Women’s History Month is chock-full of suspenseful thrillers and dark dramas featuring characters either seeking truth from others or harboring deep secrets of their own. We’ll be welcoming spring with an eclectic mix of murder mysteries, romances gone awry, and women desperate to find their places in the world.
Kim Farrant’s “The Weekend Away” (March 3) stars “Gossip Girl” alumna Leighton Meester as a woman accused of killing her best friend while on vacation. Meanwhile, Mimi Cave’s “Fresh” (March 4) sees “Normal People” breakout Daisy Edgar-Jones fighting for her life after a dreamy meet-cute takes a sinister turn.
A Best Film nominee at the upcoming Irish Film and TV Academy Awards, Rachel Carey’s “Deadly Cuts” (March 11) is a black comedy that follows unlikely vigilantes from a Dublin hair salon. Their targets? Gang members and gentrifiers.
History meets surreality in Keke Palmer-starrer “Alice” (March 18). Krystin Ver Linden’s Sundance thriller follows an enslaved woman on a rural Georgia plantation who escapes captivity – only to find that the year is actually 1973. Mariama Diallo’s “Master,” another genre pic dealing with racism that premiered at Sundance, is being released the same day. The supernatural story sees three women reckoning with their elite college’s prejudicial history.
While the existential dread is palpable in many of these upcoming films, there are plenty of lighter comedies and uplifting documentaries to balance the dramatic intensity. Another “Cheaper by the Dozen” remake (March 18) brings family-friendly humor with a contemporary flare for adult audiences who may remember the 2005 Steve Martin-Bonnie Hunt remake with nostalgia. Gabrielle Union and Zach Braff star as two parents of a blended family in the comedy helmed by Gail Lerner. For a good popcorn romp, Sandra Bullock leads a star-studded cast as a disillusioned, reclusive novelist in the zany action-comedy “The Lost City” (March 25).
Directed by Amy Poehler, “Lucy and Desi” (March 4) pays tribute to “I Love Lucy’s” Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The highly anticipated documentary explores the unlikely comedic power couple’s meteoric rise. Other docs to look forward to include “Calendar Girl” (March 8), which showcases Ruth Finley’s iconic fashion career, and Charlotte Gainsbourg’s “Jane by Charlotte” (March 18), which sees the French actress and singer reflecting on her relationship with another artist, her mother, Jane Birkin.
Indeed, the nuances of mother-daughter relationships take center stage this month, with varying degrees of light-hearted humor and life-altering magnitude. In “Turning Red” (March 11), written and directed by Domee Shi, a dorky teen is caught in the convergence of chaotic adolescence and her overbearing mother’s clinginess. Sandra Oh voices a character in the animated film. The “Killing Eve” actress also stars in Iris K. Shim’s chilling horror pic “Umma” (March 18), named after the Korean word for “mother,” as an American farmer whose estranged mother arrives from Korea and disrupts her otherwise quiet life. Kate Dolan’s “You Are Not My Mother” (March 25) is an equally unsettling supernatural story of a woman whose bedridden mother goes missing right before Halloween. She returns shortly afterward, and while she looks and sounds the same, it’s clear that something is deeply wrong with the family’s matriarch. Like “Deadly Cuts,” “You Are Not My Mother” is also up for honors at the Irish Film and TV Academy Awards.
Here are the women-centric, women-directed, and women-written films debuting in March. All descriptions are from press materials unless otherwise noted.
March 3
“The Weekend Away” – Directed by Kim Farrant; Written by Sarah Alderson (Available on Netflix)
A weekend getaway to Croatia goes awry when a woman (Leighton Meester) is accused of killing her best friend (Christina Wolfe), and her efforts to get to the truth uncover a painful secret.
March 4
“Lucy and Desi” (Documentary) – Directed by Amy Poehler (Available on Prime Video)
“Lucy and Desi” explores the unlikely partnership and enduring legacy of one of the most prolific power couples in entertainment history. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz risked everything to be together. Their love for each other led to the most influential show in the history of television, “I Love Lucy.”
“Fresh” – Directed by Mimi Cave; Written by Lauryn Kahn (Available on Hulu)
“Fresh”
When Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) meets the alluring Steve (Sebastian Stan) at a grocery store — given her frustration with dating apps — she takes a chance and gives him her number. After their first date, Noa is smitten and accepts Steve’s invitation to a romantic weekend getaway — only to find that her new paramour has been hiding some unusual appetites.
“Magdalena Viraga” (Restoration) – Directed by Nina Menkes (At BAM in NYC)
Shot in the bars and seedy hotels of East LA, this early feature from Nina Menkes explores the inner life of a prostitute imprisoned for killing her pimp. The director’s sister and frequent collaborator Tinka Menkes brilliantly portrays the emotionally frozen protagonist on a circular inner journey, as she battles the walls which surround her — both material and psychic.
“The Bloody Child” (Restoration) – Directed by Nina Menkes (At BAM in NYC)
A young U.S. Marine, recently back from the Gulf War, was found digging a grave for his murdered wife in the middle of the California Mojave. Inspired by this real event, Nina Menkes turns the man’s arrest — a single moment in time — into a harrowing hallucinatory journey. Shot in North Africa and 29 Palms, California, “The Bloody Child” brings together Marines from Operation Desert Storm, playing themselves, with text from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” to create a brutal and profound look at the desolation of violence.
“Asking for It” (In Theaters and Available on VOD)
After a small-town waitress (Kiersey Clemons) is sexually assaulted on a date, she meets Regina (Alexandra Shipp) and Beatrice (Vanessa Hudgens) and is recruited into their vigilante group of badass women. Together they strive to take down a society overpowered by corrupt men and seek the ultimate revenge while getting their own version of justice.
“Huda’s Salon” (In Theaters and Available on VOD)
Reem (Maisa Abd Elhadi), a young mother married to a jealous man, goes to Huda’s (Manal Awad) salon in Bethlehem. But this ordinary visit turns sour when Huda, after having put Reem in a shameful situation, blackmails her to have her work for the secret service of the occupiers, and thus betray her people.
“Adventures in Success” (In Theaters)
Led by a mystical female founder, a cult masquerading as a wellness startup settles in the Catskills to build community and practice a ritual called Jilling Off. They believe that by prioritizing female pleasure they will heal Mother Earth. The group faces prejudice and bureaucracy from the local townspeople, and begin to question their own motives as they strive to manifest utopia.
March 8
“Calendar Girl” (Documentary) – Written by Natalie Nudell (Available on VOD)
Ruth Finley, a pocket-sized woman of immense determination, has been the queen of the fashion industry since the 1930s. As a young mother, Ruth created the iconic pink Fashion Calendar, a publication that continues to organize and marshal American fashion today. Featuring Bill Cunningham, Carolina Herrera, Nicole Miller, Diane von Furstenberg, and more, this joyous profile is a love letter to fashion and the extraordinary life of one remarkable woman.
March 11
“Turning Red” – Written and Directed by Domee Shi (Available on Disney+)
“Turning Red”
Mei Lee (Rosalie Chiang) is a confident, dorky 13-year-old torn between staying her mother’s dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. Her protective, if not slightly overbearing mother, Ming (Sandra Oh), is never far from her daughter — an unfortunate reality for the teenager. And as if changes to her interests, relationships, and body weren’t enough, whenever she gets too excited (which is practically always), she “poofs” into a giant red panda!
“Deadly Cuts” – Written and Directed by Rachel Carey (In Theaters and Available on VOD)
A black comedy set in a working-class Dublin hair salon where the stylists become accidental vigilantes and community heroes as they take on the gang members and gentrifiers threatening their community.
“Moon Manor” – Written and Directed by Machete Bang Bang and Erin Granat (In Limited Theaters)
Today is Jimmy’s (James “Jimmy” Carrozo) last day alive. He has advancing Alzheimer’s, so he’s decided to die like he has lived — with intention, humor, and zest. In his last day on Earth, he’ll show an obituary writer, his death doula, his estranged brother, his caretaker, a surreal being, and the guests at his fabulous FUN-eral, that perhaps the art of living is actually the art of dying.
“Playing in the FM Band: The Steve Post Story” (Documentary) – Directed by Rosemarie Reed (In Theaters)
Steve Post was an overweight, shy, Jewish kid born in the Bronx who had a complicated childhood. Eventually, he realized his dream at WBAI, became a cult radio personality who innovated in “free form” radio, and helped many other youthful aspirants find their voices and realize their radio dreams.
“I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing” (Restoration) – Written and Directed by Patricia Rozema (In Limited Theaters)
A charming, whimsical story about a waifish daydreamer with artistic aspirations. Structured around a video-recorded confession, Patricia Rozema’s fanciful character study follows Polly (comedian Sheila McCarthy), an aspiring photographer who lands a job at a Toronto art gallery run by Gabrielle (Paule Baillargeon), who is also a painter. Polly is impressed with Gabrielle’s paintings, but as Polly gets to know Gabrielle’s lover Mary (Ann-Marie MacDonald) and becomes entangled in their lives, she realizes Gabrielle isn’t exactly who she appears to be.
March 18
“Alice” – Written and Directed by Krystin Ver Linden (In Theaters)
“Alice”: Vertical Entertainment
Alice (Keke Palmer) yearns for freedom as an enslaved person on a rural Georgia plantation under its brutal and disturbed owner Paul (Jonny Lee Miller). After a violent clash with Paul, she flees through the neighboring woods and stumbles onto the unfamiliar sight of a highway, soon discovering the year is actually 1973. Rescued on the roadside by a disillusioned political activist named Frank (Common), Alice quickly comprehends the lies that have kept her in bondage and the promise of Black liberation.
“Master” – Written and Directed by Mariama Diallo (In Theaters and Available on Prime Video)
At an elite New England university built on the site of a Salem-era gallows hill, three black women (Regina Hall, Zoe Renee, and Amber Grey) strive to find their place. Navigating politics and privilege, they encounter increasingly terrifying manifestations of the school’s haunted past and present.
“Jane By Charlotte” (Documentary) – Directed Charlotte Gainsbourg (In Theaters)
Charlotte Gainsbourg looks at her mother Jane Birkin in a way she never did, overcoming a sense of reserve. Using a camera lens, they expose themselves to each other, begin to step back, leaving space for a mother-daughter relationship.
“More than Robots” (Documentary) – Directed by Gillian Jacobs (Available on Disney+)
“More Than Robots”: Disney+
“More than Robots” follows four teams of teenagers from around the world as they prepare for the 2020 FIRST Robotics Competition. Get to know teams from Los Angeles, Mexico City, and Chiba, Japan as they work towards the goal of taking their unique designs all the way to the highly competitive global championships. Although they are faced with overcoming challenges along the way, such as having limited resources within their community or putting everything on hold because of a world-wide pandemic, the kids persevere and learn that there is a lot more to the competition than just robots.
“Cheaper by the Dozen” – Directed by Gail Lerner; Written by Jenifer Rice-Genzuk Henry and Kenya Barris (Available on Disney+)
The raucous exploits of a blended family of 12, the Bakers, as they navigate a hectic home life while simultaneously managing their family business.
“Umma” – Written and Directed by Iris K. Shim (In Theaters)
Umma, which is the Korean word for “mother,” follows Amanda (Sandra Oh) and her daughter living a quiet life on an American farm, but when the remains of her estranged mother arrive from Korea, Amanda becomes haunted by the fear of turning into her own mother.
“The Hater” – Written and Directed by Joey Ally (In Limited Theaters)
After a political protest goes wrong, Dorothy (Joey Ally), a liberal speechwriter on a U.S. Senate campaign, finds herself unemployed and living back in her conservative Texas hometown with her estranged grandfather (Bruce Dern). Dorothy soon learns that her childhood nemesis, Brent (Ian Harding), is running for office as the sole Republican candidate. Determined to thwart him at any cost, Dorothy creates an elaborate payback scheme with the help of an old frenemy turned campaign manager, Greta (Meredith Hagner): she’ll go undercover to run as his conservative opponent, win the nomination, and then employ a Texas loophole that would force a win for the Democratic candidate. Immersed in the campaign, Dorothy gets closer to victory, only to discover that good vs. evil isn’t necessarily as simple as left vs. right. (Movie Insider)
March 25
“Mothering Sunday” – Directed by Eva Husson; Written by Alice Birch (In Theaters)
“Mothering Sunday”
On a warm spring day in 1924, house maid and foundling Jane Fairchild (Odessa Young) finds herself alone on Mother’s Day. Her employers, Mr. and Mrs. Niven (Colin Firth and Olivia Colman), are out and she has the rare chance to spend quality time with her secret lover. Paul (Josh O’Connor) is the boy from the manor house nearby, Jane’s long-term love despite the fact that he’s engaged to be married to another woman, a childhood friend and daughter of his parents’ friends. But events that neither can foresee will change the course of Jane’s life forever.
“You Are Not My Mother” – Written and Directed by Kate Dolan (In Theaters and Available on VOD)
It’s the week before Halloween. Char’s (Hazel Doupe) bedridden mother, Angela (Carolyn Bracken), has mysteriously gone missing. All that remains is her abandoned car parked in the middle of a field. When Angela returns home to their North Dublin estate the following evening without explanation, it becomes clear to Char and her grandmother, Rita (Ingrid Craigie), that something is amiss. She might look and sound the same, but Angela’s behavior has become increasingly erratic and frightening, as if she has been replaced by a malevolent force. As Halloween approaches, a night steeped in ancient Irish myth and legend, Char must unearth the dark secrets of her family in order to uncover the truth behind her mother’s disappearance and save her, even if it means potentially losing her forever.
“The Lost City” – Written by Dana Fox, Oren Uziel, Adam Nee, and Aaron Nee (In Theaters)
Brilliant but reclusive author Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) has spent her career writing about exotic places in her popular romance-adventure novels featuring handsome cover model Alan (Channing Tatum), who has dedicated his life to embodying the hero character, “Dash.” While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta is kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire who hopes that she can lead him to the ancient lost city’s treasure from her latest story. Wanting to prove that he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, Alan sets off to rescue her. Thrust into an epic jungle adventure, the unlikely pair will need to work together to survive the elements and find the ancient treasure before it’s lost forever.
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (In Theaters)
“Everything Everywhere All At Once”: A24
An aging Chinese immigrant (Michelle Yeoh) is swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save the world by exploring other universes connecting with the lives she could have led.
“Superior” – Directed by Erin Vassilopoulos (In Theaters)
When Marian is on the run, she goes to the only place she knows is safe: her childhood home. She is greeted by her estranged sister, Vivian, a stay-at-home housewife struggling to conceive and on the verge of a failing marriage. Though the two are identical twins, they live opposite lives. Marian’s mysterious return disrupts Vivian’s small-town routine, and the sisters must learn to reconnect and reconcile. When Marian’s haunting past finally catches up to her, their separate worlds collide, catapulting both sisters into grave danger.
“Infinite Storm” – Directed by Małgorzata Szumowska (In Theaters)
As an experienced climber (Naomi Watts) ascends Mt. Washington, she turns back before she reaches the summit as a huge blizzard approaches. But on her way down, she encounters a lone, stranded man, and takes it upon herself to get them both down the mountain before nightfall arrives and they succumb to the storm. Based on a true story.
March 31
“Night’s End” – Directed by Jennifer Reeder (Available on Shudder)
An anxious shut-in moves into a haunted apartment, hiring a stranger to perform an exorcism which quickly takes a horrific turn.
