The LGBTQ+ community’s ties to Hollywood and cinema have been deeply intertwined from the early days of the medium. And yet, authentic representation of queer people in film continues to be a rarity (especially when it comes to high-profile movies). With the 2026 movie schedule here, we've rounded up what queer films we can look forward to this year 2026, and beyond.
Pride Month may have just passed, but, there’s definitely some good ones to check out in the second half of this year and on the way!
Coming Soon
Heartstopper: Forever - July 17, 2026
After Heartstopper has had us in our feelings across three seasons on Netflix, it’s almost time to reunite with Nick and Charlie for Heartstopper Forever. It’ll be about the couple’s struggles as they deal with the realities of being long-distance when they go to different universities post high school. Joe Locke and Kit Connor will not only star, they're also executive producers. (Aww, our babies are all grown up!) . It’ll be sad to say goodbye, but we’re excited to see the finale be a full-length movie.
I Want Your Sex - July 31, 2026
Notable queer filmmaker Gregg Araki hasn’t made a movie in over a decade, but he’s finally back with I Want Your Sex. The movie stars The Long Walk’s Cooper Hoffman as a young man who lands a job with a provocative artist played by Olivia Wilde, and becomes her sexual muse. The movie, which also stars Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Daveed Diggs, Johnny Knoxville, Margaret Cho and Charli XCX, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma - August 7, 2026
After director Jane Schoenbrun made one of the best LGBTQ+ movies of 2024, I Saw The TV Glow, that even got a shoutout from Martin Scorsese, the trans filmmaker is coming out with a follow-up very soon. It’s called Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma, and it’s about a famed slasher franchise called Camp Miasma that’s getting a reboot. The movie follows the queer director of the remake, Kris (played by Hacks’ Hannah Einbinder), who starts to become obsessed with the reclusive actress who originally played the franchise’s “final girl,” Billy Presley (Gillian Anderson).
The Wrong Girls - August 14, 2026
Since married couple Kristen Stewart and Dylan Meyer are both in the biz, it was only a matter of time before they made a movie together. This summer they have a stoner comedy called The Wrong Girls coming out. They wrote it together and serves as Meyer’s directorial debut. Stewart and Alia Shawkat lead the movie as pothead besties who accidentally come into the possession of a briefcase full of experimental psychedelics that give them telepathy… with their cats. Seth Rogen, LaKeith Stanfield, Kumail Nanjiani, Zack Fox and Tony Hale are also in the cast.
Barbara Forever - September 4, 2026
Documentary fans – this fall you can learn the story of Barbara Hammer! She was a trailblazer in the lesbian film genre from the 1960s up until her death in 2019. The movie on her life is called Barbara Forever and uses archival footage to chronicle her life and work. The movie currently has a 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes after premiering at Sundance earlier this year.
Clarissa - December 11, 2026
Virginia Woolf’s classic novel Mrs. Dalloway is being revisited in a modern-day context with the new movie, Clarissa. The movie, helmed by Nigerian filmmakers Arie Esiri and Chuko Esiri, is set in Lagos and stars Sophie Okonedo, David Oyelowo, Queen Charlotte’s India Amarteifio, Ted Lasso’s Toheeb Jimoh, and The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri. Just like the book, it revolves around a society woman getting ready to host a party at her home when she unexpectedly reunites with two friends from her past at the same time. It recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to much acclaim.
Completed Movies With TBD Release Dates
The Brittney Griner Story
Britney Griner is an American basketball player who has scored three Olympic gold medals for the U.S. team and become a WNBA All-Star six times. She also famously made headlines for her wrongful detention in Russia during most of 2022. The Brittney Griner Story gives the figure a chance to tell her side of the story alongside her wife, Cherelle, and friends and family. The movie is produced by ESPN and Disney Entertainment and premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival.
Club Kid
Jordan Firstman, who recently found a main role in I Love LA, has written, directed and stars in his debut feature, Club Kid. The dramedy is about an underground party promoter whose life turns upside down when he learns he has a 10-year-old son named Arlo that he must now care for. The movie also stars Cara Delevingne, Diego Calva and Kirby Howell-Baptiste and earned a lot of praise at its Cannes Film Festival premiere.
Cry To Heaven
Openly gay fashion designer and filmmaker Tom Ford is currently working on his next film, Cry To Heaven, which is an adaptation of the Anne Rice book of the same name. You may be aware of Anne Rice via her supernatural book series like Interview With The Vampire (which has its own TV show starring gay vampires) and Mayfair Witches, but this work of hers is about two men living in 18th-century Italy trying to make it in opera. The movie is set to star Nicholas Hoult and Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the main roles alongside two queer talents, Hunter Schafer and Lux Pascal (Pedro Pascal’s sister).
Ephemera
Queer filmmaker Shan Jiang has written and directed a lesbian romance set in Shanghai called Ephemera. It centers on two women, one about to leave the city, and the other remaining there during a single night together. The independent movie is set to premiere at June’s Tribeca festival.
Give Me The Ball!
Another documentary from a queer sports legend coming out this year is one for Billie Jean King called Give Me The Ball! The account of the world champion tennis player uses archival footage and new interviews to discuss the importance of King on the sport and culture. She was previously highlighted in 2017’s Battle of the Sexes, where Emma Stone portrayed her.
The Man I Love
Following Rami Malek previously playing the LGBTQ+ icon Freddie Mercury, the actor is tackling another story set in the 1980s and about the AIDS crisis. Written and directed by Ira Sachs, who has made queer movies like The Delta, Passages and Peter Hujar’s Day, it follows an actor taking on a major role as he deals with illness. It also stars Tom Sturridge, Luther Ford, Rebecca Hall and Ebon Moss-Bachrach.
Mouse
In addition to starring in Clarissa, Sophie Okonedo also leads another queer indie darling called Mouse. This one is a coming-of-age story set in 2002 about two best friends Minnie and Callie whose friendship hits a rough patch ahead of their senior year. Amidst the change, Minnie forms a “complicated relationship” with Callie’s mom, per Variety.
Red, White And Royal Wedding
After Red, White And Royal Blue had us feeling all the feelings with an Amazon Prime subscription, a sequel is on the way called Red, White and Royal Wedding. Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine will reprise their roles as Alex Claremont-Diaz and Prince Henry alongside Uma Thurman, Sarah Shahi, Rachel Hilson, Ellie Bamber, Clifton Collins Jr, Stephen Fry, Thomas Flynn, Aneesh Shethand, Malcolm Atobrah all returning.
Also joining the cast are Lena Headey and Chloe Fineman. The original novel’s author, Casey McQuiston, co-wrote the movie with Matthew López. The movie wrapped filming via TikTok in March, and is expected to come out by the end of the year, per Lena Headey’s comments to ScreenRant.
Tangles
Another film that came out of 2026’s Cannes Film Festival to look forward to is an adult animated film called Tangles starring the voice talents of Abbi Jacobson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Beanie Feldstein, Seth Rogen, Sarah Silverman, Bowen Yang and Wanda Sykes. It’s based on the graphic novel Tangles: A Story about Alzheimer's, My Mother and Me, which is an autobiographical story about the author Sarah Leavitt as she deals with her mom’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Leavitt is a queer cartoonist who injects her lived-in experiences with her family throughout the touching story, and we expect it to be in the movie.
That Friend
Queer actor Harvey Guillén is the star of a new comedy called That Friend, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June. It’s about a couple Penny and Henry (Billie Lourd and Josh Brener) who are enjoying a vacation in Palm Springs when their friend Paul (Guillén) decides to crash and tag along.
In Production
A Long Winter
In addition to Kit Connor being in the upcoming Heartstopper movie, he's also attached to a movie called A Long Winter. It comes from queer director Andrew Haigh – who famously wrote and directed 2023’s All Of Us Strangers. In a report from Deadline in October 2025, the movie was announced along with word that D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai and Fred Hechinger will be his costars. The Bear’s Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Outlander’s Caitriona Balfe also joined (per Variety) as production began in Canada. Apparently, the movie’s events will revolve around the search for the missing alcoholic mother of Hechinger’s character that starts to involve the whole neighborhood.
De Noche
Openly gay filmmaker Todd Haynes is reportedly working on a gay romance called De Noche, with Pedro Pascal and Danny Ramirez as the leads after Joaquin Phoenix previously left the production, and the movie was expected to be dead, per Deadline. It’s about two male lovers who leave Los Angeles for Mexico in the 1930s. It was shot in Mexico City earlier this year.
Burning Rainbow Farm
Sebastian Stan and Leo Woodall are starring as a real-life gay couple who built a “pot-friendly utopia called Rainbow Farm” in rural Michigan. However, when their young son is taken from them after local authorities catch wind of them, “one of the largest and most dramatic sieges involving police and the FBI” ensues. The events happened back in 2001, and the story was previously told through a book by Dean Kuipers. The movie was reportedly shot in Australia starting in late 2025 and has wrapped production, per the Film & TV Industry Alliance.
In Development
Atmosphere
Before Taylor Jenkins Reid’s ‘80s-set novel, Atmosphere even became a bestseller last year, a movie adaptation was announced in May from the filmmakers of Captain Marvel, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck and LAIKA’s new live-action subsidiary. Especially after we loved another movie about space, Project Hail Mary, we can’t wait to see the story of two women astronauts fall in love.
The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo
One of the best mainstream LGBTQ+ novels in recent years that’s among upcoming book adaptations is a movie version of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. The book, also from author Taylor Jenkins Reid, is about an iconic movie star from Old Hollywood who recounts the truth of her love life across her career to a reporter. The latest update is that Anna Kendrick will direct the movie after previously making her feature debut with Woman of the Hour.
Will any of these be regarded as some of the best LGBTQ+ movies once they are released? We’ll keep you updated here and look forward to supporting these queer films.
