Queer Qlassics

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Barry Jenkin’s dreamy, melancholic masterpiece chronicles the story of Chiron, a shy, sensitive boy struggling to stay afloat in the proverbial waters of South Beach. Kicking off Queer Qlassics, it returns to the Belcourt for the first time since its blockbuster 2016 debut.

From a screenplay by Jonathan Harvey, BEAUTIFUL THING is a love story in full blossom with themes of acceptance in queer love and coming out — in a coming of age movie. The characters in the film are vibrant and hard not to love — with Mama Cass on full volume throughout the movie’s tender awakening.

Groundbreaking upon its release and newly restored in 4K, BY HOOK OR BY CROOK follows Shy and Valentine, two trans-butch grifters navigating friendship, loss and survival on society’s margins. Written, directed by and starring Silas Howard and Harry Dodge, this landmark queer indie shot on Mini-DV helped redefine LGBTQ+ representation.

Thirty years after the rise of the Burnish, when pyrokinetic abilities suddenly catalyzed throughout the population, a ragtag bunch of firefighters — led by the endearing, perpetually shirtless lunkhead Galo — contain and clear up the wreckage and ashes left behind. But there are always questions to be asked and other paths available — buildings will crumble, hearts will explode in flames, and the fate of the world hangs in the balance!

In Japanese-occupied Korea, a pickpocket poses as a handmaiden in order to convince a Japanese heiress to marry her con artist associate. This seemingly simple gambit quickly falls apart when the heiress falls for the handmaiden instead. Ten years after its debut in 2016, Park Chan-wook’s hypnotic erotic thriller returns to the Belcourt.