This Pride Month, the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes is celebrating the queer community by curating a list of top 10 LGBTQ films since 2010 by their Tomatometer score. The diverse lists celebrate some of the best storytelling about the queer community, from Academy Award winners to less well-known foreign language projects too.
Rotten Tomatoes has sway in the entertainment industry. In fact, movie studios have begun to fear Rotten Tomatoes. The website assigns a “fresh” or “rotten” score based on published critic reviews and audience ratings. A fresh score can encourage more people to see a new film, but a rotten score can effectively kill its opening weekend at the box office.
Top Queer Films of the Decade
1. God’s Own Country (2017)
A British version of Brokeback, God’s Own Country tells the story of two farmhands — one a migrant worker, the other an angry introvert — who fall in love.
2. Moonlight (2016)
The 2017 Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Moonlight profiles a boy coming to terms with his own sexual identity in the black community of drug-torn Miami in the ’80s.
3. BPM (2017)
BPM poignantly follows a group of AIDS activists in the early 90s as they overcome obstacles to create the Paris chapter of ACT UP.
4. Tangerine (2015)
Filmed entirely on an iPhone with only a budget of $100,000, Tangerine follows a trans sex worker and her best friend as they embark on a rampage to find her ex-boyfriend and his new lover.
5. Tomboy (2011)
A French film from 2011, Tomboy is about 10-year-old Laure who moves during the summer holiday to a new neighbourhood and begins to experiment with her gender identity.
6. Call Me By Your Name (2016)
Not quite the Award-winner it was promised to be, Call Me By Your Name showcases young, queer love in front of the beautiful and scenic Italian countryside.
7. Behind The Candelabra (2013)
Liberace takes much-younger Scott Thorson as a lover, but the relationship deteriorates in this HBO biopic of the world-famous pianist.
8. Carol (2015)
Set in early 1950s New York City, Carol tells the story of a forbidden affair between an aspiring female photographer and an older woman going through a difficult divorce.
9. Pariah (2011)
Written and directed by Dee Rees, Pariah follows an African-American teenager as they juggle conflicting identities, desperately searching for their own sexual expression.
10. A Fantastic Woman (Una mujer fantástica) (2018)
This Chilean drama about a trans women won big at the Academy Awards last year, sweeping the top prize for Best Foreign Language Film.