The MPAA — responsible for rating movies in the U.S. — is notorious for slapping LGBTQ+ movies with NC-17 ratings. The stigma around this dreaded rating means that theater chains will ban the film, and advertising gets tricky. An NC-17 rating is a commercial kiss of death, which is why Boys Don’t Cry and But I’m a Cheerleader both made cuts to satisfy the whims of the MPAA.
But filmmakers who refuse to compromise their artistic vision face a tough choice: risk an NC-17 rating or disregard the entire rating system.
While films like Passages, Blue is the Warmest Color, and Henry & June all got NC-17 ratings because they pushed boundaries, there is also a long list of LGBTQ+ movies with unflinching depictions of queer sex, full-frontal nudity, and even the actors having real sex with each other on screen that decided to leave their films unrated.
So here are nine queer films that were all released as unrated because their filmmakers refused to compromise or give in to authority—and where to watch them.
'Shortbus' (2006)
Director John Cameron Mitchell decided to release his dramedy Shortbus as unrated because the actors are actually having sex on screen, which would have garnered it an instant NC-17 rating. While accusations that the film was pornographic were lobbed at Shortbus, Mitchell said that porn is devoid of artistic intent and that the sex in his film is “de-eroticized.” Shortbus follows a sexually diverse group of colorful New Yorkers who connect in an underground artistic salon.
Where to watch: PlutoTV
'Y tu mamá también' (2001)
'Y tu mamá también' (2001)
20th Century FoxY tu mamá también, which follows 17-year-old best friends Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Tenoch (Diego Luna) as they spend a summer on a cross-country escapade with a gorgeous older woman, faced a ratings problem when it tried to get U.S. distribution. The beautiful film features a threesome scene that leads to a sexual awakening, people enjoying sex, and a couple of fleeting shots of penises, all of which were enough for the MPAA to refuse to give it an R rating unless sex scenes were cut.
Where to watch: Netflix
'Rotting in the Sun' (2023)
'Rotting in the Sun' (2023)
Mubi
Jordan Firstman’s pitch-black tragicomedy Rotting in the Sun not only shows a casual and unflinching depiction of gay sex and hook-up culture, but does it with gusto. There are a near-unending number of full-frontal male nudity shots and, like other films on this list, scenes of unsimulated gay sex. The film likely would have been slapped with an NC-17 rating, so they went the unrated route instead. The meta-comedy stars the film’s director Sebastián Silva as a depressed, ketamine-addicted filmmaker struggling with his life, who runs into Firstman’s social-media obsessed character on a gay nudist beach in Mexico.
Where to watch: Mubi
'Below Her Mouth' (2016)
'Below Her Mouth' (2016)
Gunpowder & Sky
With a tribbing scene, a strap-on scene, and plenty of nudity, Below Her Mouth skipped the rating system for a reason. Arguably one of the most erotic lesbian films of all time, it would have almost been guaranteed to get an NC-17 rating if it had gone through the MPAA. It follows an engaged fashion editor who starts a torrid sexual affair with a female roofer that threatens to upend her whole life.
Where to watch: Roku
'The Big Gay Musical' (2009)
'The Big Gay Musical' (2009)
Big Gay Musical Productions LLC
The 2009 gay-themed musical comedy The Big Gay Musical follows two men starring in a delightfully blasphemous musical about Adam and Eve (aka Adam and Steve). The low-budget indie film decided to forgo getting an MPAA rating and go the unrated route instead to save money on marketing and distribution for the direct-to-DVD release.
Where to watch: Tubi
'Stranger by the Lake' (2013)
'Stranger by the Lake' (2013)
Strand Releasing
Stranger by the Lake decided to avoid being rated altogether for fear that the unsimulated sex, full-frontal nudity, and depictions of queer desire in the film would land it squarely in NC-17 territory. The film may be graphic, but it is more about loneliness than sex. The erotic French thriller follows Franck, who falls in love with a handsome but dangerous man while exploring a popular gay cruising spot.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
'I Want Your Love' (2012)
'I Want Your Love' (2012)
NakedSword
I Want Your Love is an unflinching look at gay sex and relationships between a group of friends and even includes scenes of real sex. It was criticized for blurring the lines between arthouse cinema and adult films, but James Franco stepped forward to defend it, which led to him collaborating with the filmmaker on Interior. Leather. Bar. — also unrated. The film follows a man’s bittersweet final night in San Francisco partying and reconnecting with ex-lovers before he’s forced to leave for the Midwest.
Where to watch: Currently unavailable
'Interior. Leather. Bar.' (2013)
'Interior. Leather. Bar.' (2013)
When William Friedkin’s crime thriller Cruising was released in 1980, a full 40 minutes were cut from the film that depicted underground gay clubs in New York — mostly from a scene shot inside a leather bar — to avoid an X rating. Interior. Leather. Bar. is a reconstruction of those lost scenes along with interviews with people involved in the making of Cruising. The filmmakers decided to skip submitting their film to the MPAA because its explicit content with both male nudity and S&M themes would likely have led to an NC-17 rating or having to cut scenes as Cruising did.
Where to watch: Tubi
'Show Me Love' (1998)
'Show Me Love' (1998)
Memfis Film
Unlike a lot of films on this list, the Swedish film Show Me Love doesn’t have any full-frontal nudity, unsimulated sex, or explicit queer sex. Instead, it’s a sapphic coming-of-age movie about teen girls who feel like outcasts. But because it was made in the '90s and because of how much the teens swear and talk about sex, the filmmakers feared it would get an NC-17 rating, and so the studio opted to release it as unrated.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
