Top 10 Movies for Women over 40
I don’t know about you, but I’m really over watching movies featuring the new 20-something starlet partnered with a love interest male actor that’s 10-20-30 yrs her senior. It’s nauseating and frankly, I think women get sexier in their post-40 years (and not a day younger). Here are some of my favorites (in no particular order) of best female empowerment movies for when I’m in need of some reminders that actresses over 40 are out there (and hot as ever!).
Fried Green Tomatoes
My mom and sister used to call me Iggie - one of the lead characters. Maybe it was because of my frankness, potty-mouth, or sheer defiance to the confinements of how a woman should act or behave.
I loved this story - it was my favorite then and has remained so over the years. And while I know the movie has a different spins from the novel, the acting and general messages of women empowering women, the importance of female friends, and finding your voice, it was well preserved in both versions.
Sometimes we forget just how strong we are and when Evelyn’s midlife hits and “Towanda” is invoked…damn.
The inner power is real!
2. Wild Oats
Trouble and adventure seem to go hand in hand with women-centered movies. And as much as I hate the impression we’re always damsels in distress, with the right dose of comedy and relatability, I’m game.
The humor and sex appeal these ladies share on screen is so well done. It’s funny as hell and I’d like to think someday one of my lady friends would join me on an adventure like this.
Who knows the international trouble we’d cause…
“I think of life itself as now as a wonderful play that I have written for myself, and so my purpose is to have the utmost fun playing my part.”
3. Thelma & Louise
I’m pretty sure everyone’s seen this movie, but we were probably teens when it came out. Maybe you remember it as just a cool, badass female-version of Bonnie & Clyde.
But now, as a midlife goddess yourself, watch it again. Sarandon was 45 when that movie came out (Davis was creeping up at 35). And in the 90s, there were few roles made for women in their 40s that weren’t depicted as old, fat, or matronly characters, but this one? Damn.
It was made for us and all our glory: sexy, badass, and just so awesome.
Go. Watch it again. I promise you’ll see so many relatable lessons to midlife.
“A friend will help you up if someone knocks you down. A best friend says, ‘stay down, I got this.’”
4. How Stella Got Her Groove Back
When this book and movie came out, I was so young. I really had no idea what it was about or how to relate to it, but now, at precisely Stella’s age? I’m neck deep.
And though I secretly want to look like Angela Basset and can’t because of many reasons aside from missing some serious shades of pigment in my skin, I’ll take the lessons in this story to heart. Midlife is all about getting our groove back - finding and believing in ourselves. That’s the secret ingredient that’s been holding us back all these years.
And in the meantime, maybe, just maybe, for a hot minute we can have that fantasy of that steamy dish in the beach too…
“When you ask the best questions of yourself and others, you invite the best answers.”
5. Vera Drake
Being a modern woman today isn’t a whole lot better than it was fifty years ago. Now, we’re often expected to do everything we did then, and make the money with a perfect body and lifestyle.
With our reproductive rights on the line, this story is so relevant. And sad. While most of my favorites are pretty uplifting, I think it’s important we take a step back in midlife and reflect some of the sobering truths to what’s in store for our daughters and granddaughters.
Oh, and Imelda Staunton? You’re absolutely stunning.
“it ain’t fair. me mum brought up six of us in two rooms. If you can’t feed ‘em, you can’t love ‘em, now can you?”
6. Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
To me, Judy Dench and this hilarious depiction of a group of retirees is everything I imagine my golden years to look like. Quirky, crazy, and mishaps and misunderstandings that only dreamy dewy eyed ladies like me would fall into.
Maybe someday I’ll get the nerve. But until then, I’ll just travel and live vicariously through friends and family who’ve done it and loved it.
No matter. Grab the popcorn and get ready for some belly laughs!
“Everything will be alright in the end so if it is not alright it is not the end.”
7. Grandma
Lily Tomlin is probably how I picture myself to look in my 70s. She’s got that salt and pepper mane that just won’t quit and her wit and general badassery? I’ll have what she’s having.
This film is such a great story about tough decisions and building a bond between two very different generations. While I’m definitely on the younger side of Tomlin’s character, I do think about my maternal grandmother when she was my age - she was just shy of 40 when mother was pregnant with me.
Our lives are full of choices and uncomfortable situations. It’s easy to judge outwardly, but inward, there are so many variables at stake. Just watch this. It’s worth every minute.
“The trouble with being in the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.”
8. August: Osage County
Selfishly, I watched this movie the first time because I wanted to see Meryl play an ugly villain for once. And boy did she deliver. She did it so well, I really hated her character at the end.
The second time I watched it though, I was able to see so many interesting and relatable themes. The dysfunction of even the most functional people. I feel like midlife is that period in our lives when we’re able to look around at everyone we thought “had it all” and call bullshit. By now we’ve learned to see through the smokes and mirrors and recognize we’re all just doing our best - to either live our lives or just survive them.
“Let’s all say, ‘horseshit!’”
9. Banger Sisters
I love Susan Sarandon. As an actress, an activist, and a human. But in this movie, I love her because I sometimes see myself in her - not as a former groupie, but as a mom who’s just trying to do everything “right” while forgetting herself along the way.
My children are young (11, 8, and 4), but as they get older, I want them to see the woman behind the lady that doles out chores and timeouts like it’s her favorite thing to do. I want them to see me for free spirited, fun loving, trouble starting wild woman that I am.
Now…if I could just find a lady who’d be my Suzette…
“I'd rather fail doing my own thing - doing what I wanna do - than doing what someone else wants me to do and succeeding.”
10. Miss You Already
I can’t even watch the trailer for this movie without bawling, but I swear it’s one of those movies I feel we can all relate to. Not because the characters are old - they’re really not, maybe in their mid-forties, but the theme of how that one friend can keep you grounded.
Some of us have that “one” friend. I have many. Some days I really wish I could roll up all my best friends into one person so I could give the worlds biggest hug, but as I’ve learned over the years that’s really not the point. We have friends or a friend to be there, to guide us and support us, just like we’ll hopefully do for them.
I lost a very dear friend recently. And though I know in my heart she’s still with me in spirit, from the moment I got the call, I felt the pain and wished she could help me keep it together. I missed her already.
“The better you know yourself, the better your relationship with the rest of the world.”
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