Film
The Bedroom Commandments
- Slow-burning
A thoughtful documentary exploring how LGBTQ+ people reconcile their sexuality with religious faith. Through intimate interviews, it examines the deeply personal struggle of those navigating centuries of institutional rejection while holding onto spiritual conviction. For anyone grappling with identity, faith, or the possibility of both coexisting.
If you liked this
For the Bible Tells Me So2007
Examines how Christian families reconcile faith with having LGBTQ+ children, featuring real conversations that move between grief, love, and theological reckoning. Equally rigorous and tender.
But Focuses primarily on Christian denominations, so may feel narrower in scope if you're seeking broader religious perspectives.
Prayers for Bobby2009
Based on true events, this traces a mother's journey from rejecting her gay son to radical acceptance and activism. Devastating and necessary without ever feeling manipulative.
But Centered on a suicide; the emotional weight is real and ongoing rather than cathartic. Not a film that offers easy comfort.
Tongues Untied1990
A landmark essay film blending poetry, performance, and testimony about Black queer men, sexuality, spirituality and community. Formally inventive and spiritually alive in ways documentary usually isn't.
But Resists conventional narrative structure entirely; rewards active engagement but demands patience with abstraction.
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The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Boys in the Trees2016
Like The Bedroom Commandments, it refuses easy answers about whether reconciliation between who you are and who you were raised to be is possible—or even desirable.
An Australian drama about two closeted men whose childhood friendship resurfaces, colliding their adult lives. Luminous and heartbreaking about what we carry from youth into the compromises of adulthood.
But Glacially paced; the emotional devastation arrives quietly and some will mistake restraint for inertia.
More like this (5)
Saved!2004
A comedy that takes Christian hypocrisy seriously without letting it off the hook. Funny, angry, and surprisingly nuanced about what faith means when institutions betray it.
But Satire softens some edges that deserve sharper blades. Doesn't engage with faith itself, only its weaponization.
Saint Maud2020
Psychological thriller where religious faith and obsession become indistinguishable. Gorgeously unsettling exploration of how belief can consume and transform identity.
But Ambiguous about its protagonist's mental state; some will find that ambiguity frustrating rather than provocative.
The Miseducation of Cameron Post2018
Captures the coercive horror of conversion therapy with humor and heartbreak intact. Teen-led narrative that refuses to make trauma voyeuristic.
But Some scenes depicting institutional abuse are difficult; the film doesn't spare you the reality while showing you why it matters.
Tangerine2015
Shot on iPhones, this follows two Black trans sex workers through Los Angeles in real time. Joyful, furious, and treats its subjects with radiant dignity.
But The dialogue is rapid-fire and overlapping; easy to miss plot points if you're not actively tracking. Chaotic in ways some find exhausting.
Totem2022
Both ask whether faith is something internal and personal or something we build from the world's materials. Both offer no final answers—only the ongoing practice of believing.
Mexican drama where a boy constructs a physical totem from found objects to keep his family together. A fable about faith, ritual, and whether belief alone can hold anything.
But Operates almost entirely through metaphor; if you need narrative clarity and emotional explanation, it will frustrate you.
People
Directing
- Malcolm BurtDirector