I’d understand myself and how to love differently.
#MALE GAY MOVIES ON PRIME MOVIE#
It feels like a cliche now, but if I had seen this movie when I was a kid, I feel like the world would have been different for me.
But I hope that the right audience sees it. There’s a chance The Half of It fades into the background of the multitudes of Netflix romantic comedies that are shuffled away in the mysterious algorithm. However, those moments happen where - and between characters - we least expect them. And although it has all this complexity, it still has the moments of joy and levity we crave in a coming-of-age. This is a movie that only a person that has experienced it could accomplish. And though it only skims the surface of sexuality, it’s distinctly queer. However, at its core, it’s a sensitive character study of identity and how the town we grew up in shapes it, for better and worse. Why you should watch it: On the surface, The Half of It is a serviceable high school dramedy.
While Alice and Paul’s friendship develops, so do Alice’s feelings for Aster. Here’s what it’s about: Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis) is a straight-A student who helps her father with the bills by writing papers for other students, which is why she’s approached by sweet, but hopeless jock Paul (Daniel Diemer) for help writing love letters to the school’s misunderstood it-girl Aster (Alexxis Leimer). The Half of It (2020) Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, and Collin Chou in The Half of It. It’s perhaps one of the best comedic ensembles of all time with every actor getting their moment to steal a scene whether it’s Hank Azaria’s high-camp Guatemalan housekeeper repeatedly falling over because he’s not used to wearing shoes or Christine Baranski playing Val’s biological mother prancing around her office or Williams directing Albert’s cabaret performance. Instead, they take their time and pace themselves allowing for us to explore, get to know and, most importantly, fall in love with every single character. However, like their best work, they guide the story and the actors to the edge of ridiculousness, but never let it go over - even Nathan Lane whose performance is as bombastic as ever leans on the side of high camp rather than slapstick.Īnd while the story is ripe for stereotypes and cliches, they never let it get there. The premise itself is like an improv prompt. Why you should watch it: Since Nichols and May started their careers as an improv comedy duo, The Birdcage was almost the perfect story for them to adapt. When their son Val (Dan Futterman) announces he’s getting married, they’re forced to put up a false straight front to host his fiance’s ultraconservative parents (Gene Hackman and Dianne Wiest). Here’s what it’s about: Armand Goldman (Robin Williams) owns the drag cabaret The Birdcage with his life partner Albert (Nathan Lane), who’s also the star performer. The Birdcage (1996) Nathan Lane and Robin Williams in The Birdcage. Here are a few LGBTQ films with happy endings to give you comfort, hope, and joy. Few, however, show the beauty and joy that could happen outside of that struggle. So many movies about marginalized groups, whether BIPOC or queer, focus on the struggle. There I could see people experiencing what I was experiencing and, in some, I would find hope that one day I would be able to be who I was unabashadly. LGBTQ films have finally started to break into the mainstream and spread the message of love, acceptance, and understandingĪs a closeted gay kid growing up in the suburbs of New Jersey, one of the greatest things I could turn to for comfort and understanding is LGBTQ films.