15 LGBTQIA+ movies to watch if you liked Love, Simon

Saved!

Saved! is a 2004 teen comedy about the goings on at a Catholic high school. Mary (Jena Malone) has the perfect Christian teenage life with a dreamy boyfriend named Dean and a group of popular friends, including Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore), the Christian Queen Bee.

When Mary’s boyfriend reveals he’s gay, Hilary encourages her to do whatever she has to do to “save” him from his life of sin,  because Jesus will forgive her. So Mary sacrifices her virginity in order to cure Dean of his homosexuality.

Unfortunately, Mary’s sacrifice doesn’t pay off. Dean’s parents find gay porn under his bed, and he’s sent off to Mercy House, a Christian treatment center, to be converted from his sinful ways. To make everything even worse, Mary, the picture perfect Christian teen, finds herself pregnant.

Mary soon starts feeling uncomfortable with her friends, and when she questions her faith, she’s ostracized by the Christian Jewels (her group of friends). Instead, she befriends the school’s resident rebel, Jewish student Cassandra (Eva Amurri) and Hilary’s wheelchair-bound brother Roland (Macaulay Culkin).

Similar to But I’m A Cheerleader, Saved! deals with the topic of conversion therapy, but this time, from a much more religious perspective. This film is not necessarily a “gay” movie; Dean’s sexuality is merely one point of the plot that helps further the story. But the lesson of tolerance in the Christian faith regarding pre-marital sex and homosexuality is something that’s missing from a lot of films, both gay and straight.

In the end, Mary returns to her faith, but with a more open mind and a belief in a more tolerant God. The characters all show growth throughout the movie, even rebellious Cassandra and bigoted Hilary Faye. And that’s a good lesson across the board.