2023 has been a historic year for women in film, with the highest grossing film of the year being directed by a woman and catered towards women in particular (Barbie, dir. Greta Gerwig).
Here I will discuss some of the most stand out moments for women in film from 2023, and think about what 2024 can do better.
Barbie Dir. Greta Gerwig
It would be impossible to discuss women in film in 2023 without discussing Barbie. The film took the world by storm, grossing 1.446 billion dollars at the world wide box office.
Barbie had children and adults alike dressing up in all pink and heading to cinemas, and was a real celebration of womanhood. It lead to discussions about what it means to be a woman, such as the heart felt TikTok trend making videos about girlhood to Billie Eilish’s What Was I Made For?
The film was (co) written by and directed by Gerwig, and starred a cast of brilliant women including Margot Robbie, America Ferrera, Harry Nef, Sharon Rooney and Issa Rae. The poignant monologue performed by America Ferrera’s character Gloria perfectly encapsulates the difficulties of being a woman, and having such a female focused film as the biggest of 2023 is a triumph all round.
Saltburn dir. Emerald Fennell
It seems that everyone is talking about Saltburn after its Christmas arrival to Prime Video, and its surge to 1 million logs on Letterboxd makes it one of the year’s biggest films. An incredible achievement for yet another film written and directed by a woman.
Saltburn is a daring, dark yet beautiful film that benefits massively from its director’s vision. The male leads Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi are magnificent, but the female supporting cast (Rosamund Pike and Alison Oliver) create humour and depth perfectly. This film is clearly made by a visionary female director, and to me feels like a film only a woman could make.
Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret.
Margaret is a triumph in female focused cinema, and a much needed look at female puberty that I would have done anything to have had in my tween years. It cannot be overstated how valuable this film is, and how much it will help young girls work through their complicated feelings.
Kelly Freeman Craig flawlessly adapts the much loved Judy Blume classic, and Abby Ryder Fortson and Rachel McAdams make a perfect mother-daughter duo in Margaret and Barbara Simon. Are you their God? It’s me Margaret. is essential viewing and one of the best films of 2023.
Past Lives dir. Celine Song
Celine Song’s feature debut is nothing short of a perfect film. Her artistic vision and skilful writing creates a film that feels like poetry, or a warm hug from a loves one. Greta Lee absolutely shines as Nora Moon, in a subtle yet powerful performance. This film has earned nominations almost everywhere, and is another example of 2023 as a historical year for women in film.
Anatomy of a Fall dir. Justine Triet
Yet another masterpiece of cinema directed and (co) written by a woman, Anatomy of a fall contemplates a woman’s innocence in the death of her husband.
It examines the treatment of women by the public and justice systems, and is much needed in a society where people like Amber Heard are still laughed at and bullied in court. Director Justine Triet has been making films that focus on women’s experiences for years (eg. Sibyl, In Bed With Victoria) and it is a triumph that 2023 has finally lead to one of her films being widely recognised as a masterpiece.
Bottoms dir. Emma Seligman
Bottoms is the comedy of the year, perhaps even the decade. After all, every decade has its teen comedy, and there are no other contenders for the 2020s so far.
Director Emma Seligman creates an effortlessly hilarious female led comedy, whose main premise is ‘lesbian fight club’. The leads Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott are utterly brilliant here, working with the ensemble cast to create one of the best films of the year.
Fair Play dir. Chloe Domont
Domont’s feature film debut examines relationship dynamics and how they are affected by work place dynamics. Lead Phoebe Dynevor delivers an Oscar worthy performance, that is utterly daring. She proves herself as an actress to look out for.
Mollie Burkhart-Killers of The Flower Moon
The most powerful women in film of 2023 haven’t only emerged from films directed by women, as proven with Lily Gladstone’s magnificent performance in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
Gladstone plays real life Osage woman Mollie Burkhart, whose entire family was killed in a murderous plot from her husband’s family to steal the Osage’s headrights and claims to oil money. Their performance is devastating, and if it were up to me, would earn her a best actress Oscar.
Gladstone’s portrayal is so powerful that she outshines her Oscar winning co-stars Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. However, Gladstone’s native female co stars are also forces to be reckoned with (Cara Jade Myers as her sister Anna and Tantoo Cardinal as her mother Lizzie). Even though it is about the suffering of the Osage nation, powerful women emerge.
How To Have Sex dir. Molly Manning Walker
How to Have Sex is both written and directed by a woman (Molly Manning Walker) and starring a powerhouse trio of actresses, Mia-McKenna Bruce, Lara Peake and Enva Lewis. It explores the toxic sex culture of teen holidays, as the group of 15/16 year olds travel to Crete and pretend to be older than they are. McKenna Bruce’s character Tara experiences rape, which ruins what should have been a great experience.
Priscilla dir. Sofia Coppola
In Sofia Coppola’s newest and most poignant film yet, we follow a 14 year old Priscilla Presley as she is groomed by her Elvis into a life in the spotlight. It is a deeply uncomfortable watch that sheds light on the often overlooked, darker side of the King. Cailee Spaeny is magnificent at capturing 10+ years of Priscilla’s life, transforming from schoolgirl to the mother and wife that she is known for today. A true triumph in female film making.
A Thousand and One dir. A.V. Rockwell
Rockwell feature film debut features a powerhouse performance from its lead actress Teyana Taylor that leaves you thinking about this layered and complex character for months after watching. She is quite unlike any character put to screen before, and I can only recommend watching the film yourself in order to recognise the magnificently complex portrayal of motherhood, especially as a black woman.
Showing Up dir. Kelly Reichardt
Reichardt and Michelle Williams team up for yet another quietly fantastic film. Joining the cast is the wonderful Hong Chau, who plays the rather annoying but endlessly magnetic Jo. Reichardt is a veteran of her genre and continues to pave the way for women in independent film making.
Pretty Red Dress dir. Dionne Edwards
Pretty Red Dress is another wonderful examination of masculinity through the lens of a female film maker. Starring Nate Jones and Alexandra Burke, as well as the fantastic youngster Temilola Olatunbosun, Pretty Red Dress follows a father as he is released from prison and becomes interested in cross dressing in his wife’s red dress.
Mary Lamb, The Holdovers
The always wonderful Da’Vine Joy Randolph is finally getting the praise she deserves for her widely awarded turn as a grieving mother in The Holdovers. She portrays Mary with such complexity and emotion, and seems to be the front runner for best supporting actress at this years Oscars.
It would, however, be irresponsible to talk about the Holdovers in an article uplifting women and not mention the sexual misconduct allegations against its director Alexander Payne. I love this tender film and its heart Mary Lamb deeply, but I feel I must acknowledge this issue.
May December dir. Todd Haynes
No, I have not made a mistake, I am aware that Todd Haynes is not a woman, but I feel that the problematic leading ladies of May December played by Julienne Moore and Natalie Portman need to be discussed here.
To me, this is a near perfect film that examines the women that we might not want to believe exist. These two aren’t here because of girl power, but because they’re the women we should strive not to be. This is an examination of women in film, the great ones and the awful ones.
The Women of Mission Impossible-Dead Reckoning
Here we have my personal favourite franchise of all time, and its newest addition features some pretty awesome women.
Hayley Atwell’s pick pocketing character is the core of the plot, bad ass villain Paris (played by Pom Klementieff) becomes not such a villain in a brilliant change of events, academy award nominee Vanessa Kirby is quite simply perfect as White Widow, and Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust remains the coolest woman in action film history. All I ask of part 2 is to keep these awesome women coming!
Bella Baxter- Poor Things
Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest collaboration Poor Things is a story of female empowerment and sexual liberation, all within the package of a near-ridiculous fantasy. Bella Baxter is already an iconic character, who, in similar ways to Barbie, has made women all over the world feel liberated in their own skin.
Rye Lane dir. Raine Allen-Miller
Allen-Miller’s Rye Lane is the rom-com of the year by a country mile, and it is directed by, and starring, a black woman.
Lead actress Vivian Oparah is sensation in this BAFTA long listed performance, working with her director to create a beautifully healthy on screen relationship, that seems so alien in a world of toxic 2000s rom-coms. A real triumph for women in film.
Scrapper dir. Charlotte Regan
Scrapper follows a young girl, Lola Campbell, as she lives independently following her young mother’s death. Her life is turned upside down when her absent father, Harris Dickinson, returns to her life.
Scrapper is directed by a woman, Regan, and is the story of a young woman thrust into adulthood too soon. It is the type of mature complexity that even the greatest actors can struggle with, yet child actor Lola Campbell succeeds tremendously.
The Color Purple
2023’s musical adaptation of The Color Purple is a film that I feel would have massively benefited from a female director, but it still succeeds through the raw performances of its lead actresses. The thing that stands out especially to me is Celie (Fantasia Barrino) and Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson’s) relationship.
This adaptation is much more explicit about their romantic relationship but could have still taken it further. The Color Purple is a female led tale of healing and forgiveness, and is one of the most complex portrayals of womanhood 2023 has to offer.
The Unknown Country dir. Morrisa Maltz
This brilliant indie is another example that features Lily Gladstone (can you tell they’ve become my favourite actor this year?). The Unknown Country is directed by a woman, Marissa Maltz, and stars a grieving woman Tana (Gladstone). Lily Gladstone won the Gotham award for best lead performance in 2023 for this film.
Polite Society dir. Nida Manzoor
Polite Society is perhaps one of the most underrated gems of British cinema in 2023. Both directed by a woman and starring a cast of exciting female talent, Polite Society bends genres, somehow being a family drama, comedy and fantasy all at once. The fantastical laws of ninja movies are present here, and it is just so much fun.
There are plenty more brilliant examples of women in film from 2023 that I simply haven’t had time to touch on, such as Annette Bening and Jodie Foster in Nyad, Frybread Face in Frybread Face and Me and Jagna in The Peasants.
Let’s talk about films 