Girl Power Movies for Women’s History Month!

I know it’s already March 12th, so let’s get to movies to watch for Women’s History Month, before the month is over!

There are a couple of major girl power movies on Hulu, including, of course, The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood’s tale of a dystopic future, where women are held subservient to men, and forced to breed  against their will. Starring Elizabeth Moss, and a great cast too long to list, it’s a  really good choice any month, but especially for this one. Another wonderful offering is He Named Me Malala, the 2015 documentary about Malala Yousafzai and her struggle for all Pakistani girls to get an education. It was directed by David Guggenheim and was also shortlisted for the 2015 Academy Awards.

On Netflix, there are several good films and series good for Women’s History Month, including Alias Grace, another adaptation of a Margaret Atwood novel, this time about a maid convicted of murder in Canada and a psychiatrist who examines her. It was adapted for TV by Sarah Polley and stars Sarah Gadon, Edward Holcroft and Rebecca Liddiard. There are two amazing biographical films on Netflix, one is Seeing Allred, a movie the New York Times calls “remarkably engaging”, about Gloria Allred. She is the famous women’s rights lawyer you’ve probably seen on the news or in the paper, defending countless women in court cases. It’s a movie well worth your time. Another  outstanding documentary on Netflix is Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold, a  movie made by Griffin Dunne, her nephew, an actor you probably know. What you may not know is that he is also a producer and director. He directed this  movie in 2017 about Joan Didion, the celebrated author of The Year of Magical Thinking and Slouching Toward Bethlehem. It’s a fascinating movie about a remarkable writer. If you love history, as I do, you’ll love Women At War 1914-1918, a French documentary about women’s rarely recognized contribution to war efforts, this time for World War I, with some colorized terrific pictures and film. There is also Women At War 1939-1945, again with amazing colorized film from that time. It’s hugely informative and something we hear way too little about. And if you want something a little less factual and more fun, Netflix has Moana, Disney’s 2016 movie about a Polynesian girl, destined to be chief and save her island. It stars Auli’i Cravalho, Rachel House and Temeura Morrison. And the music is by Lin-Manuel Miranda, so you can’t beat that. 

On Amazon Prime, there are several  shows about awe-inspiring women on tap. First is Makers Women Who Made History, from PBS. It’s a great series and gets a 7.2 from IMDb, and five stars on Amazon Video. Also on Amazon is Remarkable Women of the 20th Century, a show about women especially in politics, in the twentieth century. And if you want something a little more fun, Amazon has 20th Century Women, with Annette Benning, Elle Fanning and Greta Gerwig. It’s a great movie and well directed by Mike Mills. It gets an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and was nominated for an Academy Award for writing.

So sit back and relax and celebrate National Women’s History Month is a delightful way, streaming!