Make sure to add these Female-led TV shows and movies on Netflix. We’re breaking down why a Wrinkle In Time, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Nappily Ever After and more deserve your eyeballs.
Netflix has become the world’s most powerful and popular streaming service for good reason. Whether solo, with your best friends, or with family, there is nothing quite like a night in spent in full Netflix binge mode.
For me, one of the most exciting things about the multimedia powerhouse’s platform is the plethora of female-backed shows and films that it provides to audiences across the globe. In opposition to the long withstanding patterns in traditional Hollywood films, Netflix has made a concerted effort towards highlighting content made by, about, and for women. In fact, “Shows With A Strong Female Lead” is one of the platform’s main categories!
Whether these women are starring in front of or behind the camera, this push towards more female representation is a precedent that everyone else in Hollywood has no choice but to start paying attention to. And here is the best part; the power to continue this effort of pushing female narratives forward is quite literally in our hands.
If we as an audience continue to tune in, tweet, and share the shows we love that are created by women, more and more of them will get made. By continuing to give these programs their clicks and exposure, we are sending a clear message to the world that we want MORE and are setting up the playing field for the next generation of femme-identifying writers, producers, actors, and directors.
At times, Netflix can seem like an endless pit of content with everything from old-time black and white classics, to the most cinematically and technologically advanced Marvel movies. It can be hard to cipher through all of the great films and television shows in order to land on something perfect for you, but I’m here to help. Here are five examples of some of the best shows recently added to or coming soon to your Netflix screen that are helmed by badass, brilliant, and bold women!
A Wrinkle In Time
Disney’s A Wrinkle In Time marked the first film to grant a black female director a budget of over one hundred million dollars. The director in question? Ava DuVernay, of course! The film follows a young girl named Meg (played by teenaged talent Storm Reid) who crosses galaxies in an epic quest to find her father and save the universe. Rounding out the cast is a star-studded list of women including Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling, Reese Witherspoon, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
Nappily Ever After
This romantic comedy, directed by Saudi Arabia’s first internationally acclaimed film director Haifaa Al-Mansour and adapted from the novels by Trisha Thomas, stars Sanaa Lathan as Violent Jones-a successful advertising executive whose “perfect” world is turned on its head after a breakup. The shocking turn of events forces her to re-evaluate her priorities in life, confidence, and her own self-worth, starting with her hair.
One Day At A Time
This hysterical show, now in its second season, is a fresh new take on the classic family sitcom. Starring a stellar cast of Latinx icons, including Rita Moreno, the show follows Penelope-a newly single military veteran turned nurse as she tries to navigate the ups and downs of life with her two progressive children and her traditional, doting mother.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
If you haven’t already delved into this popular new teen-driven romantic comedy, you are doing yourself a serious disservice. The film is based off the books originally penned by New York Times Best-Selling author Jenny Han, directed by Susan Johnson, and stars the ridiculously charming Lana Condor. When high school hopeless romantic Lara Jean’s love letters are released into the world, she has to come face to face with her childhood crushes and clean up the aftermath of all the drama that ensues.
Feminists: What Were They Thinking? (Coming October 12)
Netflix’s newest documentary trails the lives of some of the artists and activists that spearheaded the feminist movement in the 1970s. Directed by Johanna Demetrakas, and featuring popular female activists such as Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda, and Lily Tomlin, the film rifles through America’s complicated history with female liberation and highlights some of the movers and shakers that sparked a cultural revolution.