(Credit: United Artists)

Friendships between women can be a saving grace and a place of solace, particularly when our patriarchal society makes womanhood tough to navigate. Finding other women to bond and carve out lasting relationships with is vital, and it is important for cinema to promote the supportive networks that female friendships can provide.

Seeing female friendships depicted on screen reminds us to cherish our own friendships and re-evaluate the ones that don’t serve us well. From moments of truly being there for each other to displays of the silliest yet heartwarming acts of shared joy, cinematic depictions of female friendship help many women feel understood and represented on screen.

Friendship is a big part of the female experience, and it certainly isn’t always plain sailing. While there are movies that celebrate enduring, life-long friendships, others are more realistic in their depiction of nuanced, often challenging relationships.

From the disintegration of a once-fruitful friendship in Ghost World to the indulgent fun of Daisies, here are ten great films that explore the importance and complexity of female friendship.

10 great movies about female friendship:

The Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle (Eric Rohmer, 1987)

French filmmaker Eric Rohmer might have started his career by putting an emphasis on male leading characters, but by the ‘80s, most of his output was defined by female-led stories. It is hard to believe that The Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle was directed by a man because it portrays female friendship so beautifully and honestly. Yet, it was the filmmaker’s willingness to let his actors improvise that allowed the movie to feel so faithful to the female experience.

The movie charts the friendship of Reinette, a naive girl from the countryside, and Mirabelle, a streetsmart city girl, through several vignettes. The pair occasionally clash, but their friendship is, above everything, incredibly loving and supportive.

Daisies (Věra Chytilová, 1966)

Two best friends, both called Marie, indulge in hedonistic fun in Věra Chytilová’s seminal surrealist feminist masterpiece. The pair spend their time annoying others on a quest for shameless enjoyment, with the filmmaker using their antics to critique patriarchy and capitalism.

The girls do everything together, holding hands in the face of a society that seems rigged against them. From swinging on chandeliers to chopping up sausages in a symbolic act of male castration, the girls challenge expectations of femininity while asserting the importance of friendship as a place of refuge.

One Sings, The Other Doesn’t (Agnes Varda, 1977)

Feminist filmmaker Agnes Varda routinely advocated for women in her work, and with 1977’s One Sings, The Other Doesn’t, she highlighted the need for safe and legal abortion for all. The movie charts two women’s experiences of pregnancy and motherhood during the ‘60s and ‘70s, with the characters – Pomme and Suzanne – becoming vital to each other’s lives as they navigate changes in their romantic relationships and parental roles.

While the women aren’t always close, they weave in and out of each other’s lives, never forgetting their initial connection, which was forged after Pomme helped Suzanne secure an abortion. As they get older, they lean on each other for much-needed support, becoming sister-like figures.

Clueless (Amy Heckerling, 1995)

Loosely based on Emma by Jane Austen, Amy Heckerling‘s Clueless is undoubtedly one of the greatest teen-oriented comedies ever made, thanks to its iconic dialogue and funny yet complex characters. The movie sees protagonist Cher and her friend Dionne give new girl tomboy Tai a makeover, treating her more like a project than a friend.

However, as the movie progresses, Cher understands the true importance of friendship, looking out for each other and remaining authentic. The friendship between Cher and Tai is vital to tracking the former’s character development – their rekindling suggests that Cher has finally gained a sense of clarity in her life in regard to her values.

Me Without You (Sandra Goldbacher, 2001)

Michelle Williams and Anna Friel star as childhood best friends in Me Without You, one of the more complex depictions of friendship on this list. Despite being totally different, the pair become close as kids – Holly is bookish, while Marina is more outgoing and adventurous. As they get older and university, relationships and family get in the way, their friendship becomes increasingly fractured.

The movie is honest in its depiction of friendship as something that might not always last forever in the way it once did. The pair are so entwined with each other that Marina even tells Holly, “there’s no me without you!” The film sees director Sandra Goldbacher explore just how intrinsic friendship can be to our personal development.

Girlhood (Celine Sciamma, 2014)

Celine Sciamma’s Girlhood is a fascinating look at gender, race and class, with female friendship forming a large part of the narrative. The movie follows Marieme, who lives in the banlieues of Paris, contrasting the stereotypically glamorous and romantic depiction of the French capital.

Girlhood depicts Marieme’s friendship with a small group of girls as key to the development of her confidence. There’s a scene where they dance to Rihanna’s ‘Diamonds’ as blue light fills the screen, perfectly highlighting the joy in well-needed friendship and solidarity.

Career Girls (Mike Leigh, 1997)

After becoming friends due to a university house share, Annie and Hannah endure their early twenties together, facing boy troubles and family issues, never straying too far from each other. However, Mike Leigh presents the natural arguments and periods of distance that come with many friendships with his signature naturalistic flair.

The pair meet up in the ‘90s and reminisce on the early years of their friendship, and their reunion is at once touching, heartwarming, funny and sad. Leigh’s ability to craft highly nuanced characters allows for a captivating exploration of what it means to be friends.

Ghost World (Terry Zwigoff, 2001)

The quirky yet tender Ghost World is another great depiction of a female friendship marred by differences, with Terry Zwigoff illuminating the idea that sometimes these relationships are only meant to last for a short period of time. Scarlett Johansson’s Rebecca and Thora Birch’s Enid begin to drift after they graduate high school, with the former possessing considerably more optimism.

Zwigoff highlights that, while they are no longer best suited as friends, their relationship served each other well. As they say goodbye at the end of the film, silently acknowledging the disintegration of their friendship, Ghost World encourages us to appreciate our old friends for how they helped us develop.

Girlfriends (Claudia Weill, 1978)

One of the first movies to truly tackle the often uneasy landscape of female friendship was Girlfriends by Claudia Weill, which depicts two women who struggle to feel satisfied with where they’re at in their lives. Susan and Anne are rather different yet close, that is, until the latter enters into a relationship with a man she wants to settle down with.

Weill once told The L Magazine, “That situation [between Susan and Anne] had happened to me many times by then. My sister got married, my best friend, everybody got married, and I was nowhere in the ballpark.” Girlfriends is an honest depiction of feeling lost in your 20s and the integral role friendship plays during this time.

Thelma and Louise (Ridley Scott, 1991)

For many, Thelma and Louise is the first movie that comes to mind when asked to name a film about female friendship. Starring Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, Ridley Scott’s road movie sees the pair embark on a trip together, which is interrupted by an interaction with a man who tries to rape Thelma, leading Louise to shoot him in the act of defence.

The movie demonstrates the power of female connection, with the pair always having each other’s backs to the very end as they get sucked into a world of crime. As outlaws on the run, the pair are wholly entertaining, with the movie delivering non-stop thrills, which has led it to be considered a classic.