4 queer movies that actually talk about money

A lesbian couple watching a movie on their laptop. Photo by Windows via Unsplash.

Hello to all the hotties reading this newsletter! Thank you for being here.

I've gotten feedback that my last few newsletters are too long, so I thought I'd switch it up with a short and sweet edition with a lighter topic.

Fun fact about me: I love watching movies in the background while I do lighter admin tasks or clean my apartment. It's one of my greatest pleasures, and I want to share what I've been watching with you.

I've watched tons of queer cinema, and I noticed that it's uncommon for queer and trans films to discuss money. Maybe it's the Hollywood tradition of avoiding taboo topics. Or maybe queer and trans filmmakers are already fighting an uphill battle to get their films funded, and adding the extra layer of class critique only makes that fight harder. Who knows?

Either way, if you're looking for something good to watch, here are four queer films that actually talk about money:

🇵🇸 Layla (2024): A non-binary Palestinian drag artist named Layla falls for a middle-class, white ad executive who doesn't quite understand his privilege. This movie is great at describing the difference between the words queer and gay. It's a beautiful film, and I highly recommend it. Stream on Hulu.
🏖️ Fire Island (2022): A story of classism within the gay community, based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. A group of working-class gay friends takes one last vacation, hosted by their lesbian house mom, to Fire Island. They cross paths with rich, gay men who have generational wealth and high-paying jobs. No notes. It was a perfect film with great performances by Bowen Yang, Joel Kim Booster, Margaret Cho, and Conrad Ricamora. Stream on Hulu.
💍 The Wedding Banquet (2025 remake, original movie released in 1993): A lesbian couple lives in the main house, and a gay couple lives in the back house — it's the perfect queer homestead set in Seattle. To prevent coming out to his family and getting financially cut off, Korean immigrant Min pretends to be in a straight relationship with his friend Angela during his grandmother's surprise visit. In exchange, Min promises to help Angela and her partner Lee pay for a third round of IVF. The remake was a good story, but the 1993 original is a stronger story, in my humble opinion. Stream on Paramount+.
🚴‍♀️ The Half Of It (2020): Ellie Chu supports her immigrant dad by writing essays for her classmates priced at $20 a pop. Because of her financial and caretaking responsibilities, she doesn't have the space to explore her queer identity until a football player named Paul Munsky enlists her help to write letters to their dream girl. This is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I am judging you if you haven't seen it yet. Stream on Netflix.

Send me a note if you end up watching one of these, and let me know what you think!

— Leo

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