Weekly Update for February 24: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You

Films About Women Opening This Week

The Girl with All the Gifts (Also Available on VOD)

A group of children is detained in a military base because they have proved immune to a terrible disease which threatens to wipe out the humanity. Despite having the urge to consume human flesh, the children are still able to experience emotions, and they are the precious resource from which biologist Dr. Caldwell (Glenn Close) hopes to develop a vaccine. One of the children, Melanie (Sennia Nanua), is particularly intelligent and has struck up a rapport with their teacher, Miss Justineau (Gemma Arterton). When the base is attacked by zombies, the group is forced to set out on a terrible journey across the devastated UK and Melanie turns from a prisoner to an invaluable guide. (Press materials)

VooDoo (Also Available on VOD)

“VooDoo” tells the story of an innocent southern girl, Dani (Samantha Stewart), vacationing in Los Angeles to evade her increasingly complicated life. Once Dani arrives in Los Angeles, she learns that trying to escape her past is not as easy as she had hoped. (Press materials)

Year by the Sea (Opens in Florida)

After 30 years as a wife and mother, an empty nester (Karen Allen) retreats to Cape Cod rather than follow her relocated husband (Michael Cristofer) to Kansas. Intent to rediscover herself but plagued with guilt, she questions her decision until stumbling upon a spirited mentor (Celia Imrie). Supported by her literary agent (S. Epatha Merkerson) and a host of locals, including a sexy fisherman (Yannick Bisson), our heroine learns to embrace the ebb and flow of life — ultimately discovering the balance between self and sacrifice, obligation, and desire. Based on the New York Times-bestselling memoir by Joan Anderson. (Press materials)

Films About Women Currently Playing

XX (Anthology) — Directed by Roxanne Benjamin, Sofia Carrillo, Karyn Kusama, Annie Clark (St. Vincent), and Jovanka Vuckovic; Co-Written by Roxanne Benjamin and Jovanka Vuckovic (Also Available on VOD)
Lovesong — Co-Written and Directed by So Yong Kim
Everybody Loves Somebody — Written and Directed by Catalina Aguilar Mastretta
American Fable — Written and Directed by Anne Hamilton (Also Available on VOD)
Fanny’s Journey — Directed by Lola Doillon; Written by Lola Doillon and Anne Peyregne
My Name is Emily
Speed Sisters (Documentary) — Directed by Amber Fares (Opens in NY) (Also Available on VOD)
Rings
The Lure — Directed by Agnieszka Smoczynska
Sophie and the Rising Sun — Written and Directed by Maggie Greenwald (Also Available on VOD)
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
20th Century Women
Underworld: Blood Wars — Directed by Anna Foerster
Hidden Figures — Co-Written by Allison Schroeder
Toni Erdmann — Written and Directed by Maren Ade
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Julieta
Jackie
Moana — Co-Written by Pamela Ribon
Arrival
Elle
The Eagle Huntress
The Handmaiden
The Love Witch — Written and Directed by Anna Biller

Films Directed by Women Opening This Week

Kiki (Documentary) — Co-Written and Directed by Sara Jordenö (Opens in LA; Opens in NY March 1) (Also Available on VOD)

Twenty-five years after “Paris is Burning,” we dive back into the fierce world of voguing battles in the Kiki scene of New York City, where competition between Houses demands leadership, painstaking practice, and performances on point. This film collaboration between Kiki gatekeeper Twiggy Pucci Garçon and Swedish filmmaker Sara Jordenö grants exclusive access into this high stakes world, where tough competitions act as a gateway into the daily lives of LGBTQ youth of color in NYC. The new generation of ballroom youth use the motto, “Not About Us Without Us.” Twiggy and Sara’s insider-outsider approach to their stories breathes fresh life into the representation of a marginalized community who demand visibility and real political power. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Sara Jordenö.

Find screening info here.

Jasper Jones — Directed by Rachel Perkins (Opens in Australia March 2)

In the dead of night during the scorching summer of 1969, Charlie (Levi Miller, “Pan”) 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. (Press materials)

Films Directed by Women Currently Playing

Kedi (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Ceyda Torun
A United Kingdom — Directed by Amma Asante
The Bye Bye Man — Directed by Stacy Title

Films Written by Women Opening This Week

My Life as a Zucchini — Written by Céline Sciamma (Opens in LA and NY)

After his mother disappears, a young boy (Gaspard Schlatter) is sent to a foster home with other orphans his age where he begins to learn the meaning of trust and true love. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

As You Are — Co-Written by Madison Harrison (Opens in NY)

Set in the early 1990s, “As You Are” unfolds as a series of alternating perspectives of pivotal moments in the relationship between three teenage friends. Bound by their aversion to the culture around them, Jack (Owen Campbell) and Mark (Charlie Heaton) explore the limits of friendship and love until Mark’s judgmental father tears them apart. Just as Jack and Sarah (Amandla Stenberg) are adjusting to life without Mark, he gets unexpectedly thrown back into their lives. The two boys struggle to navigate complex emotions that are compounded by the disapproval they feel from all around. Ultimately, tensions rise to a boiling point, and tragedy echoes through their world. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Films Written by Women Currently Playing

From Nowhere — Co-Written by Kate Ballen
A Dog’s Purpose — Written by Cathryn Michon
The Red Turtle — Co-written by Pascale Ferran
Sleepless — Co-Written by Andrea Berloff
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them — Written by J.K. Rowling

TV Premieres This Week

The High Court — Directed by Sharon Everitt (Premieres February 27 on Comedy Central)

Join Doug Benson as he presides over actual courtroom arguments. The catch? Judge Doug makes all his rulings while extremely high. After hearing both sides, Doug smokes up with a guest bailiff and deliberates. (And yes, this is legal. Somehow.) (Press materials)

VOD/DVD Releasing This Week

I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore (Netflix, February 24)
All We Had — Directed by Katie Holmes; Co-Written by Jill Killington (DVD/VOD, February 28)
Deserted — Written and Directed by Ashley Avis (VOD, February 28)
Kate Plays Christine (Documentary) (DVD, February 28)
London Road — Written by Alecky Blythe (DVD/VOD, February 28)
Shut In — Written by Christina Hodson (DVD/VOD, February 28)
Us, Naked: Trixie and Monkey (Documentary) — Directed by Kirsten D’Andrea Hollander (DVD/VOD, February 28)

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