It’s Pride Month, when companies of all kinds are eager to show their support for the LGBTQ+ community, and Amazon is no exception: among the best new movies on Prime Video in June 2024, you’ll find some classic films made by, created for, or claimed by strange people. Some are large and campy, others are more austere and somber. But all five films here are worth seeing, this Pride Month or any other month.
It’s worth pointing out that some of these films were made a long time ago, and that means some of them can be somewhat problematic when viewed through today’s more enlightened eyes. But they’re made with the best intentions, and for me, that’s enough to justify the occasional misstep or wrong note. Whether you’re in the mood for high camp or something a little more subtle, these five films are a welcome addition to Prime Video this Pride month.
1. Dracula by Bram Stoker
This isn’t technically a strange movie, I know. But we all know that vampires are very strange, and… Dracula – whose author, Bram Stoker, was himself homosexual – is a key text in the pantheon of homoerotic horror with a clearly bisexual central character: Salon has an excellent interpreter if you want to know more. This is one of the better blood-soaked adaptations, with a cast including Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves and an atmosphere of sexual repression and tension that is almost unbearable. If Nerdist put it: “Dracula has always been a sensual, tragic romance. Coppola leans heavily on that and enhances the eroticism. There’s a theatrical decadence to the whole proceedings that has created something utterly extravagant and over-the-top in a way that horror films in the 1990s rarely could be.”
2. The Danish girl
Anti-trans obsessives would have you believe that trans people were invented by Laverne Cox in 2014. But of course we’ve always existed, and this 2015 film is a sensitive portrayal of Lili Elbe, one of the first trans women to gain gender identity. confirmation surgery – an operation she underwent almost 100 years ago. Eddie Redmayne is beautiful as Elbe, and while the film takes some liberties with her story, Redmayne’s portrayal of her is heartbreaking, because Elbe’s story was ultimately very sad. If MovieFreak.com so to speak, it is “a story of self-acceptance and discovery that transcends its historical inaccuracies and allows it to ascend to a level of magnetic emotional resonance.”
3. Mandarin
Tangerine stands out not only for its story, but also for its production: it was shot with iPhones. But this is no gimmick film: with a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, it is a critical hit with rave reviews from the likes of the New York Times, which called the film “gorgeous… a perfectly cast, beautifully directed film.” The film follows sex worker Sin-Dee, who discovers that her boyfriend is cheating on her during her last stint in prison. The furious Sin-Dee goes looking for him. It’s patchy, but it’s also a lot of fun. According to Fashion: “By turns funny, outrageous and tailored to unfulfilled dreams, Tangerine is as close as I’ve seen an American come to capturing the subversive panache of the young Pedro Almodvar”.
4. The adventures of Priscilla, queen of the desert
Not to be confused with the Elvis movie Priscilla, which is very different, this outrageous road movie features Guy Pearce, Hugo Weaving and Terence Stamp as two drag queens and a trans woman who travel across Australia in the titular camper, performing to enthusiastic audiences and hateful homophobes alike. A camp classic, but also an LGBTQ+ milestone with a festive tone that feels even more vital today. As Peter Bradshaw writes The guard: “It’s a great film that was ahead of its time on LGBT issues and in some ways ahead of ours.”
5. To Wong Foo, thank you for everything, Julie Newmar
When you think of actors who should play drag queens, Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze and John Leguizamo might not be the first people that come to mind. But they are fantastic and funny in this story about three New York drag queens who are stranded in a small town when their car breaks down. It is essentially an American variant Priscilla, queen of the desert and while it’s not as good, it’s still a fun watch and its heart is in the right place.
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