She’s all that
In honour of Mother’s Day, Siobhan Duck shares a bouquet of TV shows and films that put women’s stories front and centre
POWERFUL IN PINK
You’d have to have been living under a rock to have missed Barbie (which has made its streaming debut on Binge in time for Mother’s Day), the boxoffice smash starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, the toy world’s most famous (and fashionable) couple. But with its messages of female empowerment wrapped in a gloriously gaudy bow, Barbie Land is worth revisiting with your kids – or friends.
SECOND CHANCES
In the 1996 film The First Wives Club (Paramount+), Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton and Bette Midler play older and wiser divorcées. In The Idea Of You (Prime
Video), Anne Hathaway leans the other way as a 40-year-old single mum embarking on a romance with a young pop star (Nicholas Galitzine). In Hacks (Stan), washed-up comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) finds new fame by teaming up with 20-something writer
Ava (Hannah Einbinder). And Loot (Apple TV+) stars Maya Rudolph as a pampered woman looking to fi nd new purpose – and a productive way to spend her settlement cash – after her divorce from a selfish billionaire.
FAN FAVOURITES
Across eight delicious seasons, the ladies of Desperate Housewives (Disney+) carry on with illicit affairs and murderous plots. Over in New York, Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and company pull focus on both Sex And The City and spin-off And
Just Like That… (both on Binge).
A NIGHT IN WITH NICOLE
Not only does Nicole Kidman play a murder suspect with a secret in Big Little Lies (Binge), a deceived wife in The Undoing (Binge), a tough CIA boss in Special Ops: Lioness (Paramount+) and a grieving mother in Expats (Prime Video), she also served as the executive producer on all four.
GIRL POWER
Who said spandex was just for the guys? Check out the marvellous Marvel crew in Black Widow, WandaVision and Captain
Marvel (all on Disney+), and deadset DC icons Batwoman and Supergirl (Binge).
PERIOD PIECES
Set in 1969, the colourful comedy Palm Royale (Apple TV+) stars Kristen Wiig as a social climber with a heart of gold, while Bridgerton (Netflix) spices up the Regency era; season three starts on Thursday, and focuses on Penelope and Colin (Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton).
DRAMA WITH A CAPITAL K
Kim Kardashian sashays into acting on American
Horror
Story:
Delicate
(Binge), playing the publicist and best friend of a famous star (Emma Roberts). Or if you want to catch up with matriarch Kris and the entire clan of sisters, there’s always The Kardashians (Disney+).
SISTER ACTS
The Girls On The Bus (Binge) follows a quartet of women from different sides of the political divide – a passionate journo, a second-generation writer, a glamorous conservative, and a left-wing blogger – on the campaign trail. In Three Women (Stan), aspiring writer Gia Lombardi (Shailene Woodley) documents the stories of a frustrated housewife, a workingclass woman with a difficult past, and a sexually confident businesswoman (DeWanda Wise).
MUSICAL INTERLUDE
If you missed seeing Taylor Swift (left) on our shores – or want to relive the experience – The Eras Tour concert fi lm is streaming (Disney+). And if Tay Tay doesn’t get you dancing, try Jennifer Lopez’s The Greatest Love Story Never Told documentary or P!nk:
All I Know So Far
(both Prime Video).
PRIME-TIME SLEUTHS
Recent studies show that women love true-crime stories. Perhaps that’s why fictional female detectives are so compelling, from Brenda Blethyn’s curmudgeonly
Vera (BritBox) to empathic Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) on Law & Order: Special Victims
Unit (Binge) and spirited Andie Whitford (Leah Purcell), the cop at the centre of new Aussie thriller High Country (Binge).
TITANIC PERFORMER
Kate Winslet has built a big resumé through her TV work. Her 2011 remake of Mildred Pierce is a poignant portrait of unrequited motherhood; her crime drama Mare Of Easttown spins home truths; and in The Regime, she plays a despot who is losing her grip on power and reality (all three are available on Binge).
A RIGHT ROYAL AFFAIR
While The Crown (Netflix) went behind the velvet curtain on Queen Elizabeth II’s life and times, The Great (Stan) is a more irreverent romp, embellishing the reign of Russia’s Catherine The Great (Elle Fanning). Meanwhile, Mary & George (Binge) tells the scandalous true story of how a mother (Julianne Moore) encouraged her second son (Nicholas Galitzine) to seduce the king.