10 Romantic Gay Movies for Date Night

Date Ideas | July 16, 2018

Finding an enjoyable date movie that both partners will enjoy — whether it’s for a night out at the theatre or just snuggling on the couch with some microwavable popcorn — can be a challenge. If you’re a gay couple it can be even trickier since there are not a lot of mainstream (or even indie) films out there at any given time that can speak specifically to your experience. Below is a list of gay-themed romantic movies that range in tone from rom-com, to coming-of-age to serious drama. Some end happily, some don’t, but what they all have in common is that they deal with situations that are unique to the gay experience while maintaining a universal appeal.

1. The Way He Looks is a delightful coming of age story involving Leonardo (played by Ghilherme Lobo), a blind high school student struggling to become more independent and out from under the thumb of his overprotective mother. Among his more immediate concerns is the fact that he has never been kissed and wants the first time to be “special”. This is a charming, account of a boy becoming the kind of man he wants to be and the independent support network of friends (and potentially more than friends) that he creates to assist him in his journey along the way.
2. Boys (or Jongens as it is called in the Netherlands where it was made) makes a great date movie because it is about accepting both yourself and others for who they are. It is the story of Sieger, a boy whose mother has died and who lives with his father and brother. To escape the sadness and conflict in his home he becomes serious about his athletic pursuits and training. The pleasure of this particular movie comes from watching and seeing if Sieger is able to triumph both on and off the playing field if he makes the right choices.
3. Weekend is that perfect type of date movie that is about grabbing happiness when you have the chance, even though it may be only temporary. It’s also a sharp and observant look at hook-up culture and how and when people show their “real” selves and to whom. Funny, poignant, and Insightful, Weekend is like some such weekends in real life — leaving you wanting more but happy with the experience even if it ends up being a fleeting one.li>
4. Beginners is one of the most charming and entertaining romantic comedy-drama films of the last decade. Christopher Plummer won his first Oscar at the age of 81 playing Hal, a widower who upon the death of his wife finally finds the courage to admit the truth about himself to both his son and the world. Beginners shows us that whether you are gay or straight, when it comes to matters of the heart we are all pretty much the same. Hal’s straight son Oliver, has relationship issues of his own and he realizes that he could learn a lot from his dad’s late-in-life example. Beginners is an entertaining film about both a middle-aged man and an elderly man getting to know both themselves and each other a whole lot better.
5. In following the escapades of an in demand escort and in examining his various professional and romantic entanglements Boy Culture is an enjoyable romp that also has serious undertones about the differences between sex and love and matters of the body vs. matters of the heart. As “X,” a professional hustler who disapproves of promiscuity even as he profits from it, Derek Maygar gives humanity and realism to a character who could have easily come across as just another bitchy, acerbically amusing queen. In its depiction of the “typical” gay lifestyle Boy Culture pricks, but does not wound and will no doubt provide more than a few instances of amused self-awareness on the part of the audience.
6. Big Eden is a romantic comedy-drama about Henry Hart, a successful gay Native-American artist living in New York who returns to his hometown in rural Montana to help care for his sick grandfather. The twist is that nobody in his home town has any issues with the fact that Henry is gay and everyone is very accepting of him. While dealing with his family obligations, Henry must also confront his unresolved feelings for an old high school friend while being completely oblivious to the feelings of a possible rival for his affections.
7. Set in rural Belgium, North Sea Texas follows the adventures of a 15-year old boy named Pim who lives with his mother, a divorcee with a drinking problem and a penchant for inviting the wrong type of man into her life. Pim is a shy artistic boy who develops a close friendship with a slightly older boy named Gino that eventually becomes a romantic one. Both boys also have close friendships with girls that may or may not turn romantic as well with potentially volatile consequences. The first full-length feature from acclaimed shorts director Bavo Defurne, North Sea Texas captures the pain and longing of adolescent sexuality very effectively.
8. If you’ve ever wondered about what might have happened if you were to meet up again with an old friend that you were once super-close with (and may have had unresolved feelings for) but then lost touch with Rag Tag is a British-Nigerian drama that provides some possible answers. Raymond (Rag) and Tagbo (Tag) were best mates growing up in the same London neighbourhood. When Rag is sent away to live with his grandmother they lose touch and their lives take VERY different turns. What happens when they reunite and if they can remain friends while taking “the final step” as one character puts it makes for an absorbing story about 2 very different men who are BFF’s no matter what.
9. In the Grayscale is a Chilean drama about Bruno, an architect who decides to explore his unresolved bisexuality when he separates from his wife. While working on a public monument in Santiago, he meets Fer, a gay history teacher and pursues a relationship with him. There is actually a lot of similarities here to Weekend in that it’s a love story between two men of very different temperaments. In addition to being married, Bruno also has a son, and isn’t sure if he’s gay, straight but curious or genuinely bi and the tension between the various strands of his own nature as well as the unabashed gay sexuality of his new love interest gives the film an undeniable erotic charge.
10. Being gay in small-town Texas can’t be easy and the 20013 drama Pit Stop focuses on how two gay men — Gabe and Ernesto — inch their way to some sort of romantic understanding. Given that one of them has an ex-wife and the other an ex-partner who are still very much involved in their lives only adds to their already considerable challenges. Sympathetic and quietly observed, Pit Stop is an absorbing portrait of how lonely, damaged people might find some measure of happiness again.

To help you find “The One,” call Bespoke Matchmaking today at 1-888-422-6464 or contact us here.