There's nothing quite like seeing a woman come into her power onscreen. From weepy, uplifting dramas that make essential Mother's Day viewing to revenge thrillers with morally objectionable women at the helm, female empowerment in film comes in wildly different shapes and sizes. This International Women's Day, we're celebrating all the inspirational women of cinema with a list of girl power movies every woman should see at some point.
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The following 25 films spotlight all types of female empowerment, from early 1940s cinema to contemporary blockbusters. We've got your capital-i important biopics about the dauntless girls who broke down barriers for the benefit of all womankind. There's also a few tear-jerkers that pierce the heart, then put it back together with infectious optimism. Elsewhere, healing tales about female friendship make some of the best girl power movies.
But many of our picks veer from neat-and-tidy portraits of neat-and-tidy women. For every "Erin Brockovich" doing the good work, there's an "All About Eve" exposing the thin line between victim and villain. In fact, some of our favorite female characters have little to no moral justification for their deeds. Wanna see some women behaving badly? We'll "Gone Girl" you into next week! Others relish in their femininity while rejecting the very stereotypes that hold women back. Looking at you, "Barbie."
And who says a rom-com can't be jam-packed with female agency? Some of our favorite romances—including the revolutionary "His Girl Friday" (1940)—prove that women can serve the same dirtbag energy as their male counterparts, and look like a million bucks while doing it.
Below, our picks for girl power movies every woman should watch in her lifetime:
'Erin Brockovich' (2000)
Universal Pictures
A feminist classic, Julia Roberts' Oscar movie and one of the great legal thrillers, "Erin Brockovich" is the true story of the unemployed single mother who took down Pacific Gas & Electric after it knowingly poisoned a small town.
'20th Century Women' (2016)
A24
Mike Mills' portrait of three women—and a teenage boy, and Billy Crudup—living together in Southern California in 1979 is a stunning exploration of femininity and gender roles across three generations. Greta Gerwig is particularly good as a 24-year-old photographer battling cervical cancer. By the end, you'll want to move in with this found family, too.
'All About Eve' (1950)
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
This Best Picture winner presents a war between two women—a washed-up actress (Bette Davis) and the calculating ingénue (Anne Baxter) hell-bent on replacing her—with radically feminist themes. "It's one career all females have in common whether we like it or not — being a woman" is just one of the groundbreaking lines in this '50s classic.
'Alien' (1979)
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Sigourney Weaver's performance as Ellen Ripley, last survivor of the doomed Nostromo, subverted the final girl trope and opened up mainstream sci-fi to compelling social commentary. It's a must.
'The First Wives Club' (1996)
Paramount Pictures
Diane Keaton, Bette Midler and Goldie Hawn sing the girl anthem "You Don't Own Me" in this raucous comedy about three divorcees taking all their anger out on the deadbeat husbands who left them for younger women.
'Gone Girl' (2014)
Twentieth Century Fox
Women can be villains, too. And victims. And both, at the same time! Rosamund Pike is on one in David Fincher's winking adaptation of the Gillian Flynn bestseller. Come for the "Cool Girl" monologue, stay to see a psychological unraveling like none other — and, no, we're not talking about Ben Affleck's womanizer.
'9 to 5' (1980)
Twentieth Century Fox
Come on, who doesn't want to watch Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin turn the tables on their sexist boss in this workplace comedy that was way ahead of its time? Dolly received her first Oscar nomination for the film's famous original song.
'Legally Blonde' (2001)
MGM
This classic takedown of the "dumb blonde" stereotype is whip-smart and funny, featuring Reese Witherspoon as a pink-obsessed woman who defies expectations throughout her Harvard Law School journey. Fabulous supporting performances, including Jennifer Coolidge's memorable turn as the beautician Paulette, make "Legally Blonde" endlessly rewatchable.
'Mulan' (1998)
Disney
We love a Disney princess who kicks butt. "Mulan" draws from a Chinese folktale about a young woman who enlists in the army to save her ailing father from certain death, becoming a fierce warrior in the process.
'A League of Their Own' (1992)
Columbia Pictures
Penny Marshall's cult hit about the first professional women's baseball league stars Geena Davis, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell and more as they overcome WWII-era patriarchy, one catch at a time. Tom Hanks is also great as the team manager-turned-ally in this inspirational sports drama.
'Hidden Figures' (2016)
Twentieth Century Studios
The African-American women who cracked the mathematical equations that sent NASA astronauts to space are hidden figures no more thanks to this Oscar-nominated biodrama. Taraji P. Henson stars as Katherine G. Johnson, with Octavia Spencer as Dorothy Vaughan and Janelle Monáe as Mary Jackson.
'Waitress' (2007)
Night and Day Pictures
"Waitress" is an underrated girl power comedy and a great food movie. Keri Russell dazzles as Jenna, a diner waitress and pie aficionado in the deep South. When she falls pregnant, she races to find a way out from under her abusive husband.
'Little Women' (2019)
Columbia Pictures
Greta Gerwig and Louisa May Alcott were a match made in heaven. Saoirse Ronan and Florence Pugh are among the four March girls pursuing their dreams and propping each other up in this enduring tale of sisterly love. The 1994 version with Susan Sarandon and Winona Ryder is also a guaranteed good time.
'Miss Congeniality' (2000)
Warner Bros.
Sandy's F.B.I. Agent Gracie Hart is unkempt and undercover — in other words, us on a Monday. She sullenly agrees to compete in the Miss United States beauty pageant in order to save the event from domestic terrorists (hilarious), and her unkind assumptions about her fellow contestants are challenged along the way.
'The Devil Wears Prada' (2006)
Twentieth Century Fox
Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt are golden in this Oscar-nominated comedy about the joys and sacrifices that come with being a high-powered woman in the workplace. "The Devil Wears Prada" is witty, wicked, then shockingly sincere.
'Barbie' (2023)
Warner Bros.
Another Greta Gerwig joint to make your heart sing. "Barbie" is both a celebration and interrogation of the doll that's shaped femininity for decades. With shades of sci-fi fantasy, coming-of-age and technicolor musical, it's the most maximalist film on our list.
'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' (1991)
TriStar Pictures
Linda. Hamilton's. Guns. Need we say more?
'Iron Jawed Angels' (2004)
HBO
If you haven't seen this HBO original film, do yourself a favor and pop it on. It's the little-known account of the young suffragettes who paved the way for women's right to vote in the early-1900s. And you can't beat this ensemble: Margo Martindale, Hilary Swank, Anjelica Huston, Frances O'Connor — the list goes on!
'Fried Green Tomatoes' (1991)
Universal Pictures
Looking for a deeply moving women-led drama that won't make you ugly-cry quite as hard as "Steel Magnolias" does? This queer cinema classic is a must-see. In the present, Jessica Tandy tells Kathy Bates the story of the two young women of the Whistle Stop Cafe in 1920s Alabama.
'Kill Bill: Vol. 1' (2003)
Miramax
There was revenge cinema before Uma Thurman's The Bride and after Uma Thurman's The Bride, who wakes from a four-year coma to annihilate the ex who tried to kill her. Feeling the feminine urge to watch the world burn? Turn on "Kill Bill" and cackle as a supernaturally gifted blonde drags all her enemies to you-know-where.
'Lady Bird' (2017)
A24
Sure, Greta Gerwig's solo directorial debut is more of a coming-of-age comedy or tear-jerker than a conventional girl power romp. But its intricate handling of the knotty bond between Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf's characters remains the greatest mother-daughter story ever put to film. "Lady Bird" is Gerwig's masterpiece.
'Wonder Woman' (2017)
Warner Bros.
We hadn't seen a female-led film do box office numbers like this since Angelina Jolie's "Tomb Raider" (2001). But beyond the very literal girl power wielded by Diana of Themyscira, daughter of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, Patty Jenkins' "Wonder Woman" is also a smart, gender-swapped screwball comedy.
'Foxy Brown' (1974)
MGM
Pam Grier did a roundhouse kick in bell bottoms and the world was never the same. In "Foxy Brown," she's a smooth-talking vigilante posing as an escort to go after the mobsters who killed her boyfriend. If you haven't seen this classic revenge flick, get on it.
'Thelma & Louise' (1991)
MGM/Getty Images
Ridley Scott's iconic road movie is an enduring piece of feminist cinema thanks to an Oscar-winning script from female screenwriter Callie Khouri, heartbreaking performances by Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis and, of course, a gangster final shot. No "Thelma & Louise" imitator has recaptured the magic of two sunburnt girlfriends speeding toward the end of the world.
'His Girl Friday' (1940)
Donaldson Collection/Getty Images
This Howard Hawks classic gives Rosalind Russell's intrepid reporter all the best lines. She ribs her ex-husband (a pining Cary Grant) with all the wit in the world, and demonstrates as much sleaze as any newspaper man. It's a rare early rom-com with loads of female agency.
