As it turns out, Erin’s financial situation has taken a turn, which means the house may not be hers for very long - which also means that this could be the last time the friend group gathers for this particular escape, so they try to make the most of it. Poor, gay, and wanting nothing less than monogamy, he meets up with his excitable best friends, Howie (Bowen Yang), Keegan (Tomas Matos), Luke (Matt Rogers), and Max (Torian Miller) for their annual trip to Fire Island, the famous gay shoreside getaway a few hours from NYC, where their older, attention-starved lesbian friend Erin (Margaret Cho) has a beach house waiting for them as always. It begins with Austen’s famous opening to Pride - “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” - as narrated by sarcastic protagonist Noah (Joel Kim Booster, the film's screenwriter), who immediately rejects this premise. Despite its premise differing wildly from that classic novel, it goes above and beyond as a modern retelling, resulting in not only one of the funniest, most complete pieces of entertainment this year, but one of the best Jane Austen movies in a generation. His latest, the Searchlight-produced Fire Island, also features prominent gay Asian characters, but is an enormous swing in the opposite direction: it’s a riotous studio comedy about a group of boisterous gay men on a week-long vacation, and it also happens to be an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.
Its indie follow-up, Driveways, told a gentle story of loss and regret, and featured a young gay boy. His debut feature, Spa Night, was a harrowing indie about a closeted Korean American teen, and the shattered dreams of his immigrant parents. More recently, a director like Céline Sciamma constructed a bracing picture of an intimate female relationship with “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” though looking back at her career, she’s long explored the nuances of female sexuality.įrom the 20th Century up until just this past year with Sweden’s Best International Feature Oscar submission “And Then We Danced,” below is a sampling of some of the best international LGBTQ cinema out there - including alternative entries from popular filmmakers you may have missed.Filmmaker Andrew Ahn is one of America’s underrated gems.
It has been updated on March 15, 2022.Īmerican movies and TV are making major strides in LGBTQ representation, but storytellers abroad are in many ways ahead of the curve, exploring sexuality and relationships with groundbreaking technique, and in ways often coded and ahead of their time.įrom Rainer Werner Fassbinder to Pier Paolo Pasolini, the fluidity of human sexuality has long fascinated international filmmakers unafraid to bust taboos. Editor’s Note: This list was originally posted on February 27, 2021.