Feminist Fantasies: The Woman King & Don't Worry Darling

This past weekend, I got to watch two movies written and directed by women. Readers of the blog know there is little that brings me more joy that seeing the work of women behind the camera and these two movies are perfect examples of what riches we get when we let the ladies take over. If you haven't seen these movies already, you're in for such a treat.

The Woman King: Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and written by Dana Stevens, this is the true story of the Agojie, a group of African warrior women who protected the Dahomey kingdom of West Africa during the 17th to 19th centuries. In this movie, we follow Nanisca (Viola Davis), a fierce general who harbors many secrets. Over the course of two hours, we get to see her confront her demons, train her warriors, and lead an army who could put the fear of god into any man, woman, or child. It is quite something to behold.

The acting in this film is superb. Of course Viola Davis is scintillating, but I was particularly riveted by Thuso Mbedu, who plays Nawi, a young woman who is handed over to the Agojie by her father because she is proving to be too temperamental and refuses to be married off to an abusive old rich man like he wants. Nawi is strong, willful, and eager to prove herself to these warrior women, and her growth as a fighter, but also as a woman coming to grips with her emotions and what she wants from the world, is captivating. And then there's Lashana Lynch as her mentor Izogie. She is spectacular, providing a little bit of comic relief, a little bit of emotional support, and a whole lot of swagger and skill with her weapons.

The stunt choreography in this movie is particularly sublime (shoutout to stunt coordinator Danny Hernandez who deserves an Oscar). There are a LOT of battle scenes, but they never get wearying - there's always some new move to watch, some fantastic use of a knife or a rope, and everyone is putting the human body through its paces. You will want to stand up and cheer numerous times, particularly when the colonizers are getting their comeuppance. While this movie tells a powerful story of slavery and the painful history that many Africans suffered through, this tale is more focused on resilience, joy, and healing through that pain. This is a story of Black women sticking together, fighting oppression, and being truly excellent, so much so that they can be kings. Bow down and revel in their glory.

Don't Worry Darling: This movie has been an absolute nightmare for its publicists. There have been innumerable stories about behind-the-scenes drama and all manner of conflicts between the cast and crew, and all of that seems to have bled into this becoming a pretty poorly reviewed film. But I'm here to tell you to forget all that and just watch this movie on its own merits. As far as I can tell, the reason it has gotten such bad reviews is because most film critics are white men and they probably feel far too attacked by this movie. 

This movie is a MOOD. I spent two hours in the theatre feeling paranoid and freaked out, and never being quite sure what was going to happen next. Thanks to the undeniably weird and great score from John Powell and the twisty plot from screenwriter Katie Silberman, you will feel vaguely unsettled for the entire runtime as you try to piece together what exactly is going on and what lies beneath the surface of this seemingly picture perfect 1950s world where the men all go off to work at some mysterious place called the Victory Project, while their wives wear beautiful outfits (kudos to costume designer Arianne Phillips), cook delicious meals (I have never craved bacon and eggs more), and live a life of idle luxury. We follow Alice (the incandescent Florence Pugh) who is terribly in love with her husband, Jack (Harry Styles, putting in a shockingly good performance), and appears to be fond of her life in this idyll. However, she suddenly starts to have bad dreams, and is overwhelmed by a dread that something is not quite right. And the audience will then be taken on a frantic journey to figure out what exactly has gone wrong here.

It is wild to me that after directing Booksmart, this is what Olivia Wilde chose to direct next. It is a completely different genre, but is directed with such self-assurance on an epic scale that captures all the glamour of this world as well as its exceedingly seedy underbelly. This is a movie about women and their rich inner lives, and men's desires to squash those inner lives. Wilde captures all that psychological turmoil masterfully, using weird and wonderful imagery, with a noble assist from cinematographer Matthew Libatique to give us this gorgeous and gripping tale. Once all the publicity dies down around this film, give the woman a budget to direct whatever she wants to next, because I, for one, am ready to see any story she wants to tell.