Films are a great way to celebrate any special month or holiday! With Hollywood stepping up and creating movies with more diverse and nuanced female characters, why not include some great movies in your Women’s History Month celebrations! Keep scrolling for some suggestions!
- On the Basis of Sex
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First on the list is a film celebrating the notorious RBG. While we lost this revolutionary Supreme Court justice in 2020, her legacy lives on in this movie. Starring Felicity Jones as Ginsburg, the movie follows Ginsburg during her law school years and her first major case. The movie is just the beginning of Ginsburg’s long career but manages to capture Ginsburg’s spirit and highlights the struggles women faced only fifty years ago.
- Hidden Figures
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Another historical film, “Hidden Figures” follows Katharine, Dorothy, and Mary, three black women that changed the American space program in the 1960s. Each woman faces the challenges that come with being Black and a woman in America but also shatters the glass ceiling. “Hidden Figures” is an excellent reminder of the multiple women whose accomplishments have been hidden within our history and how their work revolutionized their fields and our lives.
- The Hunger Games
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Going the fictional and futuristic route, Katniss Everdeen in “The Hunger Games” changed the game when it came to dystopian films. After volunteering to take her younger sister’s place in the deadly Hunger Games, Katniss fights to stay alive and eventually leads a revolution to change her world. For the first time, we were given a female teen franchise lead that was not concerned with her love life but instead fighting to stay alive and protect her family. Katniss was refreshing when she first landed on-screen, and her films still hold up almost ten years later.
- Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
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Before there was Katniss, though, there was Lara Croft. Based on the popular video game, Lara Croft is a British socialite that’s more interested in exploration and historic artifacts than tea parties. She can also give a killer punch! While the film often sexualizes Croft (it was the early 2000s), Croft was an incredibly layered character for her time, and Angelina Jolie really shines in this role.
- Working Girl
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“Working Girl” is an excellent picture of what life was like for women in the 80s. The 80s are often regarded when women were really beginning to own their power and focus on their careers. “Working Girl” follows receptionist Tess McGill who dreams of moving up in the business, but many people in her life refuse to let her move forward in her career. When she finds out that her boss plans to pass one of Tess’s ideas as her own, Tess decides to take her idea and sell it herself.
- Joy
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Jennifer Lawrence plays a creative, driven housewife in this 2015 film. Working hard to provide for her dysfunctional family, Joy decides to embrace her childhood dreams of becoming an inventor and invents a new mop. Partnering with Neil Walker (Bradley Cooper), Joy helps to put home shopping on the map and builds an empire.
- Moxie
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A very recent addition to Netflix, “Moxie” celebrates modern female empowerment and social change. Inspired by her mother’s rebellious past and a confident friend, a shy teenager creates a magazine and group of friends to battle the misogyny in her high school. “Moxie” is an excellent look at how the younger generation is pushing to change their world and fight to better the places they work and learn in.
- 9 to 5
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Speaking of change, the fabulous trio of Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton took a comedic take on sexual harassment in the workplace. Tired of how their boss treats the women in his office, our icons decide to take matters into their own hands and kidnap him. In his absence, the women change their work environment for the better.