5 films on Netflix to reflect on womanhood this Women’s Month

As the world celebrates Women's Month this March, it is the perfect time to meditate and reflect on the different facets of womanhood.

You can read feminist literature, educate yourself on successful women in their respective fields, and watch films that tell the stories of women of all ages.

If you're on the look out for movies to watch, check out these five titles currently streaming on Netflix.

1. Pieces of a Woman (2020)

Vanessa Kirby, who played Princess Margaret in “The Crown” seasons 1 and 2, earned multiple acting nominations for her performance in this film about a woman who loses her baby shortly after a harrowing home birth.

Throughout the film, her character, Martha, deals with the grief of losing her first child as her marriage falls apart. Against her wishes, her family decides to press charges against the midwife who attended her birth, but she finds the strength to face the reality of what happened and honor her lost baby in her own way.

2. The Lost Daughter (2021)

This critically acclaimed film by Maggie Gyllenhaal is based on a novel by Italian author Elena Ferrante. It follows Leda Caruso (Olivia Colman), a 48-year-old professor who takes a holiday in Greece and recalls herself as a young mother after encountering a family at the beach.

Leda describes herself as an “unnatural mother” and tells a pregnant woman that “children are a crushing responsibility.” Through flashbacks, a young Leda (Jessie Buckley) is shown struggling to juggle raising her two daughters and a pursuing academic career. When a young girl loses her doll at the beach, the present Leda spirals into strange contemplation of motherhood.

3. Kim Ji Young, Born 1982 (2019)

Based on a novel of the same name by Cho Nam Joo, this film starring Gong Yoo and Jung Yu Mi has caused a stir in South Korea after showing the discrimination women face in Korean society.

The film follows a young wife and mother who seemingly gets possessed by other women in her life – her grandmother, her mother, and even a deceased friend – after she becomes a housewife and struggles with losing her own identity. Prepare your tissues, because this film is going to turn on the waterworks.

4. Nyad (2023)

This biographical sports drama about long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad stars Annette Bening in the title role. It depicts Diana’s attempts to swim non-stop from Cuba to Florida at 60 years old.

If you want to feel empowered as a woman entering her senior citizen years, this is an inspiring film that shows what can be achieved if we refuse to give up on our dreams.

5. Mona Lisa Smile (2003)

If you’re in the mood to watch something retro, this film starring Julia Roberts is set in 1950s Massachusetts at the real-life Wellesley College. The private institution for women is depicted in the film as highly conservative in its views about sex, marriage, and the role of women in society.

Echoing “Dead Poets Society,” a progressive art history professor named Katherine Watson (Julia) enters the college and her presence causes the students to slowly change their beliefs on womanhood and their own ability to reach to their potential.