Some of these movies are poly-positive; others are not; others are, well,
undecided. (Usually the ending of a movie is a big factor in whether
or not I consider it poly-positive.)
Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice:
One of the first movies to deal with open relationships. A husband and
wife explore the possibilities of nonmonogamy. This movie is really about
wife-swapping and not polyamory per se; but the characters do ask some
interesting questions. The ending is annoying - you have been warned.
French Twist (Gazon Maudit):
A French movie about a woman who, after the discovery that her husband has
been cheating on her for years, starts an affair with a woman trucker.
The people in the movie can be a bit hysterical, in that farcical French
kind of way, but all in all I thought it was very poly-positive (I won't
spoil the ending by telling you how).
The Object of My Affection:
A straight woman gets pregnant and decides she wants to raise the baby
with her gay best friend/roommate instead of the father. A pretty
mainstream movie which manages to raise some interesting questions about
family and fidelity and love and important things like that. A little
cheesy but I liked it. The jury is still out on whether it is
poly-positive or not though! (My current theory is that it is all
about the problems that arise when a poly person and a non-poly person
have some kind of relationship.)
She's Gotta Have It, directed by Spike Lee:
An independent woman called Nola has three male lovers, all of whom want
her to choose, which she constantly refuses to do. I really admired Nola's
insistence on being true to herself. Kind of a weird movie stylistically
(and features a very disturbing scene at the end, which I really don't
feel ok about) but overall I liked it.
Splendor, directed by Gregg Araki:
A young woman in LA falls in love with two men, dates them both, and
eventually all three move in together. Although I found the main character
annoying, this is a cute movie. Happy ending, poly-positive.
Straight from the Heart (À corps perdu):
A French Canadian movie about a photojournalist in a long-term
ménage à trois which ends abruptly when his partners leave
him. Despite some cheesy 80's music from time to time, this is a
beautiful, haunting movie with lovely cinematography, and I really liked
it.
Threesome:
You know any movie involving polyamory which starts out with a definition
of the word "deviant" is going to be problematic! This movie tells the
story of three college roommates, two guys and a girl, and their various
emotional and sexual involvements with each other. It is not entirely
poly-negative, but the ending completely belittles everything that has
gone on in the movie.
Trois:
This movie was pretty awful. I'm not even sure it belongs on this list. A
husband and wife decide to spice up their sex life by having a threesome,
and then some weird shit starts happening. The moral of the movie, as my
friend Lu so succinctly put it: "Not all bisexual people are psychotic
killers... everyone just thinks they are." Hmmm.