13 Fantastic Movies by Fabulous Female Filmmakers You Need to Watch Now
Last Year’s Overlooked Films That Deserve a Top Spot on Your Radar
Welcome to Widening the Lens!
We’re kicking things off this month by showcasing phenomenal female storytellers you may have missed last year.
Daring female filmmakers who tell genre-bending stories ruled in 2022.
From prolific film festival darlings to A24 slasher comedies to female empowerment anthems, there’s never been a better time to watch movies directed by women.
Hollywood acknowledges its long history of undervaluing phenomenal female talent. However, there doesn’t seem to be any urgency placed on changing this narrative.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, in 2021, the number of women behind the camera declined. The same report also concluded the number of women in front of the camera showed negligible growth.
“Women accounted for 17% of directors working on the top 250 films, down from 18% in 2020. The percentage of women directors working on the top 100 films retreated from 16% in 2020 to 12% in 2021.” – Dr. Martha M. Lauzen, 2021 Celluloid Calling Report
With another year behind us and awards season around the corner, let’s prove to studio executives why these abysmal downward trends must change and why it must happen now.
By pressing play, we signal to Hollywood an audience exists for female-centric storytelling with women at the helm.
And last year, women behind the camera gave us plenty to choose from.
A fearless general leads an all-female group of ruthless warriors.
Immigrant sisters face their fears with discerning depth and empathy.
An uncertain woman gets her sexy back and affirms the body-positivity movement.
These sensational picks deliver riveting stories, diversify your watchlist, and rescue you from your streaming rut.
It’s your essential list of prized hidden gems—just in time to kick off the new year.
Sit back, grab the popcorn, and dive into these thirteen fantastic female-directed films you’ll regret missing.
First-time directors craft inventive horror, infusing more originality into the genre.
1. Fresh (Hulu)
Director: Mimi Cave
A woman meets a charismatic Prince Charming and accompanies him on a romantic getaway to his secluded cabin in the woods. Things turn dark when she discovers her new love’s unusual appetite.
It’s a delectable rom-com wrapped inside dark comedic horror.
Cave’s charming rom-com becomes a demented, cannibalistic Twilight Zone nightmare. She inspects the commodification of women and the hidden dangers they’re forced to navigate in the modern dating world.
Fresh is an over-the-top, terrifying midnight picture show sure to spoil your appetite and make you think twice about swiping right.
2. Bodies Bodies Bodies (VOD)
Director: Halina Reijn
A wealthy group of women in their twenties gathers at a remote mansion for a hurricane party. They play a murder-in-the-dark game, and tragedy ensues when backstabbing and fake friendships expose hidden truths.
It’s a bonkers murder mystery disguised as an entertaining social experiment.
Reijn’s demented American Gen Z slasher murder mystery is a perceptive dismantling of hysteria simmering with thick tension. It’s a fresh and funny twist on a classic whodunnit that leans into Gen Z’s self-absorbed, social media-obsessed subculture.
Bodies Bodies Bodies is a clever and authentic satire of a life lived online with an unbelievable surprise ending that sticks the landing.
3. Watcher (Shudder)
Director: Chloe Okuno
An aspiring actress moves to Bucharêst with her boyfriend. She suspects the mysterious man who watches her from across the street is a serial killer stalking the city.
This Hitchcock-style throwback to mind-bending psychological thrillers percolates with cold, calculating dread.
Okuno’s feature debut is a captivating slow burn. She deconstructs voyeurism from the watched and the watcher’s perspective. It’s an intelligent, engrossing, pulse-pounding mystery that relies less on heavy dialogue and more on palpable suspense.
The Watcher is a powerful, atmospheric nail-biter that provokes taut tension and spine-chilling thrills.
4. Nanny (Prime Video)
Director: Nikyatu Jusu
A Senegalese immigrant nanny works for a wealthy white NY couple. She confronts a malevolent presence that disrupts her plans of reuniting with her son and her shot at the American Dream.
It’s a penetrating examination of how immigrant mothers sacrifice everything for their children.
Jusu became the second Black woman to win the 2022 Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize in the US Dramatic competition. Nanny is also the first horror film to win the festival’s top honor.
Nanny is a brooding must-watch that brims with deep-seated tension while dissecting painful pasts and lost legacies.
5. Glorious (Shudder)
Director: Rebekah McKendry
A distraught man takes refuge at a rest stop, where he converses with a mysterious man in the adjoining bathroom stall. Soon, he becomes involved in a treacherous situation where the world's fate rests in his hands.
One wild, trippy, unpredictable ride with a visionary psychedelic vibe.
McKendry’s low-budget cosmic horror starts with the basic premise of two people trapped in a single location. However, it transcends into an ethereal existential crisis with deadly, gory consequences.
Glorious is a bloodied confetti wonderland with keen criticism of whether minor acts of kindness can make up for a lifetime of evil deeds.
Honorable Mention: Deadstream (Shudder) Joseph Winter and Vanessa Winter’s smart and sophisticated horror-comedy breathes new life into the found footage genre.
Bold storytellers thread incisive dramas that reinforce how resiliency empowers the human spirit.
6. The Fallout (HBO Max)
Director: Megan Park
Trigger Warning: This film includes a severely traumatic incident. Viewer discretion is advised.
Two high-school students form an unexpected bond after a sudden and unimaginable tragedy. Their new friendship empowers the girls to confront devastating loss and paralyzing fear together.
It’s a masterful debut dripping with gut-wrenching intensity.
Actor-turned-filmmaker Park imbues a coming-of-age tale with nuanced, heart-breaking emotion. She examines resiliency and strength through the messy journey of loss, grief, and self-discovery.
The Fallout is a tender, unfiltered journey showing how people find courage in the places they least expect.
7. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (Hulu)
Director: Sophie Hyde
A retired widow yearns to experience an evening of pleasure after years of a sexually unfulfilling marriage. She hires a younger, handsome sex worker, and things get more heated than she plans.
This thought-provoking study of pleasure and intimacy is viewed through the perspective of a woman who lacks both.
Hyde offers a dialogue-centric characterization of post-menopausal sexuality in this single-location drama. She ponders what happens when shameful women re-discover themselves as beautiful sexual beings.
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, is a sex and body-positive release of female empowerment and self-satisfying joy.
8. Honk for Jesus. Save your Soul. (Prime Video)
Director: Adamma Ebo
A disgraced pastor and his embattled First Lady navigate the fallout from a salacious scandal. A documentary crew follows the power couple as they struggle to rebuild their congregation, mounting the biggest comeback anyone has ever seen.
This mockumentary-style satire has pitch-perfect comedic timing blended with poignant, socially relevant commentary.
Ebo exposes the permissible hypocrisy and toxicity that permeates organized religion. It’s a cautionary tale about blind ambition, soul-sucking sacrifice, and crippling devotion that’s rarely told about women of color.
Honk for Jesus. Save your Soul. is an uncompromising peek into the exploitative nature of powerful men and the valiant women who endure them.
Honorable Mention: Queen of Glory (VOD and STARZ) Nana Mensah writes, directs, and stars in this heartwarming low-budget indie film about the power of community, viewed through a Ghanaian immigrant lens.
Fearless visionaries compose insightful, harrowing character studies based on true stories.
9. Breaking (VOD)
Director: Abi Damaris Corbin
In a last-ditch effort to receive his disability check, Lance Corporal Brian Brown-Easley (John Boyega), a Marine veteran, holds two bank employees (Nicole Beharie and Selenis Leyva) hostage. His desperate measures bring attention to the systematic failure of inadequate veteran care.
This tense, volatile psychological thriller is based on a tragic true story.
Corbin’s feature debut showcases powerhouse performances. Boyega delivers a career-defining best. Beharie proves why she’s a rising star, and Leyva blossoms on screen. Michael K. Williams’ euphoric talent is on display in his role as a hostage negotiator, the actor’s last performance before his untimely death.
Breaking is an unyielding short fuse drenched in a somber tone pierced with a profound amount of empathy.
10. The Woman King (VOD)
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Trigger warning: This film contains sexual assault.
This fictitious version of the real-life Agojie, an all-female warrior unit from the West African kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s, centers on Nanisca (Viola Davis), the lethal unit’s fearless general. This warrior protected her nation from rival empires and invading European forces.
It’s a high-octane crowd-pleaser with kick-ass Black women.
Bythewood’s hardcore action flick boasts intense and precise battle-heavy scenes interlaced with majestic ancestral influences. She sets a new gold standard within the genre by re-envisioning who gets to be an action hero in Hollywood.
The Woman King casts its royal indigo stamp with a rallying cry for women to know their worth and control their destinies.
11. Till (VOD)
Director: Chinonye Chukwu
Danielle Deadwyler plays Mamie Till-Mobley, whose unrelenting pursuit of justice for the barbaric lynching of her 14-year-old son, Emmett Till, in 1955 Mississippi. Emmett’s story gained infamy after Mamie approved an open casket for his funeral.
This gut-wrenching cultural tipping point shocked America and influenced the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Chukwu’s cinematic heart-stopper is told from Mamie’s point of view. Deadwyler gives an Oscar-worthy performance as a grieving mother bent on exposing the horrific evils of the Jim Crow segregated south.
Till is a momentous account of courage through the lens of a Black woman who challenged an inequitable system and changed the world.
12. The Swimmers (Netflix)
Director: Sally El Hosaini
Yusra (Nathalie Issa) and Sarah (Manal Issa) Mardini, two Syrian sisters training to swim in the 2016 Olympics, flee war-torn Damascus. Before reaching Europe to seek asylum, they swim the Aegean Sea to survive.
It’s an astonishing film that honors an unbelievable, extraordinary journey.
Hosaini’s moving sports drama chronicles the pair’s trail of shattered dreams and broken promises. They’re empowered through an unbreakable bond while enduring an abrupt displacement that forces them to mature in an untrustworthy and unjust world.
The Swimmers is a touching portrait of survival and a powerful tribute to the resolve of refugees across the globe.
13. Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (In Theaters)
Director: Kasi Lemmons
This emotional account of Whitney Houston’s meteoric rise to global superstardom spans from her discovery by legendary music producer Clive Davis to being deemed the greatest singer of her generation.
Lemmons supplies Houston fans with the unapologetic tribute they deserve.
She juxtaposes Houston’s inner demons with the infectious energy that catapulted her fame to another stratosphere. At the same time, Naomi Ackie delivers a near-flawless, star-making performance as one of the best voices of all time.
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody is another excellent entry for award-winning musical biographies that show why some people are destined for glory.
Honorable Mention: The Silent Twins (Peacock) Agnieszka Smoczynska directs this visually striking profile of real-life twins who refused to communicate with anyone except each other.
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