Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2020)

While film and TV still have a long way to go when it comes to LGBT representation, there are so many more opportunities for LGBT people to see ourselves onscreen than there were even a few years ago. Best of all, some of the best LGBT films and shows are available for free or on popular streaming services that you might already be subscribed to. Here are some of my top picks for films and TV shows with positive LGBT representation, sorted by where you can find them. (Note: This list is accurate as of June 2021, but streaming libraries change frequently.)

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Portrait of a Lady on Fire, from director Céline Sciamma, tells the story of Marianne (Noémie Merlant), a painter living in eighteenth century France who is tasked with painting a portrait of Héloïse (Adèle Haenel), a woman who is to be married off soon. Initially painting her in secret, Marianne develops a close bond with Héloïse and slowly begins to fall for her. What follows is an intimate, poetic, and moving love story that sweeps the audience up in a beautiful, breathtaking feat.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire is stunning, down to the way the movie looks, the sound design, and the nuanced performances of Merlant and Haenel. Every frame of the film is a painting, gentle and composed like the most beautiful pieces of art. It’s impossible to look away from, and it’s completely mesmerizing.

The cinematography done by Claire Mathon is stunning, with every shot feeling like an integral part of the movie. The cinematography is a character in and of itself, and portrays the lushness of the story just as much as the words themselves do. Art is a key part of the film’s story, and this is reflected in the way it looks and the gentle, natural sound, free of any musical score until the achingly beautiful finale. Portrait of a Lady on Fire succeeds at placing the audience in the film, making them feel as though they are a part of that place and time, though in reality it is so distant.

Francis Lee’s much-anticipated period romance, Ammonite, stars Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan as two women who fall in love against the backdrop of the English coast. Ammonite is both more and less than I expected, with Winslet and Ronan delivering stellar performances in a story that doesn’t quite live up to its potential.

Lee opens the film with an extended shot of a nameless woman scrubbing a museum floor. A group of men barks at her to move as they carry a fossil across the room. The scene effectively, if rather unsubtly, establishes the theme of devalued female labor.

We then meet Mary Anning (Winslet), a paleontologist eking out a bleak existence with her distant mother (played sublimely by Gemma Jones). Mary’s passion is excavating and studying the fossils she finds in the cliffs along the English Channel, but she makes ends meet by selling trinkets to tourists. Mary’s bitterness and loneliness stem from a series of traumas that largely remain implied. It’s been far too long since Winslet had a role with this much depth, and her powerful yet restrained performance alone makes Ammonite worth a watch.

The World to Come (2021) is an astonishingly beautiful love story. Mona Fastvold’s nineteenth century lesbian romance is emotionally charged, restrained, and poetic without feeling forced. Helped along by the incredible performances of its cast and its gorgeous visuals, the film tells a story of isolation and connection, bleakness and joy.

The World to Come is focused on two couples working hard just to survive on the American East Coast frontier in the 1850s. Abigail (Katherine Waterston) and husband Dyer (Casey Affleck) have recently lost a daughter to diphtheria, and they’re struggling with grief that leaves no room for closeness between them. Tallie (Vanessa Kirby) and her unrelenting husband Finney (Christopher Abbott) have begun renting a farm close by. When Abigail and Tallie meet they form an instant connection, a stark contrast from their previous isolation.

The film is narrated by diary entries from Abigail. The poetic narration is beautifully worded and performed and gives a deep view into Abigail, who is not an outwardly emotionally effusive person. Katherine Waterston’s voiceover narration of the diary entries is just one part of her stunning performance. Her Abigail is quietly desperate — intense yet controlled, at different moments achingly lonely, joyful, anguished. Vanessa Kirby, too, gives a remarkable and passionate performance.

From the moment that the two first lock eyes, the chemistry between Abigail and Tallie is the most striking element of the film. Their strong, clear connection adds to the tension that underscores the entire film. The two light up when together and you can feel their ache for each other when separated, a separation that is made necessary at times due to the unyielding land and at times due to their husbands. The tension at moments in the film, driven by the relationship between Abigail and Tallie and their relationships with their respective husbands, is so palpable it feels as if you could cut through it with a knife.

The World to Come is visually stunning, using gorgeous natural imagery. The world of the film is often bleak and sparse, yet it’s captured very beautifully. Its overall atmosphere alternates between coldness and warmth with an underlying darkness, which adds to the fiery nature of the film and its central relationship. The film’s visuals also work with the soundtrack to create an incredibly atmospheric film.