What’s the end of the year without a list of best lesbian movies for 2016?

We studied each of the lesbian movies shown this year, checked out the reviews, reconciled our personal reviews and came up with our list of best lesbian movies of 2016.

Of course, some of these movies came out in the past years, but we only got to watch them this year. So without further ado, here’s are our top five movies:

Best Lesbian Movies #5: The Firefly

Originally called La Luciernaga in Italy, The Firefly is about death, grief, regrets, and falling in love.

In the movie, Lucia is supposed to attend her brother’s wedding whom she had a falling out with. Unfortunately, he dies in a car crash. She meets his fiancée, Mariana, and as the two mourn, they fall in love with each other.

First released in 2013, it did the round of film festivals in 2016.

Best Lesbian Movies #4: Lovesong

Directed by So Yong Kim and presented at the Sundance, the movie Lovesong is simply about that: a moment that ends too quickly.

Best friends Sarah and Mindy, along with Sarah’s daughter, go on a quick road trip. While traveling, they develop deeper for feelings for each other and go to bed together.

Fast forward three years later, Sarah, with her daughter, attends the wedding of Mindy. While the memory of that road trip years ago lingered between them, they realized that it was just a moment. People change and they move on.

It’s a sad, introspective movie of a love that couldn’t be.

Best Lesbian Movies #3: The First Girl I Loved

In The First Girl I Loved, ordinary Anne has done something extraordinary: she’s fallen in love with one of the most beautiful girls in high school.

This is the first time Anne has fallen for a girl, and its her first time to realize that she likes girls.

But where Anne is plain, quiet, and almost invisible, Sasha has deep dimples, popular, and is the star of the baseball team. So it’s a bit of a surprise that Sasha likes her too.

Unfortunately, Anne’s best friend, Clifton, likes Anne and does everything to quash the budding romance between the two.

What we liked about this movie? It reminded us of the first time we fell in love.

Best Lesbian Movies #2: Almost Adults

Almost Adult’s central story isn’t about a romance between two girls. Instead, it’s about two best friends: Cassie is straight and Mackenzie is trying to find the right moment to come out to her.

While Mackenzie’s parents are too supportive for comfort, her best friend Cassie is completely clueless about it, not to mention distracted as she breaks up with her boyfriend and is having trouble with her English class.

Again, it’s not so much the story but the realism and quiet humor of the film that makes it one of the gems of 2016.

Best Lesbian Movies #1: The Handmaiden

There may not have been a Carol this year, but 2016 made up for it by coming out with Park Chan-wook’s erotic psychological thriller The Handmaiden.

Based on the novel by Sarah Waters, Fingersmith, this story was set in Korea during the time of the Japanese rule. But its summary of a maid who falls in love with her mistress doesn’t give it justice as there’s more to it than that.

Likewise, film-goers familiar with Park Chan-wook’s works won’t disappointed by the twisted, graphic, and, of course, erotic feel of his latest movie.