The best films aboutHIVserve as a historical record of the AIDS crisis from the earliest days. They also offer insights into whatliving with HIVmeans at different times, in different cultures, and to those who witness the disease from the outside.These films also eerily echo many of the events and experiences of theCOVID-19 pandemicand even thempox (monkeypox) outbreakof 2022. In the end, pandemics are not only medical crises but ones that can provoke fear, stigma, and discrimination that ripples through every sector of society.Here is a list of the 10 best films about HIV, each of which shares a common, overriding theme: hope in the face of seemingly impossible odds.
The best films aboutHIVserve as a historical record of the AIDS crisis from the earliest days. They also offer insights into whatliving with HIVmeans at different times, in different cultures, and to those who witness the disease from the outside.
These films also eerily echo many of the events and experiences of theCOVID-19 pandemicand even thempox (monkeypox) outbreakof 2022. In the end, pandemics are not only medical crises but ones that can provoke fear, stigma, and discrimination that ripples through every sector of society.
Here is a list of the 10 best films about HIV, each of which shares a common, overriding theme: hope in the face of seemingly impossible odds.
1
‘How to Survive a Plague’ (2012)
How to Survive a Plague (HBO)
This sweeping, Oscar-nominated documentary rightly deserved the many accolades it received upon its release in 2012. Its clear-sighted and often unforgiving depiction of the early days of the AIDS epidemic provided the film with a contextual backdrop that many other historical dramas about HIV lacked.
In doing so, the filmmakers achieved something more than just a historical record of the rise of ACT UP and the AIDS activist movement in the United States.
2
‘Common Threads’ (1989)
Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (HBO)
The quiet despair that pervades the film is often overwhelming, while the final laying of the quilt—filling the entire National Mall in Washington, D.C.—packs an emotional punch that can neither be easily forgotten.
3
‘Angels in America’ (2003)
Angels in America (HBO Films)
Most films that cast their eye on the early AIDS crisis do so with an almost necessary purposefulness, raw in their depiction of human loss and the cruel failings of governments and humanity.
It combines historic figures, biblical allegory, and a sweeping epic vision that captures the breadth of the human response to HIV in a way that few films have even attempted.
4
‘The Lazarus Effect’ (2010)
The Lazarus Effect (HBO)
There have been a number of films depicting the AIDS crisis in Africa, some of which (like 2004’s Oscar-nominated “Yesterday”) focused on what was then considered to be a monumentally hopeless situation.
A far rounder depiction can be seen in the 30-minute documentary, “The Lazarus Effect,“which describes the impact of freeantiretroviral drugprograms on HIV-positive people in Zambia.
Even today, its sincerity and clarity ring true.
The Health Divide Among People With HIV
5
‘The Normal Heart’ (2014)
The Normal Heart (HBO Films)
This highly charged HBO production serves as something of a companion piece to 2012’s “How to Survive a Plague"in its telling of the early AIDS epidemic and the emergence of the activist group, ACT UP.
Its worthy companion piece is the 2015 HBO documentary “Larry Kramer in Love & Anger,“which paints a less sanitized (and arguably more compelling) portrait of the playwright and activist.
HIV Support Groups
6’An Early Frost' (1985)An Early Frost (NBC Productions/The Criterion Collection)This 1985 television movie was considered a landmark at the time of its release and rightly so. Broadcast on NBC in 1985, “An Early Frost"was the first major film to dramatize the AIDS crisis in America, winning numerous awards and garnering an audience of over 34 million viewers.Telling the story of a young attorney who decides to inform his parents that he is both HIV-positive and gay, “An Early Frost"was credited with pushing AIDS into the public consciousness at a time when stigma and prejudice ran high (so much so that the network lost $500,000 in revenue when sponsors yanked their advertisements).While the film has historical limitations in its portrayal of gay men and relationships, “An Early Frost"still remains genuinely thoughtful and thought-provoking.What Is the Difference Between HIV and AIDS?
6
‘An Early Frost’ (1985)An Early Frost (NBC Productions/The Criterion Collection)This 1985 television movie was considered a landmark at the time of its release and rightly so. Broadcast on NBC in 1985, “An Early Frost"was the first major film to dramatize the AIDS crisis in America, winning numerous awards and garnering an audience of over 34 million viewers.Telling the story of a young attorney who decides to inform his parents that he is both HIV-positive and gay, “An Early Frost"was credited with pushing AIDS into the public consciousness at a time when stigma and prejudice ran high (so much so that the network lost $500,000 in revenue when sponsors yanked their advertisements).While the film has historical limitations in its portrayal of gay men and relationships, “An Early Frost"still remains genuinely thoughtful and thought-provoking.What Is the Difference Between HIV and AIDS?
‘An Early Frost’ (1985)
An Early Frost (NBC Productions/The Criterion Collection)
This 1985 television movie was considered a landmark at the time of its release and rightly so. Broadcast on NBC in 1985, “An Early Frost"was the first major film to dramatize the AIDS crisis in America, winning numerous awards and garnering an audience of over 34 million viewers.
Telling the story of a young attorney who decides to inform his parents that he is both HIV-positive and gay, “An Early Frost"was credited with pushing AIDS into the public consciousness at a time when stigma and prejudice ran high (so much so that the network lost $500,000 in revenue when sponsors yanked their advertisements).
While the film has historical limitations in its portrayal of gay men and relationships, “An Early Frost"still remains genuinely thoughtful and thought-provoking.
What Is the Difference Between HIV and AIDS?
7
‘Dallas Buyers Club’ (2013)
Dallas Buyers Club (Focus Films)
When marketing the 2013 film, “Dallas Buyers Club,“the studio adamantly maintained that the film wasnotabout AIDS or the AIDS crisis. And, in many ways, they’re correct.
“Dallas Buyers Club” depicted the exploits of Ron Woodruff, an HIV-positive cowboy who started trading in non-FDA-approved AIDS remediesand suggested that Woodruff’s contribution was seminal to eventual changes in the FDA’s painfully slow drug approval policies.
The fact is that there were hundreds of buyer’s clubs throughout the United States and changes to the FDA policy occurred years later, largely due to the public outcry and the work of activist groups like ACT UP.
The official change only came into being in 1992 with the enactment of the Accelerated Approval Program (which helped enable thefast-tracking of vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic).
8
‘Longtime Companion’ (1989)
Longtime Companion (MGM Home Entertainment)
Although a number of theatrical films preceded it (among them, the impressive “Parting Glances” in 1986),1989’s “Longtime Companion"is credited with being the first wide-release film to chronicle the AIDS crisis in America.
Life Expectancy for People Living With HIV
9
‘And the Band Played On’ (1994)
And the Band Played On (HBO)
Like “An Early Frost"before it and “Angels in America"after it, “And the Band Played On"was considered something of a television landmark at the time of its broadcast.
(Shilts himself was criticized for political beliefs, including his stance on the “sexual promiscuity” of gay men, which many in the LGBTI community found homophobic.)
Still, “And the Band Played On"is a worthy addition if only for the near-epic scale of the film and performances that linger in your memory long after viewing.
Why Are Gay Men At Higher Risk for Getting HIV?
10
‘Philadelphia’ (1993)
Philadelphia (TriStar Pictures)
“Philadelphia"is the film included on almost every top 10 list about HIV and for good reason. Whether you like it or loathe it, it is undoubtedly the film that changed the social landscape at a time when the anger vented at the Reagan/Bush administrations was at a near-boiling point.
Despite a few cringe-worthy scenes (including Denzel Washington’s overtly manipulative homophobic rant), “Philadelphia"was the film that got people to sit up in their chairs about AIDS, and that alone makes it worth seeing.
HIV Facts and Statistics Everyone Should Know
8 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Saeed F, Mihan R, Mousavi SZ, et al.A narrative review of stigma related to infectious disease outbreaks: what can be learned in the face of the covid-19 pandemic?.Front Psychiatry. 2020;11:565919. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.565919
The National AIDS Memorial.The history of the quilt.
Mullard A.Underground drug networks in the early days of AIDS.Lancet.2014 Feb;383(9917):592. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60208-7
Food and Drug Administration.A history of the FDA and drug regulation in the United States.
Beakes-Read G, Neisser M, Frey P, et al.Analysis of FDA’s Accelerated Approval Program performance December 1992–December 2021.Ther Innov Regul Sci.2022:56:698–703. doi:10.1007/s43441-022-00430-z
Darrow WW.And the Band Played On: before and after.AIDS Behav. 2017;21(10):2799-806. doi:10.1007/s10461-017-1798-2
Padamsee TJ.Fighting an epidemic in political context: thirty-five years of HIV/AIDS policy making in the United States.Soc Hist Med.2020 Aug;33(3):1001–28. doi:10.1093/shm/hky108
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