4 Lesbian Movies With Actually Happy Endings

When I was a high school sophomore, I snuck into my local AMC movie theater to watch Carol (2015). I sat as still as possible in the back row, eyes wide and crying. I hoped I would feel a rush watching the movie, especially after hearing about the R rated sex scenes featuring Cate Blanchett, but the forbidden affair made me feel hopeless. I watched Carol and Therese navigate their love in a time and space that had no sympathy for them. I felt that same hopelessness in my small southern town. Though the film is set in 1952, in the present, it was just a few months after gay marriage had been made legal across the United States. But as the credits rolled, I feared that any woman I loved would still have to live in secret. I left the cinema feeling empty, thinking that any potential love story for me would also end in ambiguity. 

In Hollywood, we often see lesbians in a period piece filled with longing stares, dramatic piano music, and a melancholy ending. Usually, the word “lesbian” or “gay” is not even uttered. Since my teen years, I’ve struggled to enjoy another big box-office historical drama lesbian film that ends in death, heartbreak, or both. We could easily create an endless list of gut-wrenching queer films. Critically acclaimed queer movies like Carol (2015) and Moonlight (2016) make waves in the box office, and are beautiful in their own right, but limit the perspective of LGBTQ+ narratives to ones of struggle and not liberation.

As queer women, we deserve to see stories of happiness in our community. Real lesbian love stories are happening everyday, and production houses should invest their money to instill hope. 

Here are four films with an assortment of queer characters that all end in a happily ever after for the leading couple. These movies are my favorite examples of celebrating lesbian relationships and giving them well-rounded fulfilling stories about their identity. As an added bonus of representation, all of these movies are by female directors.

Crush (2022)

Where else can you watch two major Disney stars kissing on your screen? (Besides Hayley Kiyoko’s iconic Girls Like Girls music video, of course.) Girl Meets World actress Rowan Blanchard came out as queer back in 2016, and stars opposite Moana star and proud bisexual Auli’i Cravalho in this Hulu original.

High school junior Paige (Blanchard) is your token lesbian art girl and has been hopelessly harboring a crush on Gabriella (Isabella Ferreria) since elementary school. When she’s forced to join the track team, she sees it as an opportunity to get closer to her, but cannot help the attraction she feels for Gabriella’s sister AJ (Cravalho). One of my favorite aspects of the film is how many out queer girls attend the high school, and you see Paige’s straight best friend Dylan encourage her to explore her options in the trailer. 

Jenny’s Wedding (2015)

In this family-centered romantic comedy, Katherine Heigel (Grey’s Anatomy) and Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls) portray a lesbian couple navigating wedding planning and coming out in their small Ohio town. For those of you who wanted to see Rory Gilmore finally on screen as a lesbian, this is your chance!

Jenny (Heigel) is a closeted lesbian that has been with her partner Kitty (Bledel) for over 5 years. When she proposes to her girlfriend, Jenny decides it is finally time to tell her cookie-cutter, unsuspecting family that she’s a lesbian. Having been in the dark for years about the relationship with her “roommate,” Jenny’s family are surprised by the news. While they take time to come around, they recognize that sexuality doesn’t change the person they’ve always known, or expected, her to be.

The topic of coming out can be a sensitive one, but this soft-hearted family movie takes a gentle approach to different family dynamics and ends, of course, with an adorable lesbian wedding.

Rafiki (2018)

This Kenyan movie was banned in its home country; its “impression of a happy ending” cited as one of the laws broken. The film’s portrayal of a positive ending for two African women, though controversial, was seen as a sign of hopeful progress in the country, and the film won a GLAAD media award in 2020. 

Kena (Samantha Mugatsia) is a hard-working student who is helping her father run his convenience store in town while he prepares for a local Kenyan election. She forms a friendship with carefree Ziki (Sheila Munyiva) whose father is running against Kena’s in the County Assembly race. Despite the laws opposing homosexuality and the feud between their fathers, the two fall in love, trying to find space for their relationship in secret. 

While Kena and Ziki experience judgment from their neighbors and lawmakers in the film, the connection they form is raw and innocent in the face of adversity.

Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

Kristen Stewart’s latest lesbian role has her starring opposite Katy O’Brian in this crime romance movie. While this drama has the eerie backdrop of a southwestern town in the 1980’s, it makes for one of the most passionate lesbian relationships on screen in years. 

Lou (Stewart) becomes entranced by bodybuilder Jackie (O’Brian) who blows into town whilst preparing for a competition in Las Vegas. In true lesbian fashion, the two uhaul into Lou’s home while Jackie trains. The two juggle their budding relationship amidst conflicts with Lou’s complicated family. While Lou and Jackie are both harboring secrets, they bond over their passion for athleticism and fiercely protect each other from danger- by any means necessary. 

This A24 release gave us the introduction of O’Brian in her first lead role, some gorgeous red carpet looks from Stewart, and one of my favorite codependent lesbian couples ever on screen. And a happy ending!

These movies push the boundaries of lesbian representation on screen and give me hope for what’s to come of queer cinema. From horror to rom-coms, they are proof that there is a wide and diverse range of happy queer stories and narratives waiting to be shared.