Pride Month gives viewers a reason to return to queer cinema with fresh eyes. It is a time to remember the good and the bad of the LGBTQ+ film legacy, and to reflect on how queer characters have been represented in film, from portrayals done with respect and nuance to those that have been mishandled or reduced to stereotypes. It can also be a chance to revisit favorite characters, return to films that linger in memory, or discover titles missed the first time around.
MOVIES
One of the streaming services with a strong selection of queer films this June is MUBI. The platform offers We’ve Always Been Here! Queer Cinema Looks Back, a Pride Month selection available to stream throughout June and beyond. The films approach queer lives from different angles, with stories that reach into romance, deception, punishment, faith, exile, and the search for connection.
The Handmaiden
The Handmaiden arrives on June 1, bringing Park Chan-wook’s 1930s Korea setting into the selection. A new handmaiden enters the secluded life of a Japanese heiress on a large countryside estate, carrying a secret from the beginning. She works as a pickpocket recruited by a swindler posing as a Japanese Count, who plans to seduce the Lady and steal her fortune.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Portrait of a Lady on Fire also arrives on June 1. Céline Sciamma places the story in late 18th century France, where painter Marianne receives a commission from a countess to paint the wedding portrait of her daughter Héloïse. Marianne must finish the portrait in secret, so she poses as Héloïse’s hired companion. Their time together gives the film its emotional force, as attraction grows through looking, silence, and the pressure of a future already arranged for Héloïse.
Benedetta
Benedetta already streams on MUBI, bringing Paul Verhoeven’s 17th century Tuscany convent drama into the guide. A lesbian affair creates scandal as Benedetta, a nun visited by increasingly sensual and violent visions of Jesus, draws suspicion from abbess Sister Felicita. The arrival of Bartolomea deepens the tension, as her attraction to Benedetta turns faith, desire, and distrust into the film’s main conflict.
Great Freedom
Sebastian Meise’s Great Freedom is part of MUBI’s current Pride Month selection. The film follows Hans in post-war Germany, where Allied liberation does not bring freedom for everyone. Authorities imprison him again and again under Paragraph 175, the law criminalizing homosexuality. Over several decades, Hans develops an unlikely yet tender bond with Viktor, his cellmate and a convicted murderer.
Strange Way of Life
Pedro Almodóvar’s Strange Way of Life is available to stream now. The short follows Silva, a rancher who rides through the desert to visit Jake, a town sheriff and former lover, after 25 years apart. Their reunion includes shared intimacy, reminiscing, and reconciliation, before the revelation of their link to a local crime suggests another reason behind Silva’s visit.
Việt and Nam
Trương Minh Quý’s Việt and Nam is available in the selection now. The film follows two young miners in northern Vietnam who steal moments of intimacy in the dark underground passages of a coal mine. Nam feels haunted by the past and plans to leave the country, but the love he shares with Việt keeps him grounded. The film places their relationship inside a setting marked by darkness, labor, memory, and the possibility of departure, giving its romance a sense of pressure and uncertainty.
Queer
Luca Guadagnino’s Queer follows William Lee, an American expat in Mexico City in 1950. Now streaming on MUBI, the film follows William as he spends most of his days almost entirely alone, apart from a few contacts with other members of the community. His encounter with Eugene Allerton, an expat former soldier, shows him that intimate connection might finally be possible.
