341 Best Women Stories to Watch (Page 11)

Nicole is 22, just out of college, and adrift during her first summer as an “adult.” Tu Dors Nicole (“You’re Sleeping Nicole”) is a French-Canadian take on the late coming-of-age story. Nicole spends most of the summer is her small, sleepy Quebec town lounging around her parents house (they are gone for the summer), occasionally working at the local thrift store, trying to sleep (she’s developed insomnia), and wandering aimlessly around town and the Quebec countryside with her best friend Veronique. The two are joined at the hip (as evidenced by how their bikes are always locked-up together) but the arrival of Nicole’s brother and his bandmates threatens to upend the lifelong relationship between the two; because of this waning friendship Tu Dors has earned comparisons to films like Ghost World and Frances Ha which examine the complexities of young female friendships, particularly when one’s identity is in flux. The film was shot on gorgeous Black & White 35mm film , adding to it’s floating dream-like quality, and boasts a sweet and droll sense of humor. There are occasional touches of the surreal as well — my favorite running gag being the presence of the pre-pubescent Martin, a small boy whose voice has prematurely developed (the voice that comes out of his mouth sounds like that of a world weary 45-year-old) who attempts to woo Nicole with poetic insights such as, “the heart has no age.” This film is a true hidden gem.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Alexis Lefebvre, Anne-Renee Duhaime, Catherine St-Laurent, Claude Despins, Fanny Mallette, Francis La Haye, Godefroy Reding, Julianne Côté, Luc Senay, Marc-André Grondin, Pierre-Luc Lafontaine, Simon Larouche

Director: Stéphane Lafleur

Rating: Not Rated, Unrated

Warm, enchanting, poetic and delicate, this is an almost silent film about a poor Vietnamese girl who goes to work for a well-off family in Saigon. The film follows her experiences as she grows but is also very focused on the nature around her, and the beautiful little details of this nature, which the young girl seems attuned to and curious about. The feelings in the film come more from the excellent visuals rather than the plot itself.

Genre: Drama, Romance

Actor: Anh Hoa Nguyen, Hoa Hoi Vuong, Keo Souvannavong, Man San Lu, Ngoc Trung Tran, Thi Loc Truong, Tran Nu Yên-Khê, Vantha Talisman

Director: Anh Hung Tran, Tran Anh Hung

Rating: Not Rated

Crushes seem much more important when you’re young, and when you and your sibling share one, it easily alters your dynamic, with the jealousy, comparison, and the insecurity it can foster. The Man in the Moon tackles this childhood crush with care. Writer Jenny Wingfield and director Robert Mulligan characterize each kid with consideration befitting their ages, with an understanding of the different priorities they would have with a three year age gap, the feelings they would have, and the misunderstandings they would have with each other. And this all works because of Reese Witherspoon, who even then held a screen presence that made her into a star.

Genre: Drama, Family, Romance

Actor: Bentley Mitchum, Dennis Letts, Emily Warfield, Ernie Lively, Gail Strickland, Jason London, Reese Witherspoon, Sam Waterston, Tess Harper

Director: Robert Mulligan

Rating: PG-13

Partially based on the 860-page memoir, "A White House Diary", and on the actual audio recordings Claudia Alta Taylor Johnson made during her time as first lady, The Lady Bird Diaries is an intimate reworking of a past we still know very little about. Told from the vantage point of First Lady Johnson candidly and in detail, the audio track shapes the whole film. All the archival footage is nicely complemented by hand-drawn animations to fit the missing images, but all the visuals are always in service of the narration. In this way, the documentary becomes a piece of history and an archive in itself, its illustrative functions – a crucial storytelling tool for posteriority.

Genre: Documentary, History

Director: Dawn Porter

The director of one of the few esteemed horror sequels (Wrong Turn 2: Dead End) adapting H. P. Lovecraft? Yes please. Joe Lynch reimagines "The Thing on the Doorstep" with the tropes of 90s erotic films and a tribute to classic possession horror cinema, meriting all our admiration for his effort. Suitable Flesh (even the title is erotic!) is fun, daring, very dark, and very horny. Heather Graham (Boogie Nights) delivers a strong lead performance, but Judah Lewis's (The Babysitter) sleazy Asa is what stands out here. Because of the horror's nature, all the actors will have a go at playing a demonic version of their characters and it's mostly good fun, but Lewis channels a certain scary nihilism that fits in very well with the film's attitude towards sex and possession... Without revealing too much hereafter, I must say that the film takes the phrase "an out of body experience" to the next level, when relating it to sexual pleasure.

Genre: Horror

Actor: Ann Mahoney, Barbara Crampton, Bruce Davison, Chris L. McKenna, Heather Graham, J.D. Evermore, Joe Lynch, Johnathon Schaech, Judah Lewis

Director: Joe Lynch

At two hours and nearly 30 minutes, Stonewalling is quite long. The third film from spouses Ryuji Otsuka and Huang Ji takes place in slow, slice-of-life moments, centered around a female lead that mostly doesn’t actively make choices for her own life, so it can feel frustrating to watch. But as the film unfolds, Lynn’s passivity turns out to be the tragically familiar surrender of today’s working class. Lynn tries to make choices to pay out her mother’s debt, to ensure that she’s not indebted herself, through jobs that commodify her youth, her beauty, and even her body, but each move consequently limits her next options. She tries to bargain for other solutions, but it turns out these solutions were never there in the first place. All she can do is quietly adapt, with each failed promise culminating into a baby’s cry.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Cui Chu, Huang Xiaoxiong, Liu Long, Xiao Zilong, Yao Honggui

Director: Huang Ji, Ryuji Otsuka

Remember the creepy blind nun from the Spanish horror film Veronica? While many nun-related horror films have nuns as its horror element, this time it’s the nun that gets spooked in Sister Death. The new release expands on her backstory, taking the story back in history, in her start as a novitiate in the former convent, a location that’s been changed after the terrors inflicted towards the nuns during the Spanish Civil War. While the film doesn’t delve that deeply, focusing instead on the slowly building up the film’s terror, there is something here about the hidden violence and covered-up trauma that still haunt the Catholic church in Spain, especially to those that have taken vows. Director Paco Plaza meticulously frames each terrific sequence with the isolating doubt in one’s faith that Narcisa experiences.

Genre: Drama, Horror

Actor: Almudena Amor, Antonio Duque, Arantza Vélez, Aria Bedmar, Chelo Vivares, Consuelo Trujillo, Luisa Merelas, Maru Valdivielso, Olimpia Roch, Sandra Escacena, Sara Roch

Director: Paco Plaza

There is a lot to admire about this revenge film from director Mouly Surya—the breathtaking shots of rural Indonesia, the grisly practicality of the titular Marlina, the relevant observations on gender politics, and the simple yet stylistic way all of this is revealed. Fans of Westerns and Spaghetti Westerns are also treated with an Eastern reimagining of tropes as the film exchanges long guns for Kabeala knives and sprawling deserts for tropical hills.

Packed with so many delights, Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts is a near-impossible miss. But if you somehow find none of this gripping, you can always rely on the sure thrill of seeing scorned women bloodily and rightfully avenge themselves. 

Genre: Drama, Thriller, Western

Actor: Anggun Priambodo, Ayez Kassar, Dea Panendra, Egi Fedly, Egy Fedly, Haydar Salishz, Indra Birowo, Marsha Timothy, Norman R. Akyuwen, Ozzol Ramdan, Rita Matu Mona, Ruly Lubis, Safira Ahmad, Sapto Soetardjo, Tumpal Tampubolon, Yayu A.W. Unru, Yayu Unru, Yoga Pratama

Director: Mouly Surya

Rating: Unrated

Manon des Sources (Manon of the Springs), directed by Claude Berri, follows a young woman named Manon living reclusively in the rural countryside. This film is the sequel to Jean de Florette, during which a young Manon watched her father fall victim to the greedy manipulation of two men. Now, a decade later, Manon is older and more cunning—and when she sees the opportunity to gently avenger her father, she exacts tragic revenge.

Perhaps the greatest strength of Manon of the Springs lies in its actors. Emmanuelle Béart is captivating as Manon, quiet and observant, while Yves Montand and Daniel Auteuil are fittingly terrible as César Soubeyran and Ugolin. Manon and the springs she must protect are worthy heroes of this epic saga.

Genre: Drama

Actor: André Dupon, Armand Meffre, Chantal Liennel, Daniel Auteuil, Didier Pain, Elisabeth Depardieu, Emmanuelle Béart, Fransined, Gabriel Bacquier, Hippolyte Girardot, Jean Bouchaud, Jean Maurel, Marc Betton, Margarita Lozano, Pierre Nougaro, Roger Souza, Ticky Holgado, Yves Montand, Yvonne Gamy

Director: Claude Berri

Rating: PG

In Last Night in Soho, director Edgar Wright has so much to play with. The old lady character serves an unexpected role, while Ellie (Thomasin McKenzie) faces an interesting morality crisis as she tries to decide who to help at the end of the film. Just as fascinating is the film’s Ghibli-esque premise: we follow a hero going on an adventure far away from home and into a world where it's unclear where reality ends and fantasy begins. However, a lot of the time, it feels like the film was made to serve a big twist that doesn't have enough weight to it. The fantasy is far more intriguing than any tame interaction the film has to offer, so it doesn't feel like it lives up to its potential. But there is one obvious exception: Anya Taylor-Joy’s magnetic presence as Sandie—it’s a presence powerful enough to hold a film together.

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Actor: Aimée Cassettari, Al Roberts, Alan Ruscoe, Andrew Bicknell, Anya Taylor-Joy, Celeste Dring, Colin Mace, Derek Lea, Diana Rigg, Elizabeth Berrington, Jacqui-Lee Pryce, James Phelps, Jessie Mei Li, Josh Zaré, Kassius Nelson, Katrina Vasilieva, Lati Gbaja, Lisa McGrillis, Margaret Nolan, Matt Smith, Michael Ajao, Michael Jibson, Michael Mears, Oliver Phelps, Paul Brightwell, Pauline McLynn, Rita Tushingham, Sam Claflin, Sam Parks, Synnøve Karlsen, Terence Stamp, Thomasin McKenzie

Director: Edgar Wright

Rating: R

We’re familiar with dick jokes from stand-up comedians, especially male stand-up, but Jacqueline Novak’s 90-minute show about the blow job feels completely new. Get on Your Knees feels like casual storytelling from someone experienced yet distant enough to be a cool authority on it (say, your best friend’s older sister’s best friend), but funnier. It’s like a gossip session about a first experience, except the breathless, dizzying stream of thought is peppered with philosophical thought and points out the absurdity around the language and common attitudes about sex. And as she does so, and as she talks about self-conscious fumbling and unanswered questions, she strides back and forth, in an easy, self-assured way, the way we’d like to feel going into the act.

Genre: Comedy

Actor: Jacqueline Novak

Director: Natasha Lyonne

Rating: R