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30 Essential Feminist Movies You Need To See
Let's hear it for the girls.
March is Women's History Month, the perfect time to dust off your copy of The Feminine Mystique—or hit play on any one of these amazing films made for, by, or about women. But please note: this is in no way the definitive list; it's just a jumping-off point.
'Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels' (1975)
There's no rioting, protesting or marching for civil rights here. Just "woman's work:" laundry, dinner, the occasional John. The mundanity of being a housewife is on achingly tedious display for three-plus hours in Chantal Akerman's experimental film—or, rather a 1975 female action film. And that's why it's brilliant.
Stream on amazon.co.uk, £3 to rent, £15 to own. Watch
'The Passion of Joan of Arc' (1928)
Carl Dreyer's silent French film is as much an example of female strength today as it was 90 years ago. Based on the actual record of the trial of Joan of Arc, it explores the martyr as a female Christ-like figure whose strength, will and determination endures even as she's led to a stake to be burned alive.
Watch at Open Culture.
'Whale Rider' (2002)
Girls aren't allowed to be Whangara chiefs. But that's not acceptable to Paikea (Keisha Castle-Hughes), the 11-year-old powerhouse who believes her destiny is to ride whales and lead her tribe. Courage, leadership and defiance—they're all at play in this Kiwi drama from Niki Caro, an essential watch for any budding feminist.
Stream on amazon.co.uk, £3 to rent, £8 to own. Watch
'Clueless' (1995)
A "way existential" 1990s time capsule of fashion, pop culture and Valley-girl verbiage, Amy Heckerling's rom-com riff on Jane Austen's Emma celebrates female friendship and sexuality, and it puts a woman's self-fulfillment above finding a man. Even if "fulfillment" technically includes finding a man.
Stream on amazon.co.uk, £3 to rent, £10 to own. Watch
'Alien' (1979)
Groundbreaking for 1979 science fiction, Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley is one of the genre's most iconic female characters. She's not a damsel—she's a badass final girl and the only survivor to defeat the monster that mutilated and destroyed every other member of the Nostromo crew.
Stream on amazon.co.uk, £3 to rent, £10 to own. Watch
'Thelma and Louise' (1991)
Susan Sarandon and Gena Davis lock arms—and fates—in this buddy road trip drama with a feminist legacy that runs deeper than the Grand Canyon. Sure, it's directed by Ridley Scott, but the screenplay about a pair of outlaws who are anything but passive comes straight from the pen of Callie Khouri.
Stream free with a Prime membership on amazon.co.uk. Watch
'The Trouble with Angels' (1966)
A romp through a Catholic girls' school courtesy of a pair of mischievous teens, this Hayley Mills classic is all about sisterhood. But the peak feminism is happening behind the lens, as Ida Lupino, the sole working female director of the '50s, was blazing a trailer for the female directors who would follow.
Stream on amazon.co.uk, £3 to rent, £11 to own. Watch
'Nine to Five' (1980)
The workplace has long been a cesspool of machismo and sexual harassment, and this 1980 classic based on the book by Patricia Resnick and starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton is not going to take it anymore: the trio suit up in business casual and get revenge on their egotistical bigot of a boss.
Stream on amazon.co.uk, £3 to rent, £8 to own. Watch
'I've Heard the Mermaids Singing' (1987)
Canadian avant-garde cinema mostly seen and analyzed by college students, Patricia Rozema's fairy-tale whimsy, about an artist on a her journey to self-discovery, is one you should fish out—particularly because it's made by a fantastic team of women.
Watch on YouTube.
'Wendy and Lucy' (2008)
Director Kelly Reichardt recruits Michelle Williams for her character study mapping out the evolution of homelessness and destitution. With nothing but her pup Lucy, Williams' Wendy fights to survive in a recession-era landscape, and like all of Reichardt's feminist characters, she's flawed, willful, and above all, strong.
Stream on amazon.co.uk, £8 to own. Watch
'The Color Purple' (1985)
Whoopi Goldberg brings Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning feminist novel to life as Celie, a Southern woman who suffered abuse over decades. A project brought to a hesitant Steven Spielberg by producer Quincy Jones, the film marks Spielberg's first female lead.
Stream on amazon.co.uk, £3 to rent, £5 to own. Watch
'The Piano' (1993)
Never one to succumb to labels, pioneer filmmaker Jane Campion delivers a love story about a mute woman whose erotic affair has life-altering repercussions. And even though Campion would probably fight us on this, one can't help but spot and appreciate what seems to be a feminist vision.
'Frida' (2004)
Her portrait, with that thick unibrow and un-waxed upper lip, has become an iconic symbol of feminism. Julie Taymor's biopic takes us behind the canvas to reveal the artist, the activist, the revolutionary. And knowing what we do now about lead actress Selma Hayek's off-screen experience, this film proves an even greater victory.
Stream on amazon.co.uk, £2 to rent, £4 to own. Watch
'Little Women' (1994)
Feminism isn't all "women can do anything men can do"—it's women can do whatever the hell they want to do. And for the protagonist sisters in Gillian Anderson's adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel, that means a writer, a musician, a housewife and a free spirit.
Stream on amazon.co.uk, £3 to rent, £11 to own. Watch
'Mad Max Fury Road' (2015)
Unearthing feminism in a scorched, hell-on-wheels action flick from road warrior franchise man George Miller isn't exactly obvious. But though it's titled after a male character, he is muzzled for much of the film, lending the action to a female imperator and her feminist revolt against the horrors of sexism.
Stream on amazon.co.uk, £1 to rent, £5 to own. Watch
'I Will Follow' (2011)
If you can't get something done, do it yourself. Ava DuVernay takes this adage to heart and writes, directs, produces and finances this family drama about a woman grieving the death of a loved one. Though just a blip on the box office radar, DuVernay's debut feature offers a peek at the feminist hero behind the camera.
Stream on amazon.co.uk, £3 to rent, £8 to own. Watch
'The Witch' (2016)
A 17th-century New England folktale from Robert Eggers, this spooky picture is more than a supernatural horror—it's an exercise in female rebellion during a time when anyone "different" was declared a witch.
Stream free with a Prime membership on amazon.co.uk. Watch
'Queen of Katwe' (2016)
Disney has a way of making us feel like pawns in a game of Let's See How Hard We Can Make Them Cry. But that's not the case with Mira Nair's feel-good drama about a Uganda girl's path to chess champ, adapted from an ESPN sports essay. Moms and dads, you want your daughters to grow up to be chess champions.
Stream on amazon.co.uk, £2 to rent, £12 to own. Watch
'Persepolis'
There's a lot at play here: Persepolis is animated like a graphic novel. It's done in black and white. It's about a girl who defies Islamic fundamentalists. It's autobiographical. And it's in French. The result: a brilliant feminist feat from Marjane Satrapi.
Stream on amazon.co.uk, £3 to rent, £11 to own. Watch
'Mustang' (2015)
It's easy to call Deniz Gamze Ergüven's 2015 Oscar nominee a feminist film, since it's about five orphan girls who give oppression and the Turkish patriarchy the middle finger. But it's so much more than that—it's Ergüven's personal comment on what it means to be a woman in Turkey.
Stream on amazon.co.uk, £1 to rent, £5 to own. Watch
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