It's March and with International Women's Day coming up, we figured what better time to spotlight some of our favourite women behind the camera. With that being said, the Bitesize crew has put their brains together to compile Bitesize Breakdown's consensus Top Five Female Directors.
To avoid any confusion, we are only focusing on singular directors here and have omitted co-directed features.
Each writer ranks their top 15 films in the category. Those lists are then weighted on a reverse point system. After all the points are tallied up, the entries with the most total points make up the Bitesize Top Five.
5. PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Considering we're here to talk directors, it can't be understated what an explosive debut Emerald Fennell made with Promising Young Woman. The subject matter itself is one rarely tackled in this manner, and some of the decision-making was definitely a risk, but man, did it pay off. The chemistry between Carey Mulligan and Bo Burnham is terrific - with Mulligan giving my personal favourite performance of her career - and they do a great job finding levity within the dark subject matter. Then, there's that ending. Without getting into spoilers, the ending alone warrants inclusion on this list. This is the kind of film that forces you to take notice, and it is the reason why Fennell shot up the ranks of “directors to watch.” - Nick
4. A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
Penny Marshall directed an all-time classic in so many aspects with A League of Their Own. Top-notch sports film, top-notch characters, top-notch performances, and one of the top quoted lines in all of cinema history. Whether in a theater or on a baseball field, how often have you said, “there’s no crying in…” you know. The Rockford Peaches’ roster is filled with the epitome of an ensemble, from the comedic back and forth between Rosie O’Donnell and Madonna to the family drama between Lori Petty and Geena Davis, all under the beautifully curmudgeonly energy from Papa Tom Hanks. Marshall provides entertaining as hell baseball games with lovable characters and a feel good story that is utterly rewatchable. Add in an upbeat Hans Zimmer score, and you have one of the most crowd-pleasingly excellent films directed by anyone, let alone a woman. - Amarú
3. AMERICAN PSYCHO
American Psycho is one of the most misunderstood films directed by a woman. Luckily, it has undergone some revisionist history, so it has been reclaimed from the film bros and is now better understood as a biting feminist satire that comments on toxic masculinity, overconsumption, and capitalistic greed. Guinevere Turner and Mary Harron wrote the adapted screenplay, and they chose not to focus on the gruesome treatment of women in Bret Easton Ellis’ 1991 novel of the same name. Instead, they focus on Patrick Bateman, played with terrifying glee by Christian Bale, and his fragile sense of masculinity and obsession with appearances. Overall, American Psycho is delightfully twisted and absurd, one of the funniest films I’ve seen, and still stands up today with its sharp critique of notions of masculinity. - Katie
2. BIG
Penny Marshall’s sophomore feature, Big, is a genuine classic. Not only was it the first film directed by a woman to gross more than $100 million at the box office, but it also earned Tom Hanks his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Marshall deftly tackles the film's exploration of wanting to grow up too fast in a way that is both subtly insightful and endearing. Even if the movie is a bit cheesy and contains some scenes that didn’t age well, it’s still able to get its bittersweet message across. It’s just one of those sentimental movies that will strike a chord whether you're a kid or an adult. - Paige
1. CLUELESS
Amy Heckerling’s Clueless is one of the rare movies that defines a decade, if not a generation, as evidenced by its inspiration for everything from Versace’s 2018 fall collection to 2023 Super Bowl commercials, from music videos to Mean Girls. A modern take on Jane Austen’s Emma, Clueless is a teen comedy, a rom-com, and a coming-of-age movie wrapped in era-defining fashion, a killer 90s soundtrack, and oft-quoted catchphrases. It was so culturally significant that it led to a spin-off sitcom that ran for three seasons, a 21-book series of YA novels, a comic book series, a stage musical, and video games. Considering Heckerling wrote, directed, and produced the movie, her fingerprints are on every single aspect of the culture shifting hit, including rare-at-the-time takes on modern feminism, sex-positivity, and LGBTQ visibility, all while being at the forefront of today’s referential and euphemism-driven conversational style. Are there comparatively better women-directed films than Clueless? Maybe. Have any been nearly as influential? As if… - Quentin
HONORABLE MENTIONS
LITTLE WOMEN
THE VIRGIN SUICIDES
ANATOMY OF A FALL
THE SUBSTANCE
POINT BREAK