Weekly Update for October 7: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You

Films About Women Opening This Week

The Girl on the Train — Written by Erin Cressida Wilson

Rachel (Emily Blunt), devastated by her recent divorce, spends her daily commute fantasizing about the seemingly perfect couple (Haley Bennett and Luke Evans) who live in a house that her train passes every day. That is until she sees something shocking happen there one morning and becomes entangled in the mystery that unfolds. “The Girl on the Train” is based on Paula Hawkins’ bestselling novel. (Press materials)

Friend Request

Laura (Alycia Debnam-Carey), a popular college girl, is very active on social media and shares almost everything in her life with her 800+ friends on Facebook. However, after accepting a friend request from an unknown girl named Marina, Laura becomes obsessed with Marina’s profile and her friends begin to die violently. (Press materials)

The Great Gilly Hopkins (Also Available on VOD)

A feisty foster kid’s outrageous scheme to be reunited with her birth mother has unintended consequences in “The Great Gilly Hopkins.” Gilly Hopkins (Sophie Nélisse) has seen more than her share of foster homes and has outwitted every family she has lived with. In an effort to escape her new foster mother, Mamie Trotter’s (Kathy Bates), endless loving care, Gilly concocts a plan that she believes will bring her mother running to her rescue. When the ploy blows up in Gilly’s face, it threatens to ruin the only chance she’s ever had to be part of a real family. (Press materials)

Under the Shadow (Also Available on VOD)

Shideh (Narges Rashidi) and her family live amid the chaos of the Iran-Iraq war, a period known as The War of the Cities. Accused of subversion by the post-Revolution government and blacklisted from medical college, she falls into a state of malaise. Her husband (Bobby Naderi) is drafted and sent to the front lines, leaving Shideh all alone to protect their young daughter, Dorsa (Avin Manshadi). Soon after he leaves, a missile hits their apartment building and, while failing to explode, a neighbor dies under mysterious circumstances and Dorsa’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic. Searching for answers, Shideh learns from a superstitious neighbor that the cursed missile might have brought with it Djinn — malevolent Middle Eastern spirits that travel through the wind. Convinced that a supernatural force within the building is attempting to possess Dorsa, Shideh has no choice but to confront it if she is to save her daughter and herself. (Press materials)

Films About Women Currently Playing

American Honey — Written and Directed by Andrea Arnold
Denial
The Blackcoat’s Daughter
Long Way North
Maximum Ride — Co-Written by Angelique Hanus
The Caretaker
Queen of Katwe — Directed by Mira Nair
The Dressmaker — Written and Directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse
Girl Asleep — Directed by Rosemary Myers
Sand Storm — Written and Directed by Elite Zexer
100 Years (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Melinda Janko (Opens in LA; Opens in NY October 14)
Bridget Jones’s Baby — Directed by Sharon Maguire; Co-Written by Helen Fielding and Emma Thompson
Is That a Gun in Your Pocket?
a beautiful now — Written and Directed by Daniela Amavia
As I Open My Eyes — Directed by Leyla Bouzid; Written by Leyla Bouzid and Marie-Sophie Chambon
Cameraperson (Documentary) — Directed by Kirsten Johnson
Author: The JT LeRoy Story (Documentary)
White Girl — Written and Directed by Elizabeth Wood
Morgan
Fatima
Mia Madre — Co-Written by Valia Santella
A Tale of Love and Darkness — Written and Directed by Natalie Portman
Ixcanul
Florence Foster Jenkins
My King (Mon Roi) — Co-Written and Directed by Maïwenn
Equity — Directed by Meera Menon; Written by Amy Fox
Bad Moms
Nerve — Written by Jessica Sharzer
Ghostbusters — Co-Written by Katie Dippold
Our Little Sister
The Innocents — Directed by Anne Fontaine; Co-Written by Anne Fontaine, Sabrina B. Karine, and Alice Vial
Finding Dory

Films Directed by Women Opening This Week

13th (Documentary) — Directed by Ava DuVernay (Also Available on Netflix)

The title of Ava DuVernay’s extraordinary and galvanizing documentary refers to the 13th Amendment, which reads “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.” The progression from that second qualifying clause to the horrors of mass criminalization and the sprawling American prison industry is laid out in this documentary. With a potent mixture of archival footage and testimony from an array of activists, politicians, historians, and formerly incarcerated women and men, “13th” is a work of grand historical synthesis. (Press materials)

Listen to Women and Hollywood’s podcast with Ava DuVernay.

Newtown (Documentary) — Directed by Kim A. Snyder (Opens in NY; Opens in LA October 14)

There are no easy answers in “Newtown” — no words of compassion or reassurance that can bring back the 20 children and six educators who lost their lives during the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Instead, we get a glimpse into the lives and homes of those who lost loved ones, and others in the community who have been indelibly changed by the events. Each person, be it a parent, school nurse, or state police officer, tries in their own way to make sense of their loss, as well as confront our nation’s inability to quell gun violence in even the most peaceful of communities. “Newtown” bears witness to their profound grief and allows it to reverberate within our collective conscience — exploring what happens to a community after it becomes the epicenter of a national discussion, and what it is left to cope with after the cameras leave. (Press materials)

By Sidney Lumet (Documentary) — Directed by Nancy Buirski

Film legend Sidney Lumet (1924–2011) tells his own story in a never-before-seen interview shot in 2008. With candor, humor, and grace, Lumet reveals what matters to him as an artist and as a human being. The documentary features clips from Lumet’s films — 44 made in 50 years — including “Serpico,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “12 Angry Men,” “Network,” and “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.” Filmmaker Nancy Buirski combines these elements to create a portrait of one of the most accomplished, influential, and socially conscious directors in the history of cinema. (Tribeca Film Festival)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Nancy Buirski.

37 — Written and Directed by Puk Grasten (Also Available on VOD)

“37” is inspired by a true story set in New York, 1964, where several neighbors witness the brutal murder and rape of Kitty Genovese and do not intervene. The film peeks into the lives of three disparate families, the lonely neighbor, and the doorman. The audience will understand their decisions not to act by understanding their day-to-day struggles. (Press materials)

All in Time — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Marina Donahue (Opens in NY and LA) (Also Available on VOD)

Charlie (Sean Modica) leaves a good job to follow his dream of managing his favorite hometown rock band. Believing the band will be famous in the future, he hatches a plan to throw a unique rock concert. His only problem is the band’s guitarist, who doesn’t share Charlie’s optimism. The guitarist’s attitude derails Charlie’s best efforts to bring the band success and sends Charlie spiraling into an emotional, financial, and romantic tailspin. With the help of his elderly neighbor and a young intern, Charlie tries to get the band — and his life — back on track before it’s too late. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Silver Skies — Written and Directed by Rosemary Rodriguez (Opens in Florida)

A group of eccentric retirees’ lives are turned upside down when their beloved apartment complex is suddenly sold out from under them. Starring George Hamilton, Valerie Perrine, Alex Rocco, Jack McGee, Barbara Bain, Mariette Hartley, Jack Betts, Howard Hesseman, Heather McComb, Micah Hauptman. (Press materials).

Find screening info here.

What’s Revenge — Directed by Kat Hunt (Opens in NY October 8)

Innovative new docu-fiction “What’s Revenge” by interdisciplinary artist and director Kat Hunt adapts elements from 70’s pulp revenge cinema to address the problems and pitfalls of relationships in the modern age. The film uses a blend of staged reenactments of real events and fictionalized scenarios inspired by the lived experiences of the cast and crew. A feminist piece of genre-bending film, made by an entirely female production team, Hunt plays the chief provocateur in a story of two friends seeking to explain the reason behind the injustices inflicted upon them by the men in their lives. Hunt’s character makes a personal mission of revisiting these indignities upon “the men” in question, on a mission to take their power back in the process. By using non-actors and their stories throughout, Hunt crafts a complex and comedic take on relationships and filmmaking. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

The Red Pill (Documentary) — Directed by Cassie Jaye (Opens in NY; Opens in LA October 14)

When feminist filmmaker Cassie Jaye sets out to document the mysterious and polarizing world of the Men’s Rights Movement, she begins to question her own beliefs. Jaye had only heard about the Men’s Rights Movement as being a misogynist hate-group aiming to turn back the clock on women’s rights, but when she spends a year filming its leaders and followers, she learns the various ways men are disadvantaged and discriminated against. “The Red Pill” challenges the audience to pull back the veil, question societal norms, and expose themselves to an alternate perspective on gender equality, power, and privilege. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Films Directed by Women Currently Playing

Among the Believers (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Hemal Trivdei
The Last Film Festival — Co-Written and Directed by Linda Yellen
My Blind Brother — Written and Directed by Sophie Goodhart (Also Available on VOD)
Generation Startup (Documentary) — Directed by Cheryl Miller Houser and Cynthia Wade
Chicken People (Documentary) — Directed by Nicole Lucas Haimes

Films Written by Women Opening This Week

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life — Co-Written by Kara Holden

Imaginative, quiet teenager Rafe Katchadorian (Griffin Gluck) is tired of his middle school’s obsession with the rules at the expense of any and all creativity. Desperate to shake things up, Rafe and his best friends have come up with a plan: break every single rule in the school and let the students run wild. (Press materials)

Being 17 — Co-Written by Céline Sciamma (Opens in NY)

Unfolding over four seasons in the arresting, mountainous setting of the French Pyrénées, “Being 17” is the story of Damien (Kacey Mottet Klein) and Thomas (Corentin Fila), two French teenagers from very different upbringings who go to the same high school but are constantly fighting. When family circumstances inspire Damien’s mother, Marianne (Sandrine Kiberlain), to invite Thomas to live with them, the young men are forced to coexist and work through their emerging and complicated desires. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Films Written by Women Currently Playing

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children — Written by Jane Goldman
Masterminds — Co-Written by Emily Spivey
Milton’s Secret — Co-Written by Sara B. Cooper
Mr. Church — Written by Susan McMartin
Nine Lives — Co-Written by Gwyn Lurie
The BFG — Written by Melissa Mathison

TV Premieres This Week

35 and Single (Short Documentary) — Written and Directed by Paula Schargodorosky (Premieres October 8 on Univision) (Also Available on VOD October 9)

As an Argentine and Jewish woman, writer/director Paula Schargodorosky tackles the issue of marriage — it’s acceptable to do what you want in your 20s but in your 30s, women feel society’s pressure to marry. Schargodorosky wonders why “female freedom has an expiration date.” This documentary takes a look at her relationships, beginning an intimate investigation into her search for love and answers: must she settle down or can she continue to be a free spirit in order to be happy? (Press materials)

Divorce — Created by Sharon Horgan (Series Premieres October 9 on HBO)

Maybe it’s just that Sharon Horgan’s caustic dialogue sounds better in her own Irish accent. Maybe it’s too soon after “The Affair” to watch another well-off couple duking it out in an ugly split. Whatever the reason, HBO’s new dark comedy “Divorce” fails to measure up to the high bar set by its creator’s previous relationship-centric project, the acidly funny Amazon Prime series “Catastrophe.”

Sarah Jessica Parker returns to her “Sex and the City” network in the role of Frances, an unhappily-married mother of two in upstate New York. A ridiculous amount of press has been devoted to explaining that she’s not playing Carrie Bradshaw, which is obvious, because the character’s name is different and pretty much everything about her is different and that show ended over a decade ago so can we please move on?

Anyway, Frances pays the bills as an executive recruiter while her husband Robert (Thomas Haden Church) is getting his renovation business up and running, but she yearns to open an art gallery in their small Hudson Valley town. More than that, she yearns not to be married to Robert, and has been having an affair with a college professor who is, delightfully, played by Jemaine Clement (“Flight of the Conchords”). (Sara Stewart)

Read Women and Hollywood’s review of “Divorce.”

Insecure — Co-Created by Issa Rae (Series Premieres October 9 on HBO)

Two black women (Issa Rae and Yvonne Orji) who are best friends navigate the pitfalls of their personal and professional lives in south Los Angeles. (Press materials)

Freakish — Created by Beth Szymkowski (Series Premieres October 10 on Hulu)

A group of high schoolers struggles against predatory mutants who have taken over their town after a chemical plant meltdown. (Press materials)

Suite Francaise (Film) (Premieres October 10 on Lifetime)

In Nazi-occupied France, Lucille Angellier (Michelle Williams) waits for news of her husband, along with her domineering mother-in-law (Kristin Scott Thomas). When a regiment of German soldiers arrive in the town, they soon move into the villagers’ homes. Lucille tries to ignore Bruno (Matthias Schoenaerts), the German commander who has been posted at her house, but she soon falls in love with him. (Press materials)

American Housewife — Created by Sarah Dunn (Series Premieres October 11 on ABC)

Katie Otto (Katy Mixon), a confident, unapologetic wife and mother of three, raises her flawed family in the wealthy town of Westport, Connecticut, filled with “perfect” mommies and their “perfect” offspring. Katie’s perfectly imperfect world is upended when her neighbor’s decision to move notches her up from her ideal social standing and sets her on a path to ensure that doesn’t happen, regardless of the consequences. (Press materials)

Falling Water — Co-Created by Gale Anne Hurd (Series Premieres October 13 on USA)

An intersection between reality and unconscious thought, “Falling Water” is the story of three unrelated people, who slowly realize that they are dreaming separate parts of a single common dream. Each is on a quest for something that can only be found in their subconscious. However, as they begin to use the dream world as a tool to advance their hidden agendas, they realize that their visions are trying to tell them something more and that their real lives are at stake. (Press materials)

VOD/DVD Releasing This Week

Chevalier — Co-Written and Directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari (DVD, Available Now)
Wolf and Sheep — Written and Directed by Shahrbanoo Sadat (VOD, October 10)
Ghostbusters — Co-Written by Katie Dippold (DVD, October 11)
She Who Must Burn — (DVD/VOD, October 11)
Blood Father — Co-Written by Andrea Berloff