Drama
Click for Instant Only
The Playroom
rating:3.2

The Playroom

2012Runtime:0 minutes
During the tumultuous 1970s, teenager Maggie Harris is largely responsible for raising her three younger siblings while her unhappy parents drink away their angst. One night, their problems explode as they seek to escape their stultifying routine.

Directed by:

  • Julia Dyer
  • rating:3.2 3.2 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    The Notorious Bettie Page
    rating:3.2

    The Notorious Bettie Page

    2005Runtime:0 minutes
    Provocative filmmaker Mary Harron delivers an intimate biopic about 1950s pinup girl Bettie Page (Gretchen Mol), who whetted many a male appetite with her raven locks and sadomasochistic poses before becoming the target of a U.S. Senate investigation. Although she longed to be an actress, the unassuming girl from Nashville, Tenn., would ultimately become the nation's first bona fide bondage queen -- and a convert to Christianity.

    Directed by:

  • Mary Harron
  • rating:3.2 3.2 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    Pilgrim Song
    rating:3.2

    Pilgrim Song

    2012Runtime:0 minutes
    After losing his job teaching music, James decides to flee that disappointment and a few others by taking a long hike through Kentucky's backcountry. As his journey unfolds, the trail involves him with a host of strange characters.

    Directed by:

  • Martha Stephens
  • rating:3.2 3.2 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    Mail Order Bride
    rating:3.2

    Mail Order Bride

    2008Runtime:0 minutes
    "Melrose Place" alums Daphne Zuniga and Greg Evigan star in this suspenseful Hallmark Channel Western about a grifter named Diana (Zuniga) who assumes the identity of her dead friend Jen in order to escape her con-man boss (Evigan). Along with Jen's name comes a rancher fiancé, Beau (Cameron Bancroft), whom neither woman has met. But just as Beau begins to catch on to the con, Diana's hit with a bigger problem: Her boss is back, and he's not happy.

    Directed by:

  • Anne Wheeler
  • rating:3.2 3.2 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    The Woodsman
    rating:3.2

    The Woodsman

    2004Runtime:0 minutes
    A convicted pedophile -- paroled after 12 years -- returns to his hometown eager to rebuild his life. But as he settles into a lumberyard job and begins a relationship with a co-worker, he struggles to suppress his inner demons.

    Directed by:

  • Nicole Kassell
  • rating:3.2 3.2 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    The Black Balloon
    rating:3.2

    The Black Balloon

    2008Runtime:0 minutes
    Australian model Gemma Ward makes her feature film debut in this family drama starring Rhys Wakefield as a 16-year-old trying to make his way in a new town and at a new school -- while also charged with keeping tabs on his autistic older brother (Luke Ford). Toni Collette plays the pregnant mother of the clan, and Erik Thomson is the cricket-obsessed dad in this Berlin Film Festival award winner from first-time feature director Elissa Down.

    Directed by:

  • Elissa Down
  • rating:3.2 3.2 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    Japanese Story
    rating:3.2

    Japanese Story

    2003Runtime:0 minutes
    During a field trip, geologist Sandy (Toni Collette) has the unfortunate luck of being marooned in the Pilbara desert with a man she can't stand. Finding him completely irritating and rather egotistical, Sandy soon learns that his feelings for her are just as contemptuous. The saying that things can only get better doesn't apply to these two, as their increasingly remote location only adds to the already challenging situation.

    Directed by:

  • Sue Brooks
  • rating:3.2 3.2 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    The Soong Sisters
    rating:3.2

    The Soong Sisters

    1997Runtime:0 minutes
    Maggie Cheung, Vivian Wu and Michelle Yeoh portray Ching-ling, May-ling and Ai-ling, three sisters in the Soong family, an influential and fascinating political dynasty in China that reached the highest levels of power. After being educated in America, the women marry some of the wealthiest and most powerful men in Chinese history, including Sun Yat-sen, the founder of modern China, and Chiang Kai-shek, the nation's leader during World War II.

    Directed by:

  • Mabel Cheung
  • rating:3.2 3.2 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    Flores de Otro Mundo
    rating:3.2

    Flores de Otro Mundo

    1999Runtime:0 minutes
    Looking for companionship, a group of lonely Spaniards (including Luis Tosar, Jose Sancho and Chete Lara) hold a soiree for single women. But for the most part, their party guests are poor immigrants from third-world countries. Based on a true story, this award-winning drama from director Iciar Bollain traces the relationships of three new couples, documenting their struggles with clashing cultures, sex and racism.

    Directed by:

  • rating:3.2 3.2 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    Angry Harvest
    rating:3.2

    Angry Harvest

    1985Runtime:0 minutes
    Oscar nominated as Best Foreign Language Film, this unsettling character study set in World War II stars Armin Mueller-Stahl as Leon Wolny, a simple but thriving Polish farmer torn between his scruples and sexual desire. When Leon happens upon a Jewish woman (Elisabeth Trissenaar) who's jumped from a train bound for a Nazi death camp, he takes her in and shelters her in his cellar. But everything changes once his long-suppressed libido surfaces.

    Directed by:

  • Agnieszka Holland
  • rating:3.2 3.2 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    A Thousand Acres
    rating:3.2

    A Thousand Acres

    1997Runtime:0 minutes
    William Shakespeare's &NFi;King Lear&NFi_; gets an update when Larry Cook (Jason Robards) -- a cranky, aging farmer who owns 1,000 acres of land -- decides to divide his property among his three daughters, Ginny (Jessica Lange), Rose (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Caroline (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Caroline hesitates to accept, and Larry rescinds the offer. But when Ginny and Rose take over the farm, problems with their father dredge up memories of a horrible past.

    Directed by:

  • Jocelyn Moorhouse
  • rating:3.2 3.2 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    The Secret
    rating:3.2

    The Secret

    1992Runtime:0 minutes
    On the surface, it seems as if Mike Dunsmore (Kirk Douglas) has it all. He has a loving family, has built a successful business and is running for political office. But nobody knows his secret: He's dyslexic and illiterate. He would've gone to the grave with this information had he not suspected that his grandson (Brock Peters) shares his problem. But in order to help the child, Mike must reveal his disability to his son (Bruce Boxleitner).

    Directed by:

  • Karen Arthur
  • rating:3.2 3.2 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    The Women of Brewster Place
    rating:3.2

    The Women of Brewster Place

    1989Runtime:0 minutes
    A single mother moves to a tumbledown housing project on Brewster Place, where she meets a group of strong-minded women facing similar woes. During the course of three decades, the ladies do battle against abject poverty, bigotry and unreliable men.

    Directed by:

  • Donna Deitch
  • rating:3.2 3.2 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    The Man Who Cried
    rating:3.2

    The Man Who Cried

    2000Runtime:0 minutes
    Christina Ricci stars as Suzie, a Russian Jew adrift in the world after her father leaves the family to make a fresh start in America in 1927. After emigrating to England, Suzie flowers into a no-nonsense showgirl who eventually ends up in Paris. There, she becomes involved with Cesar (Johnny Depp), the head of a band of gypsies, but their happiness -- and Suzie's quest to track down her father -- is challenged by the rising Nazi influence in Europe.

    Directed by:

  • Sally Potter
  • rating:3.2 3.2 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    3:52
    rating:3.2

    3:52

    2005Runtime:0 minutes
    A young woman tries to overcome her addiction to alcohol by looking inward and facing her darkest issues in Shawna Baca's 35mm short film. Haunted by her demons, alcoholic Kate (America Ferrara) embarks on a spiritual journey, a difficult but necessary personal odyssey that she hopes will lead to her recovery. Holly Karrol Clark, Billy Daydodge, Robert Greygrass, Leah Stanko Mangum and Tripp Pickell co-star.

    Directed by:

  • Shawna Baca
  • rating:3.2 3.2 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    Miss You Like Crazy
    rating:3.2

    Miss You Like Crazy

    2010Runtime:0 minutes
    Ferry boat commuters Alan (John Lloyd Cruz) and Mia (Bea Alonzo) make a romantic connection that's thwarted when Mia learns that Alan already has a girlfriend. Years later, the two meet again, and Alan gets a second chance to win Mia's heart. But this time, she's the one who's already taken. Gerald Hans Isaac and Maricar Reyes co-star in this Filipino romance set in Manila and Malaysia, directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina.

    Directed by:

  • Cathy Garcia-Molina
  • rating:3.2 3.2 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    Now and Then
    rating:3.8

    Now and Then

    1995Runtime:0 minutes
    Waxing nostalgic about the bittersweet passage from childhood to puberty in this tender coming-of-age tale, four childhood girlfriends -- Teeny, Chrissy, Samantha and Roberta -- recall the magical summer of 1970. During their walk down memory lane, they reconcile experiences with boys, secrets, bullies and more. Lesli Linka Glatter directs; Gaby Hoffmann, Ashleigh Aston Moore, Cloris Leachman, Thora Birch and Christina Ricci co-star.

    Directed by:

  • Lesli Linka Glatter
  • rating:3.8 3.8 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    Now and Then (1995)
    A heartwarming movie about four childhood girlfriends who, in adulthood reunion, relive their experience of the life-changing summer of 1970, including a mystery death, divorce, standing up to the boys, first kiss, and the meaning of true friendship. Each explores her unique identity amidst family and friends. Beautifully directed by Lesli Linka Glatter.
    - Frances   
    We periodically update our movie database by adding new female directors and their movies. If you would like to receive notice of these new additions when they happen, please email us at:
    frances 'at' femaledirectors.com