15 LGBTQ+ movies perfect for a romantic date night

If you need some good movies to help you set the mood...

...we're here to help!

Whether you and partner wanna get all up in your feelings, or just need something to put on as background noise while you do other activities, these 15 queer movies are perfect to watch on a romantic date night!

Red, White & Royal Blue

Despite its totally unfounded R-rating, Amazon Prime's Red, White & Royal Blue is the perfect movie for a date night. Starring Taylor Zakhar Perez as Alex Claremont-Diaz, the son of the U.S. President, and Nicholas Galitzine as Prince Henry of England, this enemies-to-lovers story gives us everything from drama to fuzzy feelings and hits every mark in between.

Jenny's Wedding

The 2015 romantic comedy Jenny’s Wedding stars Katherine Heigl and Alexis Bledel as a couple planning their wedding and dealing with Jenny’s family, who aren’t too excited about her marrying a woman. Jenny’s Wedding tends to hit the audience over the head a little, but if you have a soft spot for Alexis Bledel, Katherine Heigl, and lesbian weddings, get watching right away!

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 92 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Cloudburst

Cloudburst isn’t a first date movie; it’s a movie you watch with your girlfriend. This 2011 romantic Canadian adventure comedy follows Stella and Dotty, a lesbian couple from Maine who go on a road trip to get to Nova Scotia to get married (prior to marriage equality times) when Dotty is moved into a nursing home by her granddaughter. Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker play the couple on the run, and have perfect chemistry and comedic timing throughout.

Boys

Jongens (which translates to English 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. (Spoiler! 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!)

Happy End

Happy End is a 2014 German film that follows Lucca, a law student in the middle of her exams when she’s sentenced to community service in hospice and meets Valarie. Valarie visits her friend Herma in hospice until she passes away, then comes up with a plan to steal Herma’s ashes and spread them where she instructed. Lucca joins Valarie on her journey, and they fall for each other. 

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. The movie won Best Screenplay at Outfest in 2006! 

Bare

If your heart belongs to Paz de la Huerta, Bare is the answer to your Netflix-and-chill dreams! The 2015 drama follows Sarah (Glee's Dianna Agron), who lives in a small desert town when she meets drifter Pepper. Sarah ends up leaving her boyfriend for Pepper, and there’s some drama about working in a strip club and paying off debts. The plot is thin, but the sex scenes are not, which makes it a good makeout movie. 

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. 

Room in Rome

The entire plot of Room in Rome is that two women spend a single night in a hotel room together. There’s a little drama, and a lot of sex, which makes it a great background film for a date night.

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.

Stud Life

Stud Life follows lesbian JJ and her gay best friend Seb as they work as wedding photographers and look for love in London’s queer scene. When JJ falls in love, her friendship with Seb is tested. 

Weekend

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

The Summer of Sangailė

The Summer of Sangailė is a dreamy 2015 Lithuanian film that follows Sangailė and Austė, two young women who dream of becoming a stunt pilot and a fashion designer respectively, as they start an emotional summer romance. 

Love, Simon

The groundbreaking 2018 film (based off of Becky Albertalli's young adult novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda) follows the story of typical, suburban high school senior Simon Spier as he tries to navigate life after being blackmailed and threatened with outing by one of his classmates while also trying to figure out the identity of his anonymous, romantic, online pen pal named Blue.

Although there are serious themes and instances of casual homophobia throughout the movie, like most teen rom-coms, the ending is really, really sweet and gives the audience a feeling of hope for the titular character and his life as a newly-out, gay man.