Bodybuilders, ponybois & freaky tales: The most anticipated queer movies premiering at Sundance 2024 & how to stream them

Desire Lines

Part documentary, part evocative exploration of gender and sexuality, academic-filmmaker Jules Rosskam takes a neon-hued look at LGBTQ+ history, blending together titillating archival footage, revealing interviews, and reenactments of intimate encounters to shine a light on trans-masculinity. Aden Hakimi and Theo Germaine (The Politician, They/Them) bare their souls—and more—for this artful meditation on queer desire.

Premiering Monday, January 22. Available to stream beginning Jan. 25. Details & virtual tickets here.

Freaky Tales*

Their first feature since making box office history with Captain Marvel, filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck return to the latter’s Bay Area home for Freaky Tales, an anthology of interconnected stories in 1987 Oakland, where underdogs face off against Nazi, chauvinists, and… the Lakers (yes, really!). Daddy Pedro Pascal and pop star Normani are among the eclectic ensemble, so there’s plenty for the gays to get excited about, too!

Premiering Thursday, January 18. NOT AVAILABLE TO STREAM. Details here.

In The Summers

Last year, trans-nonbinary star Lío Mehiel left Park City with a Special Jury Award for Acting, the first trans performer to win the honor in the history of the festival. Now, they return with Alessandra Lacorazza’s In The Summers, a time-hopping family drama about two siblings (played by Mehiel and The Flash‘s Sasha Calle in their older years) who return to Las Cruces, New Mexico to visit their troubled father (rapper Residente).

Sundance Special Jury Award for Acting, becoming the first trans actor in history to win the honor. 

Premiering Monday, January 22. Available to stream beginning Jan. 25. Details & virtual tickets here.

I Saw The TV Glow*

A suburban teen’s world gets a whole lot more surreal after a classmate introduces him to a peculiar late-night television show. I Saw The TV Glow counts A24 and Emma Stone among its producers, and is directed by trans filmmaker Jane Schoenbraum, whose previous indie We’re All Going To The World’s Fair shook us to our core. Add in an eclectic cast—including Justice Smith, Alicia Silverstone, and Fred Durst—and we are so sat!

Premiering Thursday, January 18. NOT AVAILABLE TO STREAM. Details here.

Related:

Justice Smith never hid his authenticity, and it shines through in all of his roles

The 27-year-old is using his acting talents and voice to blaze a trail in Hollywood.

Layla

Drag has never been more in the spotlight, for better and for worse, so we’re grateful for films like Layla that show us the people beneath all the glitter and wigs. From director Amrou Al-Kadhi, the story follows a struggling queen (newcomer Bilal Hasna in a breakout role) who unexpectedly falls in love for the first time, beginning a relationship that makes them think about their identities as an Arab and queer person in new ways.

Premiering Thursday, January 18. Available to stream beginning Jan. 25. Details & virtual tickets here.

Love Lies Bleeding*

Premiering in Sundance’s genre-bending Midnights program, Love Lies Bleeding is a romantic thriller from Saint Maud director Rose Glass that pumps iron, blood, and a propulsive beat all its own. Kristen Stewart plays a gym employee who falls for a female bodybuilder (The Madnalorian‘s Katy O’Brien) passing through town, and the two soon get caught up in her father’s take-no-prisoners (Ed Harris) criminal underworld.

Premiering Saturday, January 20. NOT AVAILABLE TO STREAM. Details here.

Love Machina

In this eye (and mind) opening documentary, filmmaker Peter Sillen introduces us to lovebirds and self-proclaimed “futurists” Martine and Bina Rothblatt, who have commissioned an advanced humanoid AI they named Bina48, which they hope to transfer Bina’s consciousness to when she passes so that their romance can survive this mortal coil. It’s have you questioning love, mortality, queerness, and just about everything else!

Premiering Friday, January 19. Available to stream beginning Jan. 25. Details & virtual tickets here.

Luther: Never Too Much

Luther Vandross’s career began as a backup singer for artists like David Bowie, Chaka Khan, and Bette Midler. But he overcame personal and professional struggles to become a star in his own right, recognized as one of the greatest soul and R&B singers of all time. A lifelong bachelor, it wasn’t until after his death that friends confirmed he lived a life in the closet. Dawn Porter unpacks all of that in more in this loving retrospective doc.

Premiering Sunday, January 21. Available to stream beginning Jan. 25. Details & tickets here.

Related:

Before becoming a legendary R&B king, Luther Vandross was a funky ‘Hot Butterfly’

To this day, Vandross’ version of “Hot Butterfly” remains an artifact from the career and the sound he explored before he became the centerpiece of soul that defined his career. 

Ponyboi

Tense, sexy, and frequently hilarious, Ponyboi is a thrill ride unlike any other. Set over the course of one wild Valentine’s Day in New Jersey, Esteban Arango’s film follows a young intersex sex worker (Every Body‘s River Gallo) as they get caught up in a drug deal gone sideways and are forced to confront their past. The killer supporting cast includes Murray Bartlett, Indya Moore, and Dylan O’Brien sporting a buzzcut and big biceps.

Premiering Saturday, January 20. Available to stream beginning Jan. 25. Details & virtual tickets here.

Related:

River Gallo brings intersex issues to mainstream consciousness with film “Ponyboi”

River Gallo’s 2019 short film Ponyboi, which he has called “the first film created by and starring an out intersex person in the history of cinema,” follows the story of a Latinx intersex runaway.

Sebastian

Mikko Mäkelä’s sophomore feature follows a twenty-something writer named Max (Ruaridh Mollica) living in London. Struggling to make ends meet, he adopts the persona “Sebastian” and begins a side hustle as a sex worker. His encounters become fodder for the “secretly autobiographical” novel he’s writing, but embracing queerness also opens up a world of possibilities in this soul-searching, sex-positive drama.

Premiering Sunday, January 21. Available to stream beginning Jan. 25. Details & virtual tickets here.

Seeking Mavis Beacon

Especially if you were a ’90s kid, chances are you were taught how to type by a cheery-looking woman named Mavis Beacon—specifically the omnipresent software program Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. But who was Mavis, really? Where did she go, and why did she disappear? These questions form the basis of queer filmmaker Jazmin Renée Jones’ sharp, funny, and engaging investigative documentary.

Premiering Saturday, January 20. Available to stream beginning Jan. 25. Details & virtual tickets here.