June is the most colorful month of the year, but promising LGBTQ+ entertainment is also coming our way. We’ve picked out 10 films and series that will give you a queer perspective in 2024.
As Pride Month, June is an excellent time to shine a spotlight on the diverse queer entertainment still to come this year. Which films and series with lesbian, gay, trans and other queer characters are still to come in 2024? We have scoured the cinema and streaming landscape for you to present 10 new LGBTQ+ releases. After all, launches like All of Us Strangers and Slow were far from everything
10 series and films with an LGBTQ+ focus starting in 2024
1 Karl Lagerfeld starts the fashion rebellion at Disney+
Daniel Brühl transforms himself into the famous German fashion designer “Kaiser Karl” in Becoming Karl Lagerfeld. The miniseries not only traces the rise of the initially derided German in the Paris fashion scene of the 1970s, but also focuses on his love affair with Jacques de Bascher.
All 6 episodes of Becoming Karl Lagerfeld start on June 7, 2024 on Disney+
2. Kristen Stewart shows how love outgrows itself in Love Lies Bleeding
Love Lies Bleeding is not just the name of a flower, but also the name of an escalating romantic thriller that has already screened at the Berlinale and is coming to cinemas this summer: lesbian Lou (Kristen Stewart) falls in love with bisexual bodybuilder Jackie (Katy M. O’Brian), a newcomer to the small town, at her fitness center in 1989. But a criminal father, a violent brother-in-law and bodies pushed to their limits repeatedly put obstacles in the way of their rapprochement.
Love Lies Bleeding opens in cinemas on July 18, 2024
3. The (queer) sibling clan of the Umbrella Academy says goodbye to Netflix
The Umbrella Academy is a Netflix series that feels like it covers all shades of gender identity and sexuality with its dysfunctional, lovable superhero family. Whether gay, trans or tentacled: The Hargreeves siblings around Viktor (Elliot Page), Klaus (Robert Sheehan) and co. master every end of the world together – even if it means saying goodbye in the upcoming 4th season.
The Umbrella Academy season 4 comes to Netflix with all 6 episodes on August 8, 2024
4 Best queer feel-good entertainment is coming to Netflix in 2024 with Heartstopper season 3
The unagitatedly beautiful British boy-meets-boy love story of Heartstopper, directed by comic book writer Alice Oseman herself, has been delighting Netflix since 2022, and this fall it returns for its 3rd season. In addition to the main couple Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke), the colorful circle of friends also includes the trans girl Elle, the asexual Isaac and the lesbian power couple Darcy and Tara. Rarely have LGBTQ+ characters been portrayed as comfortably as here, even if the series doesn’t avoid topics such as mental health.
Heartstopper season 3 starts on October 3, 2024 on Netflix
5 First love among boys shows us young hearts
(Young Hearts)
In the Dutch-Belgian film Young Hearts, 14-year-old Elias befriends the boy next door, Alexander, who is the same age, and quickly realizes that he is falling in love for the first time. But the reactions of those around him raise questions and the teenager tries to understand the chaos of his feelings. Only Berlinale visitors will know whether the drama takes a similar direction to Close. Everyone else can find out soon at the movies.
Young Hearts opens in cinemas from October 10, 2024
6 The documentary Baldiga travels back in time to queer West Berlin
(Baldiga Unlocked Heart)
Of course, topics relating to LGBTQ+ people cannot only be dealt with in feature films and series. The documentary Baldiga: Unsecured Heart uses the life of photographer Jürgen Baldiga to shed light on the queer scene in Berlin in the 1980s and 1990s.
Baldiga: Unsecured Heart opens in cinemas on October 28, 2024
7 The Polish drama Woman of Freedom traces a gender dysphoria
(Frau aus Freiheit – Woman of )
Aniela/Adam (Malgorzata Hajewska) fills the role of father and husband as best he can in his native Poland. But in Frau aus Freiheit, her own body increasingly becomes a source of discomfort because it does not reflect her true identity. Over 45 years, the film follows the experience of gender incongruence (gender disphoria).
Frau aus Freiheit will be released in cinemas on November 14, 2024
8th new rom-com with Jonathan Groff on the way
(Woman of Freedom – Woman of )
Romantic comedies with homosexual protagonists are still a rarity in cinema, despite Love, Simon and Bros. A Nice Indian Boy, on the other hand, could follow suit this year: Naveen (Karan Soni) introduces his fiancé Jay (Jonathan Groff) to his very traditional Indian family. A white and gay husband? I wonder if they can reconcile that with the biggest wedding of the season?
A Nice Indian Boy celebrated its premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival, but does not yet have a release date in Germany
9th Cartel boss Emilia Perez undergoes gender reassignment surgery
(Selena Gomez in Emilia Perez)
Emilia Perez is a crime comedy about an unusual offer that a lawyer in Mexico has to face: A feared cartel boss wants her help to leave the drug business behind and disappear forever – by becoming the woman he has always dreamed of through surgery. The female ensemble around Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez and leading actress Karla Sofía Gascón was awarded the prize for Best Actress at Cannes 2024.
Emilia Perez celebrated its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, but has not yet been released in Germany
10. horror and identity in the shimmering light of the screen
I Saw the TV Glow has already impressed at Sundance and the Berlinale as a groundbreaking mindfuck à la Donnie Darko between 90s nostalgia and horror nightmare. Owen (Justice Smith) befriends the lesbian Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), who introduces him to the TV mystery series “The Pink Opaque”. This has consequences for the lives and identities of everyone involved.
Of course, this is just a small selection of series and films with an LGBTQ+ focus that the year has to offer. In the series landscape, 2024 is also likely to bring us new seasons of the Netflix hit Elite, the fantasy What We Do in the Shadows and the comedy The Sex Lives of College Girls. In addition, more films will be added to the theatrical and streaming sections. But for now, these 10 representatives should whet your appetite for the fact that the year will hold even more entertainment in all colors of the rainbow
