Spring is in the air, and with it comes many promising women-led films. This March brings several big-budget women-centric releases to screens, including a beloved Oscar-winning animated classic that’s getting a live-action makeover. March will also mark the release of several thrillers and comedies led by female protagonists.
The month starts off with a bang: on March 3, about a dozen films by and about women hit U.S. theaters. Fans of “Heathers” and “Groundhog Day” will want to check out director Ry-Russo Young’s “Before I Fall,” a dark take on a high school mean girl who’s forced to re-live the day she died over and over again. Audiences searching for action can look forward to “Catfight,” a violent dark comedy about frenemies starring Sandra Oh and Anne Heche.
March will also see the release of a number of thrillers, including “Kidnap,” starring Halle Berry. The powerful story centers on a mother trying to save her kidnapped son using any means necessary.
In a more surreal vein is “Personal Shopper.” The haunting drama follows a personal shopper, played by Kristen Stewart, who doubles as a spiritual medium.
Several high-profile commercial films with female leads are set to premiere, including Disney’s live-action “Beauty and the Beast” starring Emma Watson, due March 17. Just two weeks later, the live-action remake of “Ghost in the Shell” is set to hit theaters, starring Scarlett Johansson. The adaptations will likely be among the highest grossing films at the box office next month, and will further prove that women-led films bring in more than their fair share of cash.
If you are a horror fan — especially if you have a special fondness for the body horror sub-genre — you should mark your calendars for Julia Ducournau’s “Raw” (March 10) and Alice Lowe’s “Prevenge” (March 24). “Raw” is a coming-of-age tale about a young woman who develops a taste for human flesh. “Prevenge,” meanwhile, explores the anxieties of pregnancy via its main character (Lowe, who was actually pregnant while filming), whose unborn baby forces her to commit acts of violence.
The month’s end will mark the premiere of one of our most anticipated films of the year, Niki Caro’s “The Zookeeper’s Wife.” The drama, led by Jessica Chastain, is based on a true story of a heroic wife and husband who hid Jews inside of their zoo during WWII. If you’re in the mood for a quirky comedy to wrap up the month, check out Susan Johnson’s “Carrie Pilby,” which sees “Diary of a Teenage Girl’s” Bel Powley playing another precocious, alienated teen.
Here are all of the women-centric, women-directed, and women-written films debuting in March. All descriptions are from press materials unless otherwise noted.
March 1
“Namour” — Written and Directed by Heidi Saman (Opens in Limited Release) (Available on Netflix March 15)
Steven Bassem (Karim Saleh) is a young man going nowhere. His job as a valet driver for a fashionable restaurant brings him into regular contact with LA’s moneyed elite and their expensive automobiles, but Steven can’t shake the feeling that his temporary gig is somehow turning into his future. When Steven’s mother (Mona Hala) announces that she’s selling the house — the only home Steven has ever known — because they can no longer afford it, Steven’s behavior starts to change in strange ways.
March 2
“Jasper Jones” — Directed by Rachel Perkins (Opens in Australia)
In the dead of night during the scorching summer of 1969, Charlie (Levi Miller) is startled when he is woken by local mixed-race outcast Jasper Jones (Aaron L. McGrath) outside his window. Jasper leads him deep into the forest and shows him something that will change his life forever, setting them both on a dangerous journey to solve a mystery that will consume the entire community. In an isolated town where secrecy, gossip, and tragedy overwhelm the landscape, Charlie faces family breakdown, finds his first love, and discovers what it means be truly courageous.
March 3
“Before I Fall” — Directed by Ry-Russo Young; Written by Maria Maggenti
What if you had only one day to change absolutely everything? Samantha Kingston (Zoey Deutch) has everything: the perfect friends, the perfect guy, and a seemingly perfect future. Then everything changes. After one fateful night, Sam wakes up with no future at all. Trapped reliving the same day over and over, she begins to question just how perfect her life really was. As she begins to untangle the mystery of a life suddenly derailed, she must also unwind the secrets of the people closest to her, and discover the power of a single day to make a difference, not just in her own life, but in the lives of those around her — before she runs out of time for good.
“The Last Laugh” (Documentary) — Directed by Ferne Pearlstein (Opens in NY; Opens in Toronto March 10; Opens in LA March 17)
Is the Holocaust funny? Director Ferne Pearlstein (“Sumo East and “West,” “Imelda”) doesn’t shy away from the taboo topic of humor, delving deep into pop culture to find out where to draw the line, and whether that is a desirable — or even possible — goal. “The Last Laugh” pairs clips from films, performances, and interviews with top comedians and prominent Jewish leaders (including Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman, Joan Rivers, Chris Rock, Abraham Foxman, Shalom Auslander, and Louis C.K.) with an intimate portrait of Auschwitz survivor Renee Firestone, and rare archival footage of cabarets in concentration camps. (Tribeca Film Festival)
“Burlesque: Heart of the Glitter Tribe” (Documentary)
“Burlesque: Heart of the Glitter Tribe” is a documentary feature about the passion and personalities at the heart of today’s new wave of burlesque. On stage and in candid conversation, 12 of today’s hottest performers reveal the naked truth about an exotic world where artifice is a route to authenticity and pretending to be someone else is the ultimate journey to becoming yourself. These burlesquers put it all on the line in performances that are sexy, funny, elegant, and outrageous — and they bare more than just their bodies as they discuss their artistic vision, their financial struggles, the misconceptions that infuriate them, and the community that sustains them.
“The Women’s Balcony” — Written by Shlomit Nechama (Opens in LA)
When the women’s balcony in an Orthodox synagogue collapses, leaving the rabbi’s wife in a coma and the rabbi in shock, the congregation falls into crisis. Charismatic young Rabbi David (Avraham Aviv Alush) appears to be a savior after the accident, but slowly starts pushing his fundamentalist ways and tries to take control. This tests the women’s friendships and creates an almost Lysistrata-type rift between the community’s women and men.
“Catfight” (Also Available on VOD)
Two former college friends, who now find themselves in very different walks of life, meet up at a fancy cocktail party. Veronica (Sandra Oh) has become the entitled, wine-loving wife of a rich businessman, while Ashley (Anne Heche), along with her lover, Lisa (Alicia Silverstone), struggles to make ends meet as an artist. As the two women reconnect, long-buried hostilities, jealousy, and anger explode into a vicious, bloody fight that leaves both of them battered and bruised.
“Viceroy’s House” — Directed by Gurinder Chadha; Co-Written by Moira Buffini (Opens in the UK)
After 300 years, British rule of India was coming to an end. For six months in 1947, Lord Mountbatten, great-grandson of Queen Victoria, assumed the post of the last Viceroy, charged with handing India back to its people. Mountbatten lived upstairs together with his wife and daughter. Downstairs lived their 500 Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh servants. As the political elite took their seats to wrangle over the birth of independent India, conflict erupted throughout the House and a catastrophic decision was taken with global repercussions. Partition — the decision to divide India and create the new Muslim homeland of Pakistan — led to the largest mass migration in human history.
“The Last Word”
In “The Last Word,” Shirley MacLaine is Harriet Lauler, a once successful businesswoman in tight control of every aspect of her life. As she reflects upon her accomplishments, she’s suddenly inspired to engage a young local writer, Anne Sherman (Amanda Seyfried), to pen her life’s story. When the initial result doesn’t meet Harriet’s high expectations, she sets out to reshape the way she is remembered, with Anne dragged along as an unwilling accomplice. As the journey unfolds, the two women develop a unique bond which alters not only Harriet’s legacy, but also Anne’s future.
“Lavender” (Also Available on VOD)
Abbie Cornish stars in this thriller as Jane, a photographer who is forced to come to terms with her mysterious and tragic past after a horrendous car accident robs her of her memory. Along with her husband (Diego Klattenhoff) and daughter, Jane returns to her childhood home and reconnects with her estranged uncle (Dermot Mulroney). To take control of her life, Jane must confront a mysterious lurking force and grapple with a past that continues to haunt her. (Tribeca Film Festival)
“Table 19”
Ex-maid of honor Eloise (Anna Kendrick) — having been relieved of her duties after being unceremoniously dumped by the best man via text — decides to hold her head up high and attend her oldest friend’s wedding anyway. She finds herself seated at the “random” table in the back of the ballroom with a disparate group of strangers, most of whom should have known to just send regrets. As everyone’s secrets are revealed, Eloise learns a thing or two from the denizens of Table 19. Friendships — and even a little romance — can happen under the most unlikely circumstances.
“The Institute” — Co-Directed by Pamela Romanowsky (Also Available on VOD)
In 19th century Baltimore, Isabel Porter (Allie Gallerani), stricken with grief from her parents’ untimely death, voluntarily checks herself into the Rosewood Institute. Subjected to bizarre and increasingly violent pseudo-scientific experiments in personality modification, brainwashing, and mind control, she must escape the clutches of the Rosewood and exact her revenge.
“Water & Power: A California Heist” (Documentary) — Directed by
Marina Zenovich (Opens in NY and LA)
“Water & Power: A California Heist” uncovers the alarming exploits of California’s most notorious water barons, who profit off of the state’s resources while everyday citizens, unincorporated towns, and small farmers endure debilitating water crises. The film peels back the layers of a manipulative, backroom rewrite of California’s water contracts in the 1990s, and investigates today’s rise of luxury crops and illicit water transfers, all in the face of record drought. As the divide between the water haves and have-nots grows, we face a humbling reality: water is the new oil, and as it becomes less accessible, it is rapidly growing more valuable.
“Fair Haven ”— Directed by Kerstin Karlhuber (Opens in LA) (Available on VOD March 7)
A young man (Michael Grant) returns to his family farm, after a long stay in ex-gay conversion therapy, and is torn between the expectations of his emotionally distant father (Tom Wopat), and the memories of a past, loving relationship he has tried to bury.
“Nakom” — Directed by T. W. Pittman and Kelly Daniela Norris; Co-Written by T. W. Pittman
An intimate narrative from northern Ghana, “Nakom” follows Iddrisu (Jacob Ayanaba), a talented medical student who returns to his home village after his father’s sudden death. Faced with a debt that could destroy his family, Iddrisu has no choice but to turn their farm and fortunes around. Over the course of a growing season, Iddrisu confronts both the tragedy and beauty of village life, and must finally choose between two very different futures.
“Kushuthara: Pattern of Love” — Written and Directed by Karma Deki (Also Available on VOD)
While on assignment to document traditional textile production, Charlie (Emrhys Cooper), a photographer from Los Angeles, finds himself in a small village high in the mountains of Eastern Bhutan. From the very first, Charlie has a strange feeling that he has been in the place before. While taking photographs, one girl in particular, Chomiko (Kezang Wangmo), catches his eye and he feels immediately drawn to her. Chokimo is a very skilled weaver, the best in the village, but she also embodies the memories of a past life. The relationship between the two becomes entangled and then untangled through realization of the causes and conditions that created it.
March 6
“Uncertain” (Documentary) — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Anna Sandilands (Opens in Limited Release) (Available on VOD March 17)
“Uncertain” is a visually stunning and disarmingly funny portrait of the literal and figurative troubled waters of Uncertain, Texas. In a 94-resident town so tucked away “you’ve got to be lost to find it,” three Uncertain men make their own bids for survival looking to find a more certain future. An ex-convict obsessed with Mr. Ed, a gigantic boar he hunts in order to stay on the straight and narrow. A young idealist with big plans but few prospects. An aging fisherman learning to let go of his youthful ways, and making peace with a fateful moment 30 years ago. All the while Uncertain’s vast, swampy lake is being choked by an aquatic weed, upsetting the natural balance and the town’s only source of livelihood.
March 10
“Brimstone” (Also Available on VOD)
“Brimstone” is a triumphant epic of survival and a tale of powerful womanhood and resistance. Our heroine is Liz (Dakota Fanning), carved from the beautiful wilderness, full of heart and grit, hunted by a vengeful preacher (Guy Pearce) — a diabolical zealot and her twisted nemesis. But Liz is a genuine survivor — a woman of fearsome strength who responds with astonishing bravery to claim the better life she and her daughter deserve.
“Kidnap”
A mother (Halle Berry) stops at nothing to recover her kidnapped son, causing multiple deaths and injuries along the way.
“Personal Shopper”
Olivier Assayas, the internationally-acclaimed director of “Clouds of Sils Maria” and “Summer Hours,” returns with this ethereal and mysterious ghost story starring Kristen Stewart as a high-fashion personal shopper to the stars who is also a spiritual medium. Grieving the recent death of her twin brother, she haunts his Paris home, determined to make contact with him.
“The Ottoman Lieutenant”
The first movie to explore the eastern front of World War I, “The Ottoman Lieutenant” tells the story of a beautiful, strong-willed woman (Hera Hilmar), who, frustrated by the ongoing injustice at home, leaves the United States after meeting Jude, an American doctor (Josh Hartnett) who runs a remote medical mission within the Ottoman Empire — a world both exotic and dangerous, and on the brink of what is about to become the first World War. There, she finds her loyalty to Jude and the mission’s founder (Ben Kingsley) tested when she falls in love with a lieutenant in the Ottoman Imperial Army (Michiel Huisman). Now, with invading army forces at their doorstep, and the world about to plunge into all-out war, she must decide if she wants to be what other people want her to be, or to be herself.
“Raw” — Written and Directed by Julia Ducournau (Opens in NY and LA)
Everyone in Justine’s (Garance Marillier) family is a vet. And a vegetarian. At 16, she’s a brilliant and promising student. When she starts at veterinary school, she enters a decadent, merciless, and dangerously seductive world. During the first week of hazing rituals, desperate to fit in whatever the cost, she strays from her family principals when she eats raw meat for the first time. Justine will soon face the terrible and unexpected consequences of her actions as her true self begins to emerge.
“This Beautiful Fantastic”
A contemporary fairy tale revolving around the unlikely of friendship between a reclusive young woman with dreams of being a children’s book author and a cantankerous widower, set against the backdrop of a beautiful garden in the heart of London. Bella Brown (Jessica Brown Findlay) is a beautifully quirky young woman who dreams of writing and illustrating a successful children’s book. When she is forced by her landlord to deal with her neglected garden or face eviction, she meets her nemesis, match, and mentor in Alfie Stephenson (Tom Wilkinson), a grumpy, loveless, rich old man who lives next door and happens to be an amazing horticulturalist.
“A Very Sordid Wedding”
It’s 2015, seventeen years after Peggy tripped over G.W.’s wooden legs and died in “Sordid Lives,” and life has moved into the present for the residents of Winters, Texas. Sissy Hickey (Dale Dickey) is reading the Bible, cover to cover, trying to make some kind of sense out of what it really says about gay people. Her niece Latrelle Williamson (Bonnie Bedelia) has divorced her husband, Wilson (Michael MacRae). Latrelle’s out and proud gay son Ty (Kirk Geiger) is on his way back to town with his man and news of their own. As the sordid saga continues, an anniversary memorial service is being planned at Bubba’s Bar while the Southside Baptist Church is planning an “Anti-Equality Rally” to protest the advancement of same-sex marriage. Both events are to take place on the same night, so the cast of colorful characters are all on a collision course for shenanigans and fireworks, and a surprise wedding!
“The Dark Below”
A woman (Lauren Mae Shafer) struggles for survival beneath a frozen lake while a serial killer stalks her from the surface.
March 17
“Beauty and the Beast”
Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” a live-action retelling of the studio’s animated classic, refashions the classic characters from the tale as old as time for a contemporary audience, staying true to the original music while updating the score with several new songs. “Beauty and the Beast” is the fantastic journey of Belle (Emma Watson), a bright, beautiful, and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a Beast (Dan Stevens) in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle’s enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast’s hideous exterior and realize the kind heart and soul of the true Prince within.
“13 Minutes” — Co-Written by Leonie-Claire Breinersdorfer
In November 1939, Georg Elser’s (Christian Friedel) attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler fails, and he is arrested. During his confinement, he recalls the events leading up to his plot and his reasons for deciding to take such drastic action.
“Atomica”
In the near future, when communications go offline at a remote nuclear power plant isolated in the desert, a young safety inspector, Abby Dixon (Sarah Habel), is forced to fly out to bring them back online. Once inside the facility, mysterious clues and strange behaviors cause Abby to have doubts about the sanity, and perhaps identities, of the two employees onsite.
March 21
“One Under the Sun” — Co-Directed by Riyaana Hartley; Written by Katherine Tomlinson (Also Available on VOD)
Astronaut Kathryn Voss (Pooja Batra), sole survivor of a disastrous space mission, is desperate to reunite with her terminally ill daughter but becomes a fugitive when the government discovers she’s returned to Earth with an extraordinary gift.
March 22
“A Woman, a Part” — Written and Directed by Elisabeth Subrin (Opens in NY)
Anna Baskin (Maggie Siff), an exhausted, workaholic actress, abruptly extricates herself from a successful but mind-numbing TV role, returning to her past life in New York to reinvent herself.
March 24
“Prevenge” — Written and Directed Alice Lowe (Opens in NY and LA)
Widow Ruth (Alice Lowe) is seven months pregnant when, believing herself to be guided by her unborn baby, she embarks on a homicidal rampage, dispatching anyone who stands in her way.
“The Levelling” — Written and Directed by Hope Dickson Leach (Opens in LA)
Somerset, England. Trainee veterinarian Clover Catto (Ellie Kendrick) returns to the farm where she grew up after hearing news that her brother Harry (Joe Blakemore) has died in what appears to be a suicide. Finding the family home in a state of horrendous disrepair following the 2014 floods that devastated the area, Clover is forced to confront her father, Aubrey (David Troughton), about the farm, the livestock and, crucially, the details surrounding Harry’s death. Clover’s discoveries send her on an emotional journey of reckoning with her family, her childhood, and herself.
“Dig Two Graves” (Also Available on VOD)
“Dig Two Graves” tells the story of a young girl’s obsession with the death of her brother, taking her on a nightmarish journey where she must a face a deadly proposition to bring him back. In her feature film debut, Samantha Isler gives a heart-wrenching, frightening, and physically demanding performance as young Jake Mather, struggling to keep her fractured family together. Ted Levine delivers one of the most riveting portrayals of his career as Sheriff Waterhouse, a flawed man torn between good and evil, trying to walk a fine line as a protective grandfather, ruthless sheriff, and accomplice to a murder.
“I, Olga Hepnarová”
Michalina Olszanska portrays an unstable, neglected young woman who commits an unconscionable crime in the dark biopic based on a true crime story. The film follows the titular character, an angry, misunderstood woman struggling with her sexuality, from her adolescence to the murders she committed at age 22, a crime she attributes to the nearly constant mistreatment and alienation she was subjected to throughout her life.
“The Last Face” — Written by Erin Dignam
“The Last Face” centers on the love affair that blossoms between the director of an international aid organization (Charlize Theron) and a relief-aid doctor (Javier Bardem) amid the horrors of war-torn Liberia. Although they both care deeply about saving lives, their love is tested not only by the grim situation they find themselves in, but also by a difference of opinion on how to solve the conflict.
March 28
“Peelers” — Written by Lisa DeVita
What starts out as the last hurrah on the closing night of an infamous small-town strip club quickly turns into a night of bloodshed when a crew of coal miners shows up with a deadly contaminant. Former baseball player and current club owner Blue Jean Douglas (Wren Walker) has decided to hand over her bar to a new owner and leave town for good, but her plans are thwarted when she discovers the magnitude of the unleashed epidemic. With victims piling up, Blue Jean must step up to the plate to protect her family, her friends, and her bar before it’s too late and she loses everything she holds dear.
March 29
“Karl Marx City” (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Petra Epperlein (Opens in NY)
Invasions of our privacy have become widespread, with hidden cameras, hacked phones, and leaked emails. Perhaps there are lessons to be learned from the most surveilled society in history, the German Democratic Republic. By its collapse in 1989, the state fielded 92,000 officers and had used perhaps 500,000 informants to report on its citizens over the previous four decades. This eerily fascinating, highly personal film transports us back to the GDR during those Cold War years, when the capacity to trust one’s neighbors was systematically eroded. (Toronto International Film Festival)
March 31
“The Blackcoat’s Daughter” (Also Available on DirecTV)
A deeply atmospheric and terrifying new horror film, “The Blackcoat’s Daughter” centers on Kat (Kiernan Shipka) and Rose (Lucy Boynton), two girls who are left alone at their prep school, Bramford, over winter break when their parents mysteriously fail to pick them up. While the girls experience increasingly strange and creepy occurrences at the isolated school, we cross cut to another story — that of Joan (Emma Roberts), a troubled young woman on the road, who, for unknown reasons, is determined to get to Bramford as fast as she can. As Joan gets closer to the school, Kat becomes plagued by progressively intense and horrifying visions, with Rose doing her best to help her new friend as she slips further and further into the grasp of an unseen evil force.
“Here Alone” (Also Available on VOD)
Deep in New York’s upstate wilderness, Ann (Lucy Walters), a young woman in her late 20s, struggles to survive after a mysterious epidemic decimates society. On the constant brink of starvation, Ann leads an isolated and regimented life. Haunted by memories of her past she also battles the current bloodthirsty threat that lurks just outside of the forests borders. When her food stores run dangerously low Ann must make the desperate journey into a nearby town to forage for any remaining food. During one of these raids, a chance encounter brings Olivia (Gina Piersanti), a teenage girl, and her injured stepfather, Chris (Adam David Thompson), into Ann’s life and regimen of survival.
“Ghost in the Shell”
In the near future, Major (Scarlett Johansson) is the first of her kind — a human saved from a terrible crash, who is cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the world’s most dangerous criminals. When terrorism reaches a new level that includes the ability to hack into people’s minds and control them, Major is uniquely qualified to stop it. As she prepares to face a new enemy, Major discovers that she has been lied to: her life was not saved, it was stolen. She will stop at nothing to recover her past, find out who did this to her, and stop them before they do it to others.
“The Zookeeper’s Wife” — Directed by Niki Caro; Written by Angela Workman
The real-life story of one working wife and mother who became a hero to hundreds during World War II. In 1939 Poland, Antonina Żabińska (Jessica Chastain) and her husband, Dr. Jan Żabiński (Johan Heldenbergh), have the Warsaw Zoo flourishing under his stewardship and her care. When their country is invaded by the Germans, Jan and Antonina are stunned and forced to report to the Reich’s newly appointed chief zoologist, Lutz Heck (Daniel Brühl). To fight back on their own terms, the Żabińskis covertly begin working with the Resistance and put into action plans to save lives out of what has become the Warsaw Ghetto, with Antonina putting herself and even her children at great risk.
“God Knows Where I Am: The Story of Linda Bishop” (Documentary)
The body of a homeless woman is found in an abandoned New Hampshire farmhouse. Beside the body lies a diary that documents a journey of starvation and the loss of sanity, but told with poignancy, beauty, humor, and spirituality. For nearly four months, Linda Bishop, a prisoner of her own mind, survived on apples and rain water, waiting for God to save her, during one of the coldest winters on record. As her story unfolds from different perspectives, including her own, we learn about our systemic failure to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
“Carrie Pilby” — Directed by Susan Johnson; Written by Kara Holden (Opens in NY, LA, D.C. and Chicago) (Available on VOD April 4)
A person of high intelligence (Bel Powley) struggles to make sense of the world as it relates to morality, relationships, sex, and leaving her apartment.
“Step Sisters”
Jamilah (Megalyn Echikunwoke) has her whole life figured out. She’s the president of her black sorority, captain of their champion step dance crew, is student liaison to the college dean, and is on her way to Harvard Law School. She’s got it all, right? But when the hard-partying white girls from Sigma Beta Beta embarrass the school, Jamilah is ordered to come to the rescue. Her mission is to not only teach the rhythmically-challenged girls how to step dance, but to win the Steptacular, the most competitive of dance competitions.
“David Lynch: The Art Life” (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Olivia Neergaard-Holm
David Lynch takes us on an intimate journey through the formative years of his life. From his idyllic upbringing in small town America to the dark streets of Philadelphia, we follow Lynch as he traces the events that have helped to shape one of cinema’s most enigmatic directors. “David Lynch: The Art Life” infuses Lynch’s own art, music, and early films, shining a light into the dark corners of his unique world, giving audiences a better understanding of the man and the artist.
“For Here or to Go?” — Directed by Rucha Humnabadkar
An aspiring Indian tech entrepreneur (Ali Fazal) in the Silicon Valley finds himself unexpectedly battling the bizarre American immigration system to keep his dream alive or prepare to return home forever.
