10 Best Female-Led Movies & Series On Netflix Right Now

Netflix is one of the most popular streaming services on the planet. With a large and ever-expanding gallery of films, series, documentaries, and Netflix originals, the streamer has become a household necessity in recent years. In keeping up with the times, the service continues to release many programs that respond to contemporary social justice issues.

Many of its recent releases — and some that aren’t new — are led by inspiring and empowering females, both in front of and behind the camera. Here are ten of the best female-led films and series available on Netflix at the moment, though the list is not exhaustive.

10. The Half Of It

Written and directed by Alice Wu, this Netflix original was released in 2020 to positive reviews and audience reception. The story is based loosely on Wu’s real-life experiences.

Ellie Chu lives in the fictional town of Squahamish with her widowed father. Despite his education, his immigrant status prevents him from getting a job better than that of a statin master. The film also features an LGBTQ+ romance that also involves religion. Aster, the other leading female, also has a complex character arc.

9. Annihilation

Based on Jeff Vandermeer’s sci-fi novel of the same name, this 2018 film is directed by Alex Garland and centers around a group of five female characters. This is not an accident; the group sets off on an expedition to scout Area X, a strange phenomenon spreading along the American coastline.

Lena (Natalie Portman) and her companions are the first all-female group sent into the area, where they find themselves tested in many ways. Nobody ever comes out the same, if they emerge at all. The women’s relationships with one another are put under severe strain, as is their sanity.

8. Unorthodox

This four-part miniseries premiered on Netflix in March 2020. It’s the streamer’s first series to be primarily in Yiddish, the traditional language of central and eastern European Jews before the Holocaust.

Shira Haas gives an outstanding performance as Esther Shapiro, a young Jewish woman who flees her arranged marriage in Williamsburg. Her journey takes her to Germany, but her husband is following close behind. The story is based on Deborah Feldman’s autobiography, Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots.

7. The Edge Of Seventeen

Hailee Steinfeld stars as an awkward junior high student named Nadine. The low-budget film is Kelly Freman Craig’s directorial debut. The nuanced comedy became an instant hit and was universally praised by critics.

Haley Lu Richardson portrays Krista, Nadine’s best friend, and Woody Harrelson stars as Nadine’s teacher, Mr. Bruner. Just when Nadine doesn’t think her life could get any worse (or more awkward) she discovers that Krista has been secretly dating her brother. Feeling even more isolated than she already does, Nadine seeks the guidance of Mr. Bruner and finds an unexpected friend in another student.

6. Sex Education

The main character may be a male, but many of the show’s most prominent — and empowering — characters are female. Most importantly, the series is created and written by a woman, British-Australian Laurie Nunn. She, along with fellow women working on the show, says that one of the most important things for them was to explore female pleasure alongside female struggles.

Female characters include Gillian Anderson’s Jean Milburn, along with the core group of girls fans lauded as empowering: Maeve, Aimee, Ola, Lily, Viv, and Olivia. They band together to support Aimee after being sexually assaulted on the bus, first going to smash things, then to catch the bus with her. Then, of course, there’s the famous “It’s my vagina” scene centering around Ruby.

5. Dare Me

Dare Me isn’t a typical cheerleading drama; the dark and clever Netflix series presents a complex look into female relationships. Viewers get to see the best and the worst sides of cheerleaders’ bonds, including their relationship with their coach, Colette.

The show is based on Megan Abbott’s 2012 mystery novel. Abbott was heavily involved in the show’s production along with screenwriter Gina Fattore. The story’s precise and nuanced examination of the complexities of female relationships is the result of female influence at every stage of development.

4. Lady Bird

Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut Lady Bird hits the mark in every aspect. The coming-of-age film was nominated for two Academy Awards in 2017, including Best Picture, and won two Golden Globes along with many other accolades.

Saorise Ronan’s performance in the lead role was particularly praised. She portrays Christine McPherson, who prefers the name Lady Bird, a high school senior in the tumultuous stages of her growth. She insists on asserting her individuality, resulting in the strain of her relationship with her mother.

3. Pride & Prejudice

The 2005 adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel, Pride and Prejudice, stars Keira Knightley in an Oscar-nominated performance. The story focuses on the five Bennet sisters as they grow up in a household governed by Mrs. Bennet, who is obsessed with finding wealthy husbands for her daughters.

The free-spirited Elizabeth would rather establish herself as a woman whose reputation is based solely on who she is as an individual. Lydia, the youngest daughter, stumbles into an unwanted elopement, which results in Mrs. Bennet’s indisposition, allowing Elizabeth to forge her own path.

2. Jane The Virgin

This award-winning telenovela recently wrapped up its hundred-episode run on The CW, but it has since found a new home on Netflix. Jane Villanueva is the central character — a young devout Catholic who is impregnated by way of accidental artificial insemination.

The show was created by Jennie Snyder Urman and always centers on the Villanueva women: Jane, her mother Xiomara, and grandmother Alba. Other prominent female characters include Petra, whose growth across the five seasons is monumental, and Jane’s best friend Lina.

1. Anne With An E

Anne With an E is based on Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne Of Green Gables books, but the Netflix original is much grittier and focuses on modern themes. Anne is a young orphan who is unintentionally adopted by the elderly Cuthbert siblings, who originally wanted a boy. But Anne convinces them to keep her (“Girls can do anything a boy can do, and more!”) by being herself.

The series is written, created, directed, and produced by a team of women helmed by Moira Walley-Beckett. The most empowering female characters include Anne, Diana, Josie, Mary, Miss Stacy, Marilla, Aunt Josephine, Rachel, Ka’kwet, and Prissy. At its core, the series is all about telling empowering stories (especially about females) and diving into previously unexplored themes in classical storytelling.

[Originally shared via ScreenRant.]