Content Warning: Sections of this article contain discussions of domestic abuse and sexual assault that some readers may find upsetting. Those sections that do will have individual content warnings, but readers should proceed with caution.
It’s that time of year again! Given that March plays host to both International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, it’d be rude of me to let the month pass by without talking about some of my favourite women on film – specifically, those who’ve had enough of their man’s bullshit. So that’s exactly what I’m going to do! This list is by no means exhaustive, and is simply intended as a run-through of some of my personal favourites. Stay tuned over the next few weeks for something a little more in-depth, but for now: let’s do this!
Cecelia, The Invisible Man (2020)
CW: Domestic abuse // Contains spoilers
There are many, many things I love about Leigh Whannell’s take on The Invisible Man, but one of the things I love most is its protagonist. Cecelia is such a well-written main character that it’s impossible not to engage with her immediately: from the beautifully crafted tension of the film’s opening scene, the audience learns everything they need to know about her. We know that she’s been subject to months, possibly years, of abuse at the hands of her partner Adrian; we know that she’s desperate to get away; and we know that she’s scared of him – and it’s this fear that gives the rest of the film many of its strengths, and the ending its incredibly satisfying impact.
The whole movie is dedicated to showing the audience how much power Adrian holds over Cecelia, so when she plays him at his own game during the film’s conclusion the audience is left in shock and awe. For a film so keen on showing the effects of domestic abuse on a person, it would be wrong of it to give the abuser the final victory – so it doesn’t. Cecelia finally finds the strength to leave her abuser: she slits Adrian’s throat in the same way he killed her sister, frames it as a suicide, and walks away a free woman as the score crescendos in our ears. It’s a magnificent ending to a magnificent film, and I cannot understate the importance of its ultimate message: we must always listen to survivors of domestic abuse, and must always help them find their freedom.
Jen, Revenge (2017)
CW: Sexual assault
Coralie Fargeat’s Revenge is one of my favourite genre movies of the past few years. It’s a rape-revenge thriller that takes all the subgenre’s misogynistic tropes, flips them on their heads, kicks them in the balls, and casts them aside with disgust. It’s a brutal, violent, ferociously feminist thriller the likes of which we’ve never, ever seen before, and its protagonist is one for the ages. Jen is introduced in a deliberately subversive manner as the camera follows her hips and legs with a distinctly male intensity; we see soon after how little the men think of her when she is assaulted by a friend of her boyfriend and then left for dead in the desert.
It’s incredibly refreshing to see a team of women tackle a film like this. Fargeat herself has clearly had enough with the ridiculous ways in which survivors of sexual assault are treated and just wants to get something done, while Matilda Lutz is stellar as Jen, selling her every moment with incredible amounts of gusto. Their ferocity and desire for change are what really make Revenge stick in the mind, and it’s all the better for it.
Grace, Ready Or Not (2019)
Contains spoilers.
Ready Or Not is one of those films that I come back to every time I get sad that I’m single, because it reminds me that being single isn’t actually so bad after all. To that end I’ve actually lost count of how many times I’ve seen it (at least five, potentially up to seven), but it never gets old. Part of what makes it so timeless is how much of myself I see in Grace; admittedly she’s much cooler and far more good-looking than I am, but there’s something about her that reminds me of myself. Perhaps it’s because Ready Or Not was the first film I saw in a cinema after an awful breakup in late 2019, and I felt my own freedom through Grace’s experiences.
Psychoanalysis aside, Grace is just a fantastic character. She’s smart, funny, relatable as hell, and clearly loves her husband to pieces – but when she’s forced to choose between her own life and the lives of her husband and his family, it’s a no-brainer. Sporting a bloodied, tattered wedding dress, muddied yellow Converse, a leather bandolier, and a shotgun in her arms, Grace achieves a level of cool the rest of us can only dream of. And her final moments? Caked in blood, cigarette between her lips, burning mansion behind her as she’s asked by a cop what happened to her. Her response? “In-laws.” Been there, hun. Been there.
Harley, Birds of Prey (2020)
I’d be a fool to write a list like this without mentioning the queen herself: Harley Fucking Quinn. Margot Robbie’s portrayal of the iconic character was one of the few highlights of 2016’s Suicide Squad, and Cathy Yan’s follow-up finally gives her the chance to properly shine. Birds of Prey has its detractors, but I am all in on this one: it’s big, loud, sweary, violent, and ever-so-gay – and honestly, what more could you want from a Harley Quinn movie? It’s devilish, tongue-in-cheek girl power all the way through, and a total riot from beginning to end.
Harley’s big character moment here is her breakup with the Joker: like a lot of women on this list, she’s finally free of her abuser – but because that happens right at the start of the film (or, if we’re being picky, before it), we get to spend the whole movie with Harley as she tries to figure out her place in the world now she’s no longer the Joker’s arm candy. It’s a fascinating journey that Yan and Robbie dive headfirst into, and the film is all the better for it. Because none of us need relationships to be worth something – all we need is a friend who has our backs. Or a partner in crime.
I can't lie to you, this was not what I was planning to publish today, but never mind! We all know how much life gets in the way of our plans. Anyway, my next post this month is a very exciting one but it's proving tricky to get together, so sit tight, and stay safe! I'll see you soon.
Images, top to bottom: Searchlight Pictures, Universal Pictures, Vertigo Releasing, Searchlight, Warner Bros.
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