Interestingly enough, I covered this topic only a few weeks ago during Girl Week 2020. This topic, by the way, is films directed by women. Of course, it's for Thursday Movie Picks. Of course, it's hosted by Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves. Duh.
Anyhoo, the post I did was just a list. For this one, I'm going to pick three from that list and expand my thoughts a teeny, tiny bit. Let's do it.
Fast Color
(2018)
If I say the phrase "superhero movie," you immediately think of the carefully crafted for mass consumption blockbuster churned out by Marvel and DC. I love many of those movies, but they're just one type of superhero movie. When I think about the potential of the genre to tell stories with depth, meaning, and using superpowered beings to examine the human condition, Fast Color is the type of movie I'm talking about. This slow burn takes a look at the role of Black women within the white patriarchy that runs America. It also eschews costumes, altogether and sets itself in a universe clearly separate and more grounded than the Avengers or the Justice League. To bend a cliche to my liking, his is a superhero movie for people who don't like superhero movies. Two underrated/underused actresses carry the day: Gugu Mbatha-Raw in the lead and Lorraine Toussaint as her mother. Someone please get them more work.
Selah and the Spades
(2019)
This is the most obscure of the bunch. It's also the oddest. It's Mean Girls meets Heathers. It ambitiously tries to cover all the bases those movies did with a dollop of 21st century sensibilities as a topper. The results are a bit uneven, but it's never anything less than intriguing. This one takes place at a boarding school where the student body is divided into 5 uneasily coexisting factions, with Selah at the head of the most powerful of them all. It's a pretty wild ride with lots to say.
Queen & Slim
(2019)
Here is by far the most high profile of this lot. In it, we follow the titular couple whose first date goes sideways and ends with the pair killing a police officer. Immediately, they go on the run and the film progresses from there. The makers of this movie shy away from the inevitable comparisons to Bonnie and Clyde, but they're well-earned. And that's okay. It builds on the foundation of outlaws in love by drawing on the currently spotlighted issue of the relationship between the police and Black America. Like the Warren Beatty/Faye Dunaway classic, this is as much about the characters on the screen as it is about examining our own complicity in the events that unfold.