Source: Winq.nl (IN DUTCH)
NETHERLANDS – From psychosexual drama to sweet high school romance and from personal stories to a glittering nervous breakdown, the queer film slate for 2026 is surprisingly diverse.
LGBTQIA+ stories once constituted a small corner of the film landscape. These days, our stories are increasingly appearing in films that reach major theaters and then stream onto mainstream streaming platforms. A stark choice between niche and mainstream, romance and coming-out, lighthearted and political is becoming less common, resulting in a surprisingly diverse range of stories.
pillion – kink with a heartbeat
If any film demonstrates how broadly queer cinema has become, it’s Pillion . In this kinky love story, we follow shy traffic cop Colin (Harry Melling, Dudley Dursley from the Harry Potter films) as he becomes entangled in the world of dominant biker Ray (Alexander Skarsgård). Together, they explore an exciting relationship filled with sadomasochistic desire. Director Harry Lighton, in his self-directed film debut, doesn’t use kink and BDSM as a gimmick to shock. He prefers to explore who actually makes the rules in a game of power and surrender, and when freedom begins to feel like a new kind of cage. This award-winning film opens in theaters on March 26.
the history of sound – soft, yet heartbreaking
In The History of Sound, Paul Mescal ( All of Us Strangers ) and Josh O’Connor ( God’s Own Country ) play two men who meet in 1917 at the Boston Conservatory. They share a love of folk music, and in the years following their studies, a bond develops that culminates in a dramatic love affair. Director Oliver Hermanus has previously made films with strong gay storylines, including Moffie (2019) and Skoonheid (2011). It’s telling of the current film climate that this story is being released worldwide by a major distributor like Universal Pictures. The film opens in theaters on April 2nd and will be shown at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in late January.
Mother Mary – doll as armor
Director David Lowery’s pop melodrama Mother Mary feels like a glittering, slow-motion nervous breakdown. Anne Hathaway plays global star Mother Mary, who, on the verge of her comeback, reconnects with her old friend and former costume designer Sam (Michaela Coel), the person who once helped her reinvent herself. What follows is a film about what happens when your image becomes a tight corset—and someone from the past knows exactly where the buckle is. The psychosexual dynamic between the two women is heightened by the acting and music of British artist FKA twigs. Mother Mary opens April 16.
Peter Hujar’s Day – Intimate Time Capsule
For those seeking suspense in glances, pauses, and unfinished sentences, Peter Hujar’s Day is the 2026 treat. Director Ira Sachs, who previously made queer desire palpable in films like Passages and Love is Strange , doesn’t opt for a classic biopic. He reconstructs an afternoon in December 1974, when photographer Peter Hujar (Ben Whishaw) and writer Linda Rosenkrantz (Rebecca Hall) have a conversation in her New York apartment with a tape recorder on the table. The film is based on an existing recording and takes place almost entirely in the intimate setting of that single room. The queer character isn’t found in plot twists or coming-out scenes, but in the atmosphere: in how Hujar—a prominent figure in the New York art and gay scene—describes his day, evoking a world of artists, friends, and lovers in a city full of promise and uncertainty. In this way, queer history becomes tangible, without being expository or nostalgic. This unique and acclaimed film will be released in Dutch cinemas later this year.
Heartstopper: Forever – End of an Era
Netflix concludes its beloved Heartstopper series this year with the feature film Heartstopper: Forever . It brings the high school years and coming-of-age story of Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke) to a close. The cultural and social impact of the Heartstopper franchise has been undeniable in recent years. Director Wash Westmoreland, previously responsible for the stunningly beautiful Still Alice starring Julianne Moore, will undoubtedly give it a worthy and sensitive conclusion. The film will be released on Netflix sometime this year.
