Queer romance. Coming-of-age. Quiet heartbreak. These are the ones that stayed with us.
There’s something rare about Call Me By Your Name. The way it captures longing without saying a word. The way it hurts—beautifully. If that film left you raw (in the best way), here are 8 more that channel that same ache, across countries, languages, and decades.
At Screendollars, we dig into what cinema makes us feel. These? They don’t just make you feel—they make you remember.
1. God’s Own Country (2017)
British, brooding, and brutally tender.
A young Yorkshire farmer numbs his emotions with alcohol and hookups—until a Romanian migrant worker arrives and upends everything. Often called the UK’s Call Me By Your Name, but rougher around the edges (in all the right ways).
Trivia Drop: Directed by Francis Lee, the film premiered at Sundance and won Best British Independent Film at the 2017 BIFAs.
2. Maurice (1987)
Edwardian repression. Forbidden love. And a rare hopeful ending.
Based on E.M. Forster’s posthumously published novel, this Merchant Ivory drama follows two Cambridge men navigating love in a time when it wasn’t safe to love at all.
Trivia Drop: Starred James Wilby and Hugh Grant. Won Best Actor and the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
3. Summer of 85 (2020)
Love. Death. Nostalgia. And a killer New Order needle drop.
Set on the French coast, this Ozon-directed drama brings teenage romance and grief crashing together in waves. If you like your heartbreak poetic, this one’s for you.
Trivia Drop: Based on Aidan Chambers’ 1982 novel Dance on My Grave.
4. The Way He Looks (2014)
A blind teen searching for independence—and discovering first love.
This Brazilian gem is gentle, grounded, and surprisingly funny. It doesn’t force big drama, it just lives in those small, important moments that shape us.
Trivia Drop: Directed by Daniel Ribeiro, the film won the Teddy Award for Best LGBTQ Feature at Berlinale 2014.
5. North Sea Texas (2011)
Unrequited love on the Belgian coast. Quiet, moody, intimate.
Follows a teen boy in a small town as he wrestles with his feelings for his best friend. A melancholic coming-of-age story where the silences say as much as the dialogue.
Trivia Drop: Based on the novel Nooit gaat dit over by André Sollie.
6. Beautiful Thing (1996)
A working-class romance in 90s South London—with a soundtrack full of Mama Cass.
Two teenage boys. A nosy neighbor. And a film that’s as funny and joyful as it is heartfelt. One of the great feel-good queer classics.
Trivia Drop: Adapted from Jonathan Harvey’s stage play. Originally aired on Channel 4 in the UK.
7. I Am Love (2009)
Not quite a coming-of-age, but a coming-undone.
Tilda Swinton in full Italian glamour mode as a woman trapped in wealth, falling into forbidden love with a younger man. Lush, operatic, and sensual.
Trivia Drop: Directed by Luca Guadagnino, it was nominated for Best Costume Design at the 2011 Oscars.
8. The Half of It (2020)
Cyrano de Bergerac meets queer Gen-Z coming-of-age.
Ellie Chu agrees to ghostwrite love letters for a clueless jock—only to fall for the same girl he’s trying to win over. Thoughtful, funny, and full of emotional truth.
Trivia Drop: Directed by Alice Wu, the film won Best Narrative Feature at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival.
Trivia Drop:
Call Me By Your Name was directed by Luca Guadagnino (who also directed I Am Love). Based on the novel by André Aciman, it premiered at Sundance 2017 and went on to win the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Stay tuned to Screendollars. We’ll keep bringing the movies that hit you where it counts.
