Published: 10/07/2023

 In the past six or seven years the niche nano-genre of films about girlhood made for the confused 20-something-year-old teenage girls has been on the rise. With Greta Gerwig’s solo directorial debut released in 2017 (previously having co-directed with Joe Swanberg on Nights and Weekends in 2008) Lady Bird took the world of independent cinema by storm. The film gained multiple Oscar nominations including best picture, its leading and supporting female performances and screenplay by Gerwig.

From Lady Bird (2017) to Little Women (2019) and the upcoming release of the highly anticipated Barbie (2023) on July 21st, Greta is one of the most popular and up and coming directors working today.

At their core her films tackle the struggles of girlhood in the most intimate and raw way that a film can convey. Her films cut deep for the girls who have troubling relationships with their mothers, the girls who don’t want to be anything less than great and the girls who are just trying their best in a world that isn’t made for them, but for the men around them.

Lady Bird forces the harsh reality of selfishness and self-doubt onto the audience. While we try to discover who we are as we grow can affect the relationships, we have with those around us. It accurately translates the stress and anxiety around your ending teenage years and the thought of a future that goes out with your home town, and the world seeming bigger than ever. A film that lasts around just 90 minutes, it’s impressive how with such little time Gerwig manages to connect the audience to Christine “Lady Bird”, portrayed by Saoirse Ronan, on such an emotionally complex and intimate level.

Gerwig doesn’t stop at her own original screenplays, her 2019 adaptation of the classic Louisa May Alcott novel Little Women expresses that. Retaining the sense of the historical and period setting of the story it achieves a strong connection to a modern-day audience. The reality of being a girl in a man’s world and the importance and unique nature of the relationship’s girls have with each other. Many moments of the film have gone on to have significant impact on the audience in the past 4 years. Amy March’s (Florence Pugh) “marriage is an economic proposition” speech, personally stayed in my mind for months after my first viewing. Other moments from Jo (Saoirse Ronan) expressing how women are so much more than they’re often allowed to be, paired with Ronan’s delivery of the line is painful from the truth of it;

Women, they have these minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they’ve got ambition, and they’ve got talent, as well as just beauty.

The importance of sisterhood is never ignored throughout the film and is seen particularly when it’s the Christmas scenes, or when they’re all performing Jo’s plays and especially so when the four sisters become three in the loss of Beth after she falls ill with scarlet fever. The relationships with each other are their touch stones despite their work, travels or husbands.

While the initial hype around the upcoming Barbie film was very much based all about the nostalgia of childhood times playing with the Barbie and Ken dolls. After the release of the first teaser, it was very clear how detailed and accurate Gerwig has made the film even down to the unnatural shape of Barbie heels never touching the ground. When another trailer of the film was released as part of the press tour showing Barbie upset and distressed about not being “perfect” and even in a joking manner, in another moment expressing how she thinks about dying was a sudden reality check that this film is going to be like Greta’s others. Amongst all the fun, nostalgia and humour there is going to be coming of age angst and the struggle to keep afloat in patriarchal societal pressures.

Lady Bird (2017) is available to stream on Lionsgate+ and to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video.

Little Women (2019) is available to stream on Netflix UK and to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video.

Barbie (2023) is only in cinemas world-wide from July 21st.

Lara Edwards.