BDSM-loving bikers, Miranda Priestly’s return, new adventures by Gregg Araki… 2026 looks set to be very queer in cinema!
New year, new films… and potential new obsessions. As 2026 is just getting started, we already have on the radar a small selection of LGBTQI+ films that will hit theaters this year. Are you ready? There is something for everyone!
- The Sound of Memories by Oliver Hermanus
After a chance encounter in a pub, Lionel and David, two music enthusiasts, accept a mission: after World War I, they will travel across the landscapes of New England to record local folk songs in order to preserve traces of the era. This journey brings them closer until their paths split, each having to return to their initial life plans. Unless they end up reuniting… Shown in the official selection at the latest Cannes Film Festival, The Sound of Memories is the new feature by South African director Oliver Hermanus, who notably won the Queer Palm in 2011 with Beauty. We expect emotion and, above all, we look forward to seeing Paul Mescal (Gladiator II) and Josh O’Connor (Challengers), two of the most sought-after actors right now, share the screen.
The Sound of Memories will be released on February 25 in cinemas.
- Pillion by Harry Lighton
Opening film of the recent edition of Cheries-Chéris after having been screened in preview at the last Cannes Film Festival, Pillion has all it takes to impose itself as the gay film of the year. Indeed, its plot is innovative, daring and kinky. With this debut feature, British director Harry Lighton explores the BDSM universe through the meeting of Colin, a shy young man still living at home with his parents, and Ray, a taciturn and charismatic motorcyclist. The latter will initiate his younger counterpart into the mechanics of a dom-sub relationship and push his boundaries. If the film’s premise tempts us, we also cannot wait to see the great Alexander Skarsgård on screen—we loved him as a bisexual vampire in the series True Blood.
Pillion will be released on March 4 in cinemas.
- Nino in the Night by Laurent Micheli
Following its literary success, the novel Nino in the Night by Simon and Capucine Johannin will finally reveal its adaptation just before spring. The film tells the story of Nino, a young man in his early twenties who, after several personal failures, goes to Paris to find the one he loves, Lale, along with his two best friends Malik and Charlie. He will juggle odd jobs and nights out, hoping to give his life a direction. On paper, the project has everything to sketch the portrait of a contemporary generation swept up by numerous anxieties and its dreams of a better life. After Queens of Drama in 2024, Bilal Hassani will experience his second film role here as Malik.
Nino in the Night will be released on March 4 in cinemas.
- Mother Mary by David Lowery
Years after A Ghost Story, director David Lowery promises to haunt us again with a new story, this time much more queer. In Mother Mary, he tells the reunion of Mary, a huge international pop star, and Sam, the stylist who dressed her in a past era. Separated for obscure reasons, they reconnect when Mary needs a dress for her upcoming tour… The trailer hints at a psychological thriller on the edge of horror and, above all, it evokes a homoerotic atmosphere between the two women. In the cast, Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel and the breakout star of Euphoria, Hunter Schafer.
Mother Mary does not yet have a release date.
- Stop! That! Train! by Adam Shankman
RuPaul and his crew of queens on the big screen? Yas, henny! In this film with a wild pitch, Tess and DeeDee are two inseparable friends who work as flight attendants in economy class aboard the Glamazonian Express, a high-speed train taking them to Los Angeles. While an event threatens to derail the vehicle, the duo are forced to collaborate with the pretentious first-class colleagues to hope to get out alive. Directed by Adam Shankman, who gave us Hairspray, this promising Stop! That! Train! could well be the most eccentric viewing of 2026. We will encounter Ginger Minj, Jujubee, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Latrice Royale, Marcia Marcia Marcia, Monét X Change and Symone, all of whom have appeared in the Drag Race franchise.
Stop! That! Train! does not yet have a release date.
- Forbidden Fruits by Meredith Alloway
Supported by colleagues Cherry and Fig, the charismatic Apple leads a circle of witches kept secret who meet in the basement of the shopping mall where she works. Tight-knit, the young women see their balance unsettled by the hiring of Pumpkin who comes to challenge their beliefs and their sisterhood. Given this brief, zany excerpt, Meredith Alloway’s first film evokes The Craft, with more comedic levers. Beyond the cast which includes queer actresses Lili Reinhart and Alexandra Shipp, Forbidden Fruits is produced by Diablo Cody, the mind behind the cult Jennifer’s Body.
Forbidden Fruits does not yet have a release date.
- Cry to Heaven by Tom Ford
Many years after A Single Man, filmmaker Tom Ford again calls on Nicholas Hoult for his new, decidedly intriguing feature. On screen, the arc follows Tonio, an aristocrat rejected by his family who finds refuge with Guido, a castrato singer – in 18th-century Italy, it was common for opera singers to have their genitals mutilated to preserve their soprano voice. Cry to Heaven is adapted from Anne Rice’s eponymous novel (who wrote Interview with the Vampire) but there is no fantastical touch here. Instead, one can expect a great deal of sensuality between boys. And we love that!
Cry to Heaven does not yet have a release date.
- The Devil W wears Prada 2 by David Frankel
Hardly had the sequel to The Devil Wears Prada been announced when our anticipation was already sky-high. That is to say the excitement around this second installment of Andy’s misadventures, the heroine of the cult film released in 2006. Returning for this new adventure: Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci and, of course, the incomparable Meryl Streep, whom we cannot wait to see reprise the role of the ruthless boss Miranda Priestly. Note that Lady Gaga is expected to appear on screen: as if we needed another reason to await the film’s release…
The Devil Wears Prada 2 will be released on April 29 in cinemas.
- I Want Your Sex by Gregg Araki
Not content with referencing George Michael’s hit of the same name, I Want Your Sex, Gregg Araki’s new film promises a deliriously wild cinema rendezvous. If he hadn’t directed a film since White Bird in a Blizzard in 2014, the director returns with a tale of flings and provocation where he threads the story of Elliot, a young man who is hired by Erika Tracy, an artist known for her provocative works. His job? To become his employer’s sexual muse. Led by Cooper Hoffman (seen this year in Do or Die) and Olivia Wilde, this film should feature its share of hot and queer moments as Araki knows how to deliver.
I Want Your Sex does not yet have a release date.
- Maspalomas by Aitor Arregui and José Mari Goenaga
After a stroke, Vicente, a 76-year-old gay man, is forced to leave Maspalomas, the town he has lived in for about 25 years after moving there with his partner. His daughter decides to bring him to Donostia, in northern Spain, to place him in a retirement home. But there, he has no choice but to return to the closet to fit in… Focusing on a seventy-something gay protagonist, Maspalomas tackles a rare theme in LGBT cinema: the sexuality of the elderly. Given early responses, emotion could be at its peak.
Maspalomas will be released on June 24 in cinemas.
- Christy by David Michôd
In the 1980s, young Christy Martin begins her boxing career and quickly wins numerous bouts, becoming one of the leading figures in the sport in the United States. But when she is not in the ring, the athlete fights other battles: caught in a toxic relationship with her coach, she tries to grasp a thwarted sexuality. After taking part in genuine hits (Euphoria, The Housekeeper…), Sydney Sweeney attempts a counter-typical role by portraying a lesbian athlete in Christy, possibly one of the year’s most anticipated biopics for têtu.
Christy will be released on March 4 in cinemas.
- Dog Dog by Marco Berger
During a vacation stroll, Juan comes across a stray dog that he decides to take in. A bond forms between them as he bathes the dog, feeds it, cuddles it, plays with it… A lovely story of adoption and human-animal complicity that, however, unsettles. For good reason: on screen, the famous dog is portrayed by a real man, offering a narrative that is at once surreal and strangely homoerotic to the tale. After having long accustomed us to romantic dramas filled with curious heterosexuals, Argentine filmmaker Marco Berger (The Astronaut Lovers, The Roommate) signs with Dog Dog a intriguingly dramatic narrative pivot.
Dog Dog does not yet have a release date.
