How About the Hotties in Upcoming Queer Films?

2024 was not a banner year for queer films. While there were a number of terrific indies, like "I Saw the TV Glow," as well as "National Anthem" and "Love Lies Bleeding," and some stayed under the radar, such as "Sebastian" with its extraordinary performance by Ruaridh Mollica. "Emilia Pérez," the year's most celebrated queer film, has the highest profile with likely multiple Oscar noms and two Golden Globes under its belt, but it also remains one of the most controversial. And leave it to Luca Guadagnino to gift us two of the queerest films of 2024, "Challengers" and "Queer."

But what of 2025?

Looking forward to 2025, there's a lot to be excited about with sizzling hotties ready to burst from the screens. Too many to list in just one feature article. Some are familiar straight-men-playing-gay suspects, such as Josh O'Connor, Jonathan Groff, and Jacob Elordi; while others are queer-identifying and/or openly gay actors playing queer roles, who include Jonathan Groff, Russell Tovey, Brandon Flynn and Bowen Yang.

And they are so numerous, that they come at you in two parts. Here is the first.

'A Nice Indian Boy'

Roshan Sethi's charming rom-com, "A Nice Indian Boy," premiered at SXSW last year and also opened NewFest. The film stars Karan Soni as Naveen, a doctor who has brought home a nice white boy Jay, played by Jonathan Groff, to meet his family.

Karan Soni

The openly gay, Indian-born Soni received acclaim as Dopinder Tim Miller's "Deadpool" in 2016, a role he reprised in "Deadpool 2" in 2018. He has over 100 acting credits which include "The People We Hate at the Wedding," where he appears shirtless and has a threesome with Julian Ovenden and Ben Platt. "This year he was back as Dopinder in "Deadpool & Wolverine."

Jonathan Groff

Stage, screen and TV thesp Jonathan Groff is busy prepping to play Bobby Darin on Broadway in "Just in Time," bowing later this season. The Out "Spring Awakening" and "Hamilton" star won a Tony Award for Lead Actor in a Musical for the sublime Sondheim revival of "Merrily We Roll Along." His TV work includes the iconic gay series, "Looking," "Glee" and "The Normal Heart." In 2023 he starred in M. Night Shyamalan's queer horror film, "Knock at the Cabin."

Sexy Groff is no stranger to LGBTQ-roles and does not shy away from nudity, onscreen, TV or on stage.

"A Nice Indian Boy" hits theaters April 4, 2025

'The History of Sound'

Oliver Hermanus gave us the super gay limited series, "Mary and George," starring the wish-he-was-gay Nicholas Galitzine. Now he's directing a WW1-era romance between soldiers Lionel (Mescal) and David (O'Connor) who meet and fall in love during the war and then travel through rural New England to record folksongs for their countrymen.

Paul Mescal

Paul Mescal comes to "The History of Sound" fresh off his steamy sex scenes with Andrew Scott in Andrew Haigh's "All of Us Strangers," in 2023, as well as last year's "Gladiator II," where he got to show off his newly sculpted pecs and abs.

Oscar nominated for Charlotte Wells' "Aftersun" in 2022, he shot to stardom with the 2020 BBC3/Hulu limited series, "Normal People," where clothes were optional. And in Garth Davis' "Foe," in 2023, he romanced Saoirse Ronan and showed off his posterior in numerous scenes.

Josh O'Connor

Josh O'Connor has played rugged gay in Francis Lee's "Gods Own Country" (2017) and gay-ish in Guadagnino's "Challengers." The scene where he drops his towel so Mike Faist can feast his eyes, has burned into our memory. In both those films as well as "Mothering Sunday (2021)," "Only You" (2019), Bridgend" (2015), "Amorous," (2014) and "The Magnificent Eleven" (2012) he's gone full frontal, butt nude or both.

Couple O'Connor's nudity scorecard with Mescal's as well as Hermanus's graphic track record and chances are pretty good that the intimate scenes in "The History of Sound" will not immediately pan away to an open window.

"The History of Sound" producers are hoping for a 2025 Cannes Film Fest debut. The film will be released later in the year.

'Kiss of the Spider Woman'

Hector Babenco's critically-acclaimed gay-themed 1985 classic, "Kiss of the Spider Woman," adapted from the 1976 novel by Manuel Puig, received four Oscar nominations including Best Picture and won the Best Actor Oscar for William Hurt, who played opposite Raul Julia and Sonia Braga.

Set in an Argentinian prison, the plot centers on Molina, a gay hairdresser who daydreams films to escape the brutality of his everyday life. Valentin, a gruff Marxist, is tossed into his cell and the two are forced to coexist. While there were love scenes in the original film, there was little nudity.

In the early '90s, playwright Terrence McNally along with the songwriting team of John Kander and Fred Ebb adapted the film into a Tony-sweeping musical starring Brent Carver, Anthony Crivello and Chita Rivera.

That show has now boomeranging back to celluloid in an adaptation of the adaptation of the adaptation that is being dubbed a "reimagined interpretation"–this time by "Gods and Monsters" Oscar-winning, Out writer-director Bill Condon, who penned the Oscar-nominated screenplay for "Chicago" (yay) and wrote and directed "Dreamgirls" (boo). So, this one can go either way. The film stars Tonatiuh, Diego Luna, and Jennifer Lopez, who receives top billing.

Tonatiuh

Tonatiuh Elizarraraz, professionally known as Tonatiuh, a sexy young queer actor who has appeared on TV shows like "Jane the Virgin," "Chicago Med" and "Promised Land," takes on the role of Molina in "Spider Woman." Feature films include, Drunk Bus (2020), "Shoplifters of the World" (2021) and the recent Netflix smash hit, "Carry-On," opposite Taron Egerton.

Diego Luna

Although he's assumed to be straight (and was married at one point and has two children), Deigo Luna is no stranger to taking on gay and gay-flexible parts like his roles in Julian Schnabel's "Before Night Falls" (2000), Alfonso Cuarón's "Y tu mamá también" (2001) and Gus van Sant's "Milk" (2008), appearing nude in the latter two. The "Rogue One" star has also stripped for "Wander Darkly" (2020) and "The Night Buffalo" (2007).

"Kiss of the Spider Woman" world premieres at the Sundance Film Festival this month and will be released later this year.

'On Swift Horses'

Out TV director Daniel Minahan who has helmed episodes of "Six Feet Under," "Grey's Anatomy," "True Blood," "Game of Thrones," "The Newsroom," "Halston," and, most recently, the first two installments of "Fellow Travelers," makes his long-awaited second feature (his first was "Series 7: The Contenders" in 2007) with "On Swift Horses." Bryce Kass adapted the script from Shannon Pufahl's novel.

Set in the 1950s, the sweeping narrative focuses on married couple Lee (Will Poulter) and Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and how their lives are upended by the arrival of Lee's thrill-seeking brother Julius (Jacob Elordi). Both Muriel and Julius embark on same-sex affairs, his is with Henry (Diego Calva). And the love scenes between the two are said to be beyond titillating. Calva has even bragged about filming "pretty hot scenes" with Elordi.

Jacob Elordi

Australian born Jacob Elordi shot to prominence as the sexually screwed up jock Nate Jacobs in HBO's "Euphoria" after gaining a large fan base with "The Kissing Booth" movies. The gorgeous thesp delivered one impressive, often-homoerotic, turn after another onscreen recently in "He Went That Way," "Saltburn," "Priscilla" and "Oh, Canada." He's had nude scenes in "Euphoria" and "Saltburn." He's currently filming Guillermo del Toro's "Frankenstein" playing the Monster.

The actor doesn't discuss his private life, although he appears to be in a relationship with Olivia Jade. He has confessed that his first celebrity crush was Brad Pitt.

Diego Calva

Smoldering sexy-as-fuck Mexican actor, Diego Calva made one indie film, "I Promise You Anarchy" in 2015 and appeared in a few TV shows before being cast as the lead in the deeply misunderstood, highly underrated Damien Chazelle epic satire, "Babylon," opposite Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt. He played Manny Torres, a studio flunky who works his way up the Hollywood ladder. While "Babylon" was virtually ignored during the 2022 awards season, Calva did receive a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical and a SAG Ensemble nod as part of the film's cast.

Calva, who does not chat about his personal life, appeared in the altogether in the Mexican series "Unstoppable."

"On Swift Horses" premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and Sony Pictures Classics bought it for distribution here in 2025.

'Plainclothes'

In Carmen Emmi's first feature, "Plainclothes," closeted undercover cop Lucas (Tom Blyth) is, ironically, tasked with luring and arresting gay men. He becomes increasingly disturbed by his assignment and paranoid about being exposed when he falls for Andrew (Russell Tovey), one of his targets.

Tom Blyth

Brit thesp Tom Blyth got his first lead film role in 2018 in the indie "Scott and Sid." He appeared in the supporting cast of Terrence Davies' queer-themed gem, "Benediction," in 2021 and in "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes," in 2023. On TV, he plays the titular character in "Billy the Kid," which has been renewed for a third and final season and boasts Blyth's first nude scene. The actor has remained mum about his sexual orientation.

Russell Tovey

Openly gay English actor Russell Tovey first came to prominence on the West End and then Broadway in Alan Bennett's "The History Boys" in the early 2000s. He has since appeared on stage, screen and TV in numerous roles both gay and otherwise. His LGBTQ-themed films include Matthew Warchus's "Pride" and Ben A. Williams' "The Pass." His notable gay or closeted-gay roles on TV include Kevin in Andrew Haigh's "Looking," Daniel in "Years and Years, " Patrick in "American Horror Story: NYC" and John O'Shea in "Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans."

On stage he was most recently seen in the revival of "Angels in America," opposite Andrew Garfield. which can be streamed via National Theatre Live.

Tovey has never shied away from sex scenes and nudity in his work in all mediums, including many of the credits mentioned above.

"Plainclothes" World Premiere's at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2025.

'The Wedding Banquet'

Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee's gay-themed second feature, "The Wedding Banquet," would bring him International acclaim and an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film of 1993. World premiering at Sundance this year is "Fire Island" director Andrew Ahn's collaboration with one of the original screenwriters, James Schamus ("The Ice Storm") updating the narrative for a contemporary reimagining. This adaptation involves a green card marriage proposal, and the romantic triangle becomes a queer quadrangle with Bowen Yang and Han Gi-chan as two of the lovers. The star-studded cast includes, Lily Gladstone ("Killers of the Flower Moon"), Joan Chen ("The Last Emperor") and Academy-Award-winner Youn Yuh-jung ("Minari").

Bowen Yang

Bowen Yang became most everyone's favorite "Saturday Night Live" cast member almost immediately when he bowed on the show in 2019! At that time, he was the only openly gay Not Ready for Prime Time Player. Yang has since made his mark in many indie films, most gay themed, like "Cicada," "Fire Island," "Bros," "Dicks: The Musical." He was recently seen in Jon M. Chu's fabulous film, "Wicked," and will reprise his Pfannee role in "Wicked: For Good," later this year.

Han GI-chan

South Korean twink Han GI-chan is making his feature film debut in "The Wedding Banquet." He's appeared in a few Korean web and TV shows, most notably, the series "Where Your Eyes Linger," Korea's first ever LGBTQ drama that dared to depict two young gay men in love. Trained as a singer, he rose to Korean fame as a contestant on "Product X 101."

"The Wedding Banquet" will have its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2025.