Both science fiction and movies featuring LGBTQ leads have become increasingly popular in recent years. But a two-second clip in Sailor Moon seem to fall more into the magical girl genre rather than sci-fi.
If it's hard to find movies that have LGBTQ leads, it's even harder to find ones that are good. Whether or not IMDb ratings are the ultimate test of a movie's quality, all of the following were rated highly by a good number of viewers.
Strange Frame: Love & Sax (2012): 7.1
This 2012 animated musical movie was made with cutout animation that features bright colors and flashy textures, making for an extremely unique visual experience. Set on Jupiter's moons 500 years in the future, it follows the love story and whirlwind adventures of Naia and Parker, a saxophone player and a songwriter living at the bottom of their futuristic society.
Despite the bizarre animation style and small-scale release, it has received a large number of positive reviews and features the big name voices of Tim Curry, Alan Tudyk, and George Takei, among others.
Star Trek Beyond (2016): 7.1
Star Trek Beyond (2016) is the third installment in the recent reboot of Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2012). Sulu, originally played by George Takei and portrayed by John Cho in this movie, is depicted as having a husband and a daughter; this is in contrast to his character in the original TV series who was never shown as being gay or bisexual.
Promare (2020): 7.2
This 2020 Japanese anime movie operates on the premise that a subgroup of the human population suddenly acquired the ability to generate and control fire; for unknown reasons, they have an uncontrollable desire to burn things and are thus ruthlessly hunted by law enforcement for the damage that they cause. It's later revealed that their fire abilities come from a connection with a parallel universe in which Earth overlaps with aliens who also control fire, more or less.
While the film's creators are vague about whether the main characters were intended to have a romantic relationship, in the movie itself Galo is shown to be more or less uninterested in a female love interest, and at the end bestows a life-saving kiss on his rival-turned-ally, Lio.
Credence (2015): 7.2
In a bleak future, the earth has been rendered uninhabitable by extreme weather. Two dads make the tragic decision to send their daughter away on a space shuttle evacuating to more livable worlds. This independent short film only has few reviews on IMDb but is well-loved by those who have seen it.
Brand Upon The Brain! (2006): 7.3
Brand Upon The Brain! is 2006 black and white silent film by director Guy Maddin. The story takes place on an island that hosts a lighthouse and orphanage; these are both managed by couple that includes a mad-scientist husband who harvests brain juice from orphans to keep his wife young. They also have two children, Guy and Sis.
A young brother/sister detective pair shows up to the island and an elaborate love triangle ensues: Wendy dresses up as her brother in order to woo Sis, while Guy develops a crush on Wendy thinking she's male. With a rating of 7.3 and over 3,000 reviews on IMDb, Brand Upon The Brain! is an unusual but well-liked film.
Cloud Atlas (2012): 7.4
Based on a book, Cloud Atlas follows six different storylines taking place in different locations and time periods, two of which are in the future. One of the stories follows Robert Frobisher; Robert keeps up a romantic correspondence with his lover Rufus Sixsmith and also has an affair with his musical mentor's wife Jocasta.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975): 7.4
Dr. Frank N Furter is a self described "sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania," and is also bisexual, attempting to seduce both Janet and Brad. With Rocky, a The Rocky Horror Picture Show is as sci-fi and LGBTQ as they come.
Predestination (2014): 7.5
Predestination features an intersex character who lives as a woman until doctors forcefully reassign her physical sex due to childbirth complications. She then lives life as a man and is revealed to have fathered her own child in a time-travel paradox. While this character is technically transgender in the most basic sense of the word, the movie isn't necessarily positive representation for the LGBTQ community as it upholds a number of harmful misconceptions.
When Jane is surgically altered, it's treated as an inevitable consequence that she must socially transition to "John." The movie also seemingly mixes up what it means to be intersex and transgender (while also playing into gender stereotypes), by implying that young Jane's intersex status makes her better at math and science and more prone to violence than other girls.
Evangelion: Death & Rebirth (1997): 7.5
Neon Genesis Evangelion is a popular anime series that spawned a number of movies including the cinematic sequel Death & Rebirth.
The Evangelion universe is undeniably sci-fi, dealing heavily with mechs and aliens. And while details sometimes get lost in translation in the course of subtitles and English dubs of what is originally Japanese content, most fans agree that Kaworu and Shinji show romantic interest in each other. Like Deadpool, there are also comics that confirm the nature of their relationship more explicitly.
Deadpool (2016): 7.7
In the Marvel comics, Deadpool is explicitly pansexual, and there's nothing to indicate otherwise in either of these movies. In fact, he shamelessly flirts with characters of any gender (especially Colossus).
While Marvel movies don't always carry over everything from comics as canon, it's pretty clear that Deadpool's attraction isn't limited by gender. With respective, average ratings of 7.7 and 8.0 on IMDb, Deadpool and Deadpool 2 are both high on this list (though which movie is better is up for debate).
