The entry of women into the media industry has always been a bit of a taboo. Still, thankfully times are changing, and the modern-day movements and demonstrations have immensely diversified all the fields of work.
Hollywood was deprived of the fresh eye of a woman in direction. After numerous setbacks and vigorous fights, multiple streaming services have paired up with talented and most successful female directors to produce some of the best pieces created in the industry.
Netflix is one of those streaming services that have become an example for all others to follow in their footsteps. It has given female directors a chance to portray their talent in front of the world. This list is proof of all of that.
If you are unfamiliar with movies that women directed, then this list is where you can learn that. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is one of those movies which became a total hit after its first part was released on Netflix, which lead to it producing two more movies from the same franchise, based on the book series also written by a woman.
The list is endless, but we are glad to see that the opportunities are growing for female directors, which was always considered a man’s job in Hollywood. Following is the list of all the movies you will easily find on Netflix if you connect to a Netflix VPN to avoid any inconvenience. These movies are directed by women, and some are based on robust and empowering female characters.
1. Bird Box (2018)
Horror, Sci-Fi
IMDb: 6.6
Director: Susanne Bier
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich
If you see it, you die. A post-apocalyptic horror-thriller that will send you to the gripping edge of your seat. Bird Box is not everyone’s forte, and it will come out as a surprise that this thriller is one of the films directed by women. The concept may seem similar to that of A Quiet Place, where one has to lose the use of one of their senses to survive, but here the most crucial sense of sight is at stake. One must keep their eyes covered to prevent the creature from taking the form of their worst fears because right now, survival is the key.
2. Lady Bird (2017)
Comedy, Drama
IMDb: 7.4
Director: Greta Gerwig
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts
Christine Lady Bird McPherson is going through it all, from her broken relationship with her mom to going through puberty-related phases and crises. This coming-of-age story walks us through the struggle of a highly artistic girl who yearns for better opportunities to express herself while trying to be a typical teenager trying to find a college far away from her home in Sacramento, California.
3. The Half Of It (2020)
Comedy, Drama, Romance
IMDb: 6.9
Director: Alice Wu
Cast: Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, Alexxis Lemire
A Netflix original movie directed by Alice Wu may look like a typical storyline with a shy but intelligent Chinese girl pretending to be the Jock and trying to woo in a girl based on her intelligence and love for literature? Yeah, but that’s only half of it (Pun intended). For example, Ellie and Paul are both secretly in love with Aster, but she doesn’t know that and thinks her connection with Paul over text is true when Ellie is the one, she is talking to.
4. Julie and Julia (2009)
Biography, Drama, Romance
IMDb: 7.0
Director: Nora Ephron
Cast: Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Chris Messina
Separated by time and intervened by their love for food, Julie, a young blogger, is at her wit’s ends to master the culinary techniques of Julia Child. Separated by times, what connects them is their passion and the effort to make something out of it.
5. Mamma Mia (2008)
Comedy, Musical, Romance
IMDb: 6.4
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Cast: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried
One of the best films directed by a woman hoping to find her birth father, a soon-to-be bride, takes her chances by inviting three different men to her wedding. Unfortunately, these men happened to be her mother’s lovers, and one may eventually be her father as well. The comedic musical is a pleasure to watch with numerous vital roles of women, making it the best movie for women.
6. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
Comedy, Drama, Romance
IMDb: 7.1
Director: Susan Johnson
Cast: Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Janel Parrish
Lara-Jean Covey is a good girl, but her love life is not so much to talk about, and hence her concerned younger sister posts out 5 of her un-posted love letters from 5th grade. The recipients include her former best friend’s boyfriend and her sister’s boyfriend. Will this create a rift between either of those two people? And will Lara-Jean find love after all? To All the Boys trilogy became the highest-grossing film directed by a woman after its release on Netflix immediately, creating a mass franchise. This is also one of the best movies on Netflix Canada right now.
7. Birds of Prey (2019)
Action, Adventure, Comedy
IMDb: 6.1
Director: Cathy Yan
Cast: Margot Robbie, Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
A highly under-rated movie with an all-female cast, accurately displaying the hardships and terrors a woman has to face to make it through the day. The struggles are real, especially when you are the ex-girlfriend of the most wanted and protected criminal in the world and half the country is after you, now that you both have broken up. Chaotic, yet it qualifies as one of the best feminist movies on Netflix.
8. The Old Guard (2020)
Action, Adventure, Fantasy
IMDb: 6.6
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Cast: Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts
A group of immortal mercenaries is doing what it takes to keep the mortal world running by conducting missions and saving it from harmful entities. But this time, the threat is directed towards them and their ability to remain alive.
9. American Honey (2016)
Adventure, Drama, Romance
IMDb: 7.0
Director: Andrea Arnold
Cast: Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf, Riley Keough
Of the carefree days, an American teenager usually yearns to live in their prime time; Star is a teenager who has nothing to lose. So, she embarks on a journey with a group of door-to-door sales crew who venture deep into the lifestyle of fun and never-ending nightlife.
10. The Forty-Year Old Version (2020)
Comedy, Drama
IMDb: 7.3
Director: Radha Blank
Cast: Radha Blank, Peter Kim, Oswin Benjamin
There aren’t many black female directors in Hollywood town. However, there are those who have genuinely made an effortless appearance and worked hard to create a name. Radha Blank is one of the names in the industry. She directed a movie where she reinvented herself as a rapper before she hit the 40-year mark.
11. First They Killed My Father (2017)
Biography, Drama, History
IMDb: 7.2
Director: Angelina Jolie
Cast: Sareum Srey Moch, Phoeung Kompheak, Sveng Socheata
Recalling the atrocities and sufferings of her childhood, Loung Ung trains as a child soldier after her siblings are sent to a training camp. Her goal is to take revenge on her father from the cruel Khmer Rouge. Directed by Angelina Jolie, it is one of the most famous movies directed by a woman.
12. Mud Bound (2017)
Drama, War
IMDb: 7.4
Director: Dee Rees
Cast: Jason Mitchell, Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke
Life after the war is tough, and the two war veterans have been experiencing a series of unfortunate events as they try to make their lives better by working on a rural Mississippi farm.
13. Atlantics (2019)
Drama, Mystery, Romance
IMDb: 6.7
Director: Mati Diop
Cast: Mame Bineta Sane, Amadou Mbow, Traore
Ada is caught in a love triangle, Souleiman is the love of her life, but she is promised to Omar, who dies a mysterious death, leading to various suspicions towards Ada.
14. Dumplin (2018)
Comedy, Drama
IMBb: 6.6
Director: Anne Fletcher
Cast: Danielle Macdonald, Jennifer Aniston, Odeya Rush
Expectations are always high when you are the daughter of a former pageant queen. Willowdean, aka “Dumplin’, is not the spitting image of her mother, but she is a force to be reckoned with when she enters a pageant and empowers numerous girls to follow in her footsteps.
15. Always Be My Maybe (2019)
Comedy, Romance
IMDb: 6.8
Director: Nahnatchka Khan
Cast: Ali Wong, Randall Park, James Saito
Teenage lovers wind up together in their hometown; the only difference is that they have grown poles apart. Sasha leads a hi-fi life while Marcus still lives with his dad. The spark is still there after 15 years, but will they wind up together?
16. Set It Up (2018)
Comedy, Romance
IMDb: 6.5
Director: Claire Scanlon
Cast: Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell, Lucy Liu
Trying to get away from the tyranny of their workaholic bosses, two personal assistants try to make them fall in love to clear their schedule, only to end up spending time together with each other and falling in love.
17. Miss Americana (2020)
Documentary, Biography, Music
IMDb: 7.4
Director: Lana Wilson
Cast: Taylor Swift, Andrea Swift, Scott Swift
Taking a deep look inside the sensational pop icon, singer, and songwriter Taylor Swift’s life and career.
18. 13th (2016)
Documentary, Crime, History
IMDb: 8.3
Director: Ava DuVernay
Cast: Melina Abdullah, Michelle Alexander, Cory Booker
Taking a closer look inside the radical history of inequality in the United States, with a tighter focus on the disproportionate division of African-Americans in America’s prisons.
19. The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
Comedy, Drama
IMDb: 7.3
Director: Kelly Fremon Craig
Cast: Hailee Steinfeld, Haley Lu Richardson, Blake Jenner
Nadine is having a hard time coping with her dad’s sudden death and the fact that she is an awkward person who barely has enough friends left behind. Her only best friend starts dating her brother, whom she does not get along with. Yeah, that’s a mouthful.
20. The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (2019)
Drama
IMDb: 6.9
Directors: Kathleen Hepburn, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
Cast: Violet Nelson, Charlie Hannah, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
A brief encounter on the street causes Alia to bring a young domestic abuse victim home, and together they unfold the events that lead to her assault and eventually on the street.
21. Love Song (2020)
Drama, Music, Romance
IMDb: 6.3
Director: Bradley Walsh
Cast: Jessy Schram, Niall Matter, Lucas Bryant
Your cliched love story with a country singer and a songwriter teaming up together to produce the best music one will hear. But this eventually leads to several complications, including falling in love.
22. The Invitation (2015)
Drama, Mystery, Thriller
IMDb: 6.6
Director: Karyn Kusama
Cast: Logan Marshall-Green, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Michiel Huisman
Will (Logan Marshall-Green) attends a sinister dinner with his ex-wife and her new husband, but he has a hunch that something isn’t right. What’s wrong? Watch the movie to find out!
23. Tallulah (2016)
Comedy, Drama, Romance
IMDb: 6.7
Director: Sian Heder
Cast: Elliot Page, Allison Janney, Tammy Blanchard
Taking full responsibility for a baby from her careless mother, a young babysitter proves to be much more than that. She moves in with her ex and pretends the baby is her own. Watch the movie to find out what happens next.
24. What a Girl Wants (2003)
Comedy, Drama, Family
IMDb: 5.8
Director: Dennie Gordon
Cast: Amanda Bynes, Colin Firth, Kelly Preston
An illegitimate daughter of a famous politician running for office, she vows to find him, but it may tarnish his image and cost him his position at work.
25. The Kindergarten Teacher (2018)
Drama, Thriller
IMDb: 6.7
Director: Sara Colangelo
Cast: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gael García Bernal, Ato Blankson-Wood
Seeking talent in a young student, a kindergarten teacher goes to all lengths to protect the poetry talent of the young blood.
26. Obvious Child (2013)
Comedy, Drama, Romance
IMDb: 6.8
Director: Gillian Robespierre
Cast: Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy, Gaby Hoffmann
Unplanned pregnancies and a new eye for adulthood, Donna, an unemployed comedian, must navigate life and experience and embrace the new form of maturity that she happened to stumble upon.
27. Happy as Lazzaro (2018)
Drama, Fantasy
IMDb: 7.5
Director: Alice Rohrwacher
Cast: Adriano Tardiolo, Agnese Graziani, Alba Rohrwacher
A beginning of a lifelong friendship between a simple-minded man and a nobleman, cursed by his imagination which is all set to take help from Lazzaro to orchestrate his own kidnapping.
28. The Breaker Upperers (2018)
Comedy
IMDb: 5.9
Directors: Madeleine Sami, Jackie van Beek
Cast: Madeleine Sami, Jackie van Beek, James Rolleston
Women are known to be homewreckers; this is a myth that Jen and Mel turned into truth by starting an agency that purely breaks up a relationship. All this just to get away from their own problems, but things derail when one of them releases the messed up nature of their business.
29. Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé (2019)
Documentary, Music
IMDb: 7.5
Directors: Beyoncé (as Beyoncé Knowles-Carter), Ed Burke (co-director)
Cast: Beyoncé, Joe Brown, Marvin Brown
Celebrating the iconic success of Beyoncé’s 2018 Coachella and the trying journey and hard work that went into the creation of all her performances.
30. The Bling Ring (2013)
Biography, Crime, Drama
IMDb: 5.6
Director: Sofia Coppola
Cast: Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Emma Watson
A group of fame-obsessed high-schoolers forms a cartel where they hunt the whereabouts of celebrities and rob them off of their shoes, clothes, and jewelry worth millions of dollars just to gain attention.