Confined and isolated thanks to COVID-19, we relied on films and appreciated their ability to transport and distract more than ever this year. Our favorite pics of 2020 served as invaluable emotional outlets, helping us vocalize our rage about rape culture (“Promising Young Woman”), bringing us much-needed laughs (“The Forty-Year-Old Version”), and providing a scenic look into the American West and one woman’s unforgettable journey through it (“Nomadland”).
Here are Women and Hollywood’s top films of 2020.
“The Forty-Year-Old Version” – Written and Directed by Radha Blank
A struggling playwright decides to reinvent herself as a rapper in “The Forty-Year-Old Version,” this year’s winner of Sundance’s Directing Prize. Written and directed by Radha Blank, the black and white comedy tells the story of Radha (Blank), a New Yorker grieving the loss of her mother, an artist, and determined to have a creative breakthrough before 40. The former up-and-comer was featured in Spotlight Magazine’s 30 under 30 Playwrights to Watch list, but in the decade or so since, she’s completely fallen off the radar, and is getting by with teaching, a job she told herself she’d never do.
Exhausted by the racism and gatekeeping of the theater world, Radha decides to make a mix tape “about the 40-year-old woman’s point of view” — her songs see her sounding off on everything from Sciatica to what she dubs “poverty porn.” The latter refers to the types of stories about Black characters that white producers are pressuring Black creatives to tell. She raps, “No happy Blacks in the plotlines, please / But a crane shot of Big Momma crying on her knees / For her dead son, the b-ball star, who almost made it out / Sounds fucked-up enough to gain my film some capital.”
Since Radha’s not interested in writing an “all-white play” or a “slave musical,” she hopes that rapping will be a more fulfilling creative outlet, and it is — at first. When she bombs at her first public performance as a rapper and is offered the opportunity to have her play produced, Radha immediately pivots back to theater. But her high profile return to the stage is not at all what she hoped. Her cringe-inducing white producer insists on rewrites, demanding that her play about Harlem gentrification include a major white character and a rap number. Her request for a Black director is originally granted, but eventually denied. Radha’s play becomes less and less recognizable, and she agrees to every stupid suggestion while hating herself for feeling like a sellout. It’s painful to watch the process play out: Radha shrinks smaller and smaller as the play gets closer to opening night.
Funny, observant, and fresh, Blank’s first feature marks an auspicious — and uncompromising — debut. The film feels like the antithesis of the play at its center: the product of its creator’s singular version. (Laura Berger)
“The Forty-Year-Old Version” is available on Netflix.
“Never Rarely Sometimes Always” – Written and Directed by Eliza Hittman
“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”: Angal Field/Focus Features
“This is the most magical sound you will ever hear,” 17-year-old Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) is told in “Never Rarely Sometimes Always.” Autumn is having a sonogram, and hearing the sound of the fetus’ heartbeat within her is anything but magic. By her own admission, she’s “just not ready to be a mom,” and what’s growing inside her feels more akin to a curse. In one of the film’s most powerful moments, Autumn turns her head away from the sound of the heartbeat.
Eliza Hittman’s latest depicts Autumn’s attempts to deal with her unwanted pregnancy. Along with her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder), she travels from rural Pennsylvania to New York City in the hopes of accessing an abortion. Besides being emotionally fraught, their journey is made more complicated by a cash shortage, having nowhere to sleep, and crossing paths with predatory men.
The drama, which took home the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the Berlinale and a U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Neorealism at Sundance, is also a terrifying look into what goes on in crisis pregnancy centers. It’s there that Autumn is forced to listen to what’s decidedly not the most magical sound she’ll ever hear. In addition to putting immense pressure on the teen to keep her pregnancy, the fake clinic’s staff also gives her false, misleading information about how far along she is in an effort to thwart her from terminating.
“Never Rarely Sometimes Always” isn’t just an important — and unfortunately, timely — exploration of the barriers facing women who want to exercise control over their reproductive health, it’s also a moving portrait of Autumn and Skylar’s relationship, and the former’s efforts to reclaim ownership of her body. (LB)
“Never Rarely Sometimes Always” is available on HBO Max. It is also available for purchase on various VOD platforms.
“Nomadland” – Written and Directed by Chloé Zhao
“Nomadland”
“Nomadland” is a marvel. A master class by rapidly ascending writer-director Chloé Zhao and ever-stalwart Frances McDormand, the drama tells the story of Fern (McDormand), a woman from a Nevada mining town destroyed by the Great Recession. The 60-something begins living as a modern-day nomad, traveling across the U.S. in her camping van.
Zhao cast a number of nonprofessional actors in her first two features, “Songs My Brothers Taught Me” and “The Rider,” and has done the same with “Nomadland,” a decision that adds to the film’s impressive sense of realism. Tagging along with Fern as she finds work on the road — at jobs as varied as an Amazon Fulfillment Center, a beet sugar harvesting plant, and tourist attractions — we meet other folks living on the margins who get to tell their own stories.
“Nomadland” never feels like poverty porn that pities its subjects or reduces them to hackneyed clichés. It simply documents, luxuriating in its unhurried, even slow, pace that allows us to take our time with its characters and gorgeous cinematography. Zhao and McDormand shot “Nomadland” over the span of four months in seven states, spending nights in roadside motels, and it shows. This kind of authenticity takes time, and is earned.
McDormand is, as always, stunning, fitting right in with the nonprofessional actors (in the best way possible). Fern feels like a real person that we’re watching a vérité documentary about. It’s rare to see a film led by an actor — and especially a woman — over the age of 60. “Nomadland” proves just what a shame that is. Fern’s story, and McDormand’s portrayal, is captivating. (LB)
“Nomadland” had an awards-qualifying run earlier this month. It hits theaters February 19.
“Promising Young Woman” – Written and Directed by Emerald Fennell
“Promising Young Woman”: Focus Features
“Promising Young Woman” is one helluva debut feature. The first film from actress and former “Killing Eve” showrunner Emerald Fennell is a sharp, stylish take on rape culture and is frankly one of the most cathartic movies I’ve seen in a long time. It is itself a great film, and signals amazing work to come from rising multi-hyphenate Fennell.
Carey Mulligan stars as Cassie, a young woman who left med school years earlier after a mysterious incident. By day, she’s a bored barista with few personal connections. By night, she goes to clubs, pretends to be drunk, and teaches the predatory men who take her home a lesson about consent. One day, she encounters a former classmate, Ryan (Bo Burnham), is reminded of her time in school, and decides to do something about all the anger she’s been carrying with her since.
The pleasure of “Promising Young Woman” is in its many reveals, so I don’t want to give too much away. I will say that Cassie goes on a journey of revenge while allowing herself to get closer to Ryan, the first time she’s let a new person into her life in many years. She begins to open up emotionally, and realizes that her longtime rage has taken quite a toll.
What makes this film feel so radical is its honesty about rape culture, misogyny, and how all-encompassing they are. Men are the perpetrators in “Promising Young Woman,” but the women aren’t automatically given a pass. In the movie, as in life, we see women defending sexual abusers, blaming victims, and enabling a system that preys upon them. It’s no wonder Cassie is so pissed — how could she not be?
“Promising Young Woman” — similar to “I May Destroy You” — feels like one of the great pieces of art to come out of the #MeToo era. With a righteously furious protagonist and a candidness about sexual violence and complicity, it’s the feminist thriller we’ve been waiting for. (Rachel Montpelier)
“Promising Young Woman” hits theaters December 25. Find screening info here.
“Proxima” – Directed by Alice Winocour; Written by Alice Winocour and Jean-Stéphane Bron
“Proxima” charts a different kind of hero’s journey. The astronaut drama is decidedly more grounded than what we’ve come to expect from stories about space exploration. From Alice Winocour, the pic sees “Penny Dreadful” alumna Eva Green playing Sarah, an astronaut and single mom preparing to embark on a year-long mission in space.
Despite being told by her mother that being an astronaut is no job for a girl, Sarah has spent her life dreaming of space travel — and working tirelessly to achieve that goal. Her wildest dream is finally coming true, but at a cost.
As physically demanding as Sarah’s training is, it’s the prospect of being away from Stella, her seven-year-old daughter, that is causing her the most difficulty. Struggling to balance her professional responsibilities with her sense of duty to Stella, Sarah is encouraged to “cut the cord” by her male colleagues, but her guilt and overpowering love for her daughter are making her dread liftoff and the quarantine that will precede it.
“Proxima” is so intimate, so real, that some scenes would feel at home in a documentary, thanks in no small part to Green’s stellar leading performance. You won’t find melodramatic montages or speeches about traveling into the unknown here. Winocour creates an atmospheric drama full of tension without much actually happening. Sarah’s heading to the stars, but it’s her inner journey that we’re tagging along on. (LB)
“Proxima” is available for rent or purchase on various VOD platforms.
“The Half of It” – Written and Directed by Alice Wu
“The Half of It”
I remember going to see Alice Wu’s directorial debut, “Saving Face” — probably at the Angelika in NYC. It was the first movie I saw with queer Asian women. It was a great jolt. It’s been 16 years but Wu’s sophomore movie, “The Half of It,” sure was worth waiting for.
Leah Lewis plays Ellie Chu, a nerdy high school senior in small-town America who helps out her widowed dad, who has lost his way since her mom died. Ellie has a racket going: for a fee, she writes papers for the other students at her school. She doesn’t need to worry about getting caught because the English teacher — portrayed by the always awesome Becky Ann Baker — is happy that at least she has interesting essays to read.
Ellie likes a girl, Aster Flores (Alexxis Lemire). Another student, Paul (Daniel Diemer), hires Ellie to write love letters to Aster for him. Ellie and Paul become friends. Aster really enjoys her letters. As you’d guess, things get a bit messy.
Welcome back, Alice Wu. We’ve been waiting for you. (Melissa Silverstein)
“The Half of It” is available on Netflix.
“Selah and The Spades” – Written and Directed by Tayarisha Poe
“Selah and The Spades”: Sundance Institute
Meet your new favorite anti-heroine: Selah Summers (Lovie Simone), the dominant, intelligent, furious protagonist of “Selah and The Spades,” Tayarisha Poe’s feature directorial debut. Selah leads the most powerful underground clique at the prestigious Haldwell boarding school. Since Haldwell’s teachers and administrators are basically useless, Selah essentially runs the entire school, too.
Selah and her fellow Spades — second-in-command Maxxie (Jharrel Jerome) and Selah’s chosen successor, Paloma (Celeste O’Connor) — take care of their classmates’ recreational drug needs. Haldwell’s other factions cover the student body’s other vices, such as gambling and cheating. The cliques know what they’re doing is morally dubious — even flat-out wrong — and don’t care.
Some of the kids, like Bobby (Ana Mulvoy Ten), another faction leader, are spoiled, entitled, used to having the system work in their favor. But for Selah, presiding over Haldwell is her way of finding and wielding her own power. She’s all too aware that women’s lives aren’t really their own; their autonomy is constantly challenged, weakened, and harnessed. So, as she reveals in a passionate monologue, she’ll seize influence and control wherever she can, however she can. And if someone crosses her, she’ll make sure they regret it.
One of the most joyful aspects of “Selah and The Spades” is seeing its many young characters of color living their lives on their own terms. Outside Haldwell, Selah has to answer to her impossible-to-please mother and the restrictions the world forces upon women of color. But in school, she’s the one calling the shots. (RM)
“Selah and The Spades” is available on Amazon Prime Video.
“The Assistant” – Written and Directed by Kitty Green
There are many shitty jobs in this world, but assistant to a high-powered Hollywood player has got to be one of the worst — because those jobs are not always about actual work.
Assistants all across the globe pick up dry cleaning and schedule doctor’s appointments. In Kitty Green’s first narrative feature, “The Assistant,” the dour titular character (Julia Garner) does these menial errands and so much more: she makes excuses for the boss, whom we never see, when his wife calls; she finds an earring while cleaning his office and returns it to its owner; she shuttles a young woman new to the city up to a hotel for a meeting with the boss. With the latter, the assistant realizes she has the shittiest of shitty jobs and finally acknowledges that something horrible is going on. So she does what she can and goes to HR, but everyone she works with — execs, producers, fellow assistants — is involved in a full blown cover-up. Their complicity is worn on their sleeves.
We all know this movie is about Harvey Weinstein, the women he terrorized, and the people who protected him. Coincidentally, it was released a few weeks before his guilty verdict. Even though he’s serving 23 years for rape, the system that enabled Weinstein is still very much intact. As such, nearly a year after its premiere, “The Assistant” still feels extremely prescient and like an urgent call to arms. (MS)
“The Assistant” is available on Hulu. It is also available for rent or purchase on various VOD platforms.
“One Night in Miami…” – Directed by Regina King
Best known for her Oscar- and Emmy-winning roles on-screen, Regina King has been pulling double duty in her professional life for the past decade or so, steadily building up a résumé of over a dozen directing credits, including episodes of “Insecure,” “This Is Us,” and “Scandal.” A huge swath of folks have already seen her handiwork, even if they’re not consciously aware of her career behind the scenes. “One Night in Miami…” marks her feature directorial debut, and what a debut it is: it marks King’s arrival as a filmmaker, and suggests that King’s legacy will expand far beyond her rightfully celebrated work on camera.
Inspired by true events, “One Night in Miami…” takes place on February 25, 1964: the night Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, was named the new World Heavyweight Boxing Champion The film follows Clay (Eli Goree), human rights activist and Black nationalist supporter Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), football star Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), and music sensation Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) as they celebrate the win in a Miami hotel room in a historically Black neighborhood.
“You could move mountains without lifting a finger,” Malcolm X tells his friends. The foursome spend the night discussing — and disagreeing — about the power and responsibility they have as Black public figures. “This movement that we are in is called a struggle because we are fighting for our lives,” Malcolm X emphasizes.
Though it’s set nearly 60 years ago, the drama feels timely. The fight for Black lives continues. The conversations about representation continue. The dialogue is evolving but remains as essential as ever. (LB)
“One Night in Miami…” hits theaters December 25. It will be available on Amazon Prime Video January 15.
“Herself” – Directed by Phyllida Lloyd; Written by Clare Dunne and Malcolm Campbell
“Herself”: Sundance Institute
What makes a home? What makes a family, or community? Struggling single mother Sandra (co-screenwriter Clare Dunne) finds out in “Herself,” Phyllida Lloyd’s third feature film. Due to the housing crisis and an abusive former relationship, she is staying in government-provided temporary accommodation with her two daughters, and trying to figure out where and how they are supposed to live. Then she discovers it’s possible to build a home for about 35,000 euros, and decides to do just that.
As the film’s title suggests, this is very much Sandra’s story. “Herself” focuses on her specific experience, which includes multiple jobs and a custody battle with her ex. However, the film also provides a wider look at the intersection of gender and class, as well as the support mutual aid and found families can provide when public institutions won’t. It’s Sandra’s idea to build her own house, but she doesn’t do it alone. The woman she cleans for (Harriet Walter) offers land, a gruff-but-kind contractor (Conleth Hill) offers expertise, and a wider network of friends and acquaintances offer their help. Sandra doesn’t just build a house in “Herself,” she also builds her own community and support system.
It’s uplifting and lovely to see — especially in COVID times, when so many of us only have each other to lean on. Yet “Herself” never lets us forget that the system has failed Sandra. Although she’s lucky to have generous friends and neighbors, she’s also a casualty of the housing crisis and marginalized as a survivor of domestic violence and as a single, poor woman. The public sector should be providing her a safety net, but instead that responsibility has fallen on herself and her friends.
Brave, intelligent, and determined, Sandra is an easy character to root for and empathize with. She perseveres in a terrible situation because she has no other choice. “Herself” is both a celebration of one woman’s ingenuity and an indictment of the society that has cast her aside. (RM)
“Herself” hits theaters December 30. It will be available on Amazon Prime Video January 8.
