10 Lesbian Dramas For Fans of Portrait of A Lady On Fire

At the moment of release, Céline Sciamma’s profoundly moving Portrait of a Lady on Fire became a critical darling, sweeping many nomination categories at various festivals and ceremonies around the globe.

A modern masterpiece of lesbian drama, below we list ten other films to compliment your viewing.

10 Bound (1996)

The Wachowski Sisters’ feature film debut, Bound stars Jennifer Tilly as Violet, moll to a mafioso (Joe Pantoliano) who enters into a secret affair with captivating ex-con, Corky (Gina Gershon). Yearning to escape and start a new life, the two hatch a plan to get the hell out of dodge…with two-million dollars in stolen mafia cash.

Taking notes from the cinema of Billy Wilder (Double Indemnity), Bound is a hard-boiled neo-noir with a sexy and respectfully conceived central romance.

9 The Chinese Botanist’s Daughters (2006)

Set in China, but filmed in Vietnam due to the former country’s strict rules surrounding homosexuality, The Chinese Botanist’s Daughters tells the story of Li Ming (Mylène Jampanoï), a young woman who begins studying under the tutelage of a renowned botanist (Dongfu Lin). When the botanist’s lonely daughter, An (Li Xiaoran) takes an attraction Li Ming, the two begin a forbidden relationship that ultimately dooms them both.

Poetic and full of quiet yearning, The Chinese Botanist’s Daughters is a heartfelt tragedy about love under oppression.

8 Bloomington (2010)

In this coming-of-age drama, a former child actress (Sarah Stouffer) winds up romantically entangled with a college professor (Allison McAtee). Though things get off to a fine start, opportunities lead to strife and uncertainty for the couple.

This humble, no-budget effort glides on the performances of its two lead, and though it wins no points for originality, it’s a solid enough coming-of-age drama.

7 Blue Is The Warmest Colour (2013)

The sex scene heard round the world! Though Abdellatif Kechiche lengthy, sex-forward rendering of Julie Maroh’s graphic novel was divisive upon release, it solidified itself as one of the preeminent films in the lesbian cinema canon. The NC-17 Palme d’Or winner stars Adèle Exarchopoulos, a teenager who forms a deep romantic bond with an older art student (Léa Seydoux).

Charting their ups, downs, and personal failings as people and as a couple in exquisite and excruciating detail, Blue Is The Warmest Colour earns every bit of its 179 minutes.

6 The Girl King (2015)

Most famously played by Greta Garbo in 1931, Queen Kristina of Sweden is one of history’s most notable sapphic figures. But Mika Kaurismäki’s The Girl King makes explicit what was only eluded to in Garbo’s day, namely that, beyond the adoption of more masculine dress, The Queen’s (played here by Malin Buska) closest companion and (likely) sexual parter was Countess Ebba Sparre (Sarah Gadon). Though unsubtle and skin-deep, The Girl King remains a sumptuous and entertaining historical drama.

5 Freeheld (2015)

Based on the 2007 documentary short by Cynthia Wade, Freeheld stars Oscar winner Julianne Moore as Laurel Hester, a cancer-ridden New Jersey detective who desires to leave her hard-earned pension to her domestic partner, Stacie Andree (Ellen Page). When the county outright rejects this, Hester and Andree fight back with the help of their friend Dane Wells (Michael Shannon) and a local activist (Steve Carrell).

Met with a lukewarm response at the time of release, Freeheld is a well-intentioned and ably acted drama that feels like a reminder against complacency in post-2016 America.

4 Carol (2015)

This delicately manicured snapshot of 1950s New York was a major awards season contender upon its initial release. Based on lesbian classic The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, Carol stars Cate Blanchett as a married upper-crust woman whose cozy life is threatened when she falls in love with a wide-eyed shopgirl, played by Rooney Mara. Elegantly wrought and impeccably acted, Carol isn’t just a great lesbian romance. It’s a great romance, period.

3 The Handmaiden (2016)

From South Korea’s preeminent craftsman of violent revenge fantasies comes this wild romantic (but no less grotesque) turn. Inspired by Fingersmith by Welsh writer Sarah Waters, Park Chan-Wook’s  lush drama relocates the novel’s action from Victorian Britain to Korea under Japanese colonial rule. The complex, twisting, and twisted narrative concerns an orphaned pickpocket (Kim Tae-ri) who assists a slick, Korean con artist (Ha Jung-woo) in devising a plot to screw a Japanese heiress (Kim Min-hee) out of her fortune.

To say anymore would spoil this tale, but suffice it to say, The Handmaiden is a seductive bodice-ripper as viewed through a Korean Revenge-Horror lens.

2 Thelma (2017)

Swedish director Joachim Trier’s critically-adored chiller stars Eili Harboe as the lonesome and tightly-wound titular character. Hailing from an ultra-conservative Christian family, Thelma lives a sheltered existence until she finds herself in Oslo at university. Already struggling to connect with others and beset by unexplained, epileptic fits, Thelma’s condition takes a turn for the worse when she meets Anja (Kaya Wilkins), a fellow student who ignites romantic feelings within her which trigger powerful psychokinetic reactions.

Harboe harnesses genre tropes in unexpected ways, making Thelma one of the freshest supernatural horror movies in recent years. Better still, it boasts a metaphorical edge that perfectly speaks to the fear and angst within the heart of anyone who’s suffered the pain of repression.

1 Duck Butter (2018)

When Naima (Alia Shawkat) and Sergio (Laia Costa) hit it off at a nightclub, they have a crazy idea to get to know each other by having sex once every hour for 24 hours. Though billed as comedy, Miguel Arteta’s Duck Butter uses humor and an experimental setup to deeply plumb the depths of modern relationships.

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