In the last two decades, more women have rose to positions behind the camera – telling notable stories full of love, trauma, heart break, identity, and empowerment. This week’s watchlist is one of my favorite categories: Women-Directed Films. From the tension of Zero Dark Thirty to the gut-wrenching tearful moments in Aftersun, or the raw relationships displayed n Lady Bird, these films span multiple genres and tones. They all carry distinct precision and daring risks that no other filmmaker has done before, forcing us all to rethink the usual, conventional way of storytelling.
These are my hand-picked, carefully selected list of films I love, directed by women.
Lady Bird – Greta Gerwig
Lady Bird is a coming-of-age drama loosely based on Greta Gerwig’s life. What took her 9 years to write (and hundreds of drafts), and her directorial debut, became an instant success with critics lauding the performances of the cast. Saoirse Ronan plays the titular character, Lady Bird, as she experiences the awkward and extremely complex experience of late adolescence. Both in school and through the turbulent relationship with her mother.
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf
Little Woods – Nia DaCosta
With a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes, Little Woods is director Nia DaCosta’s feature directorial debut and an incredible one at that. The film is a crime-drama that follows two sisters, Tessa Thompson & Lily James, struggling trying to survive living in rural North Dakota. The film comments on poverty, healthcare injustice, and the opioid crisis.
Starring: Tessa Thompson, Lily James
Aftersun – Charlotte Wells
Charlotte Wells’s directorial debut, Aftersun, is a striking film that has incredible performances that will stay with you long after the credits roll. Paul Mescal is absolutely stunning in this film, and his on-screen very much believable relationship with his daughter, Frankie Corio, is mesmerizing. It follows Corio’s character as she vacations with her young father at a resort and her adult recollection of that trip 20 years later. The film explores depression, memories and perception, and parent-child relationships. Grab a box of tissues for this one.
Starring: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio
The Lost Daughter – Maggie Gyllenhaal
Known for her incredible on-screen performances, Maggie Gylenhaal steps behind the camera for the first time, as she directs this psychological drama. The Lost Daughter is based on the novel by Elena Ferrante and stars Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, and Dakota Johnson. Coleman’s character is a middle-aged literature professor who takes a solo vacation in Greece. Her peaceful retreat is disrupted by the arrival of a large family. She becomes fascinated with Johnson’s character and her own flashbacks as a mother in her youth begin to surface.
Starring: Olivia Coleman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson
The Woman King – Gina Prince-Bythewood
A film that unleashes the true warrior in all of us. This was a rare big-budget, studio action film directed by a Black woman and led by a predominantly Black female cast, making it a historic project in Hollywood. Gina Prince-Bythewood teams up with Viola Davis in The Woman King – a dramatic retelling of the real-life Agojie (a group of all-female warriors in the 1800s) as they protect the African kingdom of Dahomey. Faced with an outside threat, they must train & fight against a foreign enemy.
Starring: Viola Davis, Lashana Lynch, Thuso Mbedu, Sheila Atim, and John Boyega
Past Lives – Celine Song
A directorial debut that is lauded across all fronts. Celine Song’s Past Lives is a gift of silence, stillness, longing, and so much subtext is heart breaking and warming all at once. Greta Lee shines as Nora and Teo Yoo as Hae Sung. The film tells a story of two deeply connected childhood friends, split apart after one family emigrates from South Korea to Canada. Reunited decades later, they share one fateful week as they confront destiny, love, and the choices that make a life. The film unfolds in three time periods (what Song references as Three Goodbyes) and meditates on the Korean concept of “In-Yun”: the idea that people are connected through past lives and chance encounters.
Starring: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro
Lost in Translation – Sofia Coppola
Lost In Translation is Sofia Coppola’s second directorial feature (and a critical success) telling the story of a lonely, aging movie star and a conflicted newlywed who meet in Tokyo and form a quiet, unexpected bond. The film explores themes of isolation, alienation, and intimacy. A film after all these years, that still resonates today.
Starring: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson
Promising Young Woman – Emerald Fennell
Another directorial debut, Emerald Fennell wrote this original concept in just a few months and it was filmed in 23 days. While this script landed Fennell the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, Carey Mulligan’s performance landed her Best Actress nominations from multiple award circuits. Mulligan gives a chilling performance as Cassandra – a woman who drops out of medical school after her best friend is sexually assaulted and takes her own life. Jaded, Cassandra spends her nights at local bars testing whether the “nice guys” who take her home will do the right thing. When she reconnects with a former classmate, old wounds resurface and debts must be paid.
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie
The Hurt Locker – Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Bigelow made history when she won the Oscar for Best Director (The Hurt Locker – 2008), the first female to do so. She follows up with another critically acclaimed film – Zero Dark Thirty. She’s known for her style and usual themes of filmmaking – gritty and usually surrounding violence. This film stars the incredible Jessica Chastain and her fictional character: CIA analyst Maya as she oversees the decade-long manhunt for Osama bin Laden. Unlike the predecessor The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty is a sharp view of warfare – but instead of the battlefield, it’s through the lens of intelligence work.
Starring: Jessica Chastain
Wonder Woman – Patty Jenkins
With $824 million at the box office, Patty Jenkin’s Wonder Woman is the highest-grossing film by a solo female director in the US. Gal Gadot stars as the infamous DC Comic, Diana, pricess of the Amazons. The film follows her sheltered life raised in paradise coming to a halt as an American crashes on the island and warns her of a great war consuming the outside world. She to end the conflict. She journeys to the frontlines of World War I, where she must stop Ares, the god of war.
Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine
