WHERE TO SEE THE BEST MOVIES MADE BY WOMEN
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 handpicked 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 roughhewn “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 twofer 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 Saorise Ronan. Add Sandi Tan’s documentary “Shirkers” for more teenage dreams, this time of resurrecting a long lost film.
Also on Netflix, 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 (though beware the earworm that is “I am woman, hear me roar).
HBO Max
The streaming service 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 on HBO Max: 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 pre-fame 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 on Hulu 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 service 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.