HEADER BY YOSEF PHELAN

For queers on film, 2023 was a pretty historic year. With Trace Lysette deservedly earning Oscar hype as a trans woman grappling with her mother’s dementia in Monica, a drag queen enacting revenge in the neo-noir thriller Femme and lesbian incels slash “untalented ugly gays” starting a feminist fight club in Bottoms, it was actually quite diverse for the LGBTQIA’s. (It’s no longer just death and despair, which is lovely.)

This promising trajectory continues into 2024. An intersex worker flees from the mob after a botched drug deal in Ponyboi, Will Ferrell embarks on a road trip with his best friend after she comes out as trans in Will & Harper and Kristen Stewart “ignites violence” with her bodybuilder lover in Love Lies Bleeding.

‘Rain On Me’ besties Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande will also continue to revive the soundtrack format as Harley Quinn and Glinda in their respective musicals Joker: Folie à Deux and Wicked, while Daniel Craig’s wrist will be limp in Luca Guadgnino’s upcoming drama, Queer. Read ahead for our most anticipated queer (and queer-adjacent) films of 2024.

Challengers (26 April)

Cast: Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, Mike Faist, Jake Jensen

Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadgnino returns with another queer romp this year in Challengers, a romantic sports dramedy starring Euphoria‘s Zendaya as Tashi, a tennis player turned coach who’s transformed her husband Art (Mike Faist) into a world champ. Tashi persuades Art, who’s now on a losing streak, to play a “challenger” event against his former bestie and Tashi’s former boyfriend, Patrick (Josh O’Connor). In the trailer, set to a remix of Rihanna’s kinky electro banger ‘S&M’, the trio can be seen engaging in a threesome. Here! For! This!

Cora Bora (TBA)

Cast: Megan Stalter, Jojo T. Gibbs, Manny Jacinto, Ayden Mayeri, Thomas Mann, Chrissie Fit, Andre Hyland, Chelsea Peretti, Margaret Cho, Darrell Hammond, Heather Morris

Known for her viral “hi gay” video and role as airhead assistant Kayla on Hacks, Megan Stalter is set to lead her own dramedy with Cora Bora. According to a synopsis: “Cora senses her open relationship is on the rocks. When the struggling musician and messy millennial goes home to Portland to win her girlfriend back, she realises it’s much more than her love life that needs salvaging.” With this unabashedly queer plot and Stalter’s signature brand of cringe deadpan comedy, as well as supporting players like Jojo T. Gibbs, Manny Jacinto, Chelsea Peretti, Margaret Cho and Heather Morris, Cora Bora has the potential to be the breakout queer hit of the year.