group of gay friends gather together for a birthday party for their friend Harold (Zachary Quinto). However the night takes a dramatic turn with a drinking game causes issues in the friend group to come to light. The film also stars Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, and Charlie Carver.

7) Wilde

This 1997 drama with Stephen Fry in the title role follows the life of Oscar Wilde in the late 1800s. A young Jude Law plays Wilde’s handsome lover, poet Lord Alfred Douglas.

8) Maurice

This 1987 romantic drama is based on the E.M. Forster novel of the same name, and tells the tale to gay love in early 20th century England, following Maurice Hall from his life in school until he is united with his life partner. James Wilby stars as Maurice Hall, with Hugh Grant as Clive Durham, and Rupert Graves as Alec Scudder. 

9) Gods and Monsters

This 1998 film recounts the fictionalized last days of Frankenstein director James Whale (Ian McKellen) in the 1950s. Whale has retired, and lives with his housemaid Hanna, who cares for him but disapproves of his homosexuality. Whale begins a friendship with a young, handsome gardener Clayton Boone (Brendan Fraser) who doesn’t return Whale’s feelings. 

10) Capote

Capote is a 2005 biographical film that follows Truman Capote during the writing of In Cold Blood in the late 50s and early 60s. Philip Seymour Hoffman won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Capote. 

11) Milk

This 2008 biopic based on the life of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, begins on Milk’s 40th birthday in 1970s New York, and chronicles his activism, romantic relationships, and assassination. 

12) Christopher and His Kind

Adapted from Christopher Isherwood’s biography, this biopic starring Matt Smith chronicles Isherwood’s life in Berlin in the early 1930s. 

13) A Single Man

If you just can’t get enough Christopher Isherwood (and who can, really?), A Single Man is based on his novel of the same name. Tom Ford’s directorial debut stars Colin Firth as a gay university professor living and grieving in California in 1962. 

14) Another Country

Another Country is a 1984 romantic period drama loosely based on the life of openly gay spy and double agent Guy Burgess (Guy Bennett in the film) in the 1930s and stars Colin Firth, Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride) and out actor Rupert Everett. 

15) Howl

This 2010 film explores the 1957 obscenity trial of poet Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl. James Franco stars as Ginsberg, and Aaron Tveit stars as poet and Ginsberg’s life partner Peter Orlovsky. 

16) A Love to Hide

A Love to Hide is a French film that takes place during World War II. A young Jewish girl tries to escape the Third Reich after her parents and sister are killed trying to escape to England. She’s sheltered by her gay childhood friend Jean and his lover Philippe. 

17) De-Lovely

De-Lovely stars Kevin Kline as Cole Porter and Ashley Judd as his wife, Linda Lee Thomas, who is aware of Porter’s gay extramarital affairs. The film covers the period between their first meeting to his death in 1964.  

18) Firebird

Set during the Cold War, a handsome soldier enters into a passionate and dangerous affair with a sexy ace fire pilot.

19) My Policeman

Set in 1950s Britain, Tom (Harry Styles) is a police officer who ends up falling for a male school teacher (David Dawson). The two fall into a passionate affair, set against the backdrop of a time and place where homosexuality was still illegal.

20) Benediction

Benediction follows the life of poet Siegfried Sassoon, who after serving in World War I became an outspoken critic of the war. It also delves into his various passionate affairs with men, and his struggle for self-acceptance.

21) Cassandro

Saúl Armendáriz, a gay amateur wrestler from El Paso, rises to international stardom after he creates the character Cassandro, the “Liberace of Lucha Libre.” In the process, he upends not just the macho wrestling world, but also his own life.

22) Brokeback Mountain

This iconic gay cowboy movie is set in the American West between 1963 and 1983. Brokeback Mountain follows cowboys Ennis (Heath Ledger) and Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal), who develop a sexual and emotional relationship while working on a ranch in Wyoming. Then, things get complicated when they both marry their respective girlfriends.

23) Dance of the 41

Based on a true story and set at the end of the 19th century, Dance of the 41 portrays the events surrounding a 1901 secret party of gay men, half of whom were dressed in drag.

24) Green Plaid Shirt

This gay romance premiered in 1996 but was set from 1977 to the late 1980s. The film centers on two men who begin a relationship after meeting at a garage sale where they fight over the same green plaid shirt and follows them as one of them gets AIDS and the other becomes his caregiver.

25) Before Night Falls

Starring Javier Bardem and Johnny Depp, Before Night Falls follows the life of Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas from his children to his embrace of the Revolution to the persecution he faced as a writer and gay man in Castro’s Cuba.