As Pride 2024 rapidly comes to a close, what better way to celebrate than with a few great films! 2024 has been a great year for LGBTQ+ films and filmmakers so far, and we bring you a roundup of some of our favourites.
FESTIVAL FAVOURITES
ANY OTHER WAY: THE JACKIE SHANE STORY
Featured at this year’s SXSW Film & Television Festival, Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story weaves together striking archival footage, animation, and interviews to reconstruct the remarkable life of pioneering transgender soul singer Jackie Shane. Putting to rest any notion that the current surge of transgender performers is a uniquely contemporary phenomenon, the directors shine a deserving and highly overdue light on a supremely talented performer born before her time.
REAS
Premiering at this year’s Berlinale, Reas melds the hybrid documentary form with the movie musical to tell the colourful and engaging story of a group of ex-cons recounting their stories through music and traditional storytelling. Director Lola Arias assembles a diverse group of cis and transgender women, diving into their former lives as inmates of the Argentinian Ezeiza prison and allowing them the opportunity to tell their life stories in their own words.
BLOCK PASS
Antoine Chevrollier, well known for the French miniseries Oussekine, made his feature debut at Cannes Critics’ Week with Block Pass, an affecting tale about the enduring bonds of friendship, the devastating effects of toxic masculinity, and the transformative power of tragedy. Set in the macho motocross subculture of small-town France, the film paints a beautiful and tragic portrait of the deep friendship between two young men coming of age in a conservative and narrow-minded town.
THREE KILOMETERS TO THE END OF THE WORLD
The winner of the Queer Palm at year’s Cannes Film Festival, the latest film from Romanian director Emanuel Parvu tells the all too familiar story of a young man brutally gay bashed and ostracized in his small rural town. This subtly powerful film, anchored by a sensitive performance from Ciprian Chiujdea as the seventeen-year-old Adi, Three Kilometers to the End of the World nestles itself confidently in the thriving offerings of the Romanian New Wave.
YOUNG HEARTS
Anthony Schattman’s debut feature, premiering at this year’s Berlinale, tells the heartwarming story of a young boy named Elias (Lou Goossens), navigating his feelings for the boy next door. A touching family film about friendship and discovery, Young Hearts is a coming-of-age story that will feel familiar to anyone who has suffered the aching tug of young love.
THEATRICAL RELEASES
ALL OF US STRANGERS
Featuring heartbreaking performances from Andrew Scott (Fleabag) and Paul Mescal (Aftersun), the latest film from director Andrew Haigh (Weekend) is a captivating and original depiction of grief, love, and reconciliation. Based on a novel by Taichi Yamada, the film follows lonely screenwriter Adam (Scott) on an unusual supernatural journey when his long dead parents (Jamie Bell, Claire Foy) reappear in his childhood home, seeming not to have aged a day.
CHALLENGERS
This one might be a bit of a stretch, but it’s great fun, and despite a bit of a misleading trailer, features just enough simmering homoerotic tension between leads Mike Faist (West Side Story) and Josh O’Connor (God’s Own Country) to earn a pass. With an effectively icy performance from Zendaya (Dune), this sexy tennis thriller is a crowd pleaser.
DRIVE AWAY DOLLS
In his first feature without his brother Joel, director Ethan Coen takes us on yet another eventful road trip gone awry as lesbian best friends Jamie (Margaret Qualley) and Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan) go on the run from the mob. In addition to featuring great chemistry from its central duo, the comedy of errors features a slew of great supporting performances from the likes of Beanie Feldstein, Pedro Pascal, and Matt Damon.
LOVE, LIES, BLEEDING
A gloriously pulpy tale of lust, deceit, and violence set in the dusty American West, this lesbian bodybuilding thriller takes the audience on a wild and thoroughly enjoyable ride to some unexpected places. Inspired in part by the unapologetically over the top thrillers of Dutch director Paul Verhoeven, director Rose Glass’ second feature is absorbingly fun, and features top notch performances from Kristen Stewart and relative newcomer Katy O’Brian.
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