Your guide to best films by female filmmakers streaming this month
Celebrating Women’s History Month is as good an occasion as any to stream a film directed by a woman (not that one needs an occasion for that). After combing through the selections on four major streaming services, here’s a list of the best films by female filmmakers for your streaming pleasure.
Netflix
Dive into the world of a roadbound magazine-sales gang in Andrea Arnold’s dreamy and rough-hewn “American Honey.” Don’t miss Karyn Kusama’s utterly chilling dinner party cult thriller, “The Invitation,” and be sure to catch Mati Diop’s haunting Senegalese ghost love story “Atlantics.”
Make it a 2000s teenage two-fer on Netflix with Karen Maine’s totally entertaining “Yes, God, Yes,” in which Natalia Dyer stages a one-woman church camp sexual revolution. It’s the perfect partner for Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut, “Lady Bird,” starring Saoirse Ronan. Add Sandi Tan’s documentary “Shirkers” for more teenage dreams, this time of resurrecting a long lost film.
Chase Lana Wilson’s Taylor Swift documentary “Miss Americana” with Unjoo Moon’s Helen Reddy biopic “I Am Woman,” to trace the lineage of feminist activism through song.
HBO Max
This is the home of all the best action movies directed by women, including Kathryn Bigelow’s absolutely iconic “Point Break,” with a young Keanu Reeves infiltrating a gang of surfing bank robbers. Whether you take your comic book super-heroines salty (Harley Quinn) or sweet (Diana Prince), HBO Max has you covered with Patty Jenkins’ epic “Wonder Woman” and Kathy Yan’s sassy “Birds of Prey.”
Take a break from the action with a pair of urban friendship films: Elaine May’s classic “Mikey and Nicky,” starring John Cassevetes and Peter Falk, is a deconstructed gangster film set over the course of one troubled night. Eliza Hittman’s “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” also largely takes place over the course of one night in the big city, as two suburban teen girls venture to New York City in search of an abortion.
Hulu
Celine Sciamma’s ravishing period romance “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” is a must-watch, as is Olivia Wilde’s delightful debut “Booksmart,” the nerdy girl’s answer to “Superbad.”
Jessica Hausner’s fascinating “Little Joe,” a horror film about a genetically modified plant, is creepy without the gore;
Julia Hart’s charming high school dramedy “Miss Stevens” features both Lili Reinhardt and Timothee Chalamet in a couple of fantastic prefame performances.
Josephine Decker’s “Shirley” starring Elisabeth Moss and Michael Stuhlbarg is the heir apparent to “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” but with a witchier, feminist bent: Moss gives one of her best performances ever as the horror writer Shirley Jackson. Another film about women and work is Kitty Green’s quietly devastating “The Assistant,” starring Julia Garner as a young Hollywood assistant trapped in a sexist and soul-crushing workplace.
Amazon Prime
The platform has several fantastic films by women, including the moving survivalist drama “Leave No Trace,” starring Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie, written and directed by Debra Granik. Joanna Hogg’s stunning cinematic memoir “The Souvenir” co-stars Tilda Swinton and her daughter Honor Swinton Byrne. Also check out Anna Biller’s groovy “The Love Witch,” a lovingly and carefully crafted tribute to feminine magic, with an incredible star turn from Samantha Robinson.