We’re halfway through 2025, and the year already feels a little gayer in the best way possible. The film slate so far has given us stories of queer longing, messy joy, complicated love, and hard-won freedom.
From intersex leads to sapphic detectives and slow-burn summers, queer cinema this year is breaking ground across genres and identities. Different vibes, but one thing in common: all of them are worth watching.
Here are 6 LGBTQIA+ films that we’re excited to cry over, scream for, and send deeply emotional texts about after watching.
Loulou (Released on June 6, 2025)
Loulou is a tender coming-of-age film that follows a closeted trans teen navigating family, isolation, and identity in a conservative town. It’s not loud but it stays with you. The story unfolds in soft glances and sharp silences as Loulou learns what it means to speak their truth even when the world isn’t ready to hear it. Quiet, brave, and beautifully honest.
Sally (Released on June 17, 2025)
This documentary follows Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, as her life partner Tam O’Shaughnessy finally shares the full story of their 27‑year romance. Told for the first time with archival footage and intimate interviews, the film explores Sally’s public victories and the personal toll of keeping her queerness private. Sally celebrates her achievements and the hidden love that fueled her legacy.
Ponyboi (Released on June 27, 2025)
Valentine’s Day. New Jersey. A drug deal gone wrong. Ponyboi follows a young intersex sex worker on the run from the mob after everything spirals out of control. Directed by and starring River Gallo, this film marks a landmark moment for intersex representation in cinema. Set over 24 hours, it’s gritty and raw with just enough heart to hurt. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQVPxH9i_K4
Hot Milk (Released on 4th July, 2025)
Set against the blazing heat of coastal Spain, Hot Milk follows Sofia (Emma Mackey) and her controlling mother Rose (Fiona Shaw) as they seek healing from an enigmatic man due to her mother’s condition. But as Sofia meets the wild and magnetic Ingrid (Vicky Krieps), she begins to taste freedom and queerness, for the first time. It’s sensual, simmering and tense in all the right ways
Honey Don’t! (Released on August 22, 2025)
Margaret Qualley plays Honey O’Donahue, a private investigator in a strange small town full of even stranger churchgoers and a string of suspicious deaths. It’s the second film in Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke’s lesbian B-movie trilogy, and it’s serving full retro camp with a sapphic core. Think vintage femme chaos, strange small-town energy and lots of trench coats.
Kiss of the Spider Woman (Releasing on October 10, 2025)
A reimagined musical set in a 1980s Argentine prison, this one features Tonatiuh as Molina, a gay man arrested for “indecency,” and Diego Luna as Valentin, a political prisoner. To survive, Molina tells stories about his favourite diva played by Jennifer Lopez. It’s romantic, escapist and full of glitter even when everything else is dark. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X38mG7IW4mo
While these are just some of the standout queer films arriving this year, there’s more on the horizon that’s just as exciting. David Lowery’s Mother of Mary, and Sydney Sweeney’s Christy portrayal of boxing icon Christy Martin, both of them still in progress, already promise something bold and intimate.
It’s heartening to see such a wide range of stories being told; across genres, identities and emotional registers. If this is any indication of where queer cinema is heading, we’re in for something truly powerful.
