Love Lies Bleeding, the newest film from Saint Maud director Rose Glass, is a one-of-a-kind lesbian crime thriller that truly has it all: sex, violence, bodybuilding, daddy issues, and a queer love story that plays out against the backdrop of 1980s rural New Mexico. With all of that, the film isn’t short on mental images that will live permanently in your brain after you watch — from Ed Harris in an unsettling wig to Kristen Stewart sucking on the toes of another woman — but even beyond the captivating sex scenes and memorable gore, there’s one thing in particular I can’t stop thinking about. The arms.
Has anyone ever been more powerful than a lesbian in a tank top? Love Lies Bleeding argues no. Between the bulging biceps of bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O’Brian) and the scrawny but hardworking arms of gym manager Lou (Kristen Stewart), Love Lies Bleeding places you in the perfect center of a lesbian arm fantasy in which one set of biceps could throw you across the room and the other can offer you a towel and a cigarette afterward.
If you, too, have found yourself struggling to think about anything other than Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian in perfectly fitted cutoff tees, here are nine movies and TV shows with lesbian arm representation, ranked in order of Most Tank Tops to Least Tank Tops.
Bound (1996)
Bound is the movie most directly comparable to Love Lies Bleeding, both for the crime story and the heavy presence of lesbian arms. This neo-noir drama stars Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon as hot lesbians in tank tops Violet and Corky, a mob wife and her ex-con plumber girlfriend who conspire to run away together with $2 million of the mob’s money. The tank tops are all but an explicit plot driver in Bound because without Violet’s high-femme spaghetti sleeves and Corky’s classic white tank (exposing her barbed-wire tattoo), it’s impossible to say whether the story would’ve led to these two women U-hauling to take down the mob.
The L Word (2004–2009)
It feels irresponsible to mention lesbians in tank tops without immediately bringing up perhaps the most well-known lesbian in a tank top: Shane from The L Word. The L Word is rich in both lesbians and tank tops as it centers on a group of gay women in 2000s Los Angeles — a combination of factors guaranteed to produce some of the most unhinged outfits you’ve ever seen. Thankfully, these outfits include really every type of tank top you can think of. If you’re looking for a long-term commitment, want to immerse in a slightly dated and delightfully indulgent queer drama, and haven’t made your way to The L Word, here is a six-season undertaking to carry you through the end of long-sleeve season.
Drive Away Dolls (2024)
Drive Away Dolls is not only the latest addition to the “Be Gay, Do Crime†canon but also the newest on the list of Thrillers Where Lesbians Are Showing Their Arms. This dark queer comedy focuses on two lesbian best friends who stumble upon mysterious cargo as they road trip from Philadelphia to Tallahassee. Led by recently dumped Jamie (Margaret Qualley with a southern drawl) in a series of sleeveless tops, the trip is designed the way you’d expect from any lesbians who want to get laid — full of gays bars and an earnest pursuit of sex with a women’s soccer team. Come for the muscle tee, stay for the denim vest.
A League of Their Own (2022)
This reimagining of the 1992 classic addresses the subtext that was only hinted at in the original film — at least some of these ladies are gay! How does this fit into the lesbians-in-tank-tops category? Well, it has women playing baseball in skirts, which were the tank tops of the 1940s. If that’s not enough for you, then instead I’ll direct you to the entire character of Max (Chanté Adams), or the many scenes where Jess (Kelly McCormick) is wearing cuff sleeves and heralding a look I can only describe as lesbian Popeye.
Nyad (2023)
Nyad is a biographical sports drama about swimmer Diana Nyad (played by Annette Bening), who, with her coach Bonnie (Jodie Foster), made multiple attempts in the early 2010s to complete a nonstop swim from Cuba to Florida. Nyad is a known lesbian with strong arms and is constantly donning tank tops in the form of bathing suits and sports bras. It makes me think that I, too, could swim 110 miles if encouraged by Jodie Foster in an athletic tank.
Set It Off (1996)
Set It Off is about four close friends in 1990s Los Angeles who have been consistently mistreated and feel powerless against the struggles they’re each facing in their lives. In need of more money and more respect, the group decides they’ve had enough and agrees it’s time to start robbing banks. Queen Latifah plays Cleo, a car-jacking lesbian who does not mess around when it comes to her girl. There’s action, there’s violence, there’s emotional depth, and there’s one brief, albeit powerful, scene in which Cleo solidifies her spot in the lesbians-in-tank-tops canon.
A Video Performance of G Flip’s “Cruel Summer†Cover
If you’re in need of a new, truly arm-centered moment to obsess over but you have a short attention span, this three-minute, 45-second video of nonbinary singer G Flip singing and drumming in a tank top is the video for you. Hot tank. Queer. Genuinely enjoyable cover. Patchwork tattoos. Sunglasses indoors. Take it all in!
Honorable Mentions
Stick It (2006)
Stick It is arguably the best movie about gymnastics ever made, and that fact alone is enough to make this a lesbian movie at its core. While we don’t actually know if Haley herself is a lesbian, we do know that she is a queer-coded tank-top wearer whose power is built around the many important things she does with her arms (throwing a back tuck, flipping off the judges, you get it). Regardless, this one deserves a spot on the list, if only to give Haley the credit she deserves for inspiring the style of every West Coast lesbian from 2006 on.
Coyote Ugly (2000)
While none of the characters in Coyote Ugly are explicitly lesbians, any queer watching this film knows what’s really going on. With a plot that is almost exactly the same as Burlesque, it’s clear what makes Coyote Ugly special — possible lesbians and their impossibly small tanks.