11 Movies About Queer Women That Are Actually Good

Yes, GOOD movies about women who love women actually exist!

There are a number of movies about lesbian and bi women out there, but trying to find one with a plot beyond two women having well-lit sex for an hour and ten minutes (which we’re not knocking) is a little more difficult. These 10 movies have an 85% and up rating on Rotten Tomatoes and have won major awards. You definitely won’t regret watching any of these!

1) Violette

This 2013 biographical drama about the bisexual French novelist, Violette Leduc, has an 86% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and is Certified Fresh. The film stars Emmanuelle Devos as Leduc and Sandrine Kiberlain as Simone de Beauvoir, and follows Leduc from poverty to success with her autobiographical bestseller La Bâtarde.

2) Vic + Flo Saw a Bear

This Canadian drama won the Alfred Bauer Prize at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival, and follows Vic and Flow, two lesbian lovers and former convicts who end up in the Quebec countryside after Vic is released from prison. The film has an 91% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

3) Beyond the Hills

When Alina returns from German, she is reunited with Voichita in an Orthodox covenant. The women grew up together in an orphanage, and though Alina wants Voichita to run away with her, she discovers Voichita has become immersed in her faith. When Alina challenges the priest, they believe she is possessed. The film, based on the non-fiction of Tatiana Niculescu Bran, has a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. Writer and director Cristian Mungiu won Best Screenplay at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, and Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan shared the award for Best Actress. Beyond the Hills was also selected as the Romanian entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards.

4) Margarita, with a Straw

In this 2014 Indian drama, Laila, a young woman with cerebral palsy, embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Along the way, she falls in love, accepts her bisexuality, and comes out to her mother. The film won the NETPAC award at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, and Kalki Koechlin won Best Actress at the 2014 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. The film has a 86% on Rotten Tomatoes.

5) The Duke of Burgundy

This 2014 British Drama follows Evelyn, who studies moths and butterflies, while working as a maid in Cynthia’s home. Cynthia and Evelyn begin an erotic relationship, orchestrated by Evelyn. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the 23rd Philadelphia Film Festival, and has a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.

6) Pariah

This 2011 coming-of-age drama written and directed by Dee Rees tells the story of Alike, a 17-year-old black teenager who slowly embraces her identity as a lesbian. The film won the Excellence in Cinematography Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, and has a 95% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

7) The Kids Are All Right

This 2010 comedy by Lisa Cholodenko is not without controversy, but the film does have a 93% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture. The film also received four Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture. The Kids Are All Right follows Nic and Jules, a married couple living in Los Angeles. When Nic and Jules meet their sperm donor, Jules begins an affair with him.

8) Sand Dollars

This 2014 Dominican drama follows Noeli, a young Dominican escort working, over the course of her three-year relationship with Anne, an old French woman who buys her services. The film was selected as the Dominican entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards, and has a 94% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

9) Cloudburst

This 2011 comedy-drama follows Stella and Dotty, a lesbian couple from Maine who run away on a Thelma and Louise-style road trip after Dotty’s granddaughter moves her into a nursing home. They head toward Nova Scotia to get married. The film has a 100% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

10) Carol

When the Todd Haynes-directed film (which has a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes) debuted back in 2015, it became an instant queer classic. Following the story of Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett), a '50s mother and wife who falls in love with a younger saleswoman named Therese (Rooney Mara), the movie earned a handful of Oscar nominations for its hopeful ending that gave viewers a depiciton of lesbian characters still rarely seen in film.

11) Portrait of a Lady on Fire

When writer and director Céline Sciamma's film premiered in 2019, it became an instant classic. And for good reason! The beautiful movie tells the emotional love story of Marianne (Noémie Merlant) an artist tasked with painting the portrait of a young aristocrat named Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) and currently has a whopping 98% tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes.