Best movies like Desert Hearts

In 1959, Vivian Bell came to Reno, Nevada for a quick divorce. Of all the people she met there, the one who surprised her the most was herself.

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Desert Hearts Starring Helen Shaver, Patricia Charbonneau, Audra Lindley, Andra Akers, and more. If you liked Desert Hearts then you may also like: A Village Affair, When Night Is Falling, Nina's Heavenly Delights, Relax... It's Just Sex, All Over Me and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

The story of straight-edge literature professor Vivian who travels to Reno to get away from a relationship breakup when she falls in love with an attractive and unconventional girl named Cay.

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A Village Affair

An apparently happy wife in an English village has a relationship with a local aristocrat's daughter.

When Night Is Falling

A prudish woman working on tenure as a literacy professor at a large urban university finds herself attracted to a free-spirited, liberal woman who works at a local carnival.

Relax... It's Just Sex

A tight-knit group of thirty-somethings -- gay, lesbian and straight -- struggle to live, love and stay friends in modern-day Los Angeles as circumstances conspire to tear them apart.

All Over Me

Claude and Ellen are best friends who live in a not-so-nice area of New York. They're involved in the subculture of 90s youth, complete with drugs, live music, and homophobia. All is changed one night when a violent and meaningless death rocks their lives.

Better Than Chocolate

Not long after moving into her own place, Maggie finds herself with two unsolicited roommates: her recently divorced mother, Lila, and her young brother. The timing is especially bad, considering Maggie has fallen hard for an attractive woman, Kim, only hours before they move in. What could be a nonissue becomes increasingly complicated -- since Maggie's family is unaware of her sexual orientation, and Maggie is not open to sharing that information.

7.5 / 10 2015 Romance Drama
suggested by: MysticManta

Carol

In 1950s New York, a department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman.

An Unexpected Love

An unhappily married housewife and mother of two children seperates from her husband and gets a new job where she developes a mutual attraction to her female boss.

Girl Play

Two real-life lesbian actresses meet by chance when they are cast as lovers in a local stage play, and end up actually falling in love. Robin, who is married to her girlfriend for half a dozen years, and Lacie, someone who never had a lasting relationship, are both cast to play lesbian lovers in a Los Angeles stage play. Innocently, the stage director, Gabriel runs the actresses through a series of rehearsals designed to "bring out the intimacy" in each performer. Soon the two women find themselves increasingly and undeniably attracted to each other and overcome with desire. They must ask themselves whether this relationship is manufactured, created for the sake of the "girl play", or is true love.

Lost and Delirious

After starting at an upmarket boarding school, a teenage girl forms close friendships with her two older roommates. However, when she discovers that her new friends are lovers she finds herself caught in a complicated situation.

Tell It to the Bees

Dr. Jean Markham returns to the town she left as a teenager to take over her late father's medical practice. When a school-yard scuffle lands Charlie in her surgery, she invites him to visit the hives in her garden and tell his secrets to the bees, as she once did. The new friendship between the boy and the bee keeper brings his mother Lydia into Jean's world.

The Girl

A torrid affair between two women, a struggling artist and a flame-haired blues singer, upsets a man who has a thing for the girl.

Elena Undone

The wife of a pastor who preaches against homosexuality embarks on an affair with a female writer.

Gray Matters

Sam and Gray are such a well-matched pair that it is difficult to believe they are brother and sister rather than husband and wife. They both share a love of 1940s movies and dancing, and when they meet Charlie, they have something else in common: They both fall in love with her. Sam must deal with unexpected feelings of jealousy, while Gray struggles to come to terms with her sexual orientation.

The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love

An adventurous love story between two young women of different social and economic backgrounds who find themselves going through all the typical struggles of a new romance.

Princess Cyd

High school athlete Cyd Loughlin lives alone with her depressive father in South Carolina, perpetually longing to get away from it all. When her aunt, famous novelist Miranda Ruth, agrees to host her for a few weeks during the summer, Cyd jumps at the opportunity. While there, she falls for a girl in the neighborhood, even as she and her aunt gently challenge each other in the realms of sex and spirit.

Pariah

A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.

Hello Again

Ten lost souls slip in and out of one another's arms in a daisy-chained musical exploration of love's bittersweet embrace. A film adaptation of Michael John LaChiusa's celebrated musical, originally based on Arthur Schnitzler's play, La Ronde.

High Art

A young female intern at a small magazine company becomes involved with a drug-addicted lesbian photographer, both of whom seek to exploit each other for their respective careers, while slowly falling in love with each other.

I've Heard the Mermaids Singing

Awkward, shy and delightfully funny, Polly Vandersma is an "organizationally impaired" temporary assistant who finally gets her first permanent job at the age of 31. While she works for the curator of an art gallery, Polly narrates her own story, sharing the comical and bittersweet pretensions of the art world. At the same time, she reveals a special part of her own private world, taking the viewer to enchanted places in this quiet assault on the notion of authority everywhere.

Imagine Me & You

During her wedding ceremony, Rachel notices Luce in the audience and feels instantly drawn to her. The two women become close friends, and when Rachel learns that Luce is a lesbian, she realizes that despite her happy marriage to Heck, she is falling for Luce. As she questions her sexual orientation, Rachel must decide between her stable relationship with Heck and her exhilarating new romance with Luce.

It's in the Water

When hordes of gays and lesbians come out "of the closet" in the fictional town of Azalea Springs, Texas, intolerant residents go into a panic about the water supply.

Itty Bitty Titty Committee

High School grad and all American gal, Anna, finds her purpose and herself after she hooks up with the radical feminists in The Itty Bitty Titty Committee.

6.3 / 10 1983 Drama Romance
suggested by: dapperdude

Lianna

Lianna's life is a succession of domestic errands and boring faculty parties, however her heaviest cross to bear is dealing with her waning marriage to Dick. In order to find intellectual stimulus, Lianna takes a college extension child-psychology course taught by Ruth. When Lianna catches Dick having an affair with a young coed, she finds comfort and eventually true love in the arms of Ruth. However, this comes with a price as everything in her life is turned upside down.

Saving Face

A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations.

The World Unseen

A drama centered on two women who engage in a dangerous relationship during South Africa's apartheid era.

Threesome

At a sizable public college, high-minded student Eddy is forced to room with the slovenly Stuart, but the pair strike up a surprising friendship. When attractive co-ed Alex is assigned to live with the two male students because of her gender-neutral name, a roundabout love triangle ensues. Eddy secretly yearns for Stuart, who wants Alex, but she prefers Eddy. The complex situation leads to sexual experimentation and strained relationships.

The Intervention

A weekend getaway for four couples takes a sharp turn when one of the couples discovers the entire trip was orchestrated to host an intervention on their marriage.

I Can't Think Straight

Tala, a London-based Palestinian, is preparing for her elaborate Middle Eastern wedding when she meets Leyla, a young British Indian woman who is dating her best friend. Spirited Christian Tala and shy Muslim Leyla could not be more different from each other, but the attraction is immediate and goes deeper than friendship. But Tala is not ready to accept the implications of the choice her heart has made for her and escapes back to Jordan, while Leyla tries to move on with her new-found life, to the shock of her tradition-loving parents. As Tala's wedding day approaches, simmering tensions come to boiling point and the pressure mounts for Tala to be true to herself.

Therese and Isabelle

Two young girls experience awakening sexuality in the heated atmosphere of a Swiss girls' boarding school.

First Girl I Loved

Seventeen-year-old Anne just fell in love with Sasha, the most popular girl at her L.A. public high school. But when Anne tells her best friend, Clifton—who has always harbored a secret crush on her—he does his best to get in the way.

A Perfect Ending

This intimate drama follows Rebecca, a woman who has kept her sexuality a secret from her friends but chooses to reveal it to a stranger. While Rebecca's revelations may not yield the results she expects, a perfect ending is still in reach.

The Truth About Jane

Jane, a high school teenager, tries to deal with the discovery that she is a lesbian after developing an intense friendship with another girl who makes her discover her true sexuality, which is only the start of Jane's troubles when Jane's unaccepting mother, Janice, struggles with her surprising revelation of brought forth by her only daughter.

Anatomy of a Love Seen

A film within a film that explores love in all its painful and messy glory. Six months ago Zoe and Mal fell for each other while filming a love scene, which led to an intense, whirlwind affair, followed by a devastating breakup. Soon after their split, things get complicated when the two have to meet on set once more to re-shoot that fateful sequence.

Girltrash: All Night Long

The story of five girls and one epic night. The girls will find love, lust, girl-fights, rock and roll, and a whole lot of stoned sorority girls.

Ambrosia

Ambrosia is the story of an Iranian-Canadian couple, Ali and Leila, who dream of an exciting future in Vancouver: Ali owns a pizza shop and thinks of expanding and Leila is an up-and-coming clothing designer. However, their situations change dramatically when Ali's shop is affected by bad economy and Leila is hired to work at a fashion design firm.

Go Fish

Max is a trendy, pretty, young lesbian, who is having trouble finding love. A friend sets her up with Ely, whom Max likes, but Ely is frumpy, homely, and older. Nor do they have much in common. Can Max learn to look past the packaging?

Claire of the Moon

Claire of the Moon is set in the 1990s in the Pacific Northwest. Claire Jabrowski, a famous heterosexual author, decides to attend a retreat for all-female writers. Claire's rommate at the retreat is Dr. Noel Benedict, author of a book called The Naked Truth. The movie culminates in a sexual encounter between the two authors.

Bloomington

A former child actress attends college in search of independence and ends up becoming romantically involved with a female professor. Their relationship thrives until an opportunity to return to acting forces her to make life-altering decisions.

Maggie and Annie

Annie has it all in life. A wonderful husband and a darling little girl. All is going well until she goes to a softball practice and meets Maggie. Maggie -- cute, athletic, and openly gay -- touches feeling deep down inside Annie that she has no idea existed. Maggie also is attracted to Annie but vows to her friends that she will not make a move on her because of her wonderful family. As the friendship gets closer and as they struggle to stay apart, all hell breaks loose. A night of dancing and drinking puts Annie in the arms of Maggie. The love affair begins and reaches a point where there may be no way back.

Hannah Free

Hannah and Rachel grew up as little girls in the same small Midwest town, where traditional gender expectations eventually challenge their deep love for one another.

The Feels

A lesbian bachelorette weekend goes awry when one of the brides admits she's never had an orgasm.

The Four-Faced Liar

A story of love and lies for four twenty-somethings looking to find themselves in New York City. A pair of best friends and a seemingly perfect couple meet at a local Irish pub tucked in the winding streets of the West Village. Through their chance meeting, the four bond and over time all of their relationships with one another morph into love, betrayal and heartbreak for all.

April's Shower

April's Shower begins with a group of people gathered for a wedding shower for April. At first, it seems to be a normal gathering for such an occasion but, as time goes on, secrets and stories begin to be revealed. Alex is a chef and a maid of honor at April's wedding. She ultimately reveals her true feelings which ends up taking an effect on everybody at the shower.

Puccini for Beginners

When her inability to commit leads to a breakup with her girlfriend, opera-loving writer Allegra winds up in the bed of amiable professor Philip. He is so smitten with Allegra that he dumps his lover, Grace, and convinces Allegra to continue their affair. When Allegra meets Grace, sparks fly, and she begins a parallel romance, unaware that her new lover is the woman Philip left to be with her.

Jamie and Jessie Are Not Together

Jamie is moving in two weeks from Chicago to New York hoping to become a Broadway actress. Her best friend Jessica is bummed because she's not-so-secretly in love with Jamie. As moving day gets closer, Jessica tries to make Jamie jealous by dating other girls. But Jessica's plan backfires, in a way she could never imagine. Set in working class Chicago and infused with musical dance numbers, "Jamie and Jessie are Not Together" is a love letter to those gray areas of love and lust and to the young romances we will never forget.

If These Walls Could Talk 2

The stories of three lesbian couples -- who live in the same house at different periods of time -- who are at a crossroads in their lives. In 1961, Edith loses her lover, Abby, to a stroke. Linda and Amy struggle with feminist issues in 1972. And, in 2000, Kal and Fran try to have a baby with the help of sperm donor.

Heartland

A young Oklahoma artist, struggling with a recent death, finds escape in a reckless affair with her brother's girlfriend.

Cat Skin

A shy and troubled photography student's life is illuminated when her voyeuristic nature behind the camera lens leads her to a beautiful and confident girl.

Tru Love

TRU, 37, is a serial bed-hopping lesbian who cannot commit to a relationship or a job for long...that is, until she meets ALICE, 60, a beautiful widow, who has come to town at the last minute to visit her daughter, SUZANNE, 35, a too-busy corporate lawyer and Tru's friend. Alice and Tru begin to forge an unlikely friendship...and more. Suzanne, who has a deeply conflicted relationship with her mother and a complicated past with Tru, becomes increasingly alarmed at the growing bond between Tru and her mother. Tensions escalate after Suzanne witnesses an intimate moment between them. She tries to sabotage the budding romance, but it backfires, as Tru Love is hard to contain.

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