Why lesbian love will take centre stage in some of the biggest Hollywood films from Colette to Lizzie and The Favourite
IT was once the love that dared not speak its name – but Hollywood’s hottest stars will soon be shouting it loud and proud.
Some of 2019’s biggest films and TV series will feature lesbian love stories, as execs drop leading men for girl-on-girl romance.
It is thought this “sapphic surge” could be a response to the #MeToo movement, which outed some of the industry’s most prominent men as sexual harassers.
Many of the sexy dramas are based on true stories once hidden by history but now unzipped for a modern audience, especially when it comes to showing all-female sex scenes.
Chanya Button, director of Vita And Virginia — a film about the affair between authors Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf — said it is about showing “a true depiction of the quality and focus of lesbian sexual expression”.
She added: “We’ve seen many sex scenes that are really a functional punctuation point at the end of a sequence of scenes.
“They’re about seduction, and focused around male pleasure.”
Below, we pick out some of the films and TV series that will embrace lesbian love in 2019.
Colette
Sexual and emotional liberty are at the centre of the biographical historical film, about the life of Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, the French writer famous for her novella Gigi.
Sidonie-Gabrielle, played by Keira Knightley, is creatively suppressed by her writer husband, who uses the pen name Willy – apt for a post-#MeToo film whose core theme is a woman’s yearning for freedom – and published her first four books under his name.
Drained and frustrated, she finds solace in the arms of American heiress Georgie Raoul-Duval, played by Eleanor Tomlinson. Willy, however, is determined to keep control of his wife.
Out January 9
Killing Eve
Hit BBC thriller Killing Eve, starring Sandra Oh, returns for a second series – and is likely to further develop the sexual obsession its leading characters have for each other.
Based on Luke Jennings’ Codename Villanelle books, Jodie Comer plays psychopathic assassin Villanelle.
After a chance encounter with Eve Polastri – the intelligence agent on her tail, played by Sandra – she becomes sexually infatuated with her.
Eve confesses in the final episode of the critically acclaimed first season, that the feeling is mutual.
Out late 2019
Ammonite
Kate Winslet is no stranger to girl-on-girl action in her roles, with 1994’s Heavenly Creatures and 1999’s Holy Smoke featuring lesbian clinches.
In Ammonite, she will take on the role of Mary Anning, a real-life British fossil hunter in the 1800s.
During one of her research trips, she meets a wealthy London woman, played by Saoirse Ronan, who has been sent to live by the sea to improve her health.
The pair then embark upon an “intense” and life-changing relationship.
Filming begins in March
Vita & Virginia
This movie charts the courtship between novelist Virginia Woolf, played by Elizabeth Debicki, and socialite Vita Sackville-West, played by Gemma Arterton, in the film with Elizabeth.
Vita is, as acknowledged by her long-suffering husband Sir Harold Nicolson (Rupert Penry-Jones), someone who likes to have her cake and eat it. “And there are so many cakes, Vita,” he says.
Meanwhile, Virginia’s husband Leonard hopes the affair will allay her problems with depression.
Release date TBC
Gentleman Jack
Landowner and industrialist Anne Lister used to dress as a man known as Gentleman Jack and chronicled her lesbian relationships in an explicit diary.
She is played by Suranne Jones in this new BBC series, which is set in 1832 and focuses on her relationship with wealthy heiress Ann Walker, played by Sophie Rundle.
The pair lived openly as a couple and took communion together in 1834, in an act regarded as Britain’s first lesbian marriage.
Airs early 2019
The Favourite
This dark comedy focuses on a love triangle, with Queen Anne – played by Olivia Colman – at the heart of it.
Set in 1708, it is loosely based on the true story of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (Rachel Weisz) competing with her cousin Abigail, Baroness Masham – played by Emma Stone – for the monarch’s unwavering affection.
It is a complex dynamic which is sexual, romantic and, at times, manipulative, as Sarah and Abigail figure out how to satisfy the Queen.
All three actresses are tipped for Oscar nominations, which are named on January 22 before the February 25 ceremony.
Out January 1
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Frozen 2
This is perhaps one of the more unusual films to feature on these pages – but Frozen’s writer and director Jennifer Lee has hinted that hero Elsa could get a girlfriend in the Disney sequel.
Fans and LGBTQ activists grabbed hold of the first film’s hit song, Let It Go, as their “coming out anthem” and once the sequel was announced, social media was flooded with #GiveElsaAGirlfriend.
When Jennifer was asked about whether or not she was going to officially inaugurate Elsa into the LGBTQ community, she said the film’s team was discussing it.
Out November
Lizzie
This gripping drama reimagines the notorious axe murders of Andrew and Abby Borden in Massachusetts, US, in 1892.
Andrew’s daughter Lizzie, played by Chloe Sevigny, falls in love with maid Bridget Sullivan, who is played by Kristen Stewart.
While Lizzie is relentlessly bullied by her dad, Bridget has to endure his sexual advances.
Together they orchestrate a plan to kill him and stepmum Abby – with Lizzie carrying out the murders fully nude.
Out now
Batwoman
Aussie Ruby Rose is set to star as the first openly gay superhero in a new TV series.
The actress, who describes herself as “gender fluid”, will play Batwoman’s alter-ego Kate Kane as a lesbian.
In the original comics, Batwoman first appeared as a romantic interest for Batman, to dispel questions over his sexuality.
But some people criticised Ruby’s casting, saying a lesbian should play the role.
She deleted her Twitter account amid the backlash but posted: “Where on earth did ‘Ruby is not a lesbian therefore she can’t be Bat-woman’ come from? Has to be the funniest, most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read.
“I came out at 12 and have for the past five years had to deal with, ‘she’s too gay’. How do y’all flip it like that? I didn’t change.”
Out late 2019
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