Coming out: The best LGBTQI indie teen movies to watch

Greg Berlanti’s Love, Simon received some major critical plaudits for being the first blockbuster studio film about a gay teenager coming out of the closet.

With a cast including Jennifer Garner (13 Going on 30), Josh Duhamel (Safe Haven), Nick Robinson (The Kings of Summer), and Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why), the movie was hailed “groundbreaking” for the LGBTQI community. Love, Simon is the sort of romcom many queer kids longed for while they were coming-of-age and wanting some comfort and guidance regarding their sexual identity.

But if that’s the sort of movie you were after, then you needn’t have waited until 2018 for a major movie studio to “bravely” release one, because there’s a whole range of great indie movies that have beautifully covered this subject in the past. With that in mind, here are ten gay indie teen movies you could (and should) watch over Love, Simon.

Freak Show (2017)

Directed by Trudie Styler

Trudie Styler’s adaptation of James St. James’s book of the same name is an unabashedly gleeful celebration of being queer in the face of oppression. Following Billy Bloom (Alex Lawther) as he runs for homecoming queen against a conservative bully (Abigail Breslin), Freak Show is a queer high-school fairytale offering a twist on the happily-ever-after ending.

But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)

Directed by Jamie Babbit

Easily one of the greatest teen movies of all time, Natasha Lyonne (American Pie) plays Megan – a young woman forced to come to terms with her burgeoning sexuality after she’s shipped off to gay camp to learn how to be hetero. However, while there she falls in love with Graham (Clea DuVall) and is forced to decide whether to fight against the brainwashing she’s been subjected to.

Totally F***ed Up (1993)

Directed by Gregg Araki

Araki has consistently made amazing gay teen films throughout his career. Totally F***ed Up has to be one of his finest offerings, depicting six queer teenagers as they become each other’s chosen family and steer each other through life’s varying challenges. Araki’s 2026 film continues his legacy of provocative queer stories.

Kaboom (2010)

Directed by Gregg Araki

For the queer teenager who simply wants to enjoy a good old-fashioned story full of horny college students and experimental sexual behaviour, Araki’s Kaboom is exactly what you need. Featuring standout performances from Juno Temple (Atonement) and Thomas Dekker (My Sister's Keeper) as two lovers without gender preference, and a plotline revolving around a strange international conspiracy, Kaboom isn’t your average gay movie . . . but it is a lot fun. I Want Your Sex (2026) is an erotic comedy thriller directed by Araki starring Olivia Wilde.

The Way He Looks (2014)

Directed by Daniel Ribeiro

The Way He Looks is an incredible queer coming-of-age flick with a stunning love story at its center. Following Leonardo (Ghilherme Lobo) – a blind teenager whose life is changed by the arrival of the charismatic Gabriel (Fabio Audi) – this Italian teen drama is stacked with romance and themes surrounding sexual discovery.

All Over Me (1997)

Directed by Alex Sichel

Set against the tough backdrop of Hell’s Kitchen, New York, Claude (Alison Folland) is hesitant to act on her feelings for best friend Ellen (Tara Subkoff). When one of their neighbors is violently murdered, they grow closer, only to realize there’s a further complication standing in the way of their happiness: Claude has a boyfriend (Cole Hauser) and he may be involved in their neighbor’s death.

Get Real (1998)

Directed by Simon Shore

This British coming-of-age story is as tender and sweet as they come. Following gay teenager Steven (Ben Silverstone) as he decides to come out in a small-minded, insensitive town, the movie features a low-key but warm relationship between two young men as they come to terms with their sexuality together.

Beautiful Thing (1996)

Directed by Hettie Macdonald

Following two young working class men as they attempt to navigate their feelings for one another, accept their sexuality, and deal with some enormous life challenges, Beautiful Thing is a British queer coming-of-age movie with one of the sweetest closing scenes you’ll ever see.

I Killed My Mother (2009)

Directed by Xavier Dolan

Dolan’s critically acclaimed semi-autobiographical story follows Hubert – a young homosexual who confesses that although he loves his mother, he hates being her son. Amid their increasingly fraught relationship, Hubert explores his sexuality while also trying to keep his family relationship in tact. NB: No mothers were actually harmed in the making of this movie.

Spa Night (2016)

Directed by Andrew Ahn

Timid Korean-American teenager David (Joe Seo) takes a spa job to help his struggling family. However, while working there he discovers a hidden underground world of gay sex which both excites and terrifies him. But will the experience force him to finally acknowledge and accept his own sexuality? Director Andrew Ahn reflected on the film’s legacy in a June 2026 IndieWire interview.

The Half of It (2020)

Directed by Alice Wu

Alice Wu’s Cyrano-inspired queer teen romance centers on a queer Chinese-American teen navigating identity and first love. Released in 2020, the film frequently appears in queer teen movie roundups for its warm, literate take on small-town longing and hidden feelings.

Bottoms (2023)

Directed by Emma Seligman

Emma Seligman’s campy high-school comedy stars Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri as queer teens who start a fight club. Released in 2023, the film blends queer teen romance with absurdist comedy and has quickly earned cult status on multiple best queer teen film lists.

I Saw the TV Glow (2024)

Directed by Jane Schoenbrun

Jane Schoenbrun’s atmospheric queer coming-of-age horror-drama stars Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine. Premiered in 2024, the film uses TV nostalgia as an allegory for identity and dysphoria, expanding the range of indie teen movies beyond traditional romances.

Griffin in Summer (2025)

Directed by Nicholas Colia

This 2025 coming-of-age comedy features a strong performance by 14-year-old Everett Blunck as a precocious queer teen playwright. The story focuses on queer teen ambition, friendship, and first crush, and it has already appeared in year-end best-of lists for its heartfelt tone.

These titles stretch from the mid-nineties through the present and show how indie filmmakers kept telling queer teen stories long before studios entered the conversation. The range covers sweet British estates, New York basements, Korean-American spas, and even a high-school fight club, proving the genre never settled into one mood. Whether you want something dreamy, messy, or quietly devastating, the list offers entry points that still feel current years later. Many of these movies played festivals or limited runs before finding wider audiences through streaming and word of mouth, the same path that keeps queer teen cinema alive today. Watching them back-to-back makes clear how each generation of filmmakers borrows from the last while adding new textures, from Araki’s neon conspiracies to Schoenbrun’s late-night television haze. The result is a living archive rather than a single moment, and it rewards viewers who want more than one flavor of coming out. Keep an eye on the next festival slate; the next Beautiful Thing or Bottoms is probably already in post.