13 best LGBTQIA+ shows and movies on Showmax this Pride Month

In addition to Youth Month, June is also Pride Month which signals a celebration of all things LGBTQIA+, a group Showmax perfectly caters for through several shows. The subscription service has compiled a watchlist of 13 recent queer series, movies and documentaries anyone can easily enjoy, regardless of their sexual identity.

WE’RE HERE | Drag reality show

In We’re Here, RuPaul’s Drag Race veterans Bob the Drag Queen, Eureka O’Hara and Shangela Laquifa Wadley inspire small-town residents from across America to step outside their comfort zones for a night of no-holds-barred drag – and a life-changing journey of self-discovery.

PAIN AND GLORY | Film

At the 2020 Oscars, Pain and Glory was nominated for Best International Feature Film and Best Actor, a first-ever nod for Antonio Banderas (Desperado, The Skin I Live In). The Spanish drama also won 69 international awards, including Best Actor for Banderas and Best Soundtrack at Cannes, and was recently named the third best LGBTQIA+ movie of all-time by Rotten Tomatoes, where it has a 96% critics rating.

CAROL | Movie

Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara were nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively at the 2016 Oscars for their roles in Carol, a powerful drama about a married woman in 1950s New York, who risks everything when she embarks on a romance with a younger department store worker. Carol, which was also nominated for Oscars for Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Costume Design, and Score, won 79 awards worldwide and was recently named the fourth best LGBTQIA+ movie of all-time by Rotten Tomatoes, where it has a 94% critics rating.

P-VALLEY S1 | Series

Nicco Annan was nominated for a 2021 Queerty as Uncle Clifford, the non-binary owner of the Pynk, the strip club at the centre of P-Valley, which was also nominated for Best TV Series at the Queerties and Best Drama Series at the GLAAD Media Awards.

MOFFIE | Movie

Adapted from an autobiographical 2006 novel by André Carl van der Merwe, Moffie is set in South Africa, 1981, with the white minority government embroiled in a conflict on the southern Angolan border. Like all white boys over the age of 16, Nicholas Van der Swart (Kai Luke Brummer) must complete two years of compulsory military service to defend the Apartheid regime. The threat of communism and die swart gevaar is at an all-time high. But that’s not the only danger Nicholas faces. He must survive the brutality of the army – something that becomes even more difficult when a connection is sparked between him and a fellow recruit.

HIGHTOWN S1 | Series

Set in the beautiful but bleak Cape Cod, Hightown follows Jackie Quiñones, a hard-partying, lesbian addict whose journey to sobriety is overshadowed by a murder investigation.

Already renewed for a second season, Hightown stars Teen Choice nominees Monica Raymund (Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D.’s Gabriela Dawson, and Lie to Me’s Ria Torres), James Badge Dale (The Departed, 24), and Amaury Nolasco (Prison Break). Hightown has an 80% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with numerous critics praising Monica Raymund’s stellar performance, and was nominated for Best TV Series at the 2021 Queerties.

TRANSHOOD | Documentary

Filmed over five years in Kansas City, Transhood follows four kids – beginning at ages 4, 9, 12, and 15 – in a never-before-told chronicling of growing up transgender in the heartland of America. Directed by multi-award-winner Sharon Liese, the HBO documentary won the Audience Award at the 2020 AFI Docs Festival and has an 86% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where it was recently listed as one of 40 Essential LGBTQ+ Documentaries.

VIDA S1-3 | Series

Vida follows two very different Mexican-American sisters who return to their childhood neighbourhood after their mother’s death, only to discover they’ve inherited her bar and apartment – in a three-way split with her wife, who they didn’t know existed.

I MAY DESTROY YOU | Limited series

I May Destroy You centres on Arabella (Michaela Coel), a carefree, self-assured Londoner with a group of great friends, a boyfriend in Italy, and a burgeoning writing career. But when her drink is spiked with a date-rape drug, she must question and rebuild every element of her life.

WE ARE WHO WE ARE S1 | Series

From Oscar nominee Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name, ranked second on Rotten Tomatoes’ list of the best LGBTQIA+ movie of all-time), We Are Who We Are follows a group of teens growing up on an American Army base outside of Venice, Italy, struggling to find their own identities as they move into young adulthood.

SUPERSTORE S1-5 | Binge now

Golden Globe winner America Ferrera (Ugly Betty), Emmy nominees Ben Feldman (Silicon Valley), Mark McKinney (The Kids in the Hall) and Colton Dunn (Key and Peele), and Nichole Sakura (Shameless) are back at work at supersized megastore Cloud 9. The new season of the ever-popular workplace comedy opens with immigration officers coming for Mateo (Nico Santos, nominated for Critics Choice Awards two years in a row for the role) – who is the main reason the series earned its third GLAAD Media Award nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series this year.

BETTY S1-2 | Series

Based on Crystal Moselle’s critically acclaimed feature Skate Kitchen, HBO’s half-hour series Betty is back for a second season as it continues to follow a diverse group of young women navigating their lives through New York’s predominantly male-oriented skateboarding scene. The comedy stars Dede Lovelace, Moonbear, Nina Moran, Ajani Russell, and Rachelle Vinberg, who all reprise their roles from the original film.

BULLY. COWARD. VICTIM. THE STORY OF ROY COHN | Documentary

A 2021 Queerties nominee for Best Documentary, Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn takes an unflinching look at the life and death of infamous attorney Roy Cohn, who first gained prominence by prosecuting Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in what came to be known as the “atomic spies” case.

As always, there’s more of where that came from with Showmax offering plenty of content to enjoy. A happy Pride Month to all celebrating it… to be fair everyone should in some shape or form.

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Thabiso Moloi

With many, many years of PR, digital & influencer marketing work under his belt, Thabiso has worked on a great number of technology, business and consumer brands. In addition, he has become obsessed with most things under the sun including music, series, sports, movies etc which he now regularly writes about. You can find him on Twitter: @Thabz_14