Welcome to your weekend streaming recommendations, a.k.a. the Weekend Watch, a handy guide to the queerest film and TV content that’s just a click away!
First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes… divorce??? In the buzzy new drama Our Son—hitting select theaters this weekend—Billy Porter and Luke Evans play a couple going their separate ways who get caught up in a custody battle for their 8-year-old son that becomes more contentious than either of them expected.
Inspired by the marriage woes in that buzzy drama, we decided to take a look back at some underrated queer films where wedding bells are ringing—for better or for worse.
Read on for LGBTQ+ marriage-related films to stream this weekend.
Love Is Strange
In this 2014 film by Ira Sachs, Ben (John Lithgow) and George (Alfred Molina) marry after 39 years together. Their happiness is short-lived, however, when George loses his job as a Catholic school music teacher and the two have to leave their swanky New York apartment. The two end up in separate digs: Ben with his nephew and his wife (Darren Burrows and Marisa Tomei) and George with a gay NYPD couple (Cheyenne Jackson and Manny Pérez). This sweet film is filled with strong performances and interesting insights into relationships of all kinds.
Now streaming on Max. Available to rent on Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, Apple TV, Vudu, Microsoft and DirecTV.
Imagine Me & You
This 2005 romantic comedy, directed by Ol Parker, tells the story of Rachel (Piper Perabo), who meets florist Luce (Leana Heady of Game Of Thrones fame!) on her wedding day to Heck (Matthew Goode). Through Luce, Rachel starts to wonder if her marriage to Heck is the right path. This crowd-pleasing and funny hidden gem has a terrific ensemble cast that includes Buffy fave Anthony Head, a clever script and a Hollywood-style happy ending.
Available to rent on Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, Apple TV, Vudu, Microsoft and DirecTV.
A Very Sordid Wedding
Del Shores’ 2017 sequel to Sordid Lives is a zany, raunchy, and heartwarming slice of queer Southern pecan pie! When Latrelle’s (Bonnie Bedelia) son, Ty (Kirk Geiger), announces that he and his partner (T. Ashanti Mozelle) want to hold a gay wedding in their extremely conservative Texas town, all hell breaks loose. Along the way, Latrelle’s family have their own wild subplots, including Brother Boy (the late, great Leslie Jordan), who goes on a series of misadventures with a hot but psychotic serial killer (Emerson Collins). A Very Sordid Wedding explores what it means to have equal rights in places that haven’t accepted the law of the land… in a really funny way. Oh, and Whoopi Goldberg shows up!
Now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Fubo, Peacock, Paramount+, Roku, Hoopla, Vudu, Tubi and Kanopy.
La Cage Aux Folles
This 1979 classic, directed by Édouard Molinaro, tells the story of Albin (Michel Serrault) and Renato (Ugo Tognazzi), a nightclub owner and drag queen who have a son, Laurent (Rémi Laurent) who announces he’s bringing his fiancee, Andrea (Luisa Maneri) to meet them. The only problem? Andrea’s parents are insanely conservative and have no idea that Laurent’s parents are a gay nightclub owner and drag queen! If you’ve seen The Birdcage, please take it upon yourself to see the superior film it’s based on.
Now streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Tubi.
From Zero To I Love You
In Doug Spearman’s 2019 drama, closeted Jack (Scott Bailey) meets and has an affair with openly gay Pete (Noah’s Arc’s Darryl Stephens). Despite Jack’s marriage to Karla (Keili Lefkowitz), he and Pete continue to grow closer and the affair turns into something more than just sex. This relationship drama is very indie, but has good performances and a touching message.
Now streaming on Peacock and Tubi.
The Kicker…
It’s probably not a good idea to marry someone you met on a reality show a few weeks ago, and we think Trixie and Katya would agree. Check out this clip of Trixie and Katya gagging while watching Love Is Blind.
MynameisSid
“our son” sounds good, but I couldn’t sit through 2 minutes of Billy Porter
bachy
The original, French La Cage Aux Folles (1979) is excellent and as mentioned in the article, superior to the American remake (which was also good, but not nearly as good).
Joshooeerr
No, it’s not. Both films trade in cartoonish stereotypes that are suffused with homophobia. It’s “lets’s laugh at the homos” all the way, with a disingenuous coda about acceptance tacked on the end. The stage musical – thanks largely to Harvey Fierstein – removed much of this (but not all).
bachy
I keep forgetting we’re not allowed to laugh at our foibles, like the rest of humanity.
abfab
hello bachy balls. Nothing can be further from the truth! Thank you.
If La Cage was an issue for him can you just imagine the stock piles of other problems HOEERR has?
abfab
The production alone!
Production
Exterior filming was on-location in Saint-Tropez and Nice, and interiors were shot at Dear Film and Cinecitta Studios in Rome, Italy.
wiki
abfab
And let’s not forget the music!
Morricone’s earliest scores were Italian light comedy and costume pictures, where he learned to write simple, memorable themes. During the 1960s and 1970s he composed the scores for comedies such as Eighteen in the Sun (Diciottenni al sole, 1962), Il Successo (1963), Lina Wertmüller’s I basilischi (The Basilisks/The Lizards, 1963),Slalom (1965), Menage all’italiana (Menage Italian Style, 1965), How I Learned to Love Women (Come imparai ad amare le donne, 1966), Her Harem (L’harem, 1967), A Fine Pair (Ruba al prossimo tuo, 1968), L’Alibi (1969), This Kind of Love (Questa specie d’amore, 1972), Winged Devils (Forza “G”, 1972), and Fiorina la vacca (1972).
His best-known scores for comedies includes La Cage aux Folles (1978) and La Cage aux Folles II (1980), both directed by Édouard Molinaro, Il ladrone (The Good Thief, 1980), Georges Lautner’s La Cage aux Folles 3: The Wedding (1985), Pedro Almodóvar’s Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990) and Warren Beatty’s Bulworth (1998). Morricone never ceased to arrange and write music for comedies. In 2007, he composed a lighthearted score for the Italian romantic comedy Tutte le Donne della mia Vita by Simona Izzo, the director who co-wrote the Morricone-scored religious mini-series Il Papa Buono.
wiki
Darson
Sordid Wedding-best line
Elderly!!??
delshores
thank you! I sure miss my friend and his brilliant delivery —
ShaverC
Love is Strange was terrible. Did these two not save for retirement?
delshores
Thank you Queerty for the mention!!