Looking to celebrate Pride Month with a special screening? Longing to escape into some Jewish queer representation? The good news is that there are a lot of Jewish queer movies available to stream online right now!
From hilarious rom-coms to tragic love tales with “Shtisel” stars, here are 18 LGBTQ+ Jewish movies you can watch from the comfort of your own home.
“Kissing Jessica Stein”
What it’s about: Jessica Stein (the charming Jennifer Westfeldt) meets Helen Cooper (Heather Juergensen, who co-wrote the movie with Westfeldt, based on a character from their play “Lipshtick”) through a “Woman Seeks Woman” ad. What ensues is a complex whirlwind romance, as Jessica struggles to share her newly discovered sexuality with the world. Included is a dinner with Jewish in-laws and Tovah Feldshuh, Sean Cohen and Jackie Hoffman.
Perfect for: People who love a truly good rom-com and are thoroughly charmed by Jennifer Westfeldt in all things.
“Shiva Baby”
What it’s about: At a shiva, Danielle (Rachel Sennott) is confronted with her sugar daddy, her successful ex (Molly Gordon), the weight of her parents’ expectations, and a lot of meddling Jewish ladies. Emma Seligman’s feature debut is a chaotic, sexy and super compelling watch.
Perfect for: Lovers of queer chaos.
“Transmitzvah”
What it’s about: A transgender Yiddish singer goes on a journey to have the bar mitzvah she never had in this trippy Argentinian musical comedy.
Perfect for: People who love imperfect, mystical films.
“Yossi & Jagger”/ “Yossi”
What it’s about: “Yossi & Jagger” is about a romance between two Israeli soldiers. It was a hit when it came out in Israel in 2002. “Yossi,” its sequel, came out in 2012 and shows Yossi’s life decades later as he meets Jagger’s mother and tells her about their relationship.
Perfect for: The person who really wants to know if the the hero of that tragic romance ever got their happy ending.
Watch “Yossi & Jagger” on Prime Video / Watch “Yossi” on Fandango
“Out in the Dark”
What it’s about: A love affair between a Palestinian student from Ramallah (Nicholas Jacob) and a Jewish Israeli lawyer from Tel Aviv (Michael Aloni).
Perfect for: Michael Aloni fans and anyone looking for a modern star-crossed lovers tale.
“Sublet”
What it’s about: Michael, a middle-aged travel writer, goes to Tel Aviv and sublets and apartment from Tomer, a much younger Israeli film student. When their dates get mixed up, the two end up spending five life-altering days together.
Perfect for: Lovers of tender and bittersweet age-gap romances.
Watch on Prime Video with Strand Studio Subscription
“Disobedience”
What it’s about: Secular photographer Ronnie (Rachel Weisz), or Ronit as she goes by in her ultra-Orthodox home in North London, comes back for her rabbi father’s funeral, where she rekindles her affair with Esti (Rachel McAdams), who is still part of the community and now married to Dovid (Allesandro Nivola), one of her father’s disciples.
Perfect for: Fans who drool over Rachel Weisz, and truly, who doesn’t.
“Milk”
What it’s about: Legendary Jewish politician and gay rights activist Harvey Milk, of course. Sean Penn plays him in this award winning Gus Van Sant movie that only casually, on one occasion, mentions Milk’s Jewishness.
Perfect for: Remembering a Jewish man who changed American queer history.
“The Cakemaker”
What it’s about: When German baker Thomas’ married Israeli lover, Oren, passes away unexpectedly, he flies to Israel and, without revealing his identity, gets a job in Oren’s widow’s cafe. This movie has “Shtisel” star Zohar Strauss (Lippe) as Oren’s suspicious brother, Motti.
Perfect for: Lovers of melancholy.
“Bros”
What it’s about: Billy Eichner gives us a gay rom-com that speaks the language of the Nora Ephron films of yore with a very heavy Billy Eichner flair.
Perfect for: Anxious Jews who love the idea of sitting through 115 minutes of Billy Eichner.
“Sabbath Queen”
What it’s about: This documentary follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie over 21 years. Lau-Lavie, who comes from a dynasty of famous Israeli rabbis, is “torn between rejecting and embracing his destiny and becomes a drag-queen rebel, a queer bio-dad and the founder of Lab/Shul—an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation.”
Perfect for: Anyone who wants a moving technicolor portrait of someone reconciling faith, sexuality and family.
Attend a screening in select cities across the U.S. and Israel
“Yentl”
What it’s about: Barbra Streisand’s directorial debut, based on an Isaac Bashevis Singer story, tells the story of Yentl, a woman living in a 1904 shtetl who disguises herself as a Yeshiva boy, Anshel, in order to study Torah, something reserved only for men at the time. She falls for fellow student Avigdor (Mandy Patinkin) and forms a special connection with Hadass (Amy Irving), Avigdor’s fiancé.
Perfect for: Anyone who needs Barbra Streissad right now (and, again, who doesn’t?!).
“To Each Her Own”
What it’s about: A French Jewish lesbian realizes she’s attracted to a man. As Jordan Pike wrote for Hey Alma, it’s “a gorgeous and relatable telling of sexual exploration coupled with the parental pressures of dating Jewish.”
Perfect for: A little French escape.
“Tahara”
What it’s about: Another queer Rachel Sennott funeral movie! In this one, she plays the boy-crazed Hannah Rosen with Madeline Grey DeFreece as her best friend, Carrie Lowstein. The two attend the funeral of their Hebrew school classmate who dies by suicide and discover something that alters their friendship forever.
Perfect for: Anyone looking for an authentic modern Jewish coming-of-age story.
Stream on Prime Video with MUBI
“The Boys in the Band”
What it’s about: Not a very Jewish movie, but a very anxious one. This is a 2020 remake of the 1970 William Friedkin movie based on the 1968 Mart Crowley play of the same name. It stars Jim Parsons as Michael, Matt Bomer as Donald and Andrew Rannells as Larry, all part of a group of friends who get together to celebrate Harold’s birthday in Michael’s Upper East Side apartment in the late ’60s. Harold describes himself as an “ugly, pock-marked Jew fairy,” and um, it’s not super believable coming from Zachary Quinto, but we’ll take it.
Perfect for: People who are sad that you can’t currently stream “Torch Song Trilogy” and are looking for a movie that feels like watching a play with a really great cast.
“Sunday Bloody Sunday”
What it’s about: A love triangle between a middle-aged gay Jewish therapist, a divorcee in her 30s and a young sculptor.
Perfect for: Anyone looking for an angsty 1970s movie that ends with a monologue from a Jewish therapist.
“Kiss Me Kosher”
What it’s about: A love affair between Israeli Shira (“We Were the Lucky Ones” star Moran Rosenblatt) and German Maria (Luise Wolfram) gets complicated when their two very different families meet.
Perfect for: A comedy of errors that touches on generational trauma.
