Streaming Queer: April 2024

This month's streaming offering is equal parts horny and haunting, stylish and seductive, daring and devastating.

Whether you're in the mood for a suspenseful true-crime retelling, or you've been dying to see Andrew Scott as con-man Tom Ripley, we've got the show for you. April brings the long-awaited Nicholas Galtizine slutty period piece, a new season with the messy Australian teens of "Heartbreak High," Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke in Pedro Almodóvar's queer Western, and a return to the Hollywood pregnancy horror of "American Horror Story: Delicate" which has somehow crafted a reason for Kim K and Emma Roberts to kiss on screen. Happy Streaming!

"Frida"

Several beautiful films have told the story of queer artist Frida Kahlo's life and creative inspiration; This documentary is unique in that it tells Kahlo's story using her own words –through readings from her diaries, letters, and interviews, "brought vividly to life by lyrical animation" of her artwork. We also hear about Frida in the words of her friends and lovers, including her husband, Diego Rivera. This film follows the "magical journey through the life, mind, and heart" of Frida Kahlo, covering the bus accident that disabled the artist, her fierce feminism and passion for the Revolution, her striking self-portraits, and her lovers of many genders. "Frida" is a visual feast, and a true insight into the life of a spectacular, singular icon.

"Frida" is now streaming on Prime Video.

"Dead Hot" Season 1

"Dead Hot" follows the wild and dangerous adventures of Elliot (Bilal Hasna) and Jess (Vivian Oparah), twenty-something best friends who bonded over the disappearance of Peter (Olisa Odele), who was Elliot's boyfriend and Jess's brother. Peter was assumed dead five years ago, but now their grief and coming-of-age angst collides with chasing mysterious neon clues signaling that Peter may actually be alive. The show has wonderfully sharp humor and heart, giving both "Search Party" and "Pretty Little Liars" vibes as the friends follow their desperation to discover the truth, whatever the cost, while being distracted by hot guys and trying to keep up as the world as they know it twists and turns into something entirely new.

"Dead Hot" Season 1 is now streaming on Tubi.

"American Horror Story: Delicate" Season 1, Part 2

In case you missed Kim K and Emma Roberts sharing a kiss in the trailer for the second half of this Hollywood pregnancy horror series, "AHS: Delicate" is back, baby! Roberts stars as Anna Victoria Alcott, an actress whose award season campaigning feels increasingly terrifying. The symptoms of her pregnancy include talons poking out of her belly, the craving to crunch on bones, and threats from the women around her –Kim Kardashian's character, Alcott's publicist Siobhan Corbyn, among them. The trailer frequently flashes with bloody scenes related to giving birth, and a character played by Tavi Gevinson (queen bee of troublesome teachers in the "Gossip Girl" reboot) urgently trying to warn her away from something. The final episodes bring an escalation of the horrors awaiting Alcott, with queer actors Cara Delevingne and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez's storyline suggesting a powerful cult that takes newborn babies as payment for one's deepest desires coming true.

"American Horror Story: Delicate" Season 1, Part 2 premieres April 4 on Hulu.

"Tig Notaro: Hello Again"

This one-hour comedy special from out comedian Tig Notaro (directed by her wife, Stephanie Allynne) is comprised of jokes about life as she "faces absurdities, from hallucinatory texts to a surreal Hollywood meeting." EDGE's review of the special describes the comedy's style as waning in the second half, but worth diving into for the laughs she delivers successfully in the first. "Notaro mines familiar sources that comics have long turned to for material: family (her wife, her kids, her mother), air travel, issues around aging, and sexuality," writes EDGE reporter Killian Melloy, telling of the "pure gold" in her storytelling of a health crisis that led to an "I get it now!" encounter with hot firemen.

"Tig Notaro: Hello Again" is streaming now on Prime Video.

"Physical: 100" Season 2

The second season of this abs-focused Korean competition series goes underground, with new challenges that raise the stakes and expand the arena. Season 2 brings 100 new incredibly fit contestants with bodies "of all ages, gender identities and fitness backgrounds" to push the limits in strength, strategy, and endurance –including Olympic gold medalists, UFC legends, and MMA experts. In typical Korean TV excellence, this series is gripping, bringing an emotional reality and highlighting endearing personalities in each phase of the contest. Almost everyone is shirtless –abs on display and muscled arms glistening with sweat– the entire time. And for that, we sincerely thank them.

"Physical: 100" Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.

"Loot" Season 2

This new season of "Loot" continues billionaire Molly Wells' (Maya Rudolph) attempts at philanthropy while she reluctantly learns about everyday things that the rest of us cannot escape; Most notably in the trailer: the word "meeting" and being sent PDFs. Season 2 is set a year after finalizing her widely publicized divorce, seeing Molly completely swear off men so that she can commit fully to her work, which includes a housing initiative called Space For Everyone. She's also very publicly committed to giving away every last cent of her $120-billion fortune. We're most delighted to reunite with Molly's loyal assistant, Nicholas (Joel Kim Booster), and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez's character Sofia, who continues to keep things professional as she does most of the Wells Foundation's actual work.

"Loot" Season 2 premieres April 3 on Apple TV+.

"Ripley" Season 1

"Someone is dead in Rome, and Signore Ripley is missing." This limited-series adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (which was adapted into a Matt Damon-starring 1999 film of the same title) delivers drama, death, and daring acts of deception. Filmed in an appropriately-eerie style for the twisted web that the titular conman (played by a chilling, secretive Andrew Scott) leaves in his mysterious wake, "Ripley" follows Tom Ripley from 1960s New York to Italy as he employs an elaborate scheme to convince a wealthy man's son to return from an extended vacation. Johnny Flynn, Dakota Fanning, and John Malkovich co-star alongside Scott.

"Ripley" Season 1 premieres April 4 on Netflix.

"Mary & George" Season 1

This scandalous, stylish historical drama (brought to life by out director Oliver Hermanus) tells the outrageous true story of Mary Villiers (Julianne Moore) who used her "handsome-bodied" son, George Villiers (Nicholas Galitzine), to seduce King James I (Tony Curran) and ensure that their family rises up the ranks of power, wealth, and influence in the English court. Known for his love of beautiful men, the King cannot resist George (Galitzine), who is well-trained in seduction thanks to a very enlightening trip to France. The series follows George's incredible journey from shy young man to cocksure queer icon, as he persistently and obediently follows his mother's ruthless plan.The dynamics between mother and son, and their respective conquests, makes this show a perfect balance of political strategy, lush period piece, fucked-up family comedy, and horny escapades. Mary herself falls into a steamy sapphic affair with a bold Irish woman (Niamh Algar) who reveals herself to be the perfect partner, both in bed and in Mary's commitment to manipulating men.

"Mary & George" Season 1 premieres April 5 on Starz.

"Scoop"

"An hour of television can change everything." High-stakes, fast-paced, and perfectly timed in our collective moment of heightened royal awareness, this film follows the women who made the landscape-shifting BBC Newsnight interview happen with Prince Andrew (played by Rufus Sewell) in 2019. The interview, which is also recreated here, directly and immediately resulted in his stepping back from public duties. Gillian Anderson leads as journalist Emily Maitlis, who helped to secure the interview and fearlessly interrogated Andrew about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Netflix describes the film as our "backstage pass to the inner workings of high-stakes broadcast news, as two British institutions – Buckingham Palace and the BBC – clash over the story of a lifetime."

"Scoop" premieres April 5 on Netflix.

"Heartbreak High" Season 2

No one is doing messy, horny, sexed-up queer drama like these cheeky Australian teens! This season , taking place during their second school term, looks more upbeat than last season's scandals, but the mess may have escalated catastrophically: We've got dirty tactics in the race for school captain, outdoor adventure accidents, buildings set on fire, and friendships torn apart. Two new students join the cast: Rowan (Sam Rechner, "The Fabelmans") is an unassuming "country boy" with dry humor who falls into a chaotic love triangle; and Zoe (Kartanya Maynard, who you may recognise from lesbian murder-mystery show "Deadloch") is a celibacy advocate whose "gang of Puriteens" threatens to bring down the class from within.

"Heartbreak High" Season 2 premieres April 11 on Netflix.

"Strange Way of Life"

This queer Western short film (official running-time is 31 minutes) is written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, and stars Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal star as gunslingers who find themselves together on a ranch again after 25 years. They celebrate their meeting, but the next morning it comes to light that this reunion was not for the purposes of honoring the love between them. Rolling Stone called the film "gloriously romantic;" Almodóvar described it as "a queer Western, in the sense that there are two men and they love each other...It has the gunslinger, it has the ranch, it has the sheriff, but what it has that most Westerns don't have is the kind of dialogue that I don't think a Western film has ever captured between two men." Manu Ríos features as a character called the Singer, while José Condessa ("Turn of the Tide") plays a young Silva and Jason Fernández ("Welcome to Eden") plays a young Jake.

"Strange Way of Life" premieres April 12 on Netflix.

"Under the Bridge" Season 1

"There's danger everywhere, but danger had never looked quite like this before." Queer actor Lily Gladstone leads this crime drama with Riley Keough. "Under the Bridge" is based on the book of the same name by Rebecca Godfrey (who Keough plays). Godfrey covered this "1997 true story of fourteen-year-old Reena Virk (Vritika Gupta) who went to join friends at a party and never returned home." We follow this dark, shocking look into the hidden world of the young girls accused of Virk's murder, through the eyes of local police officer Cam Bentland (Gladstone) and Keough's character, who believes the young women will share secrets with her that they won't tell the police. Archie Panjabi, Matt Craven, and queer actor Aiyana Goodfellow ("The Outlaws", "I Used to Be Famous") are among this haunting show's cast. We're terrified to find out the truth of what happened under the bridge, but we will absolutely be tuning in to find out.

"Under the Bridge" Season 1 premieres April 17 on Hulu.

"Dead Boy Detectives" Season 1

This show has lived many lives before coming to us now on Netflix, with cast switch-ups and network reshuffling happening over many years. The series is based on beloved DC Comics characters who are canonically queer and revealed to have feelings for each other, but it's not entirely clear if that's confirmed for this iteration of their story. "Dead Boy Detectives" follows Edwin (George Rexstrew) and Charles (Jayden Revri), who didn't know each other in life but become best friends in death. They've decided to stay on Earth and run a detective agency that investigates supernatural-related crimes, which "take them on some spooky quests, from run-ins with evil witches to fights with bloody monsters." Their crew includes a living clairvoyant named Crystal Palace (Kassius Nelson) and her friend Niko (Yuyu Kitamura). As a fun queer bonus, Lukas Gage (look out for him in the trailer) is credited to appear in one episode of the show. We're crossing our fingers and trusting in Neil Gaiman ("Dead Boy Detectives" is part of "The Sandman" extended universe), who has not yet let us down in delivering charming, unforgettable queer rep.
"Dead Boy Detectives" Season 1 premieres April 25 on Netflix.

"We're Here" Season 4

"We're Here" Season 4 premieres April 26 on Max.