Unpregnant (2020) Rachel Lee Goldenberg’s Unpregnant puts a buddy-comedy spin on the premise, teenagers embarking on long trips to avoid unwanted pregnancies. The estranged childhood pals Veronica (Haley Lu Richardson) and Bailey (Barbie Ferreira) hit the road to get the former an abortion. The girls’ predicament, which is treated sensitively and matter-of-factly, stands as sobering […]

The Surrogate (2020) Without any preachiness or melodrama, writer-director Jeremy Hersh’s first feature asks tough questions about prenatal testing, eugenics, reproductive rights, parenting, special-needs children and abortion. This lucid ethical drama is propelled by a performance of stunning psychological insight and raw feeling from Jasmine Batchelor as a single woman who has volunteered to be […]

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) The slow-burn chemistry between an artist (Noémie Merlant) and her initially unwilling subject (Adèle Haenel) — who’s also a reluctant bride-to-be — ignites this sensuous and exquisitely measured period piece. Set in late 18th century France, Céline Sciamma’s drama is a lesbian love story, but its true subject […]

Plan B (2021) Buddy comedy meets road trip movie in Natalie Morales’ charming film about two South Dakotan teens’ panicked, chaotic search for the morning-after pill. After a condom falls out of her vagina the morning after losing her virginity, and after being denied access to Plan B by a morally opposed pharmacist — citing […]

One Sings, the Other Doesn’t (1977) Agnès Varda’s ode to female friendship and women’s liberation traces the bond between two young women over a dozen years, beginning in 1962. That bond is forged when Apple (Valérie Mairesse), a 17-year-old with a fiercely independent streak, secures the money needed for her new friend Suzanne (Thérèse Liotard), […]