Weekly Update for June 23: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You

Films About Women Opening This Week

The Beguiled — Written and Directed by Sofia Coppola (Opens in Limited Release; Opens Wider on June 30)

“The Beguiled” is an atmospheric thriller from acclaimed writer-director Sofia Coppola. The story unfolds during the Civil War, at a Southern girls’ boarding school. Its sheltered women (Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning, Emma Howard, Oona Laurence, Angourie Rice, and Addison Riecke) take in an injured enemy soldier (Colin Farrell). As they provide refuge and tend to his wounds, the house is taken over with sexual tension and dangerous rivalries, and taboos are broken in an unexpected turn of events. (Press materials)

Find tickets and screening info here.

The Bad Batch — Written and Directed by Ana Lily Amirpour

Arlen, (Suki Waterhouse) one of thousands of Americans deemed unacceptable to society, is unceremoniously dumped into a hostile desert wasteland fenced off from civilized society. While wandering in her desert exile, she is captured by a savage band of cannibals and quickly realizes she’ll have to fight for her very existence in this human-eat-human world. (Press materials)

Okja (Opens in Limited Release June 28) (Also Available on Netflix)

For 10 idyllic years, young Mija (Seo-Hyun Ahn) has been caretaker and constant companion to Okja — a genetically modified massive pig — at her home in the mountains of South Korea. But that changes when family-owned multinational conglomerate Mirando Corporation takes Okja for themselves and transports her to New York, where image-obsessed and self-promoting CEO Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) has big plans for Mija’s dearest friend. With no particular plan but single-minded in intent, Mija sets out on a rescue mission, but her already daunting journey quickly becomes more complicated when she crosses paths with disparate groups of capitalists, demonstrators, and consumers, each battling to control the fate of Okja… while all Mija wants to do is bring her friend home. (Press materials)

Souvenir (Opens in the UK)

A forgotten European Song Contest singer (Isabelle Huppert), fading away in a pâté factory, falls in love with a young aspiring boxer (Kévin Azaïs). Together, they decide to attempt her comeback. (Press materials)

Paulina

Paulina (Dolores Fonzi), the daughter of an eminent left-wing judge, suspends her legal education and the prospects of a promising political career to travel to an indigenous community of extreme poverty on Argentina’s border with Paraguay and Brazil. She is determined to nurture “from the inside” a project of civil rights education, but her Guarani-speaking high-school students resist her civics lessons — and she quickly learns that gaining their trust won’t be an easy task. These subtly illuminating encounters reverberate in the aftermath of the central event of the film — a harrowing sexual assault by a group of young men. Paulina’s unfathomable actions, and the limits of social justice, are examined unflinchingly in this “social thriller” of will and sacrifice. (Press materials)

Inversion

Niloofar (Sahar Dolatshahi), a 35-year-old woman, is forced by her family to accompany her ailing mother in an exodus of Tehran when the air pollution in the city threatens her health, despite the fact that Niloofar is a successful business owner. (Press materials)

Films About Women Currently Playing

Rough Night — Co-Written and Directed by Lucia Aniello
Maudie — Directed by Aisling Walsh; Written by Sherry White
47 Meters Down (Also Available on VOD)
Lost in Paris — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Fiona Gordon
Hearing Is Believing (Documentary) (Also Available on VOD)
Whitney: Can I Be Me (Documentary) (UK)
Pray for Rain — Written by Christina Moore and Gloria Musca
Can Hitler Happen Here? — Directed by Saskia Rifkin; Written by Catherine May Levin
Megan Leavey — Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite; Co-Written by Pamela Gray and Annie Mumolo
Beatriz at Dinner
Moka
Wonder Woman — Directed by Patty Jenkins
Sámi Blood — Written and Directed by Amanda Kernell
Letters from Baghdad (Documentary) — Directed by Sabine Krayenbühl and Zeva Oelbaum
Past Life
Didi’s Dreams
Love, Kennedy
Beautiful Accident
Berlin Syndrome — Directed by Cate Shortland
The Women’s Balcony — Written by Shlomit Nehama
Hermia & Helena
Everything, Everything — Directed by Stella Meghie
Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Linda Saffire
Snatched — Written by Katie Dippold
Paris Can Wait — Written and Directed by Eleanor Coppola
The Wedding Plan — Written and Directed by Rama Burshtein
Manifesto
Like Crazy — Co-Written by Francesca Archibugi
The Circle
Citizen Jane: Battle for the City (Documentary)
A Quiet Passion
Colossal
Their Finest — Directed by Lone Scherfig; Written by Gaby Chiappe
The Zookeeper’s Wife — Directed by Niki Caro; Written by Angela Workman
Beauty and the Beast
A Woman, a Part — Written and Directed by Elisabeth Subrin
Personal Shopper
Hidden Figures — Co-Written by Allison Schroeder

Films Directed by Women Opening This Week

Good Fortune (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Rebecca Harrell Tickell

“Good Fortune” is the rags to riches tale of conscious capitalism pioneer John Paul DeJoria. Born with nothing, at times homeless on the streets of LA, “JP” spent his early adulthood in and out of motorcycle gangs only to wheel and deal his way to the top of a vast hair and tequila empire. A modern day Robin Hood, JP’s motto is, “Success unshared is failure.” The son of immigrants, JP defies the stereotype of “the one percent” and is the poster boy of the triple bottom line — people, planet, and profit. (Press materials)

Find tickets and screening info here.

All the Rage (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Suki Hawley (Opens in NY)

Using a first-person approach to explore the work of renowned physician Dr. John Sarno and his radical methods to treating back pain, “All the Rage” examines the connection between emotions and health. Through interviews with Sarno, esteemed patients, and experts, the film offers a profound rethink of how we approach our health care. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Suki Hawley.

Find screening info here.

In Transit (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Lynn True (Opens in NY)

“In Transit” journeys into the hearts and minds of everyday passengers aboard Amtrak’s Empire Builder, the busiest long-distance train route in America. Captured in the tradition of Direct Cinema, the film unfolds as a series of interconnected vignettes, ranging from overheard conversations to moments of deep intimacy, in which passengers share their fears, hopes, and dreams. In the space between stations, where “real life” is suspended, we are swept into a fleeting community that transcends normal barriers, and where a peculiar atmosphere of contemplation and community develops. To some passengers, the train is flight and salvation, to others it is reckoning and loss. But for all, it is a place for personal reflection and connecting with others they may otherwise never know. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Pop Aye — Written and Directed by Kirsten Tan (Opens June 28 in NY; Opens in LA July 7)

On a chance encounter, a disenchanted architect (Thaneth Warakulnukroh) bumps into his long-lost elephant on the streets of Bangkok. Excited, he takes his elephant on a journey across Thailand, in search of the farm where they grew up together. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Kirsten Tan.

Find screening info here.

Films Directed by Women Currently Playing

Hare Krishna! The Mantra, The Movement and the Swami Who Started It All (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Jean Griesser and Lauren Ross
Long Live the King (Documentary) — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Trish Geiger
Raising Bertie (Documentary) — Directed by Margaret Byrne
Band Aid — Written and Directed by Zoe Lister-Jones (Also Available on VOD)
Wakefield — Written and Directed by Robin Swicord (Also Available on VOD)
Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe — Co-Written and Directed by Maria Schrader
Risk (Documentary) — Directed by Laura Poitras
Buster’s Mal Heart — Written and Directed by Sarah Adina Smith
Obit. (Documentary) — Directed by Vanessa Gould
Tomorrow (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Mélanie Laurent
Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Lydia Tenaglia
Alive and Kicking (Documentary) — Directed by Susan Glatzer; Written by Susan Glatzer and Heidi Zimmerman (Also Available on VOD)
David Lynch: The Art Life (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Olivia Neergaard-Holm
Cezanne and I — Written and Directed by Danièle Thompson
Jasper Jones — Directed by Rachel Perkins (Australia)

Films Written by Women Opening This Week

“The Big Sick”: WHILE YOU WERE COMATOSE, LLC

The Big Sick — Co-Written by Emily V. Gordon (Opens in NY and LA; Opens in Wider Release June 30)

Based on the real-life courtship between Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, “The Big Sick” tells the story of Pakistan-born aspiring comedian Kumail (Nanjiani), who connects with grad student Emily (Zoe Kazan) after one of his standup sets. However, what they thought would be just a one-night stand blossoms into the real thing, which complicates the life that is expected of Kumail by his traditional Muslim parents. When Emily is beset with a mystery illness, it forces Kumail to navigate the medical crisis with her parents, Beth and Terry (Holly Hunter and Ray Romano), who he’s never met, while dealing with the emotional tug-of-war between his family and his heart. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Films Written by Women Currently Playing

Cars 3 — Co-Written by Kiel Murray
I Love You Both — Co-Written by Kristin Archibald (Also Available on VOD)
Radio Dreams — Co-Written by Aida Ahadiany
Churchill — Written by Alex von Tunzelmann
3 Idiotas — Co-Written by Martha Higareda
God of War — Co-Written by Maria Wong
Champion — Written by Missy Reed and Sarah Inabnit
Smurfs: The Lost Village — Written by Stacey Harman and Pamela Ribon

TV Premieres This Week

GLOW — Created by Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch; Executive Produced by Jenji Kohan and Tara Herrmann (Premieres June 23 on Netflix)

Inspired by the real story of the 1980s female wrestling league, the series — set in Los Angeles and showcasing big hair and body slams — will be the fictionalized story of an out of work actress (Alison Brie) who finds one last attempt to live her dreams in the form of a weekly series about female wrestlers. (Press materials)

Free Rein — Created by Vicki Lutas and Anna McCleery (Premieres June 23 on Netflix)

After befriending a mysterious horse during a summer in the English countryside, 15-year-old Zoe (Jaylen Barron) finds the strength to deal with issues she faces. (Press materials)

Prime Suspect: Tennison — Co-Written by Lynda La Plante (Premieres June 25 on PBS)

Behind every great detective is a backstory. Masterpiece dials back the clock to spotlight the influences that turned 22-year-old rookie policewoman Jane Tennison (Stefanie Martini) into the savvy, single-minded crime fighter beloved by “Prime Suspect” viewers over the course of seven seasons. (Press materials)

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