Top 20 unforgettable LGBTQ+ films found in 2023

The year 2023 has been an important one for queer cinema and some of the usual stereotypes have finally faded away. For a change, the LGBTQ+ community wasn't used as a supporting act but graduated into main characters with unique storylines.

History and facts that were previously erased or ignored were suddenly shifted correctly back into the spotlight with important visibility in projects like Rustin and Maestro. The Color Purple embraced lesbian content as a musical that the original film only hinted at and conveyed the intention that Alice Walker wrote about in 1982. All of Us Strangers reminded us how far we have come and Anatomy of a Fall prepared us for possible judgment in the court system. Cassandro wrestled haters in the ring, Saltburn turned up the heat on quirky characters and Joyride took an all-Asian bad luck club on a hilarious travel adventure.

Netflix streamed Diana Nyad's swimming challenges and May December taught observers a lesson in character study thanks to gay film director Todd Haynes.

Let's take a moment to toast to Sherry Cola as she poured her bisexual self into two projects this year with Joyride and Shortcomings!

10 May December

9 Joyride

8 Anatomy of a Fall

7 Rustin

6 Nyad

5 Cassandro

4 All of Us Strangers

3 Saltburn

2 Maestro

1 The Color Purple

The second half of the top 20 LGBTQ+ offerings display how mainstream and popular queer stories have become in 2023. Casey McQuiston's book translated well to the screen without alienating others politically and Dicks: The Musical took a more controversial in-your-face approach. Prime Video project Theater Camp poked fun at thespians and Bottoms took the top mean teen spot.

Trace Lysette's riveting performance in Monica and Lio Mehiel's honest portrayal in Mutt gave a voice to those sometimes regulated to being on the fringe of society. Next Goal Wins continued that conversation in the world of sports and The Persian Version transported viewers to meet a complicated Iranian family.

11 The Persian Version

12 Monica

13 Mutt

14 Dicks: The Musical

15 Bottoms

16 Red, White & Royal Blue

17 Of an Age

18 Next Goal Wins

19 Shortcomings

20 Theater Camp

A Knock at the Cabin is notable for having a two-dad household but then tortures the doomed duo while on their vacation. American Fiction was also problematic with a story about Black stereotypes that displayed several gay cliches along the way. Barbie wasn't gay enough with Allan's identity remaining a secret and Pedro Almodovar's short A Strange Way of Life wasn't long enough.

The unique cartoon Nimona battled adversity from the beginning and won thanks to the Netflix team supporting non-binary author ND Stevenson.

Foreign films finished strong with Japanese multi-angled Monster, Mexican sausage party Rotting in the Sun and French realism in Passages.

If viewers really want to explore the LGBTQ+ community simply look to 2023's outstanding documentaries. Leave any preconceived notions about sex work behind as HBO's The Stroll and Prime Video Kokomo City presented portraits of humans navigating life. We Live Here: The Midwest showed a range of people facing political and social challenges and Peacock's Every Body continued the conversation with the intersex community. Audiences could learn a history lesson from the horrors of Eldorado: Everything the Nazis Hate to not allow a repeat of it again.

Musicians played on with a singer wrestling with sexuality in HBO Max's Little Richard: I am Everything and Indigo Girls creating safe spaces for their concerts in two different docs It's Only Life After All and Mixtape Trilogy: Stories of the Power of Music.

Not all were aces, so skip the Anne Hathaway stalled vehicle Eileen and even Molly Ringwald couldn't save Bad Things from being just plain bad.

In 2023 more colors of the rainbow were displayed in the cinematic world than ever before. Either in big-budget or small arthouse films, the community broke new ground while remaining unapologetic.

Look for some shocking surprises throughout this top twenty list along with several celebratory scenes and honest characterizations in multifaceted stories. This made for a special year where more people could see themselves represented on the silver screen in rich, fulfilling storylines. For Celie Johnson in The Color Purple and several others, it's been a long time coming.