Moonlight
Chiron and Kevin’s love affair, which spans decades, throbs with sexual tension and buried passion. We like to imagine that after the powerful, sexy climax (innuendo intended), Chiron pops the question to Kevin. Attraction in the movies doesn’t get much more intense.Brokeback Mountain
Enis and Jack may not get the happy ending we all want, but this tale of an unlikely, all-in romance makes us weep every time we see it. Brokeback Mountain, we still don’t know how to quit you.Carol
Director Todd Haynes’ melodrama about a middle-aged, married woman in love with a younger shopgirl fills us with warmth and suspense. These two ladies are so in love they don’t even notice the mysterious man tracking them on their cross-country trek.The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Wait, the classic comedy Priscilla is a romance, you ask? Yes, indeed: the third-act romance between Bob and the transgender queen Bernadette has a chivalrous streak to it, one which adds a layer of love to the otherwise sequined proceedings.Weekend
Director Andrew Haigh’s all-in-a-weekend love story about two gay men who connect just before one must leave the country has all the ingredients for a magnetic affair: an erotic charge, an alluring attraction, and a bittersweet conclusion that makes us fall in love with both men as a couple.Rent
Between the tumultuous love of the on-again, off-again relationship of Maureen and Joanne and the tender tragedy of Collins and Angel, Rent, for all its flaws, still makes our hearts (excuse the phrase) sing with joy.The Skinny
Director Patrik-Ian Polk’s still-overlooked romp about a group of friends enjoying New York Pride doesn’t get enough credit for its humor, or for its subtle observations about 20-something queer relationships, including how two boys can fall madly in love on a big-city adventure.Call Me By Your Name
What more can we say about this beautiful, gay coming-of-age story, other than that we wish the two boys in love could have run off into the sunset together? We also can’t watch without craving peaches.My Beautiful Launderette
This ’80s classic gay love story between a Pakistani immigrant and a London punk still plays as a swoon-worthy romance thanks to the chemistry and performances by Daniel Day-Lewis and Gordon Warnecke. Who would have thought a movie set in a laundromat would make us well up with love?
Feeling inspired after revisiting these love stories? Visit Shane Co. to put a ring on the romance.