Courtesy of Tuschinski Film; Gramercy Pictures; United Artists
If there is one genre of films that queer folks do best, it's the erotic thriller. From Sapphic heists to killer (literally) hookups in the woods, to dark and steamy explorations of gay desire, queer film noir, filmmakers have been blending the subversive genres with the taboo delights of LGBTQ+ love and lust to make cinematic magic.
So if you're craving something a little saucier with a side of noir, here are 12 queer erotic thrillers you can watch right now, and where to do so.
Stranger by the Lake
Courtesy of Strand Releasing
Is there a better setting for an erotic thriller than the world of outdoor cruising? In Stranger by the Lake, Frank (Pierre Deladonchamps) is spending his summer in the steamiest way possible, by searching for hookups at a popular lakeside cruising spot in rural France. This is where he meets Michel (Christophe Paou), a dark and mysterious man he is inexorably drawn to. When someone is murdered, the two find themselves becoming the prime subjects, despite the danger, they instead continue their passionate affair.
Where to watch: Kanopy
Cruising
Courtesy of United Artists
Speaking of cruising.. In this 1980 queer classic, the bodies of gay men are being discovered in the Hudson River, victims of a serial killer stalking gay men in the West Village. To end his reign of terror, police officer Steve Burns (Al Pacino), who fits the victim's profile, goes undercover in the underground world of gay S&M and leather bars in the Meatpacking District.
Where to watch: VOD
The Handmaiden
Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
This steamy adaptation of the novel Fingersmith by British author Sarah Waters sees the sapphic action moving from London to Korea. In it, a young Korean thief is recruited to defraud a wealthy Japanese woman and pose as her handmaiden. Instead, sparks (and infamously some bells) fly. Betrayal, lesbians, rope bondage... this movie truly has it all.
Where to watch: Prime Video
Bound
Courtesy of Gramercy Pictures
Bound really reigns as the ultimate example of a queer erotic thriller. In it, Corky (Gina Gershon) is an ex-con turned plumber who's hired to work for the local mafioso, Caesar (Joe Pantoliano), and instead falls into a passionate and highly erotic affair with his moll, Violet (Jennifer Tilly). The two then cook up a plan to steal his money and ride off into the sapphic sunset. What could possibly go wrong?
Where to watch: Paramount+
Mulholland Drive
Courtesy of Universal Pictures
An erotic thriller through the eyes of David Lynch? Yes please. Set in Los Angeles, Mulholland Drive introduces a mysterious femme fatale with amnesia, Rita (Laura Elena Harring), who finds her way to shelter in Betty, (Naomi Watts), an aspiring actress's home. When Betty discovers that Rita is carrying a handbag full of cash, they team up to try and figure out her true identity, falling in love in the process.
Where to watch: On VOD
Love Lies Bleeding
Courtesy of A24
Emphasis on erotic needed here! In this '80s set thriller gym manager Lou (Kristen Stewart) is immediately entranced by Jackie (Katy O'Brian) a body builder headed through town on her way to a competition in Las Vegas. The two have instant chemistry and fall hard and fast for one another, but things get complicated when Jackie is pulled into the violence of Lou's criminal family.
Where to watch: Max
O Fantasma
Courtesy of Rosa Filmes
Again, emphasis on erotic. In O Fantasma, Sergio is a lonely trash collector who spends his evenings having random, and increasingly intense, anonymous sexual experiences. However, when he sets his sights on one particularly hot and mysterious stranger, his dream life begins blurring with his real one as he spirals into obsession.
Where to watch: Tubi
Sequin in a Blue Room
Courtesy of Peccadillo Pictures
Obsession is a common thread in erotic thrillers and plays a major role in Sequin in a Blue Room. In the film, Sequin is a young gay man who is exploring his sexuality through a series of casual hookups and anonymous sex. This is how he eventually discovers The Blue Room, a group sex party that is strictly for anonymous hookups. There, he meets a stranger who (do you sense a theme here!) becomes the object of his obsession and drives him to set off on a dangerous mission to track him down.
Where to watch: On VOD
Nevrland
Courtesy of Filmladen
This coming-of-age story is less Heartstopper and more mind-twister. In it, 17-year-old Jakob overcomes his crippling anxiety by taking refuge in cam chats online. It's there that the young queer man meets 26-year-old artist Kristjan and embarks on a psychedelic and erotic sexual awakening.
Where to watch: Tubi
The 4th Man
Courtesy of Tuschinski Film
Paul Verhoeven is no stranger to the erotic thriller genre, Elle, Basic Instinct, and Showgirls, yeah, that's all him. While The 4th Man may not be as well-known, it's a must-see for queer erotic thriller connoisseurs. The film follows Gerard Reve (Jeroen Krabbe), who is a novelist and alcoholic who is seduced by a sexy androgynous widow named Christine (Renèe Soutendijk) and finds himself drawn into a world of bloodshed and bisexuality — as he becomes increasingly convinced he may be Christine's next victim.
Where to watch: The Internet Archive
Bad Education
Sony Pictures Classics
Essentially anything Pedro Almodóvar makes qualifies as a queer classic, and his erotic thriller Bad Education certainly fits the bill. In the film, Enrique’s (Fele Martínez) life as a successful filmmaker is disrupted when a young man (Gael García Bernal), who claims to be his first love Ignacio, reintroduces himself and gives him a script supposedly based on their experiences from their time at a Catholic boarding school. The deeper he goes, the darker and stranger things get.
Where to watch: Rent on Prime Video
Wild Side
Nu Image
Lesbians really do have a chokehold on the erotic thriller. Wild Side is a perfect example of why, that is, if you watch the director’s cut. The film stars Anne Heche as Alex Lee, a banker by day and high-end escort by night who becomes embroiled in the underworld of one of her clients, a money launderer named Bruno Buckingham (Christopher Walken), when she is forced to become an informant. However, instead, she falls for Bruno’s wife, Virginia (Joan Chen), and the two embark on a passionate and high-stakes affair. Wild Side is tricky to find streaming, but versions of it do pop up here and there. And DVD and VHS copies are available for sale.
Where to Watch: Not currently streaming
