Witches and Nobel Laureates
Hello and welcome to Thelma & Alice #20, the newsletter for people who want to watch more movies (and sometimes TV) written and/or directed by women. This month, I am introducing paid subscriptions. Paid subscribers will receive occasional bonus posts in addition to monthly recommendation posts. You can subscribe monthly at $5/month, annually at $45/year, or you can be a free subscriber and continue to receive free monthly posts.
If you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, I hope you will consider supporting it with a paid subscription. This newsletter came from a blog that I started after the Harvey Weinstein allegations broke. It was a wake-up moment for me when I realized that the vast majority of movies and TV shows I watched were written and directed by men. I wanted to correct my vision. It has been five years since then, and the way I see movies has drastically changed. I’ve also begun to review movies professionally, and am proud to be part of a group of female critics who are attempting to correct the gender imbalance in film criticism. Male critics still outnumber female critics 2 to 1, garnering more staff positions and freelance work. Male critics are also more likely to run their own sites and newsletters. In the coming year, I would like to expand my reach as a critic, and your support will help me to do that.
Whether you are a paid or free subscriber, I am happy you are here. Thanks for reading and here are this month’s recommendations . . .
A Riveting French Thriller
Happening (2022)
Directed by Audrey Diwan
Written by Marcia Romano and Audrey Diwan, based on a novel by Annie Ernaux
1 hour 40 minutes; Streaming AMC+ or VOD $0.99
Set in 1960s France and based on Annie Ernaux’s autobiographical novel by the same name, Happening is about a college student, Anne, who must go to extreme lengths to end her unwanted pregnancy. When Happening played in theaters in May, shortly after the Dobbs decision, it was almost too timely. I just wasn’t ready to see a movie set in an era when abortion was illegal. I finally watched it the other night and was stunned by how suspenseful it was. Paced like a thriller, it is not the least bit didactic; instead, it simply shows what the stakes are for this young woman: why she needs to end her pregnancy, how difficult it is for her to find healthcare, and what the consequences will be if she’s caught. With Ernaux recently winning the 2022 Nobel Prize in literature, Anne’s literary ambitions—and the cost of declaring them—have an added weightiness. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
A Debut You May Have Missed
Breaking (2022)
Directed by Abi Damaris Corbin
Written by Abi Damaris Corbin and Kwame Kwei-Armah
1 hour 43 minutes; Streaming VOD $6.99
Breaking is an unusual debut feature from writer and director Abi Damaris Corbin, a story about a bank robbery that doesn’t follow the typical bank heist storyline and instead delves into complicated territory of mental illness and government bureaucracy. Starring John Boyega, it’s based on the true story of ex-Marine Brian Easley, who held up a small bank in Marietta, Georgia in order to get money owed to him by the VA. Easley claimed to have a bomb and took hostages, which brought federal law enforcement to the scene. The film is most powerful in showing how a militarized police force brings violence to situations that could be resolved peacefully. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
90s Witchy Vibes
Practical Magic (1998)
Directed by Griffin Dunne
Written by Robin Swicord, Akiva Goldsman, based on a novel by Alice Hoffman
1 hour 43 minutes; Streaming HBO
Okay, so, this movie is wildly uneven and kind of bonkers but also incredibly fun. It stars a young Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock as witch sisters, Gillian and Sally, who are cursed in love and live in a spooky New England house. Sally (Bullock) tries to be normal and fit in with the PTA moms, while Gillian (Kidman) shacks up with a boyfriend who is definitely bad news. Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest are iconic as elder witches, and if you like 90s fashion, there is no end to the slip dresses and baby doll tees. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
Family Movie Night: Preteen Edition
Catherine Called Birdy (2022)
Directed by Lena Dunham
Written by Lena Dunham, based on the novel by Karen Cushman
1 hour 48 minutes; Streaming Amazon Prime
This is the sweetest story Lena Dunham has ever told, and a surprising choice for a director who tends toward darkly comic realism. Set in medieval times, it tells the story of Birdy (Bella Ramsay), a fourteen-year-old girl who will be married off to the highest bidder in order to save her family’s fortune. Birdy is not ready to be married, but her tyrannical father (Andrew Scott) insists. Meanwhile, her mother (Billie Piper) suffers through a difficult pregnancy and childbirth. These are heavy themes for children—and I think this movie is best for kids aged 10-13—but Dunham tempers them with jokes, contemporary music, and random silliness. There is also real tenderness and emotion in the relationships between the characters. I would have watched this movie for Scott’s performance alone, (you may remember him as the “Hot Priest” from Fleabag) but the whole cast is excellent, especially Ramsay, who shows how her character is still very much a child even as she is thrown into adult circumstances. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
One to See in the Theater ASAP
The Woman King (2022)
Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood
In theaters now; VOD on November 17
With a 99% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, you probably don’t need me to recommend The Woman King, but just in case you missed it, there is still time to catch it in the theater. I put off seeing it because of the comparisons to Gladiator, but this movie is so much more than its battle scenes. It’s an old-fashioned epic with gorgeous sets and costumes, beautiful cinematography, and a huge cast of Black female actors, led by the always-excellent Viola Davis. It was exhilarating to see so many women on screen at the same time; I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it, except for the opening scenes of Wonder Woman. Some critics found the melodramatic subplots to be too cheesy, but I thought the quieter scenes of friendship and romance were a good counterpoint to the action scenes. If you can’t make it to the theater, The Woman King will be streaming online in a few weeks and is certainly worth the premium early access fee. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER