Women Take The Lead in 2020 Films ‘On Demand’

Movie theaters are closed across the country due to the pandemic and many have dubbed this as “The Summer Without Blockbusters.” You may wonder, if nothing changes this fall, will there be anything to nominate for the Oscars? 

The answer is: absolutely. Small, independent films that were set for theaters have been released “on demand” this year — and it turns out the heroes of quality streaming are female directors. 

Here are the top films directed by women that were released while theaters have gone dark, and what they should be nominated for in 2021.

“Blow the Man Down” 

Directed by Bridget Savage Cole and 

Danielle Krudy

In a close-knit fishing village in Maine, under the chill of winter, two young women struggle in the aftermath of their mother’s funeral. One sister worries about their bleak finances; the other just murdered a man. 

In this quirky thriller, first-time filmmakers Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy blend wit, bite and a pathos that connects the steely women of this town, from the meddling book club set to the young sex workers on the piers. 

For your consideration: Best Supporting Actress Margo Martindale. As the bitter glamour-cat who runs the local brothel, Kent resident and Emmy Award-winner Margo Martindale is as ambiguous as she is dangerous. Wrapped in fur and resentment, she takes hold of every scene with wicked fun.

“First Cow” Directed by Kelly Reichardt

Kelly Reichardt makes slow movies about slow-talking people in the American West. In her poetic epics, quiet is the language of the frontier states, where lonely people live without a safety net. 

In “First Cow,” two very different men — a kindly cook and a Chinese fugitive — make camp in the Oregon Territory in the early 1800s. It’s a place so joyless that the arrival of a single cow hatches an unlikely get-rich scheme.

For your consideration: Best Production Design. Watching “First Cow” feels like going back in time, with long tracking shots that explore the activity of the 1800s colony with meticulously costumed extras, from the worn-down settlers to the indigenous Natives.

“Shirley” Directed by Josephine Decker

Josephine Decker’s surreal, voyeuristic “Shirley” is no biopic. The entirely fictional tale instead posits: What if Shirley Jackson lived in a Shirley Jackson story? Taking a few details from the American horror writer’s life, this uncomfortable hothouse drama set on the campus of Vermont’s Bennington College explores a dark mentorship between Jackson and a pregnant newlywed. 

For your consideration: Best Actress Elisabeth Moss. Accepting praise for the publication of “The Lottery” in The New Yorker but privately anguished over what she will write next, this Jackson is a cruel, manipulative alcoholic who Elisabeth Moss — with a mad, sweaty grin — makes engaging and unpredictable. 

“Never Rarely Sometimes Always” Directed by Eliza Hittman

Two teenage girls secretly depart from their working-class town for New York City when one of them becomes pregnant. Because of state laws, a minor cannot have an abortion without consent from a parent in Pennsylvania, and “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” follows the two best friends on their homeless trek through Manhattan over two-nights, using what money they have for a procedure at Planned Parenthood.

For your consideration: Best Director Eliza Hittman. “Never” is writer-director Eliza Hittman’s third film (“It Felt Like Love,” “Beach Rats”) in a thematic trilogy about the ways sexual vulnerability affects low-income teenagers in New York City. Shot with a beautiful, airy tenderness you might not expect from that description, Hittman is a bit like if Sofia Coppola grew up on Coney Island. Her latest is a masterpiece of the unspoken knowledge of young girls in America who toughen up early, who guard themselves against risk and who look out for themselves when no else will.

All these films are now available for rental across streaming platforms. “Shirley” was available online this summer through The Moviehouse in Millerton, N.Y., at www.themoviehouse.net. Check The Moviehouse and The Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington, Mass., at www.thetriplex.com  for new independent films available to stream.