Offerings from women filmmakers will not be slowing down in the new year. From thrillers to comedies to documentary films, there will be something for everyone to enjoy in January.
Floria Sigismondi directs the latest adaptation of Henry James’ iconic horror novella “The Turn of the Screw,” with “The Turning” (January 24). This more modern update sees Mackenzie Davis becoming a live-in caregiver to two siblings, and odd happenings occur.
“The Assistant” (January 31), from writer-director Kitty Green, is more of a social-horror movie. Its protagonist, whose story mirrors that of Harvey Weinstein’s survivors, is a recent college grad who lands an internship with a monstrous film mogul. Next, there’s Reed Morano’s “The Rhythm Section,” (January 31) starring Blake Lively. The thriller centers on a woman seeking revenge following the murder of her family.
Lightening up the mood is the Bert & Bertie comedy “Troop Zero” (January 17), about a tenacious scout (Mckenna Grace) obsessed with outer space and NASA’s plan to contact aliens, which made its debut at Sundance 2019. Then, there’s the latest raunchy gal pal laugh fest, “Like a Boss” (January 10), which sees two best friends (Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne) trying to wrest control of their beauty company back from a sketchy mogul (Salma Hayek).
Two documentaries will also bow on January 10: “Afterward” by Ofra Bloch and “The Woman Who Loves Giraffes” by Alison Reid. The former examines the victims and victimizers of WWII Germany, and post-war Israel and Palestine, while the latter chronicles Dr. Anne Innis Dagg’s career studying giraffes.
Here are all of the women-centric, women-directed, and women-written films debuting this January. All descriptions are from press materials unless otherwise noted.
January 3
“The Grudge”
After a young mother murders her family in her own house, a detective (Andrea Riseborough) attempts to investigate the mysterious case, only to discover that the house is cursed by a vengeful ghost. Now targeted by the demonic spirits, the detective must do anything to protect herself and her family from harm.
January 10
“Like a Boss”
“Like a Boss”
Best friends Mel (Tiffany Haddish) and Mia (Rose Byrne) are living their best lives, running the cosmetics company they’ve built from the ground up. Unfortunately, they’re in over their heads financially, and the prospect of a big buyout offer from a notorious titan of the cosmetics industry, Claire Luna (Salma Hayek), proves too tempting to pass up, putting Mel and Mia’s lifelong friendship in jeopardy.
“Afterward” (Documentary) – Directed by Ofra Bloch; Written by Ofra Bloch, Michael J. Palmer, and Jack Pettibone Riccobono (Available on VOD January 28)
“Afterward”
Jerusalem-born trauma expert Ofra Bloch forces herself to confront her personal demons in a journey that takes her to Germany, Israel, and Palestine. Set against the current wave of fascism and anti-Semitism sweeping the globe, “Afterward” delves into the secret wounds carried by victims as well as victimizers, through testimonies ranging from the horrifying to the hopeful. Seen as a victim in Germany and a perpetrator in Palestine, Bloch faces those she was raised to hate as she searches to understand the identity-making narratives of the Holocaust and the Nakba, violent and non-violent resistance, and the possibility of reconciliation. The film points towards a future — an “afterward” — that attempts to live with the truths of history in order to make sense of the present.
“The Woman Who Loves Giraffes” (Documentary) – Written and Directed by Alison Reid (Opens in NY)
“The Woman Who Loves Giraffes”
Dr. Anne Innis Dagg re-traces the steps of her groundbreaking 1956 journey to South Africa to study giraffes in the wild — and discovers a startling contrast between the world of giraffes she once knew and the one it has become. Weaving through the past and present, her harrowing journey gives us an intimate look into the factors that destroyed her career and the forces that brought her back.
“Chhapaak” – Directed by Meghna Gulzar; Written by Meghna Gulzar and Atika Chohan
Malti (Deepika Padukone) was attacked with acid on a street in New Delhi, in 2005. Through her story, “Chhapaak” makes an attempt to understand the on-ground consequences of surviving an acid attack in India, and the medico-legal-social state of affairs that transpires after the acid has been hurled and the face is irreparably burnt.
January 16
“Jezebel” – Written and Directed by Numa Perrier (Available on Netflix)
“Jezebel”
In the last days of her mother’s life, 19-year-old Tiffany (Tiffany Tenille) crashes with five family members in a Las Vegas studio apartment. In order to make ends meet, her older sister, a phone sex operator, introduces her to the world of internet fetish cam girls. Tiffany becomes popular as the only “live black model” at the new adult site and soon becomes too close to one of her frequent callers. Dynamics shift in the sister relationship as each woman explores and exploits their sexuality, using their created fantasy worlds as an escape from the realities of their challenging real life circumstances.
January 17
“Troop Zero” – Directed by Bert & Bertie; Written by Lucy Alibar (Available on Amazon Prime)
Nine-year-old oddball Christmas Flint (Mckenna Grace) is obsessed with space and making contact with the aliens of the universe. When she finds out the prize at the 1977 Birdie Jamboree is getting her voice on NASA’s Golden Record, Christmas forms her own misfit Birdie troop. Nothing can prepare them for the painfully perfect world of the legit Birdies. But, led by their reluctant yet fearless troop mama (Viola Davis) and Christmas’ dad (Jim Gaffigan), they find glory in the most unexpected circumstances — much to the despair of the ever-judgmental school principal, Miss Massey (Allison Janney).
“The Host” – Written by Finola Geraghty, Brendan Bishop, and Laurence Lamers
A chance opportunity arises for Robert Atkinson (Mike Beckingham), a London banker who risks his banks money to leave the mundane behind and start a new life. To take advantage, he unwittingly signs up with a Chinese cartel to transport a briefcase to Amsterdam. But all is not as it seems in a city veiled by dark secrets. Fueled by power players, drugs, seduction, and violence, Robert awaits his turn in a deadly game of choice and consequence.
January 24
“The Turning” – Directed by Floria Sigismondi
“The Turning”: Patrick Redmond/Universal Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures
Inspired by Henry James’ landmark novel, “The Turning” takes us to a mysterious estate in the Maine countryside, where newly appointed nanny Kate (Mackenzie Davis) is charged with the care of two disturbed orphans, Flora (Brooklynn Prince) and Miles (Finn Wolfhard). Quickly though, she discovers that both the children and the house are harboring dark secrets and things may not be as they appear.
“Run”
A mother (Sarah Paulson) raises her teenage daughter in isolation, only to see her life begin to unravel as her daughter discovers the mother’s sinister secret.
“Color Out of Space” – Written by Scarlett Amaris and Richard Stanley
After a meteorite lands in the front yard of their farm, Nathan Gardner (Nicolas Cage) and his family find themselves battling a mutant extraterrestrial organism as it infects their minds and bodies, transforming their quiet rural life into a technicolor nightmare.
January 29
“Beanpole”
“Beanpole”
In post-WWII Leningrad, two women, Iya (Viktoria Miroshnichenko) and Masha (Vasilisa Perelygina), intensely bonded after fighting side by side as anti-aircraft gunners, attempt to re-adjust to a haunted world. As the film begins, Iya, long and slender and towering over everyone — hence the film’s title — works as a nurse in a shell-shocked hospital, presiding over traumatized soldiers. A shocking accident brings them closer and also seals their fates.
January 31
“The Rhythm Section” – Directed by Reed Morano
“The Rhythm Section”: Paramount
Stephanie Patrick (Blake Lively) is an ordinary woman on a path of self-destruction after her family is tragically killed in a plane crash. When Stephanie discovers that the crash was not an accident, she enters a dark, complex world to seek revenge on those responsible and find her own redemption.
“The Assistant” – Written and Directed by Kitty Green
“The Assistant”
“The Assistant” follows one day in the life of Jane (Julia Garner), a recent college graduate and aspiring film producer, who has recently landed her dream job as a junior assistant to a powerful entertainment mogul. Her day is much like any other assistant’s — making coffee, changing the paper in the copy machine, ordering lunch, arranging travel, taking phone messages, and onboarding a new hire. But as Jane follows her daily routine, she, and we, grow increasingly aware of the abuse that insidiously colors every aspect of her workday, an accumulation of degradations against which Jane decides to take a stand, only to discover the true depth of the system into which she has entered.
“The Traitor” – Written by Valia Santella, Ludovica Rampoldi, Marco Bellocchio, Francesco Piccolo, Francesco La Licata
“The Traitor” tells the true story of Tommaso Buscetta (Pierfrancesco Favino), the man who brought down the Cosa Nostra. In the early 1980s, an all out war rages between Sicilian mafia bosses over the heroin trade. Tommaso Buscetta, a made man, flees to hide out in Brazil. Back home, scores are being settled and Buscetta watches from afar as his sons and brother are killed in Palermo, knowing he may be next. Arrested and extradited to Italy by the Brazilian police, Buscetta makes a decision that will change everything for the Mafia: he decides to meet with Judge Giovanni Falcone and betray the eternal vow he made to the Cosa Nostra.
