Queer cinema is at its peak, with the -steered pulling into cinemas worldwide and every lesbian’s favourite heartthrob, , gracing our screens in . Attitude has reviewed this season’s hottest releases.
Elsewhere, we look at , starring Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman, , fronted by Joe Bird, and , as well as taking readers back to 1960s Tokyo with this issue’s queer cult classic, .
– starring Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, Chase Sui Wonders, Mason Gooding, Charli XCX
ell, smack my ass and call me Jiggly. It’s madness to think 12 years have passed since renowned queer auteur released a new film. But what a splashy comeback he’s made with kinky comedy . Strap in and strap on for a titillating tale of power dynamics, sexual identity and art commodity.
In this dom/sub romp, dweeby college graduate Elliot (Cooper Hoffman) lands a coveted assistant job at the gallery of provocative neo-pop artist Erika Tracey (an intoxicating ), whose vivacious appetite for sex is at the forefront of her work. Her latest erotic exhibition, which is about to launch in a few weeks, features gigantic abstract ball gags and anal bead installations that hang from the gallery ceiling. It’s as if Pedro Almodóvar, Andy Warhol and Jamie McCartney got together for a threesome, and then collectively decorated a shipping container.
As the stress of the exhibition mounts, Erika summons Elliot into her office and makes a “totally inappropriate” but mutually beneficial proposal that they should fuck. More precisely, she wants him to become her submissive boy-toy. It’s not long before the dominatrix has him on all fours, bound and gagged and opens him up to a world of endless sexual possibilities.
Couched between their wild sexcapades are stimulating discussions about how Elliot’s prudish generation aren’t having as much sex as they should. Erika claims that Gen Z-er’s have gone through their formative years in lockdowns and coddled by overprotective parents, leaving a generation of sexually stunted young adults.
is as visually orgasmic as the marketing makes it look. Araki’s trademark flair for vibrant aesthetics and eye-popping surrealist imagery is present in every frame. Throw in the dynamite performances of Wilde and Hoffman and you’ve got something that’s an insatiable amount of fun. Bring lube.
Stop! That! Train! – starring RuPaul, Jujubee, Ginger Minj, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Latrice Royale, Symone, Marcia Marcia Marcia, Rachel Bloom, Matt Rogers
Choo-choo, bitches! The gay cinematic event of 2026 is finally here. All aboard!
When America’s first-ever bullet train, the Glamazonian Express, heads into the path of a dangerous stormaganza, it threatens to end the lives of everyone on board. So it’s up to US President Judy Gagwell (RuPaul) and two frumpy trolley-dollies, Tess () and DeeDee (), to, you guessed it, stop that train.
It’s an unapologetically silly acting challenge – 95 minutes of drag-tastic chaos complete with fabulous musical numbers, tacky innuendos and a gag-worthy end-credits reel. Tickets, please.
Out now
– starring Hannah Einbinder, Gillian Anderson, Jack Haven
Leave it to writer and director Jane Schoenbrun to make KFC look sexy. That’s exactly the type of off-kilter weirdness they’re serving in .
Hannah Einbinder plays wunderkind filmmaker and horror-fangirly Kris Williams. After receiving the keys to her favourite franchise, , she tries to convince original “final girl” Billy Presley (a sultry Gillian Anderson) to reprise her role for the reboot. But over the course of a weekend, the two of them go on a fever-dream odyssey.
With Kris as a stand-in for Schoenbrun, this is a deeply personal exploration of the director’s own relationship with horror movies, their body and sex. It’s blood-splattery fun that will linger with you.
Out now
– starring Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen, Mia Wasikowska, Nicholas Hope
When raised in oppressive environments, young gay men are often taught to fear what they desire. This is the idea director Adrian Chiarella is tapping into in .
Set in a shabby industrial town in Victoria, Australia, two adolescent queer lads, Naim (Joe Bird) and Ryan (Stacy Clausen), are sent to a deliverance healer to cleanse them of their indecent urges. After a religious exorcism, the boys are stalked by a malevolent shapeshifting spirit which cruelly takes the form of the person they want most: each other.
Despite an abrupt finale, this is a confident debut about the real-life horrors gay men face: homophobia, gay shame, even the HIV/AIDS crisis, with an invisible killer that’s brought about by intimacy.
– starring Saoirse Ronan, Jacob Anderson, Eddie Waller, Nia Brown
If you’ve ever worked as a teacher, then do I have the perfect movie for you. Jonatan Etzler’s black comedy is a scathing indictment of the British educational system.
Overworked and undervalued primary school teacher Maria Spencer (Saoirse Ronan) is desperately trying to give her students a decent education. But the constant disruptive behaviour of one troubled pupil, Danny (Eddie Waller), makes that an impossible task. On the verge of a nervous breakdown, Maria accidentally kidnaps and sequesters Danny in her basement. Only to find that with Danny’s absence from school, both she and her class begin to thrive. But how long can she keep the truth locked up? is rotten in all the right ways.
– starring Shinnosuke Ikehata, Osamu Ogasawara, Yoshio Tsuchiya
Playing as part of the BFI’s tribute to nightclubbing, Toshio Matsumoto’s pioneering is a seminal piece of Japanese new wave cinema. Shinnosuke Ikehata plays Eddie, a transgender hostess of an underground Tokyo gay bar. Tensions rise as Eddie gets entangled in a volatile love triangle with club owner Gonda (Yoshio Tsuchiya) and venomous drag queen Leda (Osamu Ogasawara). Matsumoto blurs storytelling and reality by mixing fictional melodrama with documentary-style interviews to create a subversive celebration of the gay subcultures of 1960s Tokyo.
.
This is a feature appearing in issue 372 of Attitude magazine, on sale in print and digital on 27th August 2026. Pre-order Attitude magazine issue 372 in print now, or in digital on the links below on and the Attitude app.