The Lesbian Film Archive
Bury your Gays/Dead Lesbian Syndrome
"Bury your gays" (also called "Dead Lesbian Syndrome") is a well known and infamous trope that has persisted from the late 19th century until now. Beginning as a way to have gay characters but avoid censor, the death of queer people was common in literature, evolved with the Hays code, and then continued in popular culture despite the lack of need for censorship of gay characters. This trope is especially common in television (for a video essay on this topic, check out Maddie Green's film!), but is also very present in films, especially those from the 2010s. Spoilers below for films where a lesbian character (or multiple) die.

In Victorian England, upper-class Margaret (Anna Madeley) adrift after her father's death. After becoming a visitor to a woman's prison, Margaret grows attached to one inmate, disgraced medium Selina (Zoe Tapper). What develops out of this initial attachment and attraction is a convoluted escape plan supposedly based on love, but as Affinity twists and turns, it is unclear who is actually in charge of the plan.

This tragic, based on a true story film tells the love story between Felice Schragenheim (Maria Schrader), a Jewish resistance fighter in Germany during WWII, and Lilly Wust (Juliane Köhler), a German housewife married to a Nazi. Stitched together through Schragenheim's poetry and the love letters shared between Lilly and Felice where they addressed one another as Aimee and Jaguar, this film illustrates that "love transcends death"

Jo (Laura Heisler) is struggling with the sudden death of her wife and and her desire for a baby. Jo decides to ask her late wife's brother to be her sperm donor. While dealing with fertility clinics, Jo also finds herself entangled in a love triangle between her two best friends. As Good As You is a dark comedy about grief and new beginnings.

In Atomic Blonde, Charlize Theron stars as Lorraine Broughton, an elite spy in MI6. As the Berlin Wall is about to fall in 1989, Broughton must travel into the heart of Berlin to find a priceless dossier that will help MI6 take down a ruthless espionage ring. With double crosses and a grimy 80s aesthetic, Atomic Blonde is a fun and thrilling action film.

An Iranian family is coming apart at the seams in Circumstance. Atafeh (Nikohl Boosheri) is a rebellious teenager, who develops feelings for another girl as she also partakes in drinking, drugs, and western music. Meanwhile, her brother Mehran (Reza Sixo Safai) is becoming increasingly religious, and also obsessed with the object of his sister's desire (Sarah Kazemy).

A dark film about systemic abuse, Cracks is one of many lesbian films about elite boarding schools. Miss G (Eva Green) is an idolized diving instructor, who is admired by a popular clique of girls, in particular Di Radfield (Juno Temple), who has a crush on her. When Fiamma Corona (María Valverde) arrives at school and draws Miss G's attention, jealousy flares in the school and from Di. Upsetting and brutal, Cracks is an effective film about the reality of abuse.

Everything is not what it seems in Despite the Falling Snow, a cold war spy film. Told over many decades, the film begins in Cold War Moscow, where Katya (Rebecca Ferguson) spies on and then falls in love with Sasha (Sam Reid). Before they are supposed to escape to the US together, Katya disappears. 30 years later, Sasha returns to Russia to learn what happened to Katya.

Elena Undone focuses on the soul-mate relationship between Elena (Necar Zadegan), a pastor's wife, and Peyton (Traci Dinwiddie), an out lesbian writer. Both women are drawn to each other again and again through random encounters, and eventually pursue their relationship, while Elena struggles with her feelings, duties of motherhood, and wanting another child.

In this sweet, silly, and at times touching film, Ellie (Sophie Hawkshaw) comes out to her mom and wants to ask her crush, Abbie (Zoe Terakes) to the school formal. But as the title implies, Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt) is not just about Ellie and Abbie. As Ellie works up her courage, her dead aunt Tara (Julia Billington) appears from the beyond to give Ellie advice from her own life as an activist lesbian in the 80s.

Told mostly through flashback, Eloïse begins with Asia (Diana Gómez) in a coma after a devastating accident. Through the flashbacks, the story of Asia and her love Eloïse is told, as well as her life in university, her unhappiness in her relationship with her boyfriend, and what has led to her accident.

Tanya (Isha Koppikar) is in love with her best friend Sapna (Amrita Arora) who just thinks they share a physical relationship when drunk. What starts as best friendship soon warps after Rahul (Aashish Chaudhary) comes into Sapna's life, and Tanya becomes jealous. Girlfriend is not kind to lesbians, but it is still important in the context of Indian representations of lesbians in particular/

Syd (Radha Mitchell) works at a photography as an editor trying to make it. Through a random leak in her apartment, Syd is brought into her neighbors world of drug abuse and addiction of the once celebrated photographer Lucy Berliner (Ally Sheedy) and her girlfriend Greta (Patricia Clarkson). As Syd and Lucy use each other for pleasure and attempts to get ahead, this film is a artful look at the volatility that can come from addiction, and the heartbreak along with it.

Set in China, Les Filles Du Botaniste tells the story of Li Ming (Mylène Jampanoï) an orphan sent to live with a botanist and his daughter An Chen (Xiaoran Li). The two girls quickly form a friendship that grows into a forbidden relationship. The girls form a risky plan where Ming will marry An's brother so that they can continue to spend their lives together. With a heartbreaking ending, Les Filles Du Botaniste is a depiction of how far two girls in love will go to try to stay together.

A group of friends are celebrating Liz's (Patricia Velasquez) birthday at a lesbian resort, when Eva (Eloisa Maturen) stumbles into their stay after experiencing car trouble. A quick romance blossoms between Liz and Eva, even though Liz is keeping a devastating secret illness from her friends and new lover. Liz en Septiembre allows for queer friendship and love, but ultimately the ending is just one of many where a happy ending is impossible.

Lost and Delirious showcases the friendship of three teenagers in a posh, private boarding school. Told from the perspective of Mary (Mischa Barton), she observes her friends Pauline (Piper Perabo) and Victoria (Jessica Paré) secret relationship progress. Dealing with both the light and dark side of friendship and love, the film is an exploration of coming of age when the world is against you.

Based on a true story, Monster tells the story of Aileen Wuornos (Charlize Theron) a sex worker and serial killer who killed seven men, at first in self defense but eventually intentionally and brutally. The film also charts the relationship between Selby Wall (Christina Ricci) and Aileen, as Selby begins putting the pieces of the murders together.

Jane (Jeanette Maus) and Fiona (Sara Aminiwere) best friends, and rocked by Fiona's sudden suicide, Jane is adrift. Not knowing what to do, she decides to cope by helping Fiona's widow (Corbin Reed) take care of her son. As the two women bond over their grief, a relationship develops over their loss of Fiona. In My Fiona, the forces of loss pull these women together, and the film explores how grief affects the relationship of two people who loved and lost deeply.

Jennifer Ortiz (Nia Fairweather) is set to be married on Christmas to her loving boyfriend, when an angel appears to show Jennifer her a life where she would instead be marrying her childhood best friend Gabby (Adriana DeMeo). Instead, this movie tackles so many issues (all tonelessly): still births, abortion, homophobia in the church, Big from Sex and the City as a Priest, time travel, and more. Truly an off-kilter, confusingly Christmassy film.

A Perfect Ending is anything but, in a story that follows the wealthy Rebecca (Barbara Niven who is dying of cancer. Unhappy in her marriage and life, she confides in her lesbian best friends her desire to be with a woman. Following their advice, she meets Paris (Jessica Clark), a high class escort and artist. As she experiences true happiness with Paris, she also encourages Paris's artistic pursuits.

Sydeny (Kathleen Benner) has been given six months to live unless she can afford an expensive medical treatment. While her husband tries to get money together for the treatment, Sydney begins to question her existence and life when she meets Jane (Rachel Owens), a new single mother in the neighborhood. Falling in love despite her religious upbringing, husband, and son, Sydney must make hard choices about what she wants, against the ticking clock.

Based on a real story, this Malayalam film set in the South Indian state of Kerala is the story of two young women who share a deep friendship that develops into a tender love affair. Kiran (Suhasini V. Nair) and Delilah (Shruthy Menon) navigate their feelings for each other in secret, in this heartbreaking and wonderful film.

Nepal's first lesbian film, Soongava: Dance of the Orchids follows Diya (Deeya Maskey) a strong-willed traditional Nepalese dancer. Despite an upcoming arranged marriage, she begins falling for her best friend Kiran (Nisha Adhikari). Through this heartbreaking tale, finding love in a place where queerness is regarded as immoral is explored.

In 1923, Virgina Woolf (Nicole Kidman) is struggling with depression trying to finish her novel. In 1951, Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) is unhappy with her life, and becomes enamoured by her female neighbor. In 2001, Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep) is preparing an award party for her long time friend, a poet. In The Hours, these three stories are tied together across the decades through queerness and the book Woolf's eventually finished novel, Mrs. Dalloway.

To the Stars takes place in 1960 in a rural town in Oklahoma. Iris (Kara Hayward) is a quiet and friendless girl, emotionally abused by her mother. When new girl Maggie (Liana Liberato) comes to town, the girls develop a fast friendship. However, Maggie has secrets of her own, with an abusive father and romantic feelings towards Iris. Through dramatic turns, To the Stars tells a depressing story of abuse and complex friendship.

In the mid 1850s, two isolated farmers' wives find each other as a way out of their lonliness. In The World to Come, Abigail (Katherine Waterson) and her husband Dyer (Casey Affleck) have just lost their daughter when Tallie (Vanessa Kirby) and Finney (Christopher Abott) move in next door. Abigail and Tallie become entangled and plot ways out of their lives, despite their husbands insistence on the lives they have.

Set in apartheid Cape Town in the 1950s, The World Unseen tells the story of Amina (Sheetal Sheth) and Miriam's (Lisa Ray) dangerous relationship, one that goes against the homophobia, racism, and sexism of their current circumstances.