So far, I have been to three drag shows in my life — the first being at my alma mater, Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri, and the last two being at a restaurant called Hamburger Mary’s — and each time was more fun than the last. It is a unique and thoroughly entertaining experience that I would highly recommend to anyone who is even remotely curious about witnessing such an event, especially during Pride Month.
However, let’s say, for whatever reason, June is not a good time for you to go out and see live a drag performance or, perhaps, something is keeping you from participating in one yourself, but you still want to get a taste of the culture in honor of this month’s celebrations. Well, look no further than the following great LGBTQ+ movies — ranging from dramas to documentaries — that put a spotlight on drag performers in a fun, but sometimes also raw and honest, fashion.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
A young couple (Barry Bostwick and Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon) are forced to spend a dark and stormy night in the strange and spooky residence of a mad scientist (Tim Curry).
Why it is a great movie for celebrating drag performers: Said mad scientist is Dr. Frank-N-Furter, played in drag brilliantly by the iconic Curry, in one of the greatest queer horror movies ever made, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which is also one of the greatest musical horror comedy movies ever made for its exhilarating show tunes and hilariously surreal tribute to campy 1950s sci-fi.
Rent/buy The Rocky Horror Picture Show on Amazon.
The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert (1994)
Two experienced drag performers from Sydney (Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce) and a transgender woman (Terrence Stamp) take their own customized bus to a show in the remote Australian desert.
Why it is a great movie for celebrating drag performers: One of the most essential films about the art of performing in drag is writer and director Stephan Elliott’s The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which won an Academy Award for Lizzy Gardliner and Tim Chappel’s eclectic costume design.
Stream The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert on Amazon Prime.
Stream The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert on Tubi.
Stream The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert on Pluto TV.
To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar (1995)
After stealing a photo autographed by one of the best Catwoman actresses, three New York City drag queens (Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, and John Leguizamo) take it with them on a cross-country trip to a pageant in Hollywood, during which their journey is interrupted by a run-in with a bigoted cop (Chris Penn) in a small, rural town.
Why it is a great movie for celebrating drag performers: Snipes, Swayze, and Leguizamo play wonderfully against type in another great road trip movie from the ‘90s all about drag performing, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, from director Beeban Kidron.
Stream To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar on Amazon Prime.
Hedwig And The Angry Inch (2001)
An East German, genderqueer punk rock singer (John Cameron Mitchell) recalls her life story while touring the United States with her punk band in search of a former bandmate/lover who's passing off her song as his own.
Why it is a great movie for celebrating drag performers: Mitchell dressed in drag to originate the title role of Hedwig and the Angry Inch in the stage musical he also wrote the book for before reprising the character in this dazzling comedy that he also wrote and directed.
Stream Hedwig And The Angry Inch on FuboTV.
Rent/buy Hedwig And The Angry Inch on Amazon.
Victor/Victoria (1982)
A talented soprano (Academy Award winner Julie Andrews) struggling to make ends meet finds work by pretending to be a man in a drag show, which ends up affecting her social life when a Chicago night club owner (James Garner) falls for her.
Why it is a great movie for celebrating drag performers: There are also female performers who impersonate men known as “Drag Kings,” but the story that inspired Blake Edwards’ Academy Award-winning Victor/Victoria takes things a step further and in ways that posit intriguing questions about gender identity that are still relevant today.
Stream Victor/Victoria on Max.
Rent/buy Victor/Victoria on Amazon.
Rent (2005)
A diverse group of New York City Bohemians bond over their troubles related to finance, sexuality, and health in the early 1990s.
Why it is a great movie for celebrating drag performers: One of the most important and iconic characters from the Tony Award winning, 1996 musical, Rent, is Angel Dumott Shunard (originated and played in Chris Columbus’ film adaptation by Wilson Jermaine Heredia), who — despite debates surrounding her gender identity, according to Out Magazine — was always intended to be depicted as a drag queen by composer Jonathan Larson.
Kinky Boots (2005)
Desperate for an idea that will help save his father’s shoe factory that he recently inherited, a man (Joel Edgerton) enlists the help of a local drag queen (Chiwetel Ejiofor) to rebrand the company as a manufacturer of footwear designed specifically for drag performers in 1970s England.
Why it is a great movie for celebrating drag performers: Also one of the best Chiwetel Ejiofor movies, the hilarious and heartwarming Kinky Boots — which was later adapted into a Tony Award-winning stage musical by Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein — is inspired by the true story of how the acceptance of a culture that most people at the time were unfamiliar with, and even intimidated by, helped save a struggling business.
Stream Kinky Boots on Paramount+.
Stream Kinky Boots on Pluto TV.
Rent/buy Kinky Boots on Amazon.
Hurricane Bianca (2016)
After a New York-based teacher (Roy Haylock) is fired from his new Texas school for being gay, he adopts a female persona in order to get his job back.
Why it is a great movie for celebrating drag performers: Haylock, who won the sixth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, brings his drag queen alter ego, Bianca Del Rio, to the big screen as the title character of Hurricane Bianca — a fun comedy in the spirit of Mrs. Doubtfire from director Matt Kugelman.
Stream Hurricane Bianca on Hulu.
Rent/buy Hurricane Bianca on Amazon.
Everybody's Talking About Jamie (2021)
A gay, sixteen-year-old high school student from the United Kingdom (Max Harwood) aspires to be a drag queen.
Why it is a great movie for celebrating drag performers: Roy Haylock also appears as Bianca Del Rio in this adaptation of an acclaimed stage musical (which is based on the true story of a real British, teenage drag queen), Everybody’s Talking About Jamie — a visually inventive, inspirational Amazon Prime Original movie about overcoming prejudice and learning to be yourself.
Stream Everybody's Talking About Jamie on Amazon Prime.
Freak Show (2017)
A teenager (Black Mirror’s Alex Lawther) aspires to rebel against the ultra-conservative ideals of his high school and run for the title of his upcoming prom’s homecoming queen.
Why it is a great movie for celebrating drag performers: Yet another empowering high school movie about struggling to overcome prejudice and learning to be yourself is Freak Show — director Trudie Styler’s star-studded dramedy based on the novel of the same name by James St. James.
Stream Freak Show on Tubi.
Rent/buy Freak Show on Amazon.
Paris Is Burning (1990)
An exploration of the ballroom culture in New York City’s Harlem in the mid-to-late 1980s, as explained and observed from the perspective of the city’s Black, Latinx, and queer communities.
Why it is a great movie for celebrating drag performers: Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, director Jennie Livingston’s acclaimed documentary, Paris Is Burning, is considered to be one of the most important and invaluable chronicles of drag culture and would serve heavily as an inspiration for co-creator Ryan Murphy’s hit TV show, Pose.
Stream Paris Is Burning on Max.
Wig (2019)
A chronicle of the history and grand, long-awaited return of one of the most famous outdoor festivals established in the honor of celebrating gay culture and showcasing some of the most prolific performers in the art of drag.
Why it is a great movie for celebrating drag performers: Director Chris Moukarabel captures the 2018 revival of the New York City based drag festival, Wigstock, in his HBO original documentary feature, Wig, which also features a performance by Neil Patrick Harris in the title role from Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts (2019)
An inside look at the life and career of one of the world’s most famous modern drag performers with and without the makeup on.
Why it is a great movie for celebrating drag performers: From director Nicholas Zeig-Owens, Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts chronicles the rise of the drag queen at its center, from her stint as a contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race (and winner of All Stars 3) to her success as a musician, and more.
Rent/buy Stream Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts on Amazon.
Drag culture lives on and off of the stage, and in your home, when you stream these movies.
