The Best Female-Directed Movies Of All Time, According To Metacritic

The directors that popular culture considers to be the greatest of all time — Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, for example — are almost always men. While female directors have spearheaded successful films across genres like superhero, action, and horror, it is men who typically receive the funding, global attention, and prestige projects that cement their legacy in film history. 

There have only been 10 women nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards, and it wasn’t until 2021 that more than one woman was nominated in the category: Chloé Zhao for “Nomadland” and Emerald Fennell for “Promising Young Woman.” In the 95-year history of the Academy Awards, only three women have won the Best Director prize: Chloé Zhao, Jane Campion, and Kathryn Bigelow.

There are so many incredible films made by visionary female directors, even ones that haven’t received Oscar attention. Many of these films appear on Metacritic’s highest-rated list. Metacritic celebrates the countless female filmmakers who deserve more attention, and we should make a conscious effort to expand our cinematic horizons to include their stories. Many of these titles, including the highest-rated, which you can see below, are also featured on /Film’s 100 best movies ever made list.

Céline Sciamma is an incredible filmmaker known for her delicate coming-of-age stories, such as “Tomboy,” “Water Lilies,” “Girlhood,” about young women exploring their burgeoning sexuality or queerness. However, it is “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” — a more sophisticated, and sumptuous period romance — that is considered a Metacritic Must-See with a 95 rating and Universal Acclaim. 

Set in 18th century France, Adèle Haenel plays Héloïse, a high society bride-to-be who refuses to have her portrait painted. The artist, Marianne, played by Noémie Merlant, accompanies her on seashore walks, carefully studying her to complete the portrait in secret. The more time they spend together, the deeper their feelings grow, moving from admiration and friendship to romantic love. For the first time, Héloïse feels truly seen. 

As /Film writer Witney Seibold writes in our Movies Are Gay series, the entire film is brimming with “feminine energy,” particularly in scenes where they share deep conversations, dance around the fire, and lift up one another in tough situations. The cinematography is just as beautiful as Marianne’s paintings, with vivid, sharp colors found in the crystal blue ocean or Héloïse’s lavish green dress. Many scenes are also lit by candlelight, adding an antiquated sensuality to their hushed meetings. The queer love story that anchors this film is heart-wrenching, and it has an ending with shades of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth that will leave you stunned.

Charlotte Wells makes a heartbreaking directorial debut with Aftersun. It’s hard to believe this is her first film because she demonstrates such a strong creative vision. Her use of intimate images and expressive sound design creates a film that somehow evokes the blurred edges of memory and the nostalgic feeling of being a young child on vacation—those carefree, sun-drenched days where everything feels hazy yet exciting. As an adult, Sophie watches home videos and tries to recall the holiday she took with her father, Calum, in Turkey 20 years ago. It is inferred by the end of the film that he took his own life, and she desperately tries to recall any signs of his depression. 

Frankie Corio as young Sophie has a sweet, doting chemistry with Paul Mescal, who always brings a sensitive depth to his characters, leaving the audience with the sense that something lies beneath his sparkling eyes and warm smile. We see it in the way that Calum steals sobs in the privacy of his room, or his face falls when other characters ask him about his future. “Aftersun” is considered the best female-directed movie on Metacritic with a rating of 95 and Universal Acclaim.

While many associate female directors with “soft” stories of romance or motherhood, women are just as capable of creating darker, more visceral stories, such as the work of Kathryn Bigelow. Out of the 10 films that Kathryn Bigelow has directed, spanning genres like science fiction (“Strange Days”), horror/western (“Near Dark”), or the queer-coded surfing thriller, “Point Break,” it is two of her war dramas that have landed on Metacritic’s highest-rated films. “Zero Dark Thirty” and “The Hurt Locker” are both Metacritic Must-Sees with a 95 rating of Universal Acclaim. They both explore the moral complexities and life-or-death stakes of the Iraq War. 

In “The Hurt Locker,” Jeremy Renner is engrossing as the chaos-loving Staff Sergeant William James, naturally gifted at the white-knuckle job of defusing bombs, yet unable to cope with his return to the static normalcy of home. “Zero Dark Thirty” follows the intelligence operatives who hunted down Osama bin Laden. Jessica Chastain subtly calibrates the transformation of her character Maya, from dogged determination to an emotional husk, especially as she learns of the violent torture tactics that were employed. Kathryn Bigelow’s war movies are tightropes of high adrenaline, with highly suspenseful scenes involving ticking time bombs where every move must be perfect to avoid being blown to smithereens, or carefully calculated operations to uncover Al Qaeda. At the same time, they are thoughtful critiques of hypermasculinity.

One of the best female-directed films on Metacritic isn’t as well-known as others on this list. Sarah Gavron’s “Rocks” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019 and was released in the United Kingdom in 2020, where it received seven BAFTA nominations. “Rocks” follows a teenage girl and her younger brother, who are abandoned by their single mother and must avoid being split up by social services. 

As the lead character Shola, a.k.a. Rocks, Bukky Bakray eloquently portrays a determined and ambitious young woman, revealing small, subtle cracks in her resolve as she struggles to hold everything together for her brother. Hélène Louvart’s textured cinematography brings her tight-knit Immigrant urban community to life. There are many female crew members on “Rocks,” including editor Maya Maffioli and composer Emilie Levienaise-Farrou, making this a film with an empowering feminist gaze.

“Rocks” has a kinetic energy that mirrors the thrill and uncertainty of adolescence. It is found in the raw, organic rapport of the young actors, and the handheld shots interspersed with social media clips. These lively scenes capture the girls’ thoughtful conversations, giggling, and food fights. It may be difficult to get a hold of “Rocks” since it is not available for streaming, but Metacritic considers it a Must-See, with a rating of 95 and Universal Acclaim.

Chantal Akerman’s film made waves amongst cinephiles when it topped one of the most well-known film rankings, Sight and Sound’s list of Top 100 Films. On Metacritic, “Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” sits with a score of 94 as another Metacritic Must-See with Universal Acclaim. Chantal Akerman’s film requires a whole lot of patience, since it is made up of many long, static shots that last several minutes. This framing immerses the audience in Jeanne’s mundane way of life so that we, too, may suffer from the repetition and boredom of her domestic duties.

With this formal plainness and stillness, we see her mechanically go through tasks in silence such as preparing meals, folding laundry, tending to her teenage son, and engaging in sex work before he comes home. But eventually Jeanne slowly begins to unravel and starts making mistakes during her chores. The formal rigidity and tedium of this film will not suit everyone — it’s more of an experience than a traditional narrative made to entertain—but the uncompromising vision that Akerman has is undeniably worth praising.

Celine Song’s “Past Lives” is a bittersweet and beautiful contemplation of faded relationships and what ifs. It has a 94 rating of Universal Acclaim and is considered a Metacritic Must-See. Na Young and Hae Sung are close childhood friends, torn apart when Na Young moves from South Korea to Canada, where she adopts the Anglicized name Nora. Years later, as an adult, she reconnects with Hae Sung, and the flame of their childhood friendship grows into something more flirtatious. 

Since Na Young is committed to her life as a playwright in New York City and afraid of falling for him more deeply, they stop talking for another decade. During this time, Na Young marries another man, Arthur. Years later, Hae Sung visits New York on vacation and they meet again. New York City provides a vibrant backdrop for this story of missed chances, where the old friends weave through the hustle and bustle of honking horns and hurried commuters, then slow down in front of the whimsical horses and twinkling lights of Jane’s Carousel in Brooklyn.

Celine Song also writes the screenplay and frames the story in a very mature and realistic way, especially when it comes to the characterization of Arthur. He is not a one-note villain tying our heroine down, but a good man who just brings out a different side of Na Young’s personality. The entire film gracefully considers the Korean concept of “In Yun,” where your connection with someone is cultivated by the interactions you had with them in another life. “Past Lives” captures the melancholy and sweet nostalgia of wondering about the different paths your life could have taken, without devolving into a cliche “will they or won’t they” sort of ending,

Agnes Varda is considered one of the greatest female directors of all time. She is also one of the pioneers of the French New Wave, a film movement that broke all the boundaries of what was known about cinema, with filmmakers hitting the streets with handheld cameras and assembling their footage with jumbled edits. Agnes Varda has many films that are now considered innovative classics, such as “Cleo from 5 to 7” and “The Gleaners and I,” but it is her 2017 documentary “Faces Places” that ranks the highest on Metacritic’s all-time list. It has a score of 94 and falls under the Universal Acclaim category. “Faces Places” is also included on /Film’s 100 Best Documentaries Ever list.

A simple yet profound documentary, “Faces Places” is about Agnes Varda’s journey with her friend and mural artist JR across rural France. They take photographs of the colorful, hard-working locals and turn them into giant public installations. Along the way, they make insightful and amusing observations about generational divides, mortality, and happiness. It’s a joy to see two artists at work, both fascinated by the human experience and connecting with others, sharing that through uniquely visual mediums. “Faces Places” is a beautiful, charming film that is not to be missed if you want to see one of the greatest female directors, both behind and in front of the camera, in her documentary filmmaking element.