10 lesbian-themed movies every gay guy should see

Learn a little more about queer women by watching great movies.

Here are 10 movies we would invite our gay besties over to watch with us -- and of course we'll pop some corn and uncork a bottle of wine for the occasion.

10. High Art

The Kids Are All Right director Lisa Cholodenko has never really been better than with her first feature, a gritty indie, about a young magazine editor (Radha Mitchell) who falls for the enigmatic, drug-addicted artist who lives in the apartment upstairs (Ally Sheedy). Patricia Clarkson adds outstanding support as the artist’s nihilistic girlfriend while Revenge’s Gabriel Mann plays the young woman’s cuckolded boyfriend.

Why you should watch: The art scene depicted here is about as gritty as it gets, and the scene in which Mitchell’s character has first-time sex with a woman, is about as real as it’s ever gotten on screen.

9. The Children's Hour

Of course, William Wyler’s 1961 adaptation of the Lillian Hellman play The Children’s Hour, about young women who run a private school for girls who are accused by a total bad seek of a little girl of being lesbians. The community runs amuck with the accusation and the women are pretty much humiliated and drummed out of business. The thing is that Martha (Shirley MacLaine) is actually in love with her friend Karen (Audrey Hepburn), but her love is loaded with pathos and self-hatred. As you might guess, it doesn’t end well for the women.

8. Go Fish

Very indie, and slightly experimental, 1994’s Go Fish marked the first time a movie focused on an established community of lesbians who weren’t struggling with coming out or coming to terms with identity. Director Rose Troche teamed with the film’s star Guinevere Turner (The L Word, American Psycho) to depict what life was like for young queer women in the ‘90s.

Why you should watch: It’s historically significant for it’s honest depiction of a diverse group of out women, and Turner makes for a witty and satisfying lead.

7. Bound

The Wachowski siblings’ first feature Bound (1996) stands out as an excellent neo-noir, and that’s before you throw in super-sexy femme fatale Jennifer Tilly as Violet and queer icon Gina Gershon as the unreasonably hot butch Corky, who devises the ultimate plan with Vi to get her out of her relationship with mobster Caesar (Joe Pantoliano).

Why you should watch: It’s an all-around entertaining thriller with highly watchable leads. It was also one of the first lesbian-themed movies that didn’t involve a big coming out – the established queer characters fall in love and pull off a heist together.

6. The Hunger

The ultimate, cool, queer vampire movie, The Hunger (1983), stars Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie as ‘80s-era alt vamps. Things get really exciting when Bowie’s vampire John seeks out Susan Sarandon’s gerontologist Sarah to find out why he has eternal life, but not eternal youth. It’s not long before Sarah spills her sherry on her blouse while visiting John’s wife Miriam (Deneuve), and the blouse comes off, the curtains begin to billow and pretty soon it’s a full-on Deneuve/Sarandon sex scene.

Why you should watch: For one thing, it’s the quintessential ‘80s movie, so much so that Ryan Murphy and Lady Gaga pulled heavily from it for American Horror Story: Hotel. Historically, it was one of the first films to feature established actresses in a full-blown sex scene. Also, the cast is just plain mesmerizing.

5. But I'm a Cheerleader

The ultimate queer satire, Natasha Lyonne stars as a Megan, a cheerleader sent to ‘homosexual rehab’ to cure her of her predilection for girls in director Jamie Babbit’s 1999 debut feature. Conversion camp at True Directions consists of the girls being forced into Pepto-Bismol pink skirt uniforms to learn to excel at traditionally domestic tasks like vacuuming and baby changing, while the gay boys (in royal blue shorts and shirts with ties) learn decidedly butcher activities like chopping wood from an ex-gay played by RuPaul, no less. Clea DuVall plays the bad girl love interest to Megan while Melanie Lynskey, RuPaul, and Eddie Cibrian lend hilarious support. But the real scene-stealer is Cathy Moriarty as the rampantly hetero germaphobe Mary, who runs the conversion camp.

Why you should watch: It holds up as deeply funny and searing in regard to sexual orientation and gender roles. Plus, you’ll want to see Eddie Cibrian in tight jean booty shorts wielding a chain saw.

4. Desert Hearts

A true classic, director Donna Deitch brought Jane Rule's novel to the big screen in 1985, and she did it with a whole lot of heart. A period piece set in the late '50s , Helen Shaver plays Vivian, a Columbia professor who spends six weeks in Nevada to establish residency for a quickie divorce. During her time at a ranchhouse for women, Vivian falls for the ranchhouse owner's sexy, brash, lesbian daughter Cay (Patricia Charbonneau).

Why you should watch: Likeable characters, a believable romance, and one of the first films to ever offer a hopeful ending for a female couple.

3. Pariah

Director Dee Rees (Bessie) spent years bringing her short film Pariah (2011)to the big screen in feature form, and the result is a beautiful and heart-rending coming-of-age story. Adepero Oduye (The Big Short) plays Alike, a Brooklyn teen discovering her sexuality under the watchful eye of her highly conservative mom (Kim Wayans). Amidst family strife Alike meets Bina (South of Nowhere’s Aasha Davis), a girl from church with whom she pursues something of a romantic relationship.

Why you should watch: It’s simply an excellent coming-of-age film with outstanding performances.

2. Blue Is the Warmest Color

Let’s be honest. Much ado has been made about the never-ending sex scenes and actual ‘scissoring’ in Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013). But it’s an excellent movie with a strong visual point of view and unforgettable performances from Adèle Exarchopoulos as the young and curious Adèle and Léa Seydoux as the slightly older woman who changes Adèle’s life. The running time is three hours, and there’s a lot of slurping of spaghetti and tight close-ups of faces and young women’s asses, thanks to fetishy director Abdellatif Kechiche, to get through. And still, it remains a timeless, sweeping coming-of-age story.

Why you should watch: It’s really one of the best-made films featuring a lesbian love story of all time. If you are curious about scissoring, this is definitely the movie for you.

1. Carol

Openly gay director Todd Haynes’ big-screen adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 novel The Price of Salt is nothing short of art and revolution. Rooney Mara stars as the world-weary shop girl Therese who waits on and falls in love with Carol, an enigmatic suburbanite in a blond fur, played by Cate Blanchett. A simple love story set in the McCarthy Era ‘50s, in which same-sex love was considered a mental illness, Therese and Carol embark on a dangerous love affair (and cross-country trip) where everything is played close to the vest, and nothing can be said outright, especially as Carol is caught up in a nasty divorce and custody battle.

Why you should see it: Haynes is arguably one our greatest living directors who shoots with an artist’s eye and an unabashed gay sensibility. You should see it for the costumes, the framing, the soundtrack, for Mara and Blanchett, and for Sarah Paulson as Carol’s former lover/confidante. Finally, if that’s not enough for you, perennial hunk Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) plays Carol’s soon-to-be ex husband. Just don’t say you don’t understand how anyone would pick Rooney Mara over Kyle Chandler around your lesbian friends – because that’ll get ugly. “And we’re not ugly people.”