13 lesbian and sapphic outlaw movies and where to watch them

There are so many great lesbian movies out there, from heart-wrenching dramas to hilarious raunchy comedies to movies features lesbian dirtbag characters, but our favorite kind of sapphic film are lesbian crime thrillers.

Give us sapphic outlaws, hot lesbian chemistry, and thrilling criminal enterprises, and we will binge watch them all.

We love movies that feature complicated female characters who don’t act the way society has deemed appropriate. Normal crime thrillers can be boring, but throw in women behaving badly — especially if those women are lovers — and we are IN!

Basically, we love the kind of movie where the TLDR is: Be Gay. Do crime.

It used to be hard to find movies in this subgenre, but in the last couple of years we’ve been getting more and more films featuring lesbians committing crimes in the most entertaining way possible. So, here are 11 lesbian movies to scratch that particular sapphic criminal itch.

Love Lies Bleeding

Kristen Stewart and Katy O'Brian play lesbian lovers in a bloody crime movie. 'Nuff said. Ok, we'll say a little more. In Love Lies Bleeding, Stewart plays Lou, a gym owner/criminal, and O'Brian stars as a bodybuilder named Jackie, in this erotic thriller throwback. The movie is hot, steamy, and incredibly violent. Basically, it's everything we love in a film. Plus, KStew as a tank top-wearing buthc lesbian is our new favorite thing.

Where to watch: HBO Max

Bound

This mob-revenge movie has all of the crime, vengeance, and hot sex scenes between Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon that we could ever ask for in a lesbian thriller. There is a reason Bound sparked a queer awakening in so many ’90s teens!

Where to watch: Pluto TV

Honey Don't

The second chapter in Ethan Coen’s planned lesbian crime trilogy, Honey Don’t, stars Margaret Qualley as a private eye investigating a shady church leader (Chris Evans), and her love interest is none other than gay icon Aubrey Plaza.

Where to watch: Peacock

Ride or Die

Based on a popular manga series, Ride or Die follows Rei, who must go on the run with her longtime crush Nanae, after she kills the woman’s abusive husband. The rest of the film is a fugitive road trip move that focuses on the women’s complicated relationship and growing feelings.

Where to watch: Netflix

Wild Side

This 1995 erotic thriller features Anne Heche as a bank executive-turned-escort who falls in love with the wife (Joan Chen) of a notorious money launderer played by Christopher Walken.

Where to watch: Roku

Foxfire

The movie credited with the start of Angelina Jolie and Jenny Shimizu’s relationship, Foxfire features a cast of high school girls who turn the tables on a teacher who made sexual advances.

Where to watch: Rent on Amazon Prime

I Care a Lot

We love movies about women behaving badly, so a film where Rosamund Pike plays a lesbian grifter who is constantly outsmarting men is right up our alley.

Where to watch: Netflix

Set it Off

In this heist movie starring Vivica A. Fox and Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah play a butch lesbian bank robber. Need we say more? We didn’t think so.

Where to watch: rent on VOD

Monster

In Monster, Charlize Theron plays real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos, and Christina Ricci plays her love interest, Selby Wall. It's gritty and bloody and gives you a fuller picture of why Wuornos became violent. If that's not enough to grab your attention, Theron won an Oscar for Best Actress for the role, and it was directed by Patty Jenkins, who went on to helm the two Wonder Woman movies.

Where to watch: Freevee

Eileen

Eileen stars Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway in a dark and twisted film about what happens when the boundaries of friendship become dangerously blurred.

Where to watch: Hulu

Thelma and Louise

While not textually queer, we’re still counting it because both Thelma and Louise leave behind unfulfilling relationships with men and commit to each other. Then there’s that farewell kiss that Susan Sarandon improvised! Plus, Sarandon said later that she thought her character would be a lesbian if the film had ended differently.

Where to watch: Prime Video

Butterfly Kiss

Butterfly Kiss is a twisted ‘90s thriller about an unhinged drifter, played by the talented Amanda Plummer, who travels around northern Britain killing men and women while searching for her former lover. Think Thelma and Louise meets the depravity of Natural Born Killers or Monster.

Where to watch: Plex

Do Revenge

Camila Mendes and Maya Hawke star as Drea and Eleanor, two high school students who band together to get revenge on their tormentors in this sapphic teenage crime movie set in this movie that is dripping with ‘90s references.

Where to watch: Netflix