Gone cruisin’: 10 gay films & TV shows set on a boat
an ocean of possibilities.Over the years, “gays on a boat” has proven to be particularly welcoming waters for film and television, with a number of stories tapping into the ways floating out on the open seas can speak to the queer experience—either as an adventurous escape form the norm or a vessel for isolation and introspection.So, like an all-you-can-eat-buffet, these 10 tales offer glimpses of what could await you should you choose to climb aboard: Maybe someone will catch your eye—in the unlikeliest of places.
Maybe you’ll party in the sun with friends new and old. Maybe you’ll get asked to walk the plank. Or maybe you’ll wind up embroiled in a whodunit mystery where everyone on board’s suspect (given the examples below… that seems pretty likely).Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.Wherever the tide may want to take you, set sail with these 10 queer films and television shows that take place on a boat.A ship adrift at sea is the perfect setting for one of our favorite genres, the whodunit—often sticking strangers from all walks of life in a confined space with nowhere to run, letting them hash things out for themselves—a theme we’ll return to a few times on this list.
The latest example is Hulu’s original series, Death And Other Details, which has a fun throwback vibe (thanks especially Mandy Patinkin as an Agatha Christie-esque detective), but otherwise tells a very modern story of haves and haves-not, complete with a handful of queer characters tangled up in the mystery, any of whom could be a suspect… or the next victim.Streaming exclusively on Hulu.Another recent high-seas whodunit is the British import Wreck, which hews closer to Scream‘s slasher-comedy mold than it does Knives Out.
It follows queer teen Jamie (Oscar Kennedy) who takes a job on the luxury cruise liner Sacramentum to investigate the whereabouts of his sister, who disappeared on that same ship three months.
