25 Streaming Movies With Hot Lesbian Sex Scenes
Lesbian sex: it’s a thing we have, but it’s also a thing we watch other people have on a screen! We love a good lesbian sex scene. These formative cinematic experiences have helped make us the gay sexual creatures we are today.
Five years ago, I solicited hot lesbian sex scene tips on twitter and combined that input with my own personal opinions, which includes the opinion that Elena Undone is a bad movie and nobody should have to watch it for any reason. That list has evolved over time into this list — an up-to-date collection of the best lesbian sex scenes that you can stream right this very moment.
This is not a comprehensive list, and only represents films available to stream. I imagine if you’re here with me today reading this, you’re probably not looking for recommendations on DVDs to mail-order. Just a hunch!
This post was originally written in 2018 and has been updated in 2023.
Kinky Lesbian Sex Scenes
Bound (1996)
Directed & Written By: Lana Wachowski & Lilly Wachowski
Lana and Lilly were fans of sex-positive guru Susie Bright’s Lesbian Sex World, so they sent her a package in the early ’90s that contained a draft of Bound, asking if she’d honor them with a cameo. (Lana and Lilly are sisters and trans women who at the time that this film was made were still presenting as male.) It wasn’t an unusual request or one that particularly interested her, but she was impressed by the studio they were associated with and thus sat down to read the script. She fell in love with it immediately and agreed to the cameo but also offered them a different type of support: “If you don’t think I’m too presumptuous, could I be your lesbian-sex consultant?,” she wrote. “I notice that whenever two lovers fall into an embrace, it doesn’t say exactly what happens next. On behalf of every moviegoer who can’t live through another syrupy, comb all lesbian love scene, could I please, please, please give you my words of advice on what two women like this would do in bed together?” They said yes, and she did, and holy shit did that decision pay off! Bound is streaming on Paramount+.
The Duke of Burgundy (2015)
Directed & Written by: Peter Strickland
The Duke of Burgundy involves an extensive, drawn-out dom/sub relationship between a lepidopterist (somebody who studies butterflies) and the maid she brings into her home who has a lot of very kinky desires. It’s a very… unique film? There’s no actual nudity but the lingerie they’re wearing is so hot that it sort of compensates for itself. The Duke of Burgundy is streaming on Tubi.
The Handmaiden (2016)
Directed by: Chan-wook Park
Written by: Chan-wook Park and Seo-Kyung Chung, adapted from Fingersmith, by Sarah Waters
A beautiful, thrilling, meticulously plotted film; sumptuous and precise and erotically charged throughout. I could watch The Handmaiden ten times and it wouldn’t be enough but nothing will ever beat that first twisty time. Pajaba called it “the lesbian gothic psychosexual romantic thriller of our dreams.” Teo Bugbee at MTV called it “a film dedicated to getting off on the creative potential of sexuality, and by grounding that open exploration of desire in a story where two women find freedom through each other.” The sex itself isn’t kinky, but the movie is so directly about kink that it made the list anyhow. The Handmaiden is streaming on Prime Video.
Mommy is Coming (2012)
Written by: Sarah Schulman & Cheryl Dunye
Directed by: Cheryl Dunye
Cheryl Dunye’s campy sex comedy set in the Berlin queer underground finds power femme Dylan (Lili Harlow) and charming masc Claudia (played by queer porn performer Papi Coxxx) looking to spice up their monogamous relationship with some sexual adventures. Dylan finds new experiences in a BDSM sex club and Claudia, now presenting as Claude, meets an older woman at the hotel where he works who turns out to be Dylan’s Mom! “With its embrace of older bodies, bodies of color, and bodies that do not fit into any one gender, the film also reflects an ever more fluid sense of erotic queer representation,” writes Julia Bryan-Wilson in ArtForum. “All manner of configurations of desire are on display here, as an astonishing array of objects and appendages are inserted and received in various orifices.” Mommy is Coming is streaming on Prime Video.
Professor Marston & The Wonder Women (2017)
Directed & Written by: Angela Robinson
If you don’t want any men in your sex scenes, this isn’t the film for you. But if that element doesn’t turn you off, you’re in for a lesbian-written-and-directed DELIGHT. This movie is hot and kinky as hell and makes you feel like it’s okay to want what you want and it will probably inspire you to go out there and get what you want without shame or inhibition. Professor Marston & The Wonder Women is streaming on Vudu.
Wow Just a Lot of Lesbian Sex Happening
Better Than Chocolate (1999)
Directed by: Anne Wheeler
Written by: Peggy Thompson
I’m sorry everybody but this is a mediocre film and the sex scenes give me chronic internalized homophobia but so many of you brought this up on Twitter that I felt obligated to include it. It was, for its time, pretty wonderful, and was the first movie to show a trans woman with a lesbian friend group. It does have, to its credit, a lot of sexual content — we’ve got a sex toy collector, we’ve got bodypaint sex, we’ve got shower sex, we’ve got a mom discovering sex toys, we’ve got bathroom sex complete with a line of lesbians (patiently??!) waiting to use the bathroom where sex is being had. So much sex! Good on everybody involved in this seminal film for having sex! Better Than Chocolate is streaming on Tubi.
Concussion (2013)
Directed & Written By: Stacie Passon
After a concussion, a lesbian mom decides to become a sex worker who only sees women clients, leading to a bunch of small trysts and one complicated affair. Once upon a time I was feeling not particularly sexual but knew sex was on the agenda for that evening so I turned off all the lights and watched this movie with as much devoted attention as I possibly could muster and you know what, it worked! Concussion is streaming on Vudu.
Duck Butter (2018)
Directed by: Miguel Arteta
Written by: Miguel Arteta, Alia Shawkat
In her review, Heather Hogan wrote that the sex scenes, “which feel real and are not male gaze-y in any way,” were a highlight of this mumblecore movie. Naima (Shawkat), a struggling actor in Los Angeles; and Sergio (Laia Costa); meet at a club and hook up and decide to spend a sleepless 24 hours together, having sex once an hour. Duck Butter is streaming on Netflix.
A Perfect Ending (2012)
Written & Directed by: Nicole Conn
A very hot mommi has never had an orgasm and her lesbian friends are like “okay you need to see someone” and by “someone” they mean an escort, played by undeniably absurdly hot lesbian actress Jessica Clark!! A steamy affair ignites in a film that finds a new way to be extra at every turn. A Perfect Ending is streaming on Prime Video.
Ride or Die (2021)
Directed By: Ryûichi Hiroki
Written By: Nami Yoshikawa and Ching Nakamura
This two and a half hour epic may start with a heterosexual — and bloody — sex scene but the rest of the movie is filled with lesbian longing and the consummation of that longing. Kiko Mizuhara and Honami Sato have incredible chemistry and make this gratuitous (in every sense) murder drama a real delight. Ride or Die is streaming on Netflix.
Room in Rome (2010)
Written & Directed by: Julio Medem
This is a terrible film you should probably only watch on drugs if you’re into that sort of thing. It’s also a film composed almost entirely of lesbian sex scenes and the two women involved in those scenes having conversations about their feelings and childhood trauma. Room in Rome is streaming on Tubi.
Romantic Lesbian Sex Scenes
Ammonite (2020)
Written & Directed By: Francis Lee
This movie is as dull as the fossils it wants us to mediate on but might possibly actually be worth it for the sex scenes? They come straight out of the grey skies and sit right on your face! Full nudes! Kate Winslet finally takes that dress off!! Ammonite is streaming on Hulu.
I Can’t Think Straight (2008)
Directed by: Shamim Sarif
Written by: Shamim Shaif, Kelly Moss
I Can’t Think Straight is a tale of what happens when two very attractive women sustain intense amounts of sexual tension for a series of minutes, breaking every now and then to release that tension through sex scenes. Erin loved it! I Can’t Think Straight is streaming on Tubi.
Kiss Me / Kyss Mig (2011)
Directed By: Alexandra-Therese Keining, Therese Keining
Written By: Alexandra-Therese Keining
One way to check if you’re really falling in love or not is to have sex. Just ask these two ladies who are about to become step-sisters! It’s complicated, sure, but any lesbian could tell you that complicated is just another word for “irresistibly hot.” Kiss Me is streaming on Tubi.
Summertime / La Belle Saison (2016)
Directed by: Catherine Corsini
Written by: Catherine Corsini & Laurette Polmanss
The poster for this film is not lying to you: The two women at the center of this story do indeed spend a lot of time naked. Set in 1971, Catherine Corsini’s sex and protest filled romance is about a young woman from the French countryside who moves to Paris to get away from her parents, where she falls in with a group of politically engaged feminists and falls in love with their leader Carol. They even have great French countryside sex! Summertime is streaming on Prime Video.
There’s Only One Lesbian Sex Scene But It Sure Is Hot!
Atomic Blonde (2017)
Directed By: David Leitch
Written By: Kurt Johnstad
My jaw dropped right there in the movie theater when this sex scene began because it was so hot and so real and there it was in a mainstream movie! “Honestly I really thought Atomic Blonde was the best I’ve ever seen,” wrote @nollers on Twitter, “which sounds ridiculous because the scenes are so short, but the heat felt real and the progression felt natural and sincere. It was so passionate and honestly, I’m a sucker for the little bit of danger.” Atomic Blonde is streaming on Prime Video.
Bruised (2020)
Directed By: Halle Berry
Written By: Michelle Rosenfarb
Halle Berry showed a lot of directorial talent in her debut feature and that talent included shooting an incredible lesbian sex scene between herself and Sheila Atim! It’s tender and erotic and specific and marks a real shift for her character. Some sex scenes are frivolous — this is one of the best parts of the whole film. But it still makes this category because it is, above all else, very hot. Bruised is streaming on Netflix.
Chloe (2010)
Directed by: Atom Egoyan
Written by: Erin Cressida Wilson
An erotic thriller that sees Catherine (Julianne Moore) hiring Chloe (Amanda Seyfried) to attempt to seduce her husband but, of course, we know how these things go. She finds Chloe’s descriptions of hooking up with her husband to be kinda hot and before you know it the two ladies have a romp of their own. Can you endure the entire ridiculous film for three minutes of Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried having lesbian sex? There’s only one way to find out! Chloe is streaming on Netflix.
The Hunger (1983)
Directed By: Tony Scott
Written By: James Costigan and Michael Thomas
While this is a film filled from beginning to end with a dangerous sexuality, there is one scene that stands out. If you’ve seen the film, you know the scene. Susan Sarandon spills sherry on her see-through white t-shirt and Catherine Deneuve is like you better change and then the two of them are in bed surrounded by billowy white curtains and they’re fucking and sucking and sucking blood. Forty years later it’ll still make you swoon. The Hunger is streaming on Prime Video.
Je, tu, il, elle (1974)
Written & Directed by: Chantal Akerman
Chantal Akerman’s body of work always rewards patience. That’s true in this film when it comes to cinema and lesbian sex. After spending most of the film hiding in her room and then traveling with a man, the protagonist played by Akerman arrives at her ex’s apartment. The film ends with 15 straight minutes of full-on fully-naked clawing folding connecting yearning lesbian sex. Je Tu Il Elle is streaming on Max.
The Watermelon Woman (1997)
Written & Directed By: Cheryl Dunye
Video store clerk and filmmaker Cheryl is making a documentary about Fae Richards, a Black actress as “The Watermelon Woman” who is rumored to have dated her white female director. Amid this research, Cheryl begins her own complicated relationship with Diana (Guinevere Turner). Eventually the two women find themselves having lesbian sex that the Philadelphia City Paper described as “the hottest dyke sex scene ever recorded on celluloid” when it premiered in the late 90s. The Watermelon Woman is streaming on Paramount+.
There’s Only One Lesbian Sex Scene But It Sure Is Exciting!
The Carmilla Movie (2017)
Directed By: Spencer Maybee
Written By: Alejandro Alcoba and Jordan Hall
The two women in question shed their period outfits before settling into a solid five minutes or so of lesbian sex, executed with loving, genuine detail. Bonus points for setting it to Uh Huh Her, my own personal Sex Soundtrack of 2007. The Carmilla Movie is streaming on Prime Video.
Carol (2015)
Directed by: Todd Haynes
Written by: Phyllis Nagy, based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith
Have you heard of this movie? There’s a very nice May/December lesbian romance that eventually consummates itself. Carol is streaming on Netflix.
Disobedience (2018)
Directed by: Sebastián Lelio
Written by: Sebastián Lelio and Rebecca Lenkiewicz, based on the novel by Naomi Alderman
The first thing anybody ever learned about Disobedience was that it included a lesbian sex scene involving somebody spitting into somebody else’s mouth. “All the wetness, the spitting in the mouth, the pubic hair, the vaginas, but also leaving some of it to the audience to imagine,” said Rachel Weisz to Heather Hogan on the actual telephone, regarding this 6-minute sex scene. “Where is the other woman’s mouth, where are her fingers? It was important for him to focus on our faces to really capture that desire. There’s something very spiritual about their sex. I’m really proud of it.” Disobedience is streaming on Hulu.
Gia (1997)
Directed By: Michael Cristofer
Written By: Jay McInerney, Michael Cristofer
An erotically-charged photoshoot involving lesbian groping through a chain-link fence, followed by intense lesbian sex, followed by and also honestly preceeded by a lot of “Angelina Jolie with her shirt off.” There’s a lot of physical intimacy with her on-again-off-again girlfriend in this film, which is ultimately a tragic, heartbreaking story, based on a heartbreaking real life. Gia is streaming on Max.
Multiple Maniacs (1970)
Written and Directed By: John Waters
The only lesbian sex scene on this list involving a drag queen and the only one where a rosary is used as anal beads! The beauty of this scene is that it manages to be hilarious, sacrilegious, and still hot. There’s an irreverent sexuality here that could only be from the mind of John Waters. Multiple Maniacs is streaming on Max.
There’s Only One Sex Scene But It Sure Is Revelatory!
Anaïs in Love (2021)
Written & Directed By: Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
The titular character of this beautiful French farce follows her desires without shame. So when her fascination with her lover’s wife turns erotic, she follows that impulse. This culminates in an extremely hot and life-changing beach scene that disproves once and for all anyone who complains that beach sex is too sandy. Anaïs in Love is streaming on Hulu.
But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)
Directed by: Jamie Babbit
Written by: Brian Wayne Peterson and Jamie Babbit
This entire film was notoriously de-sexed in order to avoid an NC-17 rating, but the tender, softly soundtracked furtive sex scene between Graham and Megan at conversion camp holds a special place in our hearts. “But I’m a Cheerleader’s sex scene didn’t make me gay,” wrote @DeepLezPower on twitter, “but it definitely helped.” But I’m a Cheerleader is streaming on Tubi.
Desert Hearts (1985)
Directed By: Robert Louis Stevenson, Donna Deitch
Written By: Jane Rule, Natalie Cooper
Desert Hearts features the first lesbian sex scene in a lesbian-made movie to get a major theatrical release and was #4 on our list of the 50 Best Lesbian Movies of All Time, where Drew describes it as “a period piece decades ahead of its time.” Desert Hearts is streaming on Max.
Mars One (2022)
Written & Directed By: Gabriel Martins
This family drama would be a remarkable movie even if it didn’t include a brief but important lesbian sex scene. Every member of our central family has big dreams despite a society that makes mere survival a challenge. Eunice’s brother dreams of going to space — Eunice just dreams of her own apartment where she can lead a free queer life. She gets a taste of this dream and puts an empty apartment to good use by having sex with her girlfriend. Mars One is streaming on Netflix.
Saving Face (2005)
Written & Directed By: Alice Wu
Coming in at #2 on our 50 Best Lesbian Movies of All Time list, Saving Face is one of the best romcoms of all time period. Its sex scene is brief, but it’s such a rewarding and joyful sexual experience for the characters, who are by the way naked. Saving Face is streaming on Prime Video.
Obviously not every great moment in cinematic lesbian sex was included here, which means I bet you’ll have some to add in the comments! FYI: Below Her Mouth, When Night is Falling, and If These Walls Could Talk 2 are not available to stream, so they are not included here.