Philadelphia is a 1993 American legal drama film directed and produced by Jonathan Demme, written by Ron Nyswaner, and starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. Filmed on location in its namesake city, it tells the story of attorney Andrew Beckett (Hanks) who comes to ask a personal injury attorney, Joe Miller (Washington), to help him sue his former law firm, who fired him after discovering he was gay and that he had AIDS. The cast also features Jason Robards, Mary Steenburgen, Antonio Banderas, and Joanne Woodward.

Philadelphia is one of the first mainstream Hollywood films not only to explicitly address HIV/AIDS and homophobia, but also to portray gay people in a positive light. It premiered in Los Angeles on December 14, 1993 in a benefit for the AIDS Project, and opened in limited release on December 22, before expanding into wide release on January 14, 1994. It grossed $206.7 million worldwide, becoming the 9th highest-grossing film of 1993.

The film was positively received by critics for its screenplay and the performances of Hanks and Washington. For his performance as Andrew Beckett, Hanks won Best Actor at the 66th Academy Awards, while the song "Streets of Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen won Best Original Song. Nyswaner was also nominated for the Best Original Screenplay, but lost to Jane Campion for The Piano.

Andrew Beckett is a senior associate at Philadelphia's law firm Wyant, Wheeler, Hellerman, Tetlow, & Brown. He conceals his homosexuality and his status as an AIDS patient from others in the office. A partner in the firm, Walter Kenton, notices a lesion on Beckett's forehead. Although Beckett attributes the lesion to a racquetball injury, it indicates Kaposi's sarcoma, an AIDS-defining condition.

During the 10 days given for a case assigned to him, Beckett tries to hide his lesions by staying home from work. He finishes the paperwork for this the night before the statute of limitations for the case ends, bringing it to his office and leaving instructions for his assistants to file it the following day. However, he receives a call the next day asking for the paperwork, which cannot be found, and is informed that there are no copies on the computer's hard drive. His paperwork is finally located in an alternative location and is filed with the court at the last moment. Beckett is called to a meeting the morning afterwards where the firm's partners fire him.

Beckett believes someone deliberately hid the paperwork to give the firm an excuse to do so and that the termination is a result of his AIDS status and his sexuality. He asks ten attorneys to represent him in suing the Wyant, Wheeler, Hellerman, Tetlow, & Brown for wrongful dismissal, the last of whom is African-American personal injury lawyer Joe Miller, whom Beckett previously opposed in a different case. Miller appears uncomfortable that a man with AIDS is in his office. After declining to take the case, Miller immediately visits his doctor to find out if he could have contracted the disease. The doctor explains that the routes of HIV infection do not include casual contact.

Unable to find representation from another lawyer, Beckett feels compelled to act as his own attorney. While conducting research at a law library, Miller sees Beckett at a nearby table. A librarian approaches Beckett and says that he has found a case of AIDS discrimination for him. As others in the library begin to stare uneasily, the librarian suggests Beckett go to a private room. Seeing parallels in racial discrimination, Miller approaches Beckett, reviews the material he has gathered, and agrees to take the case.

As the case goes to trial, the partners of the firm take the stand, each claiming that Beckett was incompetent and that he had deliberately tried to hide his condition. The defense repeatedly point out Beckett brought AIDS upon himself via willing gay sex with strangers and is therefore not a victim. It is revealed that Kenton previously worked with a woman who contracted AIDS after a blood transfusion, and thus he should have recognized the lesion as being a symptom of an AIDS-related illness. According to Kenton, the woman was an innocent victim, unlike Beckett, and he further testifies that he did not recognize Beckett's lesion. To prove that the lesions would have been visible, Miller asks Beckett to unbutton his shirt while on the witness stand, revealing that his lesions are indeed visible and recognizable as such. Throughout the trial, Miller's homophobia slowly disappears as he and Beckett bond from working together.