These are some of the best movies about drag artists for your enjoyment.
Halleloo, it’s a new year. If you’re looking for ways to enegize the rest of your year, watch these drag films that are educational, entertaining, and eye-opening all at once. So, we hope you’re up girl, because together with the Scissor Sisters, we are all coming over, because know exactly what you need. Now, let the movies play.
The Birdcage
In the remake of the Franco-Italian comedy movie, La Cage aux Folles, gay cabaret owner and drag queen couple agree to hide their true selves when their son’s ultra- conservative in-laws come for dinner. Even to this day, it’s still as hilarious as ever. Its positive depictions of the LGBTQIA+ experience in the 90s make it a film ahead of its time.
To Wong Foo, Thanks for everything! Julie Newmar
When Vida Boheme won the New York regional drag competition, she and Noxeema Jackson agreed to take inexperienced princess Chi-chi Rodriguez with them to the nationals in Hollywood. Their car breaks down, leaving them stuck in a small town. It’s an irresistibly endearing camp classic about finding common ground and the friendships we build by seeing the world through each other’s eyes.
Although some of its gender notions are a product of its time, it was still considered a pivotal moment in queer representation on screen because it starred prominent actors known for their hypermasculinity as actual drag queens in this film.
The Cockettes
A documentary about the original gender revolutionaries, this drag film heroes the Cockettes, a group of avant-garde hippies who put their way of life on the stage. These flamboyant, extravagant, and outrageously beautiful people performed original material in a series of legendary midnight musicals in San Francisco. They continue to influence the world of art, music, fashion, and theater today.
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
This beloved drag film is a road trip comedy set in the Australian Outback. Three queens travel across the desert in a lavender rented tour bus they named Priscilla to perform a drag show in a hotel-casino. As with any fabulous and worthwhile journey, the trio will run into hilarious problems along the way.
It won an Oscar in 1995 for Best Costume Design.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
It focuses on Hedwig, a genderqueer East German glam-rocker, as they navigate life through heartbreaks, intense love, and self-discovery. Packed with great rock anthems that shoot glittered rainbows across the sky, this cult favorite drag film has a special place in my heart.
