Our movie recs for Galentine’s
Celebrate gal pals with some friendship-centered flicks!
Happy Galentine’s Day to all who celebrate!
Galentine’s is seriously one of our favorite holidays—we love throwing a party for all our favorite friends with girly drinks, manifestation pages, tarot readings, tattoos, crafts, all things feminine and triumphant!
But even if you can’t get to a glorious Galentine’s Day shebang, you can always celebrate by turning on one of these fantastic films centering female friendship.
There’s so many incredible movies about women, it was hard to pare down a list of recommendations for y’all! But since it’s a special day to highlight friendship between women, we made sure our Galentine’s movie list had some perimeters: they had to focus on friendship! Romance movies are great, movies about women doing powerful things are great (looking at you, Erin Brockovich), but so many of those movies star exactly one female protagonist, and the women in the cast around them are really just there to be foils to the main character. We want movies about pals!
Pick a good one, and make sure to call or text your own best gal and tell her that she’s a beautiful, talented, brilliant, powerful musk ox.
CATEGORY: THE DREAM TEAM
Movies about women teaming up to win the big game, rob the men of Wall Street, or literally save their own lives
The Ultimate Dream Team Movie: A League of Their Own
Other recommendations?
1) Whip It, a 2009 sports comedy about Bliss (Elliot Page), a misfit who finds her passion when she joins a roller derby league (Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut! Totally fun and a product of its time in the best way)
2) Ocean’s Eight, a slick 2018 heist movie about a group of women who steal jewelry at the Met Gala (Sandra Bullock! Cate Blanchett! Rihanna! Awkwafina! And MORE!)
3) Birds of Prey, a 2020 superhero film about Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) working with other superheroines to save a girl from a crime lord (you don’t have to see any other Batman movies to watch this!)
4) Sister Act, a 1992 musical comedy about a lowly nightclub singer (Whoopi Goldberg) who enrolls in a convent as part of the witness protection program (an absolute classic)
5) Bring It On, a 2000 teen comedy about cheer captain Torrance (Kirsten Dunst) who learns all her squad’s cheer routines were stolen from another school (warning: there are a LOT of misogynistic words in this one, but the white cheerleaders apologizing for stealing the dance moves from a Black cheerleading squad is in such good faith for 2000… and even for today)
CATEGORY: GAL PALS
Movies about women making friends, being friends, fighting with friends, protecting friends, relying on friends
The Ultimate Gal Pals Movie: Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion
Other recommendations?
1) Fried Green Tomatoes, a 1991 historical drama about best friends Idgie (Mary Stuart Masterson) and Ruth (Mary-Louise Parker) who run the Whistle Stop Cafe in Jim Crow Alabama (there’s also a fantastic subplot with Kathy Bates befriending an elderly woman in a nursing home—TOWANDA!)
2) Bridesmaids, a 2011 raunchy comedy about broke baker Annie (Kristen Wiig) and her jealousy over her best friend’s (Maya Rudolph) other bridesmaids (seriously one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen)
3) Now and Then, a 1995 comedy about four girls (Christina Ricci, Gaby Hoffman, Ashleigh Aston Moore, and Thora Birch) and the bittersweet summer of 1970 when they researched a true-crime story and maybe summoned a spirit (the framing device shows these characters as grown-up women reuniting in their childhood treehouse, and man, casting choices were MADE)
4) Muriel’s Wedding, a 1994 comedy about Muriel (Toni Colette), an outcast who steals money from her family to start a new life in Sydney with her friend, Rhonda (Rachel Griffiths) (baby Toni Colette at her finest, and plenty of ABBA)
5) Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar, a 2021 comedy about two lifelong friends, Barb (Annie Mumolo) and Star (Kristen Wiig) who leave their Midwestern town together to vacation in Florida (honestly, was not expecting the song with the seagulls, and it remains funny)
CATEGORY: GIRLS BEHAVING BADLY
Movies about women absolutely messing things up—maybe they’re hopelessly flawed, maybe they’re actually kinda evil
The Ultimate Girls Behaving Badly Movie: Chicago
Other recommendations?
1) Death Becomes Her, a 1992 bonkers comedy where Madeline (Meryl Streep) and Helen (Goldie Hawn) are rivals who take an immortality potion and fight for the affections of Ernest (Bruce Willis) (a completely brilliant satire about women, the beauty industry, aging, plastic surgery, and fame)
2) Cruella, a 2021 villain origin story about Estella/Cruella (Emma Stone) and her downfall as she tries to make it in the fashion industry of 1970s punk London (okay, so you can’t really call Estella and her mentor/Devil Wears Prada boss Emma Thompson friends, but it’s just so much fun to watch Cruella rise and fall)
3) The Favourite, a 2018 historical comedy/thriller about two women (Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone) vying to be the favorite right-hand woman of Queen Anne (the description sounds dry, but the movie is brilliant and heartbreaking and so, so funny)
4) Hustlers, a 2019 crime comedy starring J-Lo about a group of savvy strip club employees who band together to steal from the stock traders and CEOs who frequent their clubs (such a fun, fun movie with fantastic cameos)
5) The Handmaiden, a 2016 thriller/romance set in Japanese-occupied Korea about a conwoman hired to trick an heiress into a mental asylum (yes, it’s in Korean, yes, it’s pretty long, but oh, it is full of delicious twists)
CATEGORY: GALS OF ALL AGES
Movies about girls little and large, child and grown-up, historical and fantastical
The Ultimate Gals of All Ages Movie: Encanto
Other recommendations?
1) Kiki’s Delivery Service, a 1989 animated film about Kiki (Kirsten Dunst), a young witch who leaves home for a year of training and starts a flying courier service (a colorful, affirming movie about independence, ambition, and creativity with a bonus Janeane Garofalo as Kiki’s accidental artistic mentor)
2) Turning Red, a 2022 animated comedy about Mei Lee (Rosalie Chiang) who inherits a curse from her mother (Sandra Oh)—she turns into a red panda whenever she feels strong emotions (this movie is not only an incredible mother-daughter story, it also features one of the best girl friend groups I’ve ever seen in a family movie!)
3) The Princess Diaries, a 2001 comedy about Mia (Anne Hathaway) who meets her grandmother (Julie Andrews) and learns she’s the next heir to the throne (the friendship between Mia and Lily, played brilliantly by Heather Matarazzo, is iconic. VOLTAIRE!)
4) A Little Princess, a 1995 family drama movie about Sara (Liesel Matthews) who must switch from rich boarding school student to indentured servant when her father is reported dead in the trenches of World War One (this is not a princess movie; this is a movie about what it means to believe you are a princess, and Sara inspires the girls in the boarding school with breathtaking stories from the Ramayana)
5) Wolf Walkers, a 2020 animated fantasy about Robyn (Honor Kneafsey), who, while living in Ireland with her hunter father (Sean Bean) befriends a Wolfwalker, Mebh (Eva Whittaker) and becomes part of the pack (absolutely stunning animation and fun action)
CATEGORY: WOMEN AGAINST THE WORLD
Movies about women beat up by the big, cruel world, women fighting for justice, women searching for power
The Ultimate Women Against the World Movie: Thelma and Louise
Other recommendations?
1) Matilda, a 1996 family movie about six-year-old child genius Matilda (Mara Wilson) who comes from an abusive home but develops telekinetic powers to deal with her rude parents and the sadistic principal of her school (such a great movie about friendships spanning generations and the power of escapism through reading)
2) Josie and the Pussycats, a 2001 satire about Josie (Rachael Leigh Cook) and her bandmates (Rosario Dawson and Tara Reid) who get a surprise record deal with a label that ultimately uses their music to subliminally control the population into buying consumer goods (this movie is so, so much better than its reviewers say it is! The friendship between the three girls is heartfelt and fun)
3) Saved!, a 2002 comedy movie about Mary (Jena Malone), who attends a Christian high school and becomes pregnant, leading to full ostracization from her former friends (this is such a sweet, gentle movie about “sin” and true community; plus Macaulay Culkin!)
4) Jennifer’s Body, a 2009 horror camp film about Jennifer (Megan Fox) who is demonically possessed and begins eating her male classmates while her best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried) tries to put a stop to Jennifer’s rampage (yes, this is a gory movie, but it’s high camp and humorous at every step, a totally over-the-top feminist romp)
5) To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, a 1995 comedy about three drag queens (Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, and John Leguizamo) who embark on a road trip and find themselves caught up in small-town trouble (it’s 100% a movie about how women and femmes are stronger when we work together)
CATEGORY: WOMEN KICKING BUTT
Movies about women beating the boys, making it big, changing the world
The Ultimate Women Kicking Butt Movie: Legally Blonde
Other recommendations?
1) Hidden Figures, a 2016 historical drama about a team of Black women mathematicians (Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae) who worked at NASA during the pivotal early years of the space program (a fantastic movie showcasing how women have always been involved in all the major events throughout history, even if they don’t always receive credit)
2) Selena, 1997 biopic about real-life singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez (played by Jennifer Lopez), her rise into Tejano music stardom, her crossover into American pop, and her untimely death (such a heartbreaking story, but watching Selena cross barrier after barrier with her music and style is always inspiring)
3) Kill Bill, two movies, technically, which came out in 2003 and 2004 (I prefer Volume 1, personally) about the Bride (Uma Thurman), a former assassin who carries out revenge on the group of killers she used to work with (extremely violent, but cartoonishly so; it’s the ultimate tale about a woman pushed over the edge, ready to come back and take flight on those who wronged her)
4) Miss Congeniality, a 2000 comedy about Grace (Sandra Bullock), an FBI agent who must go undercover as a contestant in the Miss United States pageant (classic Sandy B. character, someone who is unkempt and relatable and sarcastic, but the movie manages to keep from mocking more femme-presenting women to the point of cruelty)
5) Mad Max: Fury Road, a 2015 action movie set in a post-apocalyptic world where water and fuel are scarce, Max (Tom Hardy) and Furiosa (Charlize Theron) team up to spring a group of women from a cutthroat despot and his henchmen (okay, yes, another violent one, but this movie features pregnant women fighting against their captors in a way we’ve never seen before on film—it’s a movie that makes you proud to be a woman, because our strength is constantly underestimated)
Did we miss one? What are your favorite gal-pal movies?
