Television series

When We Rise

Name: When We Rise
Genre: Drama
Released: 2017
Cast: Michael K. Williams, Austin McKenzie, Emily Skeggs, Fiona Dourif, Guy Pearce

Drama

When We Rise traces the lives of real activists who fought for LGBTQ+ rights across five decades, from the Stonewall era through marriage equality. Gritty but luminous, it's a history lesson that never feels like homework—intimate and personal rather than sweeping. For anyone who wants to understand how real change happens, and who made it happen.

TVMaze rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want a sprawling, earnest history told through intimate family lives, and you don't mind a show that wears its political heart openly while following a few people across decades of activism.

Skip it if you want tight plotting or a lean run; eight hour-long episodes cover a lot of ground, and the earnest, sometimes sentimental tone can feel like a civics lesson in places.

What it asks of you: Settle in for eight hour-long episodes that move through decades, so patience with time jumps and a steady accumulation of personal and political setbacks pays off more than quick momentum.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Pose2018

Three seasons of the ballroom scene, AIDS crisis, and trans and queer lives in 1980s New York. Visually stunning, emotionally wrought, and unapologetically about people the mainstream ignored. Actual trans women lead it.

But Dense ensemble and a lot of plot threads mean early episodes demand focus and patience. Some viewers find the melodrama overwrought.

The Normal Heart2014

Ryan Murphy's adaptation of Larry Kramer's play about the early AIDS crisis and activist resistance. Angry, furious, necessary—it doesn't soften the rage or the loss. Mark Ruffalo gives one of his best performances.

But Relentless in its grief. Some will find it punishing rather than cathartic, and the pacing can feel theatrical rather than cinematic.

Milk2008

Sean Penn's Harvey Milk is definitive—the charisma, the calculation, the genuine belief. Van Sant makes the political personal, the historical intimate. A masterclass in how to make activism human.

But Ends on a note of tragedy that some find more demoralizing than inspiring, despite its legacy angle. Dated cinematography.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from When We Rise

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Wire2002

Both are histories written through the lives of people fighting systems bigger than themselves. Both believe structural problems require sustained attention, not grand gestures.

Not a story about one thing, but about systems—Baltimore's cops, dealers, schools, newspapers. It sprawls and it's worth it. When We Rise asks how change happens; The Wire asks who pays the price when it doesn't.

But Five seasons, dense plotting, a huge cast. Slow burn that some find glacial. Bleak enough to drain you.

Philadelphia1993

A mainstream audience needed Tom Hanks to give them permission to care about a gay man dying of AIDS. It worked. The courtroom speech still lands; so does Springsteen's score. A film that moved history.

But Very much a 90s film about crisis—well-intentioned but sometimes feels like it's asking for a pat on the back for basic decency.

Paris Is Burning1991

Jennie Livingston's documentary captures New York's ballroom subculture in the late 80s: drag, voguing, chosen family, Black and Latino queer survival. Visually ecstatic and deeply human. Essential.

But Some subjects were exploited and died shortly after filming; the ethics are complicated. Runtime stretches past two hours.

Moonlight2016

Three chapters of a Black queer man's life, told in whispers and water and light. Barry Jenkins makes the interior world visible. It's about intimacy, longing, and the cost of hiding. Quietly devastating.

But Demands active watching—sparse dialogue, slow pacing. Easy to miss its depth if you're not meeting it halfway.

The Boys in the Band1970

The play that shocked audiences into seeing gay men as complex human beings with real stakes. Still sharp, still cutting. A historical marker that holds up because the writing is precise and the performances are alive.

But Dated attitudes bleed through—particularly toward camp and feminine men. Feels like a play filmed, not a film.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire2019

Céline Sciamma's film about two women and a portrait, shot with painterly precision. Gorgeous, sensual, intellectually rigorous. A love story that treats desire seriously without apology.

But Deliberately paced and formally experimental. If you want narrative momentum, this isn't it.

The Kids Are All Right2010

A family with two mothers navigates when their sperm donor shows up. Funny, touching, anchored by Annette Bening and Julianne Moore. Shows queer life as domestic and complicated, not exceptional.

But Some queer viewers found it too palatable, too eager to prove gay parents are just like everyone else. Doesn't push against the mainstream.

180 Degrees2011

When We Rise documents activism as confrontation and community-building; this is activism as listening. Both argue that change requires believing the other person is capable of growth.

A 18-minute short where a queer man sits down with a Baptist pastor who's spent decades teaching people to hate him. No editing tricks, no music, just conversation. One of them changes his mind. Real, uncomfortable, impossible to look away from.

But Slow and claustrophobic. Patience required. You might not believe its resolution—or you might resent how gentle it is.

Happy as Lazzaro2018

Both use the lives of outsiders and the marginalized to tell us something true about society. Both believe there's utopia possible, even if it's strange and won't look like we expect.

Italian fable about a peasant boy in a fake medieval village run for tourists. Surreal, visual, strange as hell. The last half is set in modern Rome and becomes about queer longing and belonging. Stunning and completely of its own world.

But You have to accept dream logic and elliptical storytelling. It's not interested in explaining itself. Patience and trust are the price of entry.