Hello, and welcome to Thelma & Alice, the newsletter for people who want to watch more movies made by women. Before I get into this month’s recommendations, I want to note the passing of Judy Heumann, one of the subjects of Crip Camp, a documentary film I wrote about in a previous newsletter. Heumann was a key figure in the disability rights movement and had an extraordinary life as an activist, teacher, and adviser in the Clinton and Obama administrations. In Crip Camp, you meet Heumann as a young woman, and you see how her political consciousness begins to take shape over the course of a few weeks of summer camp. It’s a moving tribute to her and her work and I recommend checking it out now if you missed it before.
And, while we’re on the subject of remarkable activists, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, which was one of my favorite films of last year, is now streaming on HBO. If you missed it in the theater, now is your chance to watch from home.
Now, on to this month’s picks, starting with one that is coming to theaters this weekend . . .
A Love Letter to Non-Famous, Ordinary Artists (Which is Most Artists)
Showing Up (2023)
Directed by Kelly Reichardt
Written by Jonathan Raymond and Kelly Reichardt
1 hour 48 minutes; in theaters now
This slice-of-life story, which reunites Kelly Reichardt with Michelle Williams, is a love letter to people who put art and art-making at the center of their daily life. It’s also a great movie about mid-career challenges, and I’m not sure that there are that many out there. We often see stories about artists discovering their potential, artists succumbing to excess, artists reaching heights of greatness, and artists dealing with tragic setbacks. But how many movies are there about non-famous, middle-aged artists struggling to make art while they also hold down day jobs, deal with annoying landlords, and negotiate family drama? How many film talk about the petty jealousies and dumb grudges while also showing the flip side: the words of encouragement, the acts of service and care? How many show an artist in the flow of her work, how many show the small decisions that make a work of art come into being? Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson comes to mind, which would be a wonderful companion to this film. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
Dispatch from the Near Future
My Zoe (2019)
Written & Directed by Julie Delpy
1 hour 40 minutes; Streaming on Amazon Prime
My Zoe contains elements of domestic realism, medical thriller, and sci-fi without cleanly fitting into any genre. Starring Julie Delpy and Richard Armitage as divorced parents, it takes place in a speculative future. The sci-fi premise isn’t immediately obvious, and I don’t want to spoil it, but small details in costuming and prop design let you know you’re in a world with slightly advanced technology. When I watched it a couple of years ago, I found it to be a little uneven, but it has stayed with me, and is worth checking out if you like Julie Delpy’s other films and are in the mood for something thought-provoking. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
Team Refugee
The Swimmers (2022)
Directed by Sally El Hosaini
Written by Sally El Hosaini and Jack Thorne
2 hours 14 minutes; Streaming on Netflix
Based on the true story of sisters Yusra and Sara Mardini, this is a sports movie crossed with a refugee drama. It tells the story of the girls’ flight from Damascus to Berlin, and how one of the sisters earned a spot as a swimmer on the 2016 Olympic Refugee Team. This is a very straightforward, conventional story, and it got somewhat lukewarm reviews for its predictable filmmaking, but I thought it had a lot of emotional depth and I was fascinated by the details of the girls’ passage to Europe. I’m also a sucker for a sports narrative with a young woman at the center. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
Fresh & Fast-paced Rom-Com
Rye Lane (2023)
Directed by Raine Allen-Miller
Written by Nathan Byron and Tom Melia
Streaming on Hulu and Disney+
This fresh, fast-paced rom-com takes place over the course of one day in South London. I loved its playful cinematography and flashback sequences, and I very much enjoyed the company of its two leads (David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah). It’s a rom-com, so you know what’s going happen, more or less. But the best ones, like Rye Lane, still manage to be surprising. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
TV Corner
Madam Secretary, Season 1 (2014)
Created by Barbara Hall
Streaming on Netflix
I started watching this because I needed something easy—and because Kara Swisher recommended it multiple times on her podcast, and I am a Kara Swisher superfan. Kara compares it to The West Wing, and it definitely has that in its DNA, but it’s also a family drama in the vein of Parenthood as Elizabeth McCord (Téa Leoni) and her family adjust to her new appointment as Secretary of State. There’s something a little cozy about the plotting that keeps the thriller episodes from being truly thrilling, but that’s okay with me–especially on a weeknight, when I’m trying to wind down. I liked knowing that everything was always going to work out in the end, and that Téa Leoni’s hair would always look like it was fresh out of hot rollers, even when the President calls her to the Situation Room in the middle of the night. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
This feels like her most personal movie, maybe her most accessible. I think it's easier to watch her stuff in a theater...now that I think of it, I think I've seen most of her movies in the theater first. You kind of have to be slowed down in the dark to adjust to her pace.
Patrick and I watched Rye Lane on your recommendation and really enjoyed it!