New Shows + Movies by Women — October 28, 2022

Sometimes a new show or movie can be hard to locate. Let me explain: every once in a while, there’s something listed but that doesn’t come available when it should. This usually has to do with international releases – HBO Max is particularly terrible listing the right dates for the right countries. I constantly see their Spanish-language series listed for release in the U.S. on one date, but then land on another, unlisted date. If I were to tell you to go see a series that isn’t there yet, that’s not very useful to you.

This has only gotten worse with Warner Bros. Discovery’s acquisition of HBO. Many international series have been pulled early. HBO Max used to be one of the best places to find European series. With a focus on originals, this included less-frequently platformed work by women. After the acquisition, Warner Bros. Discovery culled HBO’s European content. This included not only stopping original productions east of France, but removing content from Central, Eastern European, and Nordic countries that was already bought and paid for.

Perhaps you’ve heard of the movie “Batgirl” being denied any release. That was so the entire production can be used as a tax write-off. Incomplete shows might also be used this way, but these finished shows aren’t succumbing to the same situation – this has more to do with Warner Bros. Discovery not wanting to pay residuals. Some of this content may end up getting licensed out to other streamers, but much of it will simply disappear and not be seen again. That’s a tragedy for the artists involved, especially since it covers so much work by women in Europe.

New series by women come from India, Japan, South Korea, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S., with new films by women arriving from Belgium, Nunavut, South Korea, and the U.S.

NEW SERIES

Hush Hush (Amazon)
showrunner Tanuja Chandra

(Turn Closed Captioning on for subtitles.) This horror series from India follows five women, four of whom are trying to cover up a crime in their apartment block.

Tanuja Chandra has been directing films since the 90s. This is her first series.

You can watch “Hush Hush” on Amazon. All 7 episodes are out.

From Scratch (Netflix)
showrunner Attica Locke
directed by Nzingha Stewart, Dennie Gordon

Zoe Saldana stars as Amy, who falls in love with a Sicilian man while studying in Italy. The story tracks their relationship through the years across countries.

Attica Locke showruns the series based off Tembi Locke’s memoir. Attica also wrote and produced on “Empire” and “Little Fires Everywhere”. Joining from the latter to direct 5 episodes is Nzingha Stewart, who’s also directed on “Maid” and “Scandal”. “Madam Secretary” director Dennie Gordon also directs 3 episodes.

You can watch “From Scratch” on Netflix. All 8 episodes are out now.

The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself (Netflix)
half-directed by women

The son of an infamous witch finds himself trapped between two warring clans. All fear him because of his father’s history of violence, even as his father’s clan tries to kill him.

Debs Paterson and Rachna Suri direct two episodes apiece.

You can watch “The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself” on Netflix. All 8 episodes are out.

Arknights: Prelude to Dawn (Crunchyroll)
directed by Watanabe Yuki

Based on a tower defense puzzle game, “Arknights: Prelude to Dawn” follows a doctor’s team that’s racing to find a cure in a world beset by plague, disasters, and fascist governments. You can tell it’s not a documentary because some characters are part-animal.

Director Watanabe Yuki previously helmed episodes of “Warlords of Sigrdrifa” and “Visual Prison”.

You can watch “Arknights: Prelude to Dawn” on Crunchyroll. The series will be simulcast as episodes premiere in Japan every Friday.

Modern Love Tokyo (Amazon)
showrunner Hirayanagi Atsuko
mostly directed by women

(No English subtitles available on this one.) This Japanese adaptation of “Modern Love” is an anthology series. Each episode focuses on different characters and depicts a different form of expressing love.

Hirayanagi Atsuko showruns, as well as writing and directing two episodes. Ogigami Naoko and Yamada Naoko each direct another.

You can watch “Modern Love Tokyo” on Amazon. There are 7 episodes, all available immediately.

May I Help You (Amazon)
directed by Shim So Yeon

(No English subtitles available on this one.) Funeral director Baek Dong Ju can speak to the dead, who ask her to grant their last wishes. If she doesn’t, her bad luck accumulates. Kim Jib Sa runs odd errands for his uncle, but after a boycott is looking for new work. He might be able to help the funeral director with her odd requests.

Director Shim So Yeon has helmed a number of Korean series, including “Here’s My Plan”.

You can watch “May I Help You” on Amazon.

If Only (Netflix)
showrunner Ece Yorenc

(No embedded trailer available.)

Dissatisfied 30 year-old Emma is sent back in time 10 years after a lunar eclipse.

The Spanish series is helmed by Turkish director Ece Yorenc, who’s alternated between Turkish and Spanish series the last several years.

You can watch “If Only” on Netflix.

NEW MOVIES

Earwig (MUBI)
directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic

A 50 year-old caretaker must care for a 10 year-old girl, whose dentures are made of ice and must be changed around the clock.

The English-language, Belgian film is helmed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic, who also co-wrote the screenplay. She previously directed and co-wrote “Evolution”.

You can watch “Earwig” on MUBI.

CW: Following entry includes dating violence

Run Sweetheart Run (Amazon)
directed by Shana Feste

After her blind date turns violent, Cherie is trapped in the city at night. Doing everything she can to get home alive, she discovers she’s not the first woman to be hunted by this man.

Director and co-writer Shana Feste also helmed “Endless Love”.

You can watch “Run Sweetheart Run” on Amazon.

Slash/Back (VOD)
directed by Nyla Innuksuk

Maika and her friends use improvised weapons and their extensive horror movie knowledge to fight back against an alien invasion in their Arctic town. Most of the cast is Inuit or First Nations.

Nyla Innuksuk directs and co-writes the Nunavut film. She’s also helped create VR experiences for Tanya Tagaq and A Tribe Called Red.

See where you can rent “Slash/Back”.

20th Century Girl (Netflix)
directed by Bang Woo-ri

A teen in 1999 South Korea does a favor for her best friend – befriending her crush. Introduce his best friend and various complications ensue before the promise of a new century.

This is the first film from writer-director Bang Woo-ri.

You can watch “20th Century Girl” on Netflix.

Torn Hearts (Amazon)
directed by Brea Grant

This Blumhouse horror stars Katey Sagal as a country music legend who hosts a young country music duo seeking out her advice. When they discover she may have murdered her singing partner, their stay turns into terror at their idol’s hands.

Brea Grant directs from a screenplay by Rachel Koller Croft. Grant might be best known for recurring roles on “Dexter” and “Heroes”, and her shift into directing includes Angela Bettis horror-comedy “12 Hour Shift”.

You can watch “Torn Hearts” on Amazon.

The African Desperate (MUBI)
directed by Martine Syms

Palace is an MFA grad whose last 24 hours in art school become stranger and stranger.

This is the first feature for director and co-writer Martine Syms.

You can watch “The African Desperate” on MUBI.

Take a look at new shows + movies by women from past weeks.

If you enjoy what you read on this site, subscribe to Gabriel Valdez’s Patreon. It helps with the time and resources to continue writing articles like this one.

New Shows + Movies by Women — July 15, 2022

This is an exciting week if you like to see what women in other countries are creating on film. Ten entries come from eight different countries. There are new series from Canada and Taiwan, and new movies from Belgium, Germany, Italy, South Africa, the U.K., and the U.S.

Let’s get straight in this week since there’s so much to cover:

NEW SERIES

Mom, Don’t Do That! (Netflix)
showrunner Chen Wei-ling

Having lost her husband, a 60-year old woman starts dating again. Her misadventures meet disapproval from her two daughters, who aren’t exactly having success in their own love lives. The Taiwanese series is based on the novel by Chen Ming-min.

Showrunner Chen Wei-ling has won three Golden Bell Awards, each for a different series. This is Taiwan’s TV award, equivalent to the Emmy Awards in the U.S.

You can watch “Mom, Don’t Do That” on Netflix. All 11 episodes are available immediately.

Skymed (Paramount+)
showrunner Julie Puckrin

“Skymed” is a Canadian medical drama about the pilots and medics who fly out to rescues – and of course, their love lives.

Showrunner Julie Puckrin previously wrote and produced on “Killjoys” and “Transplant”.

You can watch “Skymed” on Paramount+. All 9 episodes are available immediately.

NEW MOVIES

Persuasion (Netflix)
directed by Carrie Cracknell

Dakota Johnson stars in a new adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Persuasion”. She plays Anne Elliot, who meets a man eight years after she was persuaded not to marry him because of his station. There’s already a bit of controversy over its anachronisms and whether they’ve changed the protagonist too much to feel like other, more extroverted Austen leads.

Director Carrie Cracknell is a well known director in British theater. Her last play, “Sea Wall/ A Life” was nominated for four Tony Awards. This is her first film.

You can watch “Persuasion” on Netflix.

Don’t Make Me Go (Amazon)
directed by Hannah Marks

John Cho plays a single father who learns he has a fatal brain tumor. He takes his daughter on a road trip to find the mother who abandoned her.

Director Hannah Marks is a unique voice who’s launched intriguing indie films such as “After Everything” and “Mark, Mary & Some Other People”.

Writer Vera Herbert has also written on “This is Us” and “Awkward.”

You can watch “Don’t Make Me Go” on Amazon Prime.

Playground (MUBI)
directed by Laura Wandel

In an exploration of the social politics in children’s lives, Nora sees Abel being bullied at school but is sworn to secrecy by her older brother.

The Belgian film is written and directed by Laura Wandel, and won Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021.

You can watch “Playground” on MUBI.

She Will (VOD)
directed by Charlotte Colbert

Alice Krige plays Veronica, who goes to a Scottish retreat with her nurse after a double mastectomy. She begins playing out revenge against past traumas in her dreams.

This is the first film from co-writer and director Charlotte Colbert.

You can rent “She Will” on Amazon or Google Play.

Good Madam (Shudder)
directed by Jenna Cato Bass

Tsidi has to move in with her mother, a live-in domestic worker for a catatonic white ‘Madam’ in the wealthy Cape Town suburbs. As she adjusts to the new situation, the ‘Madam’ begins to stir in unexpected ways.

Co-writer and director Jenna Cato Bass has an eclectic background: trained magician, short fiction writer, magazine founder, and filmmaker. She’s worked with nonexistent budgets and shot films on phones, but in 2019 entered larger budget filmmaking with the all-women ‘South African kitsch-western’ “Flatland”.

You can watch “Good Madam” on Shudder.

Glasshouse (VOD)
directed by Kelsey Egan

Generations of one family live confined in their house due to a memory-erasing toxin that covers the Earth. One day, a stranger arrives with a piece of their past and ill intentions.

The South African film is directed by Kelsey Egan in her feature debut.

See where you can rent “Glasshouse”.

For these last two, I can’t find trailers with English translations that I can embed. This sometimes happens (especially with Netflix). You can get the gist of things from each trailer, and each has English options for viewing the full film.

Under the Amalfi Sun (Netflix)
directed by Martina Pastori

A sequel to the Italian teen romance comedy “Under the Riccione Sun”, “Under the Amalfi Sun” follows Vincenzo and his girlfriend on a trip to the famed Amalfi Coast. His overprotective mother soon follows, always too cautious about sheltering her blind son.

Director Martina Pastori switches from helming music videos in her feature debut.

You can watch “Under the Amalfi Sun” on Netflix.

For Jojo (Netflix)
directed by Barbara Ott

When Jojo gets engaged and starts drawing away from her, Paula does everything she can to stop the marriage.

The German film is directed by Barbara Ott and written by Stefanie Ren.

You can watch “For Jojo” on Netflix.

Take a look at new shows + movies by women from past weeks.

If you enjoy what you read on this site, subscribe to Gabriel Valdez’s Patreon. It helps with the time and resources to continue writing articles like this one.