March is Women’s History Month, so it seems like the perfect moment to celebrate women who are making history in genre film and television. We’ve compiled a handy list of movies and series, broken down by streaming service, that all highlight the bold (and sometimes legendary) voices of the women behind a lot of our pop culture fandom favorites.
Read on for a curated selection you can binge at home on Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Shudder, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and Apple TV+.
Netflix has quite the contentious streak when it comes to content and its numbers game in supporting marginalized voices; as many shows we love that are still around, there are just as many that are not. But big, bold moves have been made, like the ambitious undertaking of three features made in one go with Leigh Janiak’s Fear Street trilogy. The now-cult franchise based on the R.L. Stein books helped reinvigorate gateway horror that pushes boundaries. (We’re still waiting for more!) Netflix has also done a solid job in funding more genre from women, like The Old Guard directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and produced by and starring Charlize Theron.
Movies
Fear Street trilogy - Directed by Leigh Janiak (Horror)
The Old Guard - Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Action-Adventure)
Paradise Hills - Directed by Alice Waddington (Sci-Fi Fantasy)
A Baby Sitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting - Directed by Rachel Talalay (Horror)
Fast Color - Directed by Julia Hart (Superhero)
Pet Semetary - Directed by Mary Lambert (Horror)
TV featuring women writers and directors
The Haunting of Bly Manor (Horror)
Shadow and Bone (Fantasy Adventure)
Archive 81 (Horror)
The Umbrella Academy (Superhero)
Two-Sentence Horror Stories (Horror)
While there are a lot of things Disney needs to do right now to truly support its creators and authentically let them represent audiences, its strides in women-led entertainment have helped the studio evolve and grow on Disney+. Here you can watch modern classics like the Frozen films co-created by Disney Animation Studios CEO Jennifer Lee, who has brought up talent like Encanto’s Charise Castro Smith. Marvel Studios, led by producers like Victoria Alonso, continue to expand the stories of superheroes in shows like Loki, directed by Kate Herron. And Lucasfilm, under Kathleen Kennedy, brings us new tales of beloved heroes from emerging directing talents like Deborah Chow and Bryce Dallas Howard. We can’t stop thinking about Howard’s Mando-centric Book of Boba Fett episode and are counting the days until Chow’s Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi series kicks off.
Movies
Turning Red - Directed by Domee Shi and written by Julia Cho (Animated)
Encanto - Co-written by Charise Castro Smith (Animated)
Frozen I, II - Co-written and co-directed by Jennifer Lee (Animated)
Raya and the Last Dragon - Co-written by Adele Lim (Animated)
Captain Marvel - Co-directed by Anna Boden with co-writer Geneva Robertson-Dworet
Black Widow - Directed by Cate Shortland (Superhero)
A Wrinkle in Time - Directed by Ava DuVernay (Sci-Fi Fantasy)
Mulan live-action (Fantasy) - Directed by Niki Caro
Beauty and the Beast (animated), the Maleficent and Alice in Wonderland live-action films (Fantasy) - Written by Linda Woolverton
TV featuring women writers and directors
Hawkeye
WandaVision
Loki
The Book of Boba Fett
The Mandalorian
With recent acquisitions like Titane and Fresh, Hulu is definitely on the come-up for genre content from women about women, but don’t overlook its TV selections. One of our biggest stand-out favorites is the Jackie Daytona episode from FX’s What We Do in The Shadows, which was written by series producer Stefani Robinson.
Movies
Fresh - Directed by Mimi Cave and written by Lauren Kahn (Horror)
Titane - Written and directed by Julia Ducournau (Horror)
Into the Dark: My Valentine - Written and directed by Maggie Levin (Horror)
Into the Dark: Culture Shock - Directed by Gigi Saul Guerrero (Horror Thriller)
TV featuring women writers and directors
American Horror Story (Horror)
Legion (Superhero)
Y: The Last Man (Sci-Fi)
What We Do in The Shadows (Horror Sitcom)
Monsterland (Horror)
The Handmaid’s Tale (Sci-Fi)
Thanks to Welcome to the Blumhouse we’ve got an ongoing anthology of features that have given directors like Axelle Carolyn and Gigi Saul Guerrero the chance to deliver solid horror with their entries. But the streamer’s strength is definitely in its show programming, boasting a very diverse mix of writers and directors on signature shows like The Boys and Wheel of Time.
Movies
Bingo Hell - Directed by Gigi Saul Guerrero (Horror)
The Manor - Directed by Axelle Carolyn (Horror)
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania - Directed by Jennifer Kluska (Animated Family Horror)
Cinderella - Directed by Kay Cannon (Fantasy)
TV featuring women writers and directors
The Boys (Superhero)
The Boys: Diabolical (Animated Superhero)
Invincible (Animated Superhero)
Wheel of Time (Fantasy)
I Know What You Did Last Summer (Horror)
Carnival Row (Fantasy)
HBO Max features Warner Bros. films from big names like the Wachowskis, Patty Jenkins, and Cathy Yan, and has projects on the way from director-producer Ava DuVernay. On the TV front it has a good slate of genre, with shows like Watchmen (which we’d like to see continued) featuring the work of director Nicole Kassell and Regina King. Let’s not forget Misha Green’s Lovecraft Country that featured an amazing action-adventure episode directed by Victoria Mahoney (the assistant director on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker).
Movies
Birds of Prey - Directed by Cathy Yan (Superhero)
The Matrix films - Directed by Lana and Lily Wachowski (Sci-Fi)
Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman 1984 - Directed by Patty Jenkins (Superhero)
TV featuring women writers and directors
Watchmen (Superhero)
DMZ (Superhero)
Westworld (Sci-Fi)
Lovecraft Country (Sci-Fi Horror)
Harley Quinn (Animated Superhero)
Made for Love (Sci-Fi)
Shudder gets props for effortlessly showcasing female genre creators with its excellent curation; to give just one example, the horror streamer acquired the incredible fantasy ghost story Tigers Are Not Afraid from Mexican director Issa López. On their TV front it brings in writers and directors to helm episodes of series like Creepshow, and features women talking about genre in documentaries like Horror Noire, a retrospective of Black stories in horror.
Movies
Tigers Are Not Afraid - Directed by Issa López (Horror Fantasy)
Host - Co-written by Gemma Hurley (Found Footage Horror)
The Invitation - Directed by Karyn Kusama (Thriller)
Lucky -Directed by Natasha Kermani and written by Brea Grant (Thriller)
The Slumber Party Massacre - Directed by Amy Holden Jones and written by Rita Mae Brown (Horror)
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night - Written and Directed by Ana Lily Amirpour (Horror)
TV + Anthologies featuring writers and directors
Creepshow (Horror)
Horror Noire (Horror Documentry)
Etheria (Horror Shorts)
A Discovery of Witches (Supernatural Fantasy)
Big oof. While Peacock does have a selection of female-led sitcoms and rom-coms, it’s sorely lacking in the genre department. I would however vouch for Young Rock, as it chronicles the life of a superhero (Black Adam counts), but mostly it’s the sitcom’s recent Christmas special (from series creator Nahnatchka Khan) that blasts the sitcom into a fun fantasy action-adventure at least for the holidays. There’s time travel too!
Movies
Punisher: War Zone - Directed by Lexi Alexander (Superhero)
TV featuring women writers and directors
Young Rock (Action-Adventure, Fantasy, Superhero)
Chucky (Horror)
Bates Motel (Horror)
On Paramount+ the service’s offerings for women-made genre is carried on the Star Trek franchise’s back with an inclusive set of directors and writers. These shows are carrying on the tradition of earlier Star Trek series, which also often featured women writing, directing, and producing behind the scenes.
TV featuring women writers and directors
Star Trek Picard (Sci-Fi)
Star Trek: Discovery (Sci-Fi)
Star Trek: Below Decks (Sci-Fi Animation)
Star Trek: Enterprise (Sci-Fi)
The Stand (Horror)
Tell Me a Story (Fantasy Thriller)
Evil (Horror Thriller)
And finally, Apple TV rounds out this list coming in with the least amount of picks. (Sad trombone.) However, its upcoming slate is promising, featuring projects like Roar produced by Nicole Kidman, and Shining Girls which will feature an episode directed by star Elisabeth Moss and comes from showrunner Silka Luisa.
TV featuring women writers and directors
Fraggle Rock (Fantasy)
For All Mankind (Sci-Fi Drama)
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