Movies featuring older women have historically been a rarity. Women have had a rough ride in the film industry, as they struggled for substantial roles. Systemic ageism and sexism have deprived the world of some stellar performances, but the tide is slowly turning.
Some great movies have managed to slip through the ageist net. The following movies do a much better job at portraying older women in a favorable light.
1. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)
Great movies that feature interesting older characters paint a rounded picture of ageing, the good, the bad, the hot flashes, relationships and family, and this is one. Director John Madden brings together a magnificent ensemble cast that includes Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson and Maggie Smith, some of our seasoned best.
Lured by a retirement lived in luxury, a group of British retirees move to India and into the Marigold Hotel. All is not as promised, yet friendships and romance blossom. The film was a box office success and led to the sequel The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
2. 45 Years (2015)
Charlotte Rampling plays a recent widow who finds she must come to terms with her husband’s connection to a past girlfriend. Taking place over six days, viewers watch as each new piece of information causes a shift in the marriage dynamic. An unsettling movie, it calls into question the nature of relationships.
3. Calendar Girls (2003)
Calendar Girls is based on the true story of a Women’s Institute group, who posed nude for a calendar to raise money for a good cause. The cast includes Helen Mirren, Julie Walters, Linda Basset and Celia Imrie, and there is no going wrong with this one. It raises questions about age and feminism, while being an absolute feel-good movie.
4. Philomena (2013)
This is the story of a journalist who decides to write the story of Philomena, a woman forced to give up her son and enter a convent. Judi Dench plays Philomena and as the movie delves into the woman’s traumatic past viewers bear witness to how unmarried mothers were treated in the past. Steve Coogan plays the journalist who goes along with Philomena on her journey to find her son, providing the venue for forging their friendship.
5. Hello, My Name Is Doris (2016)
The ever watchable Sally Field plays an eccentric single woman in her 60s who suddenly finds herself living alone after the death of her mother. Decades spent working in the same office she is suddenly smitten with a new younger co-worker.
6. Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)
Meryl Streep plays Florence Foster Jenkins, the heiress who was determined to become a great opera singer, despite the fact she couldn’t sing at all. Streep and Hugh Grant are fabulous in this period tale of New York society.
7. Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2003)
Focusing on the complexity of mother-daughter relationships, Divine Secrets of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood sees a girl looking through her mother’s scrapbook of wild adventures with her friends. Ellen Burstyn and Maggie Smith star. This movie is based on the book of the same name by Rebecca Wells.
8. The Queen (2006)
In a role she seemed born to play, Helen Mirren is Queen Elizabeth II. The film is set in the aftermath of the death of Princess Diana, a precarious turning point for the monarchy in the public eye. Mirren plays the role with a steely stoicism and determination and was worthy of the Oscar she received.
9. The Lady In The Van (2016)
The Lady In The Van is based on a rather bizarre true story. Featuring Maggie Smith, it is a story of an eccentric woman who lives in her van, parked in the driveway of writer Alan Bennett. They strike up an unlikely friendship that lasts for 15 years. Smith is a joy to watch as she plays Mary Shepherd, a complex character trying to hide from the trauma of her former life.
10. Iris (2001)
Iris Murdoch was a renowned philosopher and writer. While teaching at Oxford University, she falls in love with another professor, John Bayley and we begin to see two sides of Iris’ life. The story is told through the eyes of her husband as he watches his wife gradually succumb to the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s. The young Iris is played by Kate Winslett, while Judi Dench portrays Murdoch in her later years.
11. Something’s Got To Give (2003)
Jack Nicholson plays an aging music exec who prefers to date younger women. When he suffers a heart attack at his latest girlfriend’s mother’s house, a love triangle begins to develop as he starts to have feelings for the mother, played by Diane Keaton.
12. Otherhood (2019)
Otherhood has not one but three leading parts for older women. Angela Bassett, Felicity Huffman and Patricia Arquette are three mothers of adult sons. It is a time in each of their lives when they are dealing with the changing dynamics of their relationships.
13. Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
Set in the 1950s. Driving Miss Daisy (Jessica Tandy) tells the story of an elderly Jewish woman, who can no longer drive. Her son arranges for her to have a driver, played by Morgan Freeman and a delightful story unfolds. The two develop an unlikely friendship that grows with each passing year. The movie garnered a huge number of awards nominations including a Best Actress Oscar for Jessica Tandy and a Best Supporting Actor Nomination for Morgan Freeman.
14. I’ll See You In My Dreams (2015)
Blythe Danner plays a widow who discovers a way to begin again at any age. She decides to liven up her personal life by starting love affairs with not one but two men, men who couldn’t be more different.
Final thoughts
There’s still a long way to go before movies featuring older women are fully represented on the screen, and currently the same actresses appear again and again. Judi Dench is one example. Thankfully, however, women are gaining prominence in the film and TV industry, as more quality actresses make their presence felt.
Just as the leading man went through a metamorphosis, so too will female characters. Here’s to seeing many more in the coming years.
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