My Favorite Feminist Films
by cecking | created - 15 Jul 2019 | updated - 13 Aug 2021 | PublicHow do I define a "feminist" film?
Feminism is a political movement and ideology which makes it a problematic word to apply in cultural criticism, but to quote Thomas Hardy: "It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs." Unfortunately, we don't have alternative adjectives to describe art that...
- subverts ubiquitous gender stereotypes
- explores female sexuality and it's accompanying gaze
- studies the singularity of young women's coming-of-age stories
- denies any sympathizing indulgence or commiseration in toxic masculinity, rape culture and/or sexist objectification of the female body
- draws strikingly complex portraits of historic or contemporary womanhood
- insists on the inherent individualism of women's choices
- reveals the deeply embedded oppression in patriarchal systems
- emphasizes with women, regardless of their class, religion, ethnicity, gender expression, disability, age or sexual preference
Without more specific language, I'll use the word "feminist" as shorthand for the definitions I've listed above. Some of the films below pass the Bechdel test, others don't, but I felt - upon watching the movies - that they all had something valid and important to say about the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. The First Wives Club (1996)
PG | 103 min | Comedy
Reunited by the death of a college friend, three divorced women seek revenge on the husbands who left them for younger women.
Director: Hugh Wilson | Stars: Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, Diane Keaton, Maggie Smith
Votes: 54,156 | Gross: $105.49M
2. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A high-school boy, Cameron, cannot date Bianca until her anti-social older sister, Kat, has a boyfriend. So, Cameron pays a mysterious boy, Patrick, to charm Kat.
Director: Gil Junger | Stars: Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik
Votes: 384,509 | Gross: $38.18M
3. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
R | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, a woman rebels against a tyrannical ruler in search for her homeland with the aid of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshiper and a drifter named Max.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz
Votes: 1,084,731 | Gross: $154.06M
4. Lady Bird (2017)
R | 94 min | Comedy, Drama
In 2002, an artistically inclined 17-year-old girl comes of age in Sacramento, California.
Director: Greta Gerwig | Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges
Votes: 327,905 | Gross: $48.96M
5. The Wedding Plan (2016)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Romance
When her fiancé bows out on the eve of her wedding, Michal refuses to cancel the wedding arrangements. An Orthodox Jew, she insists that God will supply her a husband. As the clock ticks down.
Director: Rama Burshtein | Stars: Noa Koler, Amos Tamam, Oz Zehavi, Irit Sheleg
Votes: 1,528 | Gross: $1.40M
6. Obvious Child (2014)
R | 84 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A twenty-something comedienne's unplanned pregnancy forces her to confront the realities of independent womanhood for the first time.
Director: Gillian Robespierre | Stars: Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy, Gaby Hoffmann, Gabe Liedman
Votes: 26,327 | Gross: $3.12M
7. Wild (I) (2014)
R | 115 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
A chronicle of one woman's 1,100-mile solo hike undertaken as a way to recover from a recent personal tragedy.
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée | Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Gaby Hoffmann, Michiel Huisman
Votes: 138,731 | Gross: $37.88M
8. Muriel's Wedding (1994)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Drama
A young social outcast in Australia steals money from her parents to finance a vacation where she hopes to find happiness, and perhaps love.
Director: P.J. Hogan | Stars: Toni Collette, Rachel Griffiths, Bill Hunter, Sophie Lee
Votes: 41,698 | Gross: $15.19M
9. The Piano (1993)
R | 121 min | Drama, Music, Romance
In the mid-19th century a mute woman is sent to New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a farmer, but is soon lusted after by a farm worker.
Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, Anna Paquin
Votes: 95,074 | Gross: $40.16M
10. An Education (2009)
PG-13 | 100 min | Drama
A coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age.
Director: Lone Scherfig | Stars: Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Olivia Williams
Votes: 138,115 | Gross: $12.57M
11. A Woman in Berlin (2008)
Unrated | 131 min | Biography, Drama, History
A woman tries to survive the invasion of Berlin by the Soviet troops during the last days of World War II.
Director: Max Färberböck | Stars: Nina Hoss, Evgeniy Sidikhin, Irm Hermann, Rüdiger Vogler
Votes: 7,043 | Gross: $0.29M
12. The Pretty One (2013)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Drama
A tragedy presents Laurel with the chance to reinvent herself as her idolized twin sister, Audrey. As she eases into the life she has always wanted, she must decide between continuing the lie or revealing herself as the perfect fraud.
Director: Jenée LaMarque | Stars: Zoe Kazan, Jake Johnson, Ron Livingston, John Carroll Lynch
Votes: 10,325 | Gross: $0.01M
13. Clueless (1995)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Romance
Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other.
Director: Amy Heckerling | Stars: Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd
Votes: 245,475 | Gross: $56.63M
14. Water (I) (2005)
PG-13 | 117 min | Drama
Set in colonial India against Gandhi's rise to power, it's the story of 8-year-old Chuyia, who is widowed and sent to a home to live in penitence; once there, Chuyia's feisty presence deeply affects the lives of the other residents.
Director: Deepa Mehta | Stars: Lisa Ray, John Abraham, Seema Biswas, Sarala Kariyawasam
Votes: 15,355 | Gross: $3.22M
15. For a Good Time, Call... (2012)
R | 85 min | Comedy
Former college frenemies Lauren and Katie move into a fabulous Gramercy Park apartment, and in order to make ends meet, the unlikely pair start a phone sex line together.
Director: Jamie Travis | Stars: Ari Graynor, Lauren Miller Rogen, Justin Long, James Wolk
Votes: 16,898 | Gross: $1.24M
16. The Hunger Games (2012)
PG-13 | 142 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Katniss Everdeen voluntarily takes her younger sister's place in the Hunger Games: a televised competition in which two teenagers from each of the twelve Districts of Panem are chosen at random to fight to the death.
Director: Gary Ross | Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci
Votes: 1,002,747 | Gross: $408.01M
17. Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
PG-13 | 117 min | Drama
A free-thinking art professor teaches conservative 1950s Wellesley girls to question their traditional social roles.
Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Votes: 90,850 | Gross: $63.86M
18. Iron Jawed Angels (2004 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 123 min | Biography, Drama, History
A little known, yet integral piece of American history: based on the lives of Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, two young radical women who were instrumental in getting women the right to vote in America.
Director: Katja von Garnier | Stars: Hilary Swank, Margo Martindale, Anjelica Huston, Frances O'Connor
Votes: 6,422
19. Legally Blonde (2001)
PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Romance
Elle Woods, a fashionable sorority queen, is dumped by her boyfriend. She decides to follow him to law school. While she is there, she figures out that there is more to her than just looks.
Director: Robert Luketic | Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Matthew Davis
Votes: 247,696 | Gross: $96.52M
20. Fish Tank (2009)
Not Rated | 123 min | Drama
Everything changes for 15-year-old Mia when her mum brings home a new boyfriend.
Director: Andrea Arnold | Stars: Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender, Kierston Wareing, Rebecca Griffiths
Votes: 65,011 | Gross: $0.37M
21. A League of Their Own (1992)
PG | 128 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
Two sisters join the first female professional baseball league and struggle to help it succeed amid their own growing rivalry.
Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna
Votes: 120,903 | Gross: $107.53M
22. The Beguiled (2017)
R | 93 min | Drama, History, Thriller
The unexpected arrival of a wounded Union soldier at a girls school in Virginia during the American Civil War leads to jealousy and betrayal.
Director: Sofia Coppola | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning, Colin Farrell
Votes: 61,687 | Gross: $10.58M
23. Lore (2012)
Not Rated | 109 min | Drama, Romance, War
As the Allies sweep across Germany, Lore leads her siblings on a journey that exposes them to the truth of their parents' beliefs. An encounter with a mysterious refugee forces Lore to rely on a person she has always been taught to hate.
Director: Cate Shortland | Stars: Saskia Rosendahl, Kai-Peter Malina, Nele Trebs, Ursina Lardi
Votes: 15,928 | Gross: $0.97M
24. Booksmart (2019)
R | 102 min | Comedy
On the eve of their high-school graduation, two academic superstars and best friends realize they should have worked less and played more. Determined not to fall short of their peers, the girls try to cram four years of fun into one night.
Director: Olivia Wilde | Stars: Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein, Jessica Williams, Jason Sudeikis
Votes: 130,906 | Gross: $22.68M
25. The VVitch: A New-England Folktale (2015)
R | 92 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A family in 1630s New England is torn apart by the forces of witchcraft, black magic and possession.
Director: Robert Eggers | Stars: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Julian Richings
Votes: 300,173 | Gross: $25.14M
26. Little Women (1994)
PG | 115 min | Drama, Family, Romance
The March sisters live and grow in post-Civil War America.
Director: Gillian Armstrong | Stars: Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes
Votes: 63,529 | Gross: $50.08M
27. The Babadook (2014)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A single mother and her child fall into a deep well of paranoia when an eerie children's book titled "Mister Babadook" manifests in their home.
Director: Jennifer Kent | Stars: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall, Hayley McElhinney
Votes: 246,972 | Gross: $0.92M
28. In a World... (2013)
R | 93 min | Comedy
An underachieving voice coach finds herself competing in the movie trailer voice-over profession against her arrogant father and his protégé.
Director: Lake Bell | Stars: Lake Bell, Fred Melamed, Michaela Watkins, Rob Corddry
Votes: 33,052 | Gross: $2.96M
29. Waitress (2007)
PG-13 | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Jenna is a pregnant, unhappily married waitress in the deep south. She meets a newcomer to her town and falls into an unlikely relationship as a last attempt at happiness.
Director: Adrienne Shelly | Stars: Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Jeremy Sisto, Cheryl Hines
Votes: 48,804 | Gross: $19.07M
30. Saved! (2004)
PG-13 | 92 min | Comedy, Drama
When a girl attending a Christian high school becomes pregnant, all of her former friends turn on her and she is ostracized and demonized.
Director: Brian Dannelly | Stars: Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin, Patrick Fugit
Votes: 48,955 | Gross: $8.94M
31. The Wife (I) (2017)
R | 99 min | Drama
A wife questions her life choices as she travels to Stockholm to see her husband receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Director: Björn Runge | Stars: Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce, Max Irons, Christian Slater
Votes: 42,874 | Gross: $9.60M
32. Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)
PG-13 | 119 min | Drama, Romance
In Victorian England, the independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak, a sheep farmer; Frank Troy, a reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood, a prosperous and mature bachelor.
Director: Thomas Vinterberg | Stars: Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen, Tom Sturridge
Votes: 53,651 | Gross: $12.23M
33. True Grit (2010)
PG-13 | 110 min | Drama, Western
A stubborn teenager enlists the help of a tough U.S. Marshal to track down her father's murderer.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin
Votes: 357,277 | Gross: $171.24M
34. Sense and Sensibility (1995)
PG | 136 min | Drama, Romance
Rich Mr. Dashwood dies, leaving his second wife and her three daughters poor by the rules of inheritance. The two eldest daughters are the title opposites.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, James Fleet, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 125,575 | Gross: $43.18M
35. Monsoon Wedding (2001)
R | 114 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A stressed father, a bride-to-be with a secret, a smitten event planner, and relatives from around the world create much ado about the preparations for an arranged marriage in India.
Director: Mira Nair | Stars: Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shah, Vijay Raaz
Votes: 26,666 | Gross: $13.88M
36. The Others (2001)
PG-13 | 104 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
In 1945, immediately following the end of Second World War, a woman who lives with her two photosensitive children on her darkened old family estate in the Channel Islands becomes convinced that the home is haunted.
Director: Alejandro Amenábar | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Christopher Eccleston, Fionnula Flanagan, Alakina Mann
Votes: 392,892 | Gross: $96.52M
37. The Secret Garden (1993)
G | 101 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
A young, recently-orphaned girl is sent to England after living in India all of her life. Once there, she begins to explore her new, seemingly-isolated surroundings, and its secrets.
Director: Agnieszka Holland | Stars: Kate Maberly, Maggie Smith, Heydon Prowse, Andrew Knott
Votes: 44,428 | Gross: $31.18M
38. Matilda (1996)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
A girl gifted with a keen intellect and psychic powers uses both to get even with her callous family and free her kindly schoolteacher from the tyrannical grip of a sadistic headmistress.
Director: Danny DeVito | Stars: Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Mara Wilson, Embeth Davidtz
Votes: 174,368 | Gross: $33.08M
39. Support the Girls (2018)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Drama
The general manager at a highway-side ''sports bar with curves" has her incurable optimism and faith in her girls, her customers and herself tested over the course of a long, strange day.
Director: Andrew Bujalski | Stars: Regina Hall, Haley Lu Richardson, Dylan Gelula, Zoe Graham
Votes: 8,311 | Gross: $0.13M
40. The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama
High-school life gets even more unbearable for Nadine when her best friend, Krista, starts dating her older brother.
Director: Kelly Fremon Craig | Stars: Hailee Steinfeld, Haley Lu Richardson, Blake Jenner, Kyra Sedgwick
Votes: 140,042 | Gross: $14.43M
41. The Nightingale (I) (2018)
R | 136 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Set in 1825, Clare, a young Irish convict woman, chases a British officer through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. On the way she enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy, who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.
Director: Jennifer Kent | Stars: Aisling Franciosi, Maya Christie, Baykali Ganambarr, Addison Christie
Votes: 35,584 | Gross: $0.39M
42. Smooth Talk (1985)
PG-13 | 92 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
A free-spirited 15-year-old girl flirts with a dangerous stranger in the Northern California suburbs and must prepare herself for the frightening and traumatic consequences.
Director: Joyce Chopra | Stars: Treat Williams, Laura Dern, Mary Kay Place, Margaret Welsh
Votes: 3,378 | Gross: $0.02M
Tell Your Friends