25 Empowering Movies for Women’s History Month
May 21, 2021
Women’s History Month is designed to honor the contributions of women to events in history and present-day society. Celebrate how far women have come and where they’re going with these memorable movies about strong women. Start streaming or get HBO Max today.
Women Empowerment Movies
The strong female characters in these films and shows are easy to root for.
- The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix: Anya Taylor-Joy won a Golden Globe Best Actress trophy for her performance as an orphaned chess prodigy.
- Moxie on Netflix: A Gen Z teen uses Gen X tactics to fight sexism and racism at her high school in this feisty flick directed by and featuring Amy Poehler.
- Nomadland on Hulu: This Golden Globe winner features Frances McDormand as a woman who journeys across the American West after losing everything in the Great Recession.
- Booksmart on Hulu: The night before high school graduation, two best friends who have always focused on studying decide to make up for lost time with a night of over-the-top partying.
- Election on Prime Video: It’s Matthew Broderick vs Reese Witherspoon in this cult classic about a high school teacher who meets his match in an over-achieving student politician.
- Miss Sloane on Prime Video: Jessica Chastain stars as the top lobbyist in Washington who finds her reputation in danger when she takes on the most powerful opponent of her career.
Women’s History Month for Kids
Girls do run the world.
- Troop Zero on Prime Video: A misfit girl in rural 1977 Georgia assembles a ragtag troop of Birdie Scouts with the help of her troop leader, played by Viola Davis, in hopes of being recorded on NASA’s Golden Record.
- The Baby-Sitters Club on Netflix: A group of friends start their own club to provide their town with responsible child care while battling family drama, competition, and their own evolving friendship dynamics.
- Kiki’s Delivery Service on HBO Max: A young witch runs an air courier service and proves she can live her life independently and on her own terms.
- Wadjda on Netflix: A Saudi girl enters her school’s recitation competition to try and raise the remaining funds she needs to buy the bicycle of her dreams.
- Abominable on Hulu: A young girl and her friends help a Yeti return to his family before he can be captured by a wealthy man and a zoologist who want to use him for their own ends.
- L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables on Prime Video: This faithful retelling of the beloved classic series of novels tells the story of a determined, spirited little girl who touches the lives of everyone she meets.
Women's Rights Movies
The struggle for equality gets its dramatic due.
- Harriet on HBO Max: The extraordinary story of abolitionist Harriet Tubman is chronicled in this powerful drama starring Cynthia Erivo.
- Mrs. America on Hulu: Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, and Uzo Aduba lead a stellar ensemble cast in this series about the fight to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s.
- Suffragette on Netflix: In 1912 London, a young working mother, played by Carey Mulligan, is galvanized into radical political activism supporting the right for women to vote.
- Iron Jawed Angels on HBO Max: Hilary Swank leads a group of defiant young activists who put their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.
- The Glorias on Prime Video: Alicia Vikander and Julianne Moore play Gloria Steinem at different ages in this story of her itinerant childhood and how it influenced her life as a writer, activist and organizer for women’s rights across the globe.
- Unbelievable on Netflix: Two detectives, played by Toni Collette and Merritt Wever, fight to clear the name of a young assault victim accused of lying.
- Confirmation on HBO Max: Kerry Washington stars as Anita Hill in this dramatization of the Supreme Court nomination hearings of Clarence Thomas that gripped the nation in 1991.
Women's Rights Documentaries
Get to know the people who battle injustice.
- The Legend: The Bessie Coleman Story on Prime Video: The story of aviation pioneer Bessie Coleman, who arose from the poverty of the Texas cotton fields to become the first African-American woman and the first Native-American to hold a pilot license.
- Outlier: The Story of Katherine Johnson on Prime Video: From America’s first attempt at manned space flights to the Space Shuttle program, Katherine Johnson’s mathematical genius was an integral part of NASA.
- She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry on Netflix: Shines a light on the buried history of the incredible women who founded the modern women’s movement from 1966 to 1971.
- The Testimony on Netflix: Chronicles the largest rape tribunal in the Congo’s history and honors the bravery and resiliency of the women of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- A Woman’s Place on Hulu: This short documentary is directed by Academy Award winner Rayka Zehtabchi and captures the stories of three chefs, their careers, and their shared experience as women in the culinary industry facing and overcoming institutionalized sexism.
- Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am on Hulu: The legendary storyteller takes a look at her life, works and themes she has explored throughout her literary career.
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