Happy International Women’s Day 2024! This special 24 hours is dedicated to celebrating our womanhood and uplifting the many amazing women in our lives. Right after heading out for a girl’s night with the besties, what better way to celebrate Women’s Day than to watch movies with women at the helm? In case you haven’t heard, it’s 2024 and women’s stories matter.
Hollywood seems to be one of the backward organisations that missed the memo. The Hollywood Reporter cites findings from USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative that only 30 percent of the leading roles in the top 100 films of 2023 were women, the lowest number in a decade. Saying that we’re disappointed doesn’t even begin to cover it. Nevertheless, enjoy these recent women-led movies for International Women’s Day 2024 — the ones that Hollywood saw fit to give us, anyway.
The Best Women-Led Movies to Watch This International Women’s Day 2024
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Action Movies
1. Polite Society (2023)
In our opinion, there are way too many movies about romantic love in Hollywood and not enough about the love between siblings. Hopefully, the excellent British movie Polite Society will drive the American film industry to get a move on in the subgenre. Following the relationship between two British-Pakistani sisters living in London, the elder of the two, Lena, decides to give up on her dreams to become a successful artist and get married. Her horrified younger sister, Ria, plots to stop the wedding from happening. Polite Society is packed with martial art action, comedic moments, and beautiful sisterly love. Accept our deepest condolences if you don’t have a sister.
2. Everything, Everywhere, All At Once (2022)
If Polite Society is about sisterly love, at its very core, 2023’s Best Picture winner Everything, Everywhere, All At Once is about maternal love. Starring our very own silver screen legend Michelle Yeoh, EEAAO is an action sci-fi movie about stopping a powerful being called Jobu Tupaki from destroying the multiverse. This surreal drama isn’t just led by a woman, it also features a primarily Asian cast — a win for diversity! Everything, Everywhere, All At Once will make you laugh until your sides hurt, look around in confusion due to the insane plot, gaze in awe at the gorgeous cinematography, and shed tears at its heartwarming message.
3. Prey (2022)
Honestly, we love it when a movie is met with uproar by the male audience because it’s a major sign that the film is worth watching (and isn’t made with only men in mind, as a lot of movies are). Spot the similarities: 2016’s all-women Ghostbusters reboot, 2019’s Captain Marvel, 2020’s Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), and the most recent addition, 2022’s Prey. The seventh movie in the Predator franchise, Prey is about a young Comanche woman named Naru who has to protect her people from a murderous, humanoid alien. Booed by men as being “too unrealistic” as Naru’s character is adept at survival, we love movies with capable women. Because, newsflash, women can do anything.
Drama and Thriller Movies
4. May December (2023)
May December stars Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, so do we really have to sell this award-winning drama to you any further? The plot is in the movie’s name, translation: a romantic relationship between a young person and someone considerably older. When it comes to love, age is just a number, but throw that entire phrase away when it’s between a 36-year-old and a 13-year-old. The real kicker? Moore’s character is the former and the film is set 23 years in the future, where she is married (with children!!) to her victim — ahem — husband. We love movies with twisted, complex, and borderline evil women, as it makes for an interesting watch.
5. Eileen (2023)
Speaking of complex women, if that’s what you’re into as well, give Eileen a try. A psychological thriller starring Anne Hathaway and Thomasin McKenzie, Eileen is set in the 1960s and follows two women who are working at a juvenile detention facility for boys. The eponymous character played by McKenzie becomes enamoured with glamorous newcomer Rebecca, played by Hathaway. We won’t spoil what happens next for you, but let’s just say that no one in this movie is exactly of sound mind, which matches the setting perfectly. The movie Eileen is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat this International Women’s Day 2024.
Comedy Movies
6. Bottoms (2023)
If you would much rather celebrate today by laughing until your sides hurt, there’s no better movie to watch than 2023’s Bottoms. A teen comedy starring rising stars Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott, picture everything your typical high school movie has. Attractive jocks and cheerleaders, unpopular geeks, and the typical plights of teenagers. Now, add sapphic women playing leading roles into the mix. Whatever your mind conjured up, that’s basically Bottoms in a nutshell — 90 minutes of pure hilarity and mayhem thanks to chaotic women. Take it from Rotten Tomatoes, who called the movie “an instant high school comedy classic.”
7. Joy Ride (2023)
Speaking of comedy classics from 2023 starring chaotic women, count Joy Ride as a part of that elite group. Another movie with a primarily Asian cast (hello again, Stephanie Hsu from EEAAT!), Joy Ride follows the story of three women and one non-binary character who took a business trip to China. Needless to say, the work-related journey quickly turned awry in the most hilarious of ways that you won’t want to miss out on. What happens when a lawyer, an actress, an artist, and a K-Pop fan travel to China? Tune in to Joy Ride to find out.
8. Barbie (2023)
Don’t roll your eyes at this entry, can you think of a better movie to watch in honour of International Women’s Day 2024? We didn’t think so. Even if you haven’t watched Barbie (girl, why??), you probably know what this blockbuster hit is about as it dominated 2023. Jokes aside (we’re looking at you, Ryan Gosling), Barbie is a true celebration of womanhood as seen through the eyes of a sentient doll who gradually learns what it is to be a woman in the 21st century. It’s far from Barbieland in the real world, but thanks to successful women-led movies like Barbie, it reminds us all that women have come so far and we still have leagues to conquer.
Which one is your favourite from these International Women’s Day 2024 movies? Let us know and make sure to follow Glitz on Facebook and Instagram for all the latest updates.
