Films About Women Opening This Week
The Age of Adaline
The best reason to watch “The Age of Adaline,” a romance starring Blake Lively as a lonely woman who can’t age past 29, is the actress’s interactions with her onscreen child, the octogenarian Ellen Burstyn. In my review for The Wrap, I wrote, “Lively [playing a 107-year-old] is perhaps the best she’s ever been here. Speaking with natural authority and clipped, postwar elocution, Lively makes us believe that she’s Burstyn’s parent in the delightfully bizarre conversations between the twentysomething mother and the eightysomething daughter as they discuss dating and death.” (Inkoo Kang)
Helicopter Mom — Directed by Salomé Breziner
An overbearing mom (Nia Vardalos) decides that college would be more affordable if her son were to win a LGBT scholarship, so she outs him to his entire high school. However, he might not be gay. (Rotten Tomatoes)
See You In Valhalla (Available On Demand)
Sarah Hyland (“Modern Family”) stars in this family dramedy about the tensions that lie just beneath the surface, waiting for a tipping point. For the Burwood family, that moment comes when one of their own dies under strange circumstances. Johana Burwood comes back home to deal with the fallout and encounters members of her family in comedic and strained ways. Exploring the dynamic of dysfunctional families and secrets coming to light, “See You In Valhalla” is a portrait of a different kind of modern family, one that may resonate deeper than sitcom fare. (Becca Rose)
Iris (doc) (Opening in New York City on April 29)
“Iris” pairs legendary 87-year-old documentarian Albert Maysles with Iris Apfel, the quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed 93-year-old style maven who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades. More than a fashion film, the documentary is a story about creativity and how, even in Iris’ dotage, a soaring free spirit continues to inspire. “Iris” portrays a singular woman whose enthusiasm for fashion, art and people are life’s sustenance and reminds us that dressing, and indeed life, is nothing but an experiment. Despite the abundance of glamour in her current life, she continues to embrace the values and work ethic established during a middle-class Queens upbringing during the Great Depression. (Press Materials)
Films About Women Currently Playing
Félix & Meira
Alex of Venice — Co-Written by Jessica Goldberg and Katie Nehra (Available on VOD)
Monkey Kingdom
The Sisterhood of Night — Directed by Caryn Waechter and Written by Marilyn Fu
Clouds of Sils Maria
Effie Gray — Written by Emma Thompson
About Elly
Woman in Gold
52 Tuesdays — Directed and Co-Written by Sophie Hyde
A Girl Like Her — Written and Directed by Amy S. Weber
A Wolf at the Door
Dial A Prayer — Directed by Maggie Kiley
Backcountry
The Divergent Series: Insurgent
Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Cinderella — Co-Written by Aline Brosh McKenna
It Follows
Fifty Shades of Grey — Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson; Written by Kelly Marcel
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Ronit Elkabetz
Still Alice
Films Directed by Women Opening This Week
Just Before I Go — Directed by Courteney Cox
Ted Morgan (Seann William Scott) has been treading water for most of his life. After his wife leaves him, Ted realizes he has nothing left to live for. Summoning the courage for one last act, Ted decides to go home and face the people he feels are responsible for creating the shell of a person he has become. But life is tricky. The more determined Ted is to confront his demons, to get closure, and to withdraw from his family, the more Ted is yanked into the chaos of their lives. So, when Ted Morgan decides to kill himself, he finds a reason to live. (Press materials)
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Courteney Cox.
Films Directed by Women Currently Playing
The Road Within — Written and Directed by Gren Wells
Antarctic Edge: 70° South (doc) — Directed by Dena Seidel
The Human Experiment — Co-Directed by Dana Nachman
The Hand That Feeds (doc) — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Rachel Lears
Serena — Directed by Susanne Bier
Amour Fou — Directed by Jessica Hausner
McFarland, USA — Directed by Niki Caro; Co-Written by Bettina Gilois
Citizenfour (doc) — Directed by Laura Poitras
Films Written by Women Opening This Week
Adult Beginners — Co-Written by Liz Flahive (Simultaneously releasing to VOD)
A young hipster entrepreneur (Nick Kroll) crashes and burns on the eve of his company’s big launch. With his entire life in disarray, he leaves Manhattan to move in with his estranged pregnant sister (Rose Byrne), brother-in-law (Bobby Cannavale), and three-year-old nephew in the suburbs — only to become their manny. Faced with real responsibility, he may finally have to grow up — but not without some bad behavior first. (Press materials)
24 Days — Co-Written by Emilie Frèche
January 20, 2006: After dinner with his family, Ilan Halimi (Syrus Shahidi) gets a call from a beautiful girl who had approached him at work and makes plans to meet her for coffee. Ilan didn’t suspect a thing. He was 23 and had his whole life ahead of him. The next time Ilan’s family heard from him was through a cryptic online message from kidnappers demanding a ransom in exchange for their son’s life. (IMDB)
Films Written by Women Currently Playing
Cas & Dylan — Written by Jessie Gabe
Chappie — Co-Written by Terri Tatchell
VOD/DVD Releasing This Week
Little Accidents — Written and Directed by Sarah Coangelo
One Million Dubliners (doc) — Directed by Aoife Kelleher
Always Woodstock — Written and Directed by Rita Merson (April 28)
Above and Beyond — Directed by Roberta Grossman, Written by Sophie Sartain (April 28)
