Are you in a “Be Gay, Do Crime” type of mood? Then you might be interested in these queer crime movies that remind us all that, while we surely support LGBTQ+ rights, sometimes we’re also excited about LGBTQ+ wrongs.

Victim (1961)
Thought to be the first British film to explicitly name homosexuality, this movie tells the story of a barrister, Marville Farr, who has a past gay lover blackmailing him. His reputation and his career are on the line, and he has to fight to keep his career afloat. Farr won’t take it lying down, though; he plans to bring this blackmailer to justice regardless of the cost. 

Female Trouble (1974)
In this film directed by John Waters, Dawn Davenport, played by the icon Divine, falls into crime and chaos. As a runaway, she ends up in a scheme that shows everyone that crime and beauty go hand in hand. Davenport is unsure at first, but spirals into becoming violent and invested in her beauty. 

 

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Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Dog Day Afternoon follows Sonny, played by Al Pacino, as he plans to rob a bank, but things go awry for him. It is revealed that he is robbing this bank to pay for his lover’s gender-affirming surgery. The film is based on the true story of the 1972 robbery and hostage situation led by John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile.

Bound (1996)
Directed by the Wachowski sisters, this film follows Corky, a former convict who plans to rob her lover’s mobster husband, stealing a million dollars. The pair meet at an apartment complex where Corky is working, and she makes a plan to snatch the woman away from her loveless marriage.

By Hook or By Crook (2001)
By Hook or By Crook is about two trans men who live outside the law, commit crimes, and form a friendship on the road. They are both messy men who live life by their own rules. The film doesn’t focus on their identities as trans but rather on their identities as criminals.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2009)
Based on the book of the same name, this movie follows Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander as they investigate the disappearance of an industrialist’s missing niece. As they follow the trail, they are caught up in a bigger picture that they did not expect.

Eastern Boys (2013)
This is a movie about a lonely middle-aged Frenchman who seeks out a young Eastern European male sex worker to bring to his home, but he is met with a big unexpected shock. It goes from a story about a home invasion to a romantic story between the two men.

The Handmaiden (2016)
This queer crime story, set in 1930s Japanese-occupied Korea, is full of twists and turns. A girl is hired to be a handmaiden for an heiress, but secretly, she plans to seduce the heiress and con her out of her money. 

We hope our crime movie list helps flesh out your watchlist. And if you want to add more queer movies, you can find plenty of that here.