Despite acclaimed work from Gina Prince-Bythewood (“The Woman King”), Sarah Polley (“Women Talking”), Charlotte Wells (“Aftersun”), and Maria Schrader (“She Said”), not a single woman was nominated for the 2023 Best Director Oscar. Ensuing discourse has unfolded predictably: Some are decrying particular omissions, while others feel the quantity and quality of filmmaking opportunities afforded to women continue to lag behind those of their male counterparts.
The next 12 months will see new projects from, among others, Oscar nominees Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird”) and Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”), industry veterans Niki Caro (“Whale Rider”) and Catherine Hardwicke (“Lords of Dogtown”), and artists still making a name for themselves, like Emma Seligman (“Shiva Baby”) and Nia DaCosta (“Candyman”) – not to mention an exciting slate of female-directed debuts out of Sundance. So, however the 2024 race shakes out, you won’t be able to say there weren’t options. More than 16 titles directed by women are worthy of your time this year, but these are our picks for which have the best chance of raking in high box-office numbers/streaming views and staying on awards voters’ minds.
Scroll through our gallery of 16 of the most highly anticipated female-helmed films in 2023.
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“Cocaine Bear” (February 24)
Image Credit: Universal Pictures Elizabeth Banks is quietly establishing herself as one of Hollywood’s most interesting (and yes, reliable) action-comedy directors. Her “Pitch Perfect” sequel grossed nearly ten times the cost of making it, and though 2019’s “Charlie’s Angels” underwhelmed at the box office, the reboot still managed to recoup its budget. While the price tag for Banks’ latest effort, “Cocaine Bear,” remains undisclosed, it’s hard to see how the film doesn’t turn a profit. Infusing a real-life incident with a kitsch aesthetic, the movie follows a bear’s cocaine-fueled rampage through a small Georgia town. “Cocaine Bear” feels like a throwback to the kind of thriller that women seldom, if ever, got to direct in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Banks recently explained, “I definitely wanted to make something muscular and masculine…I wanted to break down some of the mythology around what kinds of movies women are interested in making.”
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“Rye Lane” (March 31)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute Two heartbroken twenty-somethings (Vivian Oparah and David Jonsson) rediscover their joie de vivre across an adventure through South London. Shot with a fisheye lens using a pastel-heavy color palette, “Rye Lane” is a lush and visually rich romcom that critics are calling a “burst of cinematic energy” (Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com). Raine Allen Miller’s debut charmed Sundance crowds in January and is bound to become a Film Twitter favorite after premiering on Hulu later this spring.
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“A Thousand and One” (March 31)
Image Credit: Focus Features A.V. Rockwell’s freshman feature, “A Thousand and One,” stars R&B singer Teyana Taylor as a down-on-her-luck mother in ‘90s New York who makes a decision that catches up with her a decade later. The film addresses housing inequality and gentrification in Harlem at the turn of the century. Focus Features committed to the project prior to its debut at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the same dramatic grand jury prize that in past years has gone to “CODA,” “Minari,” “Whiplash,” and “Fruitvale Station.” Critics have praised “A Thousand and One” for its vivid sense of time and place.
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“Showing Up” (April 7)
Image Credit: A24 Kelly Reichardt is an acquired taste, but those who appreciate the “First Cow” director’s brand of mumblecore comedy will find a lot to love about her latest, “Showing Up.” It is set, like many of Reichardt’s films, in the Pacific Northwest, where it follows the ebb and flow of life for members of an Oregonian art collective. “Showing Up” marks the filmmaker’s fourth collaboration with Michelle Williams, whose subdued performance here couldn’t be any more different from her Oscar-nominated turn in “The Fabelmans.” The movie also features memorable work from Hong Chau, John Magaro, and Williams’ fellow “Fabelmans” nominee, Judd Hirsch.
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“Mafia Mamma” (April 14)
Image Credit: Bleecker Street Charged with a manic drive that wouldn’t feel out of place in a film by Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie, Toni Collette is a versatile actress who doesn’t get to play funny nearly enough. It seems Catherine Hardwicke, whose “Twilight” adaptation is one of the highest-grossing female-directed movies of all time, agrees. The “Thirteen” and “Lords of Dogtown” director’s next film, hijinks comedy “Mafia Mamma,” stars Collette as a suburban mom who learns she’s inherited an Italian criminal enterprise. Hardwicke and Collette previously collaborated on “Miss You Already.” Their latest project’s fish-out-of-water premise sounds rife with potential for the actress to exercise the comedic chops that, since “United States of Tara” concluded its three-season run on Showtime over 10 years ago, have only been displayed sporadically.
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“The Mother” (May 12)
Image Credit: Netflix Between “North Country” and the live-action remake of “Mulan,” Niki Caro has led quite an eclectic directing career. Her work on the latter makes Caro one of the few women to have helmed a movie for Disney with a $100-million-plus budget, the others being Ava DuVernay (“A Wrinkle in Time”), Chloé Zhao (“The Eternals”), and Nia DaCosta (summer 2023’s “The Marvels”). Her latest effort is a Jennifer Lopez action vehicle for Netflix, which follows an ex-assassin coming out of hiding to protect her daughter. The film co-stars Joseph Fiennes, Gael García Bernal, and “Sound of Metal” Best Supporting Actor nominee Paul Raci.
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“You Hurt My Feelings” (May 26)
Image Credit: A24 “You Hurt My Feelings” is Nicole Holofcener’s first feature since 2018’s “The Land of Steady Habits.” In the years since, she directed the HBO miniseries, “Mrs. Fletcher,” and received screenwriting credits for Marielle Heller’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” and Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel” (alongside co-authors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon). As if Holofcener getting behind the camera again for a major release weren’t enough reason to be excited, “You Hurt My Feelings” reunites the writer-director with her “Enough Said” lead, Julia Louis-Dreyfus. She plays a writer whose husband’s (Tobias Menzies) critical take on her new book jeopardizes their marriage. The film’s elemental conflict recalls Ruben Östlund’s “Force Majeure” (the American remake, “Downhill,” stars Louis-Dreyfus) and Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin.” A24 has yet to announce a release date for the dramedy, which currently holds a 98% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
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“Past Lives” (June 2)
Image Credit: A24 Playwright Celine Song’s directorial debut, “Past Lives,” was the toast of this year’s Sundance.
Greta Lee and Teo Yoo star as adult friends reconnecting after being separated in Korea as children. More than one Park City attendee who caught the premiere of A24’s multi-decade romantic drama is buzzing about its chances at next year’s Oscars. Will Song follow in Greta Gerwig and Emerald Fennell’s footsteps by becoming the third woman since 2017 to get academy recognition for her first feature? “Past Lives’” next stop is Berlinale, where it will compete for the Golden Bear. -
“Barbie” (July 21)
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures “Barbie,” starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, may only be Greta Gerwig’s third feature, but her first two (2017’s “Lady Bird” and 2019’s “Little Women”) both scored Best Picture nominations, making her one of only three female filmmakers to have directed multiple contenders for the Academy Awards’ top prize (the others are Jane Campion and Kathryn Bigelow). Little is known about the project, which Gerwig co-wrote the script with her partner, “Marriage Story” and “White Noise” director Noah Baumbach, but the first teaser promises a wild and colorful ride through modern pop culture. “Barbie” has been cited by several critics as their most anticipated movie of 2023.
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“The Marvels” (November 10)
Image Credit: Disney/Marvel Studios Nia DaCosta arrived on the scene with a small-budget crime thriller called “Little Woods,” but it was likely her atmospheric and visually bold work on the recent “Candyman” sequel that put the rising talent on Disney’s radar. “The Marvels,” Phase 5’s third entry, makes DaCosta MCU’s latest talent acquisition from the indie scene (other examples include Ryan Coogler, Chloé Zhao, and Destin Daniel Cretton, and DaCosta’s Marvel debut will be followed by “Luce” director Julius Onah’s with “Captain America: New World Order”). The film is a direct sequel to 2019’s “Captain Marvel” and stars Brie Larson, Iman Vellani (lead of the Disney+ miniseries, “Ms. Marvel”), Lashana Lynch, Teyonah Parris, and Samuel L. Jackson.
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“Bottoms” (TBD)
Image Credit: Courtesy of SXSW Up and coming writer-director Emma Seligman made a huge impression with “Shiva Baby,” which also launched its star, Rachel Sennott. The two are reteaming for “Bottoms,” a queer, Gen-Z “American Pie.” Sennott and Ayo Edebiri play two unpopular high school seniors who compete to hook up with as many cheerleaders as possible before graduation. “Bottoms” is set to premiere at SXSW on March 11.
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“Fair Play” (TBD)
Image Credit: Netflix Described as “Basic Instinct” and “Fatal Attraction” for modern audiences, “Fair Play” stars Alden Ehrenreich and Phoebe Dynevor as a Wall St. power-couple-in-the-making whose dynamic is upended when one of them scores a raise. The erotic thriller sold to Netflix out of Sundance for around $20 million (that’s only about $5 million less than the festival record Apple paid for “CODA”). Critics are calling debut filmmaker Chloe Domont a promising new voice. Like “Cocaine Bear,” the movie represents growing opportunities for women to make the kind of gritty genre films that in their heyday were primarily directed by men.
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“Lee” (TBD)
Image Credit: Sky Cinema Kate Winslet is making a play for her eighth Oscar nomination as WWII correspondent Lee Miller in “Lee,” the first directorial effort from “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” DP and documentarian Ellen Kuras. The film’s impressive cast includes Jude Law, Andrea Riseborough, Marion Cotillard, Andy Samberg, Noémie Merlant, and Alexander Skarsgård.
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“Nightbitch” (TBD)
Image Credit: Hulu Six-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams stars as a new mother whose identification with canines becomes increasingly disturbing in Marielle Heller’s “Nightbitch,” adapted from the novel of the same name by Rachel Yoder. Heller has recently directed two actors to an Academy Award nomination–Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”) and Tom Hanks (“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”)–so expectations for her latest are naturally high, especially from those eagerly awaiting Adams’ first win.
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“Priscilla” (TBD)
Image Credit: Steve Eichner/WWD/Katie Jones/WWD While Sofia Coppola’s film about Priscilla Presley (whom the director has compared to the subject of her 2006 film, “Marie Antoinette”) is coming out on the heels of Baz Luhrmann’s gauzy, Oscar-nominated biopic about her much more famous husband, there’s no reason to suspect “Priscilla” will be a retread. Besides focusing on a related but distinct figure, the movie is helmed by a filmmaker radically unlike Luhrmann in style and temperament. Presley will be played by Cailee Spaeny, who’s given supporting turns in “Mare of Easttown” and “Devs,” and Jacob Elordi will don the King’s sequined jumpsuit and pompadour. The A24 production wrapped its shoot in December.
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“Saltburn” (TBD)
Image Credit: David Buchan/Variety/Fairchild Archive/Penske Media Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman” is as bold a directorial debut as Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” and Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs.” Her sophomore effort, “Saltburn”–starring Rosamund Pike, Barry Keoghan, Carey Mulligan, and Jacob Elordi–is about jealousy and obsession among a group of English aristocrats. Given “Promising Young Woman’s” highly stylized contemporary production design, it’s exciting to consider how Fennell will visually conceive this milieu. Her DP on the project is “Babylon” cinematographer Linus Sandgren. Rarely does a freshman feature so confidently calibrate a signature aesthetic. We may very well look back and celebrate Fennell alongside Peele, Damien Chazelle, and the Safdie brothers as one of the great filmmakers to emerge from this era.
