In celebration of June Pride Month and Pride in London, our critics share a few recommendations and LGBTQ+ focused favourites. Ranging from subtle to groundbreaking to tragic, our critics’ selections span both decades and genres, offering a glimpse at the history of LGBTQ+ representation in the cinema.

Mansel Stimpson’s Picks:

Benediction
La Cage Aux Folles (1978)
Flee
Get Real
Lianna
Little Girl
Supernova
Victim
Weekend
Word Is Out

Michael Darvell’s Picks:

Pride
God's Own Country
Brokeback Mountain
Beautiful Thing
Call Me By Your Name
My Policeman
Weekend
In From the Side
Prick Up Your Ears
My Beautiful Laundrette

George Savvides’ Picks:

Brokeback Mountain
Carol
My Beautiful Laundrette
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Great Freedom
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Kiss of the Spider Woman
The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant
La Cage Aux Folles (1978)
The Power of the Dog

James Cameron-Wilson’s Picks:

The Power of the Dog
Blue is the Warmest Colour
Summertime
Victim
Pride
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
The Favourite
Ammonite
Beautiful Thing
Sunday Bloody Sunday

Chad Kennerk’s Picks:

The Children’s Hour
My Beautiful Laundrette
Paris is Burning
Orlando
Beginners
The Kids are Alright
Lilting
Moonlight
120 BPM (Beats Per Minute)
Call Me By Your Name

Film critic Mansel Stimpson’s memoir No Drum to Beat describes his late, but positive and totally unexpected realisation that he was gay. Written nearly forty years ago, the story gains from the fact that so much of it was recorded as it was happening. Although a personal tale, this is also a portrait of an era, sharing what it meant to be gay in the late 1970s and early 1980s when attitudes to homosexuality were gradually beginning to change.
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Pride Cinema

Now Streaming on Paramount+ This June

Winners Announced: The 76th Festival de Cannes