5 Of The Steamiest LGBTQ+ Sex Scenes Of The Last Decade
LTGBTQ+ sex scenes in film are extremely new — barely 100 years old. Although the first ever film was released in 1888 and there were a handful of queer characters in the years that followed, the first erotic gay kiss didn't occur on film until 34 years later in Cecil B. DeMille's 1922 movie "Manslaughter." This kiss also took place during an orgy — gasp!
Over the years, more LGBTQ+ characters made their way onto the screen, some of which became iconic. In 1955's "Rebel Without a Cause," we saw the first gay teenager on film, Plato, who was in love with his classmate Jim (played by James Dean — so who wouldn't be?). Then just 20 years later in 1975's "Dog Day Afternoon," Al Pacino, despite being known for playing tough guy roles, played a man robbing a bank to get money for his lover's transition procedure — a story that was based on real events. But while more movie studios became willing to invest in queer stories, they still shied away from intimacy that extended upon a brief kiss or cuddle. It wasn't until the sex scene in 2005's "Brokeback Mountain" that shook audiences, because there it finally was: sex between two men on film. Granted, it was quick, but it was there — and that meant something: the LTGBTQ+ community finally had representation.
Since then, we've gotten to see a lot of steamy queers sex scenes on film. So, if you need a movie to put in you the mood for a self-pleasure session and want to enjoy a film with your partner, there's no shortage of choices out there.
Disobedience
In "Disobedience" we're faced with two star-crossed lovers — which is always a good place to begin. Picture it: you and the love of your life grow up together in a Jewish Orthodox community. But the problem is, you're the same gender, so your love is forbidden. In this 2017 film, Ronit (played by Rachel Weisz) leaves the religion, while the other, Esti (played by Rachel McAdams), stays to live the life that's expected of her. But, after the death of a family member, Ronit returns home and wants to pick up where she left off with Esti. Esti does, too but she's hesitant because of the life she's chosen. After some serious tension, the two meet at a hotel and have some of the hottest lesbian sex you will see on film.
"Often, you're trying to decide if it's gratuitous or not," McAdams told Entertainment Weekly in 2018. "But this scene felt so integral to the plot and moving the story forward. The characters need this release to open up... There was energy to that scene that I haven't experienced in any other sex scenes [with men] in my career. There was camaraderie to it. We both felt safe and free.... All those things that you love about being a woman, you get to be with [in the scene], so I understand the attraction and appeal to that in a sexual context." Also, hotel sex is always fun.
All of Us Strangers
Since 2022, there's been an influx of gorgeous Irish actors flooding our small screens at home and big screens at the theater. Just when we thought we couldn't get enough of Paul Mescal (the darling of the "Normal People" adaptation) and Andrew Scott (the hot priest from "Fleabag") filmmaker decided to pair the two men as gay lovers in "All of Us Strangers," and give us one heck of an oral sex scene. In fact, it might be one of the best and most intimate oral sex scenes you'll ever see.
In the Academy-award nominated film, Adam (played by Scott) has repressed trauma from his upbringing about his own identity and relationship to his sexuality. He soon develops an unlikely bond with his elusive neighbor Harry (played by Mescal), whom becomes the only person he feels comfortable around. Though at first, Adam is hesitant about Harry, who seems very forward about his desires, he eventually lets go and allows Harry to get a taste of all of him. It's a really intense moment and the vulnerability from both actors is palpable.
Mescal himself has spoken about the care that went into heightening the drama of the scene.
"The tenderness required in your quality of touch is something you can't really block and write," Mescal told Out in January 2024. "It's not like you're going to touch his hand like this at this particular moment. It just doesn't work like that ... The most illicit moment is not actually the sex, but my eyes looking up to Andrew when I'm about to go down on him." Although there's a twist ending that makes the audience question what was real and what wasn't throughout the film, what really powers the plot is the connection, love, and the beauty of it.
Call Me By Your Name
While "Call Me By Your Name" may have had made Timothée Chalamet a household name, it also gave us one of the best queer love stories we've seen on film in a long time. (Fun fact: the book is even more spectacular.) In a nameless town somewhere in northern Italy in 1983, 17-year-old Elio and his father's 24-year-old assistant, Oliver, fall in love. First it's an infatuation on Elio's part, but it evolves into the type of spicy summer fling most of us only get to daydream about. When they finally have sex, it's Elio's first time, so there's some adorably awkward fumbling in there, but the eroticism of the scenario outweighs everything else, as we see glimpses of belts and shirts being yanked off before cutting away to trees outside, blowing in the night sky. In other words, you don't need to see hardcore penetration to be aroused.
"To put our gaze upon their lovemaking would have been a sort of unkind intrusion," director Luca Guadagnino told IndieWire. "I think that their love is in all things, so when we gaze towards the window and we see the trees, there is a sense of witnessing that. I refuse with strong firmness that I was coy in not showing that, because I think that Oliver and Elio and Armie and Timothée, the four of them displayed a very strong intimacy and closeness in so many ways and it was enough." And Guadagnino is right, because wow.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
If you prefer your queer sex scenes to take place in a period drama, then "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" is for you. Taking place in 18th century France, a painter named Marianne (played by Noémie Merlant) is asked to come to Bretagne to paint Hëloise (played by Adèle Haenel), so her soon-to-be-husband can see what she looks like before they wed. For about a week, these two women are left to their own devices without any men around them, which results in them discovering parts of themselves and their sexuality that they didn't realize existed. A series of erotic interactions build up between the pair before we get to them actually having physical contact, culminating in a gorgeous, candlelit scene with the two exchanging neck kisses and slow caresses in the quiet of the night.
"So even though it's an impossible love between them [Heloise and Marianne], that's not even discussed," writer and director Celine Sciamma told ABC Arts in December 2019. "It's not a tension or a dilemma. It's about what's possible when they are away from the male presence." What makes the film even more intriguing and beautiful is that Sciamma wrote the part of Hëloise for her former partner, Haenel, believing only she could pull off such a role.
Carol
When Carol (played by Cate Blanchett) finally as has sex with Theresa (played by Rooney Mara) — there's this exquisite flirtation between them that builds up to the moment over weeks. As a result, it's not just an explosion on the screen, but one for all the senses as the audience watches these two women devour each other. Like similar sexual encounters that are built upon secrets and tension, it's the same here in "Carol," but it's so artfully done, with the camera paying attention to every inch of each woman. Frankly, it's as erotic as it gorgeous.
"They're scenes and they're really important," Blanchett told The Belfast Telegraph in October 2015. "You always have to scrutinize and ask hard questions of those scenes — how necessary are they? But the consummation of their (Carol and Therese's) relationship is really important. It's just about how we were going to do it. We talked about the scene and there's a great sense of trust between Rooney and I." According to the British Film Institute, "Carol" is the best LGBT film of all time.