Skip to content Skip to navigation

Lesbian Movie Reviews: Died / Recanted / Unhappy/ Came out - Bar Girls

Friday, November 13, 2015 - 08:00

I’m re-posting (sometimes in expanded form) a series of reviews of lesbian-themed movies that I originally drew up in answer to a request for recommendations of "good movies involving lesbian romances that don't end up with the protagonists deeply unhappy, dead, or both." To this set of criteria I’ve added the question, “Is the story primarily about coming out?” This set of index questions will necessarily involve some spoilers, but since I'm not reviewing any current releases, I think the statute of limitations has expired.

Many of these items are not currently in print. I'll link each to their entry for reference. But for those currently available, Wolfe Video is the go-to distributor for lgbt movies.

* * *

Bar Girls (1994)

Life in the LA lesbian bar scene in the '90s. The film feels like a bit of an "L Word" precursor of sorts, in the way is focuses on the lives of a group of implausibly glamorous (largely femme) urban women, centering around their shifting relationship dramas. It's much more of a slice-of-life film than one with a clear story arc, although there is one main romance being followed. I confess that even though I've watched it several times, I never come out of it feeling that I knew what the movie was "about". Heck, I generally have a hard time staying awake through it. The ending isn't unhappy, by any means, but if you aren't a "bar scene" sort of person, the overall feel is a bit dreary. Nobody dies. The characters are all long past coming out. No recanting that I can recall.