Anti Hero(ines)
The female anti-hero challenges conventional ideas of both what it is to be a hero(ine) and what it is to be female. The complex characters in this week’s films break gender stereotypes, presenting multifaceted women with unique ambitions and moral complexities.
Titane
A near-fatal car crash leaves a girl with physical and emotional trauma that shapes her future — and her fetishes.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Belgium • 2021
- Director Julia Ducournau
- Cast Vincent Lindon, Agathe Rousselle, Garance Marillier, Laïs Salameh, Mara Cissé, Marin Judas
- Genre Drama, Horror, Thriller
- Available on Hulu, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Microsoft Store, AMC on Demand, Kanopy
Fleabag
All hail the hot priest!
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2016
- Creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge
- Cast Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Olivia Colman, Bill Paterson, Hugh Dennis
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Raw
(Grave)
When vegetarian Justine is forced to eat raw meat for the first time in her life, unexpected consequences occur.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Belgium, Italy • 2016
- Director Julia Ducournau
- Cast Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, Rabah Nait Oufella, Laurent Lucas, Joana Preiss
- Genre Drama, Horror
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Microsoft Store, YouTube
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
A lonely vampire preys on the depraved residents of Bad City — but finds love in another tortured soul.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, United States • 2014
- Director Ana Lily Amirpour
- Cast Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Marshall Manesh, Mozhan Marnò, Dominic Rains, Rome Shadanloo
- Genre Horror, Romance, Western
- Available on Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy, Hoopla
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
(Män som hatar kvinnor)
Only those discarded by society can uncover its most ugly truths
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Sweden, Denmark, Germany • 2009
- Director Niels Arden Oplev
- Cast Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, Sven-Bertil Taube, Peter Andersson, Peter Haber
- Genre Drama, Thriller, Crime, Mystery
- Available on Fandor, fuboTV, MZ Choice Amazon Channel, Amazon Video, Crackle, Plex, Plex Channel
Wasp
A short film about a singer mother and her four children.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2003
- Director Andrea Arnold
- Cast Natalie Press, Danny Dyer, Jodie Mitchell, Molly Griffiths, Kaitlyn Raynor, Danny Daley
- Genre Drama
- Available on MUBI Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel
Perfect Blue
(パーフェクトブルー)
A retired pop singer starts to lose her hold on reality when she is stalked by an obsessive fan.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1998
- Director Satoshi Kon
- Cast Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji, Masaaki Ōkura, Yōsuke Akimoto, Yoku Shioya
- Genre Animation, Thriller
- Available on Shudder, Shudder Amazon Channel, AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC Plus Apple TV Channel , Shudder Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Run Lola Run
(Lola rennt)
Every second of every day, you're faced with a decision that can change your life.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Germany • 1998
- Director Tom Tykwer
- Cast Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu, Herbert Knaup, Nina Petri, Armin Rohde, Joachim Król
- Genre Action, Drama, Thriller
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, AMC on Demand
Chungking Express
(重慶森林)
Two tales of love and loss told in sequence.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Hong Kong • 1994
- Director Wong Kar-wai
- Cast Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Faye Wong, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Valerie Chow, Piggy Chan
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
(Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios)
Spanish icon of cinema Pedro Almodovar's jaunty feminist masterpiece.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain • 1988
- Director Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, María Barranco, Rossy de Palma, Kiti Mánver
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, AMC on Demand
Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles
A lonely widowed housewife cares for her apartment and teenage son, and uses sex work to make ends meet.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Belgium, France • 1975
- Director Chantal Akerman
- Cast Delphine Seyrig, Jan Decorte, Henri Storck, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, Yves Bical
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video
Daisies
(Sedmikrásky)
Decadence and destruction!
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Czechoslovakia • 1966
- Director Věra Chytilová
- Cast Ivana Karbanová, Jitka Cerhová, Marie Češková, Jiřina Myšková, Julius Albert
- Genre Comedy, Fantasy
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max