Weekly Update for March 24: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You

Films About Women Opening This Week

Prevenge — Written and Directed Alice Lowe (Opens in NY and LA)

Widow Ruth (Alice Lowe) is seven months pregnant when, believing herself to be guided by her unborn baby, she embarks on a homicidal rampage, dispatching anyone who stands in her way. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Alice Lowe.

Find screening info here.

I, Olga Hepnarová

Michalina Olszanska portrays an unstable, neglected young woman who commits an unconscionable crime in the dark biopic based on a true crime story. The film follows the titular character, an angry, misunderstood woman struggling with her sexuality, from her adolescence to the murders she committed at age 22, a crime she attributes to the nearly constant mistreatment and alienation she was subjected to throughout her life. (Press materials)

Find tickets and screening info here.

The Levelling — Written and Directed by Hope Dickson Leach (Opens in Chicago and Santa Fe, NM; Opens in LA and New Orleans March 31)

Somerset, England. Trainee veterinarian Clover Catto (Ellie Kendrick) returns to the farm where she grew up after hearing news that her brother Harry (Joe Blakemore) has died in what appears to be a suicide. Finding the family home in a state of horrendous disrepair following the 2014 floods that devastated the area, Clover is forced to confront her father, Aubrey (David Troughton), about the farm, the livestock and, crucially, the details surrounding Harry’s death. Clover’s discoveries send her on an emotional journey of reckoning with her family, her childhood, and herself. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Hope Dickson Leach.

Find screening info here.

Dig Two Graves (Also Available on VOD)

“Dig Two Graves” tells the story of a young girl’s obsession with the death of her brother, taking her on a nightmarish journey where she must a face a deadly proposition to bring him back. In her feature film debut, Samantha Isler gives a heart-wrenching, frightening, and physically demanding performance as young Jake Mather, struggling to keep her fractured family together. Ted Levine delivers one of the most riveting portrayals of his career as Sheriff Waterhouse, a flawed man torn between good and evil, trying to walk a fine line as a protective grandfather, ruthless sheriff, and accomplice to a murder. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

From a House on Willow Street — Co-Written by Catherine Blackman (Opens in LA) (Also Available on VOD)

The perfect kidnapping goes gruesomely awry in this shock-a-minute, supernatural wild ride. Led by the tough-as-nails Hazel (Sharni Vinson), a band of desperate criminals abduct Katherine (Carlyn Burchell), the daughter of an ultra-wealthy family, for ransom. What the gang doesn’t realize is that although they have Katherine’s body, her soul is already in possession of a demonic force that’s about to turn the tables on them. Cue a cavalcade of carnage, all building up to a totally twisted, off-the-rails finale. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Peelers — Written by Lisa DeVita (Opens March 28) (Also Available on VOD)

What starts out as the last hurrah on the closing night of an infamous small-town strip club quickly turns into a night of bloodshed when a crew of coal miners shows up with a deadly contaminant. Former baseball player and current club owner Blue Jean Douglas (Wren Walker) has decided to hand over her bar to a new owner and leave town for good, but her plans are thwarted when she discovers the magnitude of the unleashed epidemic. With victims piling up, Blue Jean must step up to the plate to protect her family, her friends, and her bar before it’s too late and she loses everything she holds dear. (Press materials)

Films About Women Currently Playing

Beauty and the Beast
Atomica (Also Available on VOD)
SPLit — Written and Directed by Deborah Kampmeier (Also Available on VOD)
A Woman, a Part — Written and Directed by Elisabeth Subrin
Personal Shopper
Raw — Written and Directed by Julia Ducournau
This Beautiful Fantastic
Brimstone (Also Available on VOD)
The Ottoman Lieutenant
The Dark Below
Before I Fall — Directed by Ry-Russo Young; Written by Maria Maggenti
The Last Word
Table 19
The Women’s Balcony — Written by Shlomit Nechama
XX (Anthology) — Directed by Roxanne Benjamin, Sofia Carrillo, Karyn Kusama, Annie Clark (St. Vincent), and Jovanka Vuckovic; Co-Written by Roxanne Benjamin and Jovanka Vuckovic (Also Available on VOD)
Sophie and the Rising Sun — Written and Directed by Maggie Greenwald (Also Available on VOD)
Lovesong — Co-Written and Directed by So Yong Kim
Everybody Loves Somebody — Written and Directed by Catalina Aguilar Mastretta
Rings
The Lure — Directed by Agnieszka Smoczynska
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
20th Century Women
Hidden Figures — Co-Written by Allison Schroeder
Toni Erdmann — Written and Directed by Maren Ade
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Julieta
Jackie
Moana — Co-Written by Pamela Ribon
Elle
The Eagle Huntress

Films Directed by Women Opening This Week

Karl Marx City (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Petra Epperlein (Opens in NY March 29)

Twenty-five years after the collapse of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), filmmaker Petra Epperlein returns to the proletarian Oz of her childhood to find the truth about her late father’s suicide and his rumored Stasi past. Had he been an informant for the secret police? Was her childhood an elaborate fiction? As she looks for answers in the Stasi’s extensive archives, she pulls back the curtain of her own nostalgia and enters the parallel world of the security state, seeing her former life through the lens of the oppressor. Reconstructing everyday GDR life through declassified Stasi surveillance footage, the past plays like dystopian science fiction, providing a chilling backdrop to interrogate the apparatus of control and the meaning of truth in a society where every action and thought was suspect. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Petra Epperlein.

Find screening info here.

Films Directed by Women Currently Playing

Fittest on Earth: A Decade of Fitness (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Mariah Moore (Also Available on VOD)
Bluebeard — Written and Directed by Soo-youn Lee
Tickling Giants (Documentary) — Directed by Sara Taksler
The Last Laugh (Documentary) — Directed by Ferne Pearlstein
Uncertain (Documentary) — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Anna Sandilands (Also Available on VOD)
Viceroy’s House — Directed by Gurinder Chadha; Co-Written by Moira Buffini (UK)
Jasper Jones — Directed by Rachel Perkins (Australia)
A United Kingdom — Directed by Amma Asante

Films Written by Women Opening This Week

Phillauri — Written by Anvita Dutt

A man (Suraj Sharma) must marry a tree to ward off threats to his love life, but the tree (Anushka Sharma) turns out to have more spirit than the man bargained for. (Press materials)

Find tickets and screening info here.

Films Written by Women Currently Playing

Beautiful Devils — Written by Jennifer Majka (UK)
My Life as a Zucchini — Written by Céline Sciamma
A Dog’s Purpose — Written by Cathryn Michon
The Red Turtle — Co-written by Pascale Ferran
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them — Written by J.K. Rowling

TV Premieres This Week

An American Girl Story — Ivy & Julie 1976: A Happy Balance (TV Movie) — Directed by Sasie Sealy; Written by May Chan (Premieres March 24 on Amazon)

Set in 1976 San Francisco, Ivy Ling (Nina Lu) is a Chinese-American who struggles to find a balance between her two cultural identities. She wishes to be like her all-American best friend, Julie Albright (Hannah Nordberg). When her gymnastics tournament and family’s Chinese New Year dinner land on the same day, Ivy relies on Julie to guide her with a difficult choice. (Press materials)

Tangled: The Series (Premieres March 24 on Disney)

Set between Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Tangled” and its short film “Tangled Ever After,” this animated adventure/comedy series unfolds as Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) acquaints herself with her parents (Julie Bowen and Clancy Brown), her kingdom, and the people of Corona. (Press materials)

To Walk Invisible: The Brontë Sisters (TV Movie) — Written and Directed by Sally Wainwright (Premieres March 26 on PBS)

“To Walk Invisible: The Brontë Sisters” tells the true story of Charlotte (Finn Atkins), Emily (Chloe Pirrie), and Anne Brontë (Charlie Murphy), who faced a bleak future as a family of unmarried women. Unable to rely on their alcoholic brother (Adam Nagaitis) or near-blind father (Jonathan Pryce) to provide for them, they worked as governesses to privileged and often unruly children. This is the story of how — against all odds — their genius for writing romantic novels was recognized in a male-dominated, 19th-century world. (Press materials)

Pocahontas: Beyond the Myth (Documentary Special) (Premieres March 27 on Smithsonian)

The story of Pocahontas has been passed down through the centuries. Her relationship with John Smith has been characterized as a romance that united two cultures and created lasting peace. However, the life of this American Indian princess was anything but a fairytale. Join us as we look beyond the fiction and reveal the real story of Pocahontas, a tale of kidnapping, conflict, starvation, ocean journeys, and the future of an entire civilization. (Press materials)

Rebel (Premieres March 28 on BET)

"Rebel" is an extraordinary take on the seminal police drama that examines the unique and conflicted relationship officers of color have with their jobs — at a time when police forces are rife with brutality and misconduct. Oakland police officer Rebecca "Rebel" Cole (Danielle Moné Truitt) has always excelled by playing by the rules. She has always known that she must be better and smarter on the job because she is both black and female. After her brother (Mikelen Walker) is slain by police, Rebel soon becomes disillusioned with the system and is forced to take matters into her own hands and become a private investigator and a champion for her community. Caught between family loyalty and the fraternity in blue, Rebel's actions set in motion a cause-and-effect crisis that can't be undone. (Press materials)

Harlots – Created by Alison Newman and Moira Buffini (Premieres March 29 on Hulu)

Margaret Wells (Samantha Morton, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them") struggles to reconcile her roles as brothel owner and mother to daughters Charlotte (Jessica Brown Findlay, "This Beautiful Fantastic") and Lucy (Eloise Smyth). When her business comes under attack from Lydia Quigley (Lesley Manville, "Maleficent"), a rival madam with a ruthless streak, Margaret must fight back even if it means losing her family and possibly her life. (Press materials)

Imaginary Mary (Premieres March 29 on ABC)

Alice (Jenna Elfman, “Dharma & Greg”) is a fiercely independent career woman whose life is turned upside-down when she meets the love of her life — a divorced father (Stephen Schneider, “Broad City”) with three kids. This triggers even more upheaval when the slightly unhinged imaginary friend she created as a child suddenly reappears to help her navigate the transition from single girl to a woman ready for a family. (Press materials)

Nobodies – Co-Written and Co-Created by Rachel Ramras; Co-Executive Produced by Melissa McCarthy and Rachel Ramras (Premieres March 29 on TV Land)

Rachel Ramras, Hugh Davidson, and Larry Dorf play versions of themselves as three actor/comedians still waiting for their big break, struggling to make a name for themselves in Hollywood while their friends achieve fame and fortune. They’re the Nobodies. (Press materials)

VOD/DVD Releasing This Week

The Most Hated Woman in America – Co-Written by Irene Turner (Netflix, March 24)
20th Century Women (DVD/VOD, March 28)
A Tale of Love and Darkness – Written and Directed by Natalie Portman (DVD, March 28)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Written by J.K. Rowling (DVD/VOD, March 28)

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