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Audiences love a romantic comedy, but for sapphic fans, your choices are slim, especially if you want one that doesn’t suck.
We love rom-coms for the happily-ever-after, the fun tropes (think the meet-cute and enemies-to-lovers), and the lovable characters. But when you queer those fan-favorite tropes, things get even better.
There haven’t been that many lesbian rom-coms made in the last few decades, but luckily, there are a handful that aren’t just serviceable; they’re great. We deserve nice things too!
Saving Face (2004)
Saving Face
Overbrook Entertainment
Lesbian rom-coms are hard to come by, but ones about sapphic people of color are even rarer. But that’s just one of many reasons Saving Face is so beloved. Lesbian director Alice Wu’s debut film follows Wilhelmina (Michelle Krusiec), a young Chinese American surgeon, whose budding relationship with openly gay Vivian (Lynn Chen) is strained when her unwed pregnant mother is forced to move in with her. The film is adorable, heartwarming, and features star-crossed young lesbians fighting for love against their traditional community.
Where to watch: Roku
Imagine Me & You (2005)
Imagine Me & You
Fox Searchlight
Imagine Me & You might be a little outdated now, having come out more than two decades ago, but it does a great job of taking all of the standard hetero rom-com tropes and queers them. You’ve got love at first sight, lovable side characters, and sapphic kisses that will make you swoon. Starring Piper Perabo and Lena Headey, the film is about a woman who becomes friends with a lesbian and quickly realizes that, despite her happy marriage to a man, she’s falling for her new friend.
Where to watch: Rent on Prime Video
Looking for Her (2022)
Looking for Her
Violet Wave Productions
While it may not be Christmas right now, rom-coms are a staple of the season, and in recent years, we’ve finally started to get some great lesbian versions. Looking for Her gives us a sapphic twist on the classic fake-dating trope, with Taylor (Olivia Buckle) hiring an aspiring actress to pose as her girlfriend when returning to her family home for the holidays. It’s a feel-good lesbian movie that will give you everything you look for in a fluffy Hallmark movie, but so much gayer.
Where to watch: Tubi and Prime Video
Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt) (2020)
Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt)
Cinema Australia
Much like the title of the film suggests, Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt) follows Ellie, who gets some help asking out a female classmate from her lesbian aunt, who comes back from the dead to offer advice. Not only is it a sweet movie about puppy love, but it’s funny — think of an older lesbian learning about the advent of social media — and is likely to make you cry through the heartbreaking and heartwarming moments too.
Where to watch: Tubi
Cloudburst (2011)
Cloudburst
Wolfe Video
This mix of a road-trip adventure movie and lesbian rom-com featuring two grey-haired Older Wiser Lesbians is about a sapphic couple who run away from their nursing home and pick up a hitchhiker while on their way to Canada to get married. Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker star as two lesbians who have been together for 31 years, although their family still thinks they’re “just friends.” The acting is, of course, incredible, and the story is heartwarming, endearing, and full of love.
Where to watch: Tubi and Prime Video
Crush (2022)
Crush
Hulu
Starring Rowan Blanchard, Teala Dunn, and Auli’i Cravalho, Crush is about a teenage girl joining her high school track team to get closer to her crush, but finds herself falling for her crush’s twin sister instead. This teen rom-com features zippy dialogue, familiar tropes with a gay twist, and absolutely no drama about coming out or dealing with homophobia — it’s only good vibes and entertaining characters.
Where to watch: Hulu
The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love (1995)
The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love
New Line Cinema
The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love is the first lesbian rom-com most baby gays ever saw, but it doesn’t just hold a special place in our hearts because everyone was desperate for queer content in the ‘90s, it also holds up as a sweet and tender offbeat film that blends romance and humor in an unapologetically queer way.
Where to watch: Tubi
Better than Chocolate (1999)
Better than Chocolate
Lionsgate
Better Than Chocolate is definitely a product of its time, but its infectious optimism and reworking of classic rom-com tropes like the meet-cute will have you loving the ‘90s film. After Maggie (Karyn Dwyer) finally moves out of her own, she quickly ends up with her mother and younger brother moving in, which is bad timing considering she just fallen for a beautiful young woman just hours before they move in.
Where to watch: Rent on Amazon Prime
But I'm a Cheerleader (1999)
But I'm a Cheerleader
Ignite
Starring Clea Duvall and honorary lesbian Natasha Lyonne, this cult classic sapphic rom-com is extremely campy, satirical, and heartwarming. But I’m a Cheerleader is about a naive teen girl whose parents send her to a gay conversion camp where she meets and falls for a rebellious and unashamed teen lesbian. The film was critically panned when it was released, but has been beloved by queer audiences who understood its genius for decades.
