It’s rare to see polyamory represented on screen, and even rarer to see it in a positive light.

Positive Polyamory On Film

I’ve always been obsessed with polyamory, and frustrated that a lot of poly narratives seem to push for one true love in the end, often to ‘save’ the protagonist from their own disruptive desires. Love triangles almost always end with at least one person heartbroken. Films like Jules et Jim (1962) portray ethical non-monogamy as the foundation for emotional tragedy – bad, deceitful, unsustainable.

There are, however, some films that try to demonstrate how polyamory could work out well for people. These movies delve into polyamory as a potential source of joy, rather than deception and pain, and meant a lot to me as I started to explore my own poly journey. They may not be cinematic masterpieces, and they’re very white and cisnormative, but to this day they’re still some of my favourite films. Spoilers and warm fuzzy feels ahead:

As well as film, special mentions go to Sense8 (Netflix) and Trigonometry (BBC), which focused on BIPOC characters, and You Me Her (Netflix), which addressed nuances like parenthood, couples’ privilege and stigma.

Polyamory is still a fringe relationship dynamic, especially in media, but I’m glad I found these films when I did. Each one helped me think about what I wanted for myself, and reassured me that polyamory is slowly, slowly, becoming more represented, and maybe one day, accepted. In the meantime, we can push for more diverse, intersectional narratives that show poly for what it is – just another way of living, full of just as much pain, complication, joy and love as any other.