5 refreshing bisexual movies you need to watch this Bi Visibility Month

There has been certainly a fair share of movies about gay guys and lesbian characters over the last few decades.

Some of them are undeniably good, others aren’t, but they all helped increase representation on the silver screen.

When it comes to bisexuality in movies, representation becomes problematic.

Some films have characters who are attracted by both women and men but end up being gay-washed.

The similarity between Brokeback Mountain and Call Me By Your Name are especially relevant in this regard. Both gay couples in both movies have relationships with women as well, but bisexuality is never explicitly on the table.

Just a phase

When bisexuality is addressed, instead, it is often in a negative light. Being bi might be dismissed as just a phase for the characters involved.

This feels particularly true in the case of female bisexuality, often a trope to arouse the male audience with some girl-on-girl action. A little experiment before the women go back to enjoy the heteronormative pleasures of an opposite-sex relationship.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is such a little geek gem it is a real shame it is biphobic at times.

In the 2010 movie, the female protagonist Ramona reveals she has had a same-sex relationship, which she refers to as something she didn’t think it would count. Her current boyfriend Scott is both shocked and pleased with the fact she has had ‘a sexy phase’.

Either case, the blatant bi erasure in some movies suggests bisexuality is the comfy waiting room no one can sit in for too long. Bi characters, therefore, seem to have only two possible choices: moving on to being gay or going back to being straight.

The bi-word in bisexual movies

Some bi characters do not even know they are bi, let alone actually uttering the bi-word. Why even say the word if bisexuality is off the table in the next scene, right?

There are some cult movies who have done quite a nice job for bisexuality representation as the iconic 1972 Cabaret and 1998 Velvet Goldmine.

The latter has quite a handful of diverse, multi-faceted, and vocal bi characters and this is amazing.

However, those have always felt like the exception rather than the norm. Up until the last two decades.

Bi representation on screen has significantly increased ever since the noughties and the 2010s. There have been a few recent indie films dealing with bisexuality in a truly refreshing way.

Watching a movie where protagonists acknowledge their bisexuality is great for bi visibility. Even when these characters don’t use specifically the word ‘bisexual’, they are aware of being something other than gay or straight.

Kudos if said protagonists are also complex bi characters and not just the stereotype of in-betweeners nobody should trust.

As we’re getting closer to celebrate Bi Visibility Day, here are five movies with relatable bisexual characters you need to watch.

1. Appropriate Behavior

Bisexual Iranian-American director and actor Desiree Akhavan made her directorial debut with this funny, honest film, loosely inspired by her own life.

Shirin (Akhavan) finds herself suddenly single and homeless when her girlfriend Maxine (Rebecca Henderson) dumps her.

Trying to mend her broken heart, Shirin will need to adjust to her new life while dealing with her traditional Persian immigrant family, disastrous dates with both guys and girls and part-time jobs.

Akhavan also wrote the script for this 2014 movie which is a raw portrayal of bisexuality, but also a fierce journey to self-love and affirmation.

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2. Love Songs

This French 2007 movie is a musical drama starring Louis Garrel as protagonist Ismaël.

Playing with the themes of Nouvelle Vague’s films, Love Songs has an interesting, thought-provoking take on open relationships and jealousy.

Ismaël, in fact, is in a happy relationship with his girlfriend Julie (Ludivine Sagnier) and Alice (Clotilde Hesme). Although he professed his love for Julie alone, the three spends time together and occasionally have threesomes.

This harmony is suddenly broken when Julie dies and Ismaël is left to mourn the love of his life, while also exploring his fluid sexuality.

He will embark on a relationship with Erwann (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet), sealed by this heartbreaking promise: ‘love me less, but love me for a long time’.

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3. The Comedian

Nearly a specular version of Appropriate Behavior, UK drama The Comedian tells the story of Ed (Edward Hogg).

He is a bisexual man trying to break in the stand-up comedy scene while working a day job he doesn’t like.

This 2012 movie paints a vivid picture of East London in the same way Appropriate Behaviour does with Brooklyn. Among night buses, taxi rides, and flatshares, Ed became torn between new love Nathan (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) and his friend Elisa (Elisa Lasowski).

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4. Margarita With A Straw

Laila (Kalki Koechlin) is a teenager living with cerebral palsy who loves music and dreams of going to a college abroad to finally leave Delhi.

Despite having been raised by Indian conservative parents, she is a sex-positive young woman who questions her sexual orientation.

When she gets a scholarship for an NYC university, she will start her own journey of self-discovery.

She begins a relationship with Pakistani blind activist Khanum (Sayani Gupta) and falls for English classmate Jared (William Moseley). Upon realization she is actually bisexual, she will try to come out to her parents and feel finally accepted.

Despite the movie received some criticism for failing to cast actresses with disabilities, the final result is incredibly sensitive and touching. Directed by bisexual Shonali Bose, it is also a realistic portrayal of love and sex life while living with disabilities.

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5. Kaboom

If you like absurd, farcical college movies which don’t take themselves too seriously, you will love this Gregg Araki’s steamy, supernatural mystery comedy.

Smith (Thomas Dekker) is a college freshman who likes both women and men. He identifies as ‘undeclared’, however people around him try to suggest he might be bi.

While he lusts after his statuary, god-like roommate Thor (Chris Zylka), he begins to see an English exchange student London (Juno Temple) and a guy named Hunter (Jason Olive).

The very hot sex scenes intertwine with Smith’s strange dreams about a murder and a creepy cult of men in animal masks. He and his best friend Stella (Haley Bennett) will need to solve the mystery aided by London.

Sure, the final scene might seem an abrupt ending to a pastiche with no sense whatsoever, but the film won the first Queer Palm ever at Cannes Film Festival. Groundbreaking.

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