In the final two months of 2018, here in the States, several intriguing movies centered on women will be released. Diverse genres will be represented, including the star vehicle (Can You Ever Forgive Me?, which is already generating Oscar buzz for Melissa McCarthy), period ensembles (The Favourite, which has already won awards at the Venice Film Festival, and Mary Queen of Scots, the debut of Josie Rourke, one of the world’s preeminent female stage directors), and the traditionally male action picture (Widows, in which Viola Davis leads a team of women attempting a daring heist). There will be an action-comedy with Tiffany Haddish (Nobody’s Fool), a remake of the classic horror Suspiria, and a rebirth of Lisbeth Salander (The Girl in the Spider’s Web.) There will even be a second movie about the iconic Ruth Bader Ginsburg, with Felicity Jones taking on the role in Mimi Leder’s dramatic film, six months after we got to see the real Ginsburg in Betsy West and Julie Cohen’s documentary RBG.

Were I more patient, I’d wait until the end of the year to write a recap of movies about women in 2018. But I have a short attention span and am easily distracted. So I’ll jump the gun. It’s one of the few things I’m really good at.

To begin this little compendium of females on screen in 2018, I need to set out two basic truths. Women have made good strides on screen over the past year. More nuanced and/or marginalized characters are becoming the center of screen stories. More actresses of all ages are getting better roles to play. Things are indeed looking up.

At the same time, women still trail well behind their male counterparts. That, of course, is as true behind the camera and in the executive offices of film studios as it is on screen. Stories about men continue to far outnumber stories about women, just as movie producers and movie directors remain decidedly male. I realize in this divisive age, it is hard to hold two seemingly opposed truths in one brain, but both of these statements are true:

Things are trending up for women in the movie business.

Things still have a very long way to go before even approaching gender equality.

With that out of the way, let’s consider the female-centric films of the past year. What follows is a brief rundown of 35 movies in which women were the dominant onscreen characters. This is not a complete list by any means. I am leaving mundane movies off the list. (Sorry, Peppermint and Breaking In.) I am ignoring the disappointments. (Later, Ocean’s Eight and Lizzie.) But a movie doesn’t necessarily have to be award-worthy to get a spot. It just has to intriguing, and maybe say a little something about the state of womanhood circa 2018. All broken down into easy-to-digest categories. This is, after all, a blog.

TEEN ANGST

This has been a popular subject for a long time, and in recent years, movies such as Pariah (2011), It Looked Like Love (2013), and Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015) have given new female directors an entree into the feature film market. This year’s versions are directed by both men and women, but all of them do a good job of presenting particular ch allenges of growing up female in 2018.

Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham)

Burnham, heretofore known primarily as comedian, created one of the best American movies of the year, featuring a star-making performance by 14-year-old Elsie Fisher.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post (Desiree Akhavan)

The distaff half of the gay conversion movie duo, along with the soon-to-be-released Boy Erased. Chloe Grace Moretz adds to her already impressive list of starring roles.

Skate Kitchen (Crystal Moselle)

One of the true undiscovered gems of the year, this ensemble piece focuses on girl skateboarders fighting for freedom and respect in NYC. Reminiscent of We Are the Best! (2013), the excellent Swedish film about teenage girls who form a punk band.

Virus Tropical (Santiago Caicedo)

I will admit up front that I am not a fan of Caicedo’s animated feature, based on the work of Powerpaola. But virtually everyone I know enjoyed this more than I did, so there’s that. Paola Gaviria’s drawings are undeniably impressive, but I found her autobiographical story about shuttling between Colombia and Ecuador during her adolescence somewhat meandering.

WIVES BREAKING FREE

The spiritual descendants of Nora Helmer are still going strong.

Puzzle (Marc Turtletaub)

A very well-crafted portrait of repressed ambition, Kelly Macdonald shines as a housewife and mother who also happens to be a kickass puzzler.

Colette (Wash Westmoreland)

It’s too long, but spending a little extra time with Keira Knightley, as she embodies Gabrielle Colette breaking away from her manipulative husband and developing her voice as an acclaimed writer, is rarely a chore.

The Wife (Bjorn Runge)

A somewhat uneven story which is hurt by a mediocre melodramatic subplot line, The Wife provides Glenn Close a chance to seethe and simmer and eventually explode, and she carries it all off marvelously. Reminiscent of Charlotte Rampling’s work in the similarly conceived 45 Years.

The Life of the Party (Ben Falcone)

It’s OK. McCarthy gets to put her spin on Rodney Dangerfield’s Back to School, and well, it’s OK. I haven’t seen it yet, but I feel comfortable saying that next month’s Can You Ever Forgive Me? will be the 2018 movie that McCarthy is remembered for. But it does have more life than Richard Loncaire’s Finding Your Feet, which doesn’t make the list.

BUDDY MOVIES, COMEDY

This has been among the most masculine of sub genres for a very long time. Nice to see that it’s changing.

Never Goin’ Back (Augustine Frizzell)

Did you see Superbad (2007)? This is the female version of Superbad. It’s raunchy. It’s dumb. It’s hilarious. It’s touching. Keep an eye on Frizzell and her two leads, Maia Mitchell and Camila Morrone.

A Simple Favor (Paul Feig)

Feig has been the leading director of woman-centered mainstream comedies in recent years (Bridesmaids, The Heat, Spy, the Ghostbusters reboot). Here he dives in on a suspense satire which turns Gone Girl on its head. Anna Kendrick rocks. And Blake Lively doesn’t do too badly either.

The Spy Who Dumped Me (Susanna Fogel)

Unlike Feig, Fogel has not been a leading director of woman-centered mainstream comedies. But give her time. This is only her second feature. The blend of gruesome violence and silly humor doesn’t always work. But Kate McKinnon sure does, as a wacky foil to Mila Kunis’ straight-laced heroine.

BUDDY MOVIES, DRAMA

This, on the other hand, is somewhat of a staple. Feel free to write your own blog about why women have been allowed to pair up in dramas more readily than in comedies.

Thoroughbreds (Cory Finley)

As the popular girl and the outcast, Anya Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke form one of the most intriguing pairs of the year in this psychological thriller, which also marks one of Anton Yelchin’s final films.

Disobedience (Sebastian Lelio)

The two Rachels – Weitz and McAdams – do excellent work in this story about the repression of female sexuality in the Orthodox Jewish community.

Gemini (Aaron Katz)

The plot gets a bit out of hand, but Lola Kirke and Zoe Kravitz are very good in this mystery thriller about a Hollywood star and her assistant. If you didn’t like the supernatural touches in Personal Shopper, you might find this more accessible.

The Heiresses (Marcelo Martinessi)

An acting tour de force by Ana Brun as Chela, a shy older woman forced to become a chauffeur, and Ava Ivanova, as Angy, the exotic young woman who awakens Chela’s passion. This Paraguayan feature strikes me as a touch too understated for its own good, but within her inhibition Brun makes Chela one of the year’s most fascinating characters. It earned her the Best Actress award in Berlin this year.

SHE’S GOT BAGGAGE

But really, who doesn’t?

Tully (Jason Reitman)

Reitman’s last two movies (Labor Day and Men, Women, and Children) were major disappointments. But reteaming with writer Diablo Cody and star Charlize Theron (who last worked together on Young Adult) set things back on the right track. Theron is Marlo, a do-everything mom of two kids who is forced to accept that with the arrival of her third child, she can no longer do it all by herself. Or can she?

All About Nina (Eva Vives)

Mary Elizabeth Winstead won’t get nominated for an Oscar this year. But she should. Nina is a broken young woman, driven by past demons to make poor choices and savage stand-up comedy routines. Winstead plays an abrasive character and makes her funny, touching, and watchable, without softening her edges one iota.

Where is Kyra (Andrew Dosunmu)

When Kyra’s elderly mother dies, Kyra stumbles into a plan to impersonate her in order to continue to claim benefits, which she needs to survive. This is a dark and desperate movie full of obscured frames and arm’s length imagery, all carried off by a riveting performance from Michelle Pfeiffer.

Thelma (Joachim Trier)

Trier turns many genre conventions on their head with this supernatural coming-of-age story about a lonely college student (a haunting Eili Harboe) who discovers she has resources she never imagined.

Nancy (Christine Choe)

Andrea Riseborough may have more range than any young actress working today. Just this year, she has done the pointed satire of The Death Of Stalin, the gonzo horror of Mandy, and the carefully crafted study of quiet desperation at the center of Nancy. The plot may have some holes, but this remains one of the more emotionally difficult movies of the years, questioning the nature of identity as it explores a young woman who may or may not be the long-missing daughter of ever-hopeful parents.

SINGLE WOMEN

Geographically-astute readers will note that the ladies in this section come from Japan, Chile, Costa Rica, and France. I’m sure there are interesting single ladies in America, but I didn’t feel like including Amy Schumer’s mediocre I Feel Pretty just for balance.

Oh, Lucy (Atsuko Hirayanagi)

Shinobu Terajima gives one of the year’s best performances playing alter-egos Setsuko, a by-the-book Tokyo office worker, and Lucy, a free-spirit who is bold enough to drop everything and fly off the SoCal in pursuit of a younger man.

Dry Martina (Che Sandoval)

Antonella Costa’s hilarious performance and Sandoval’s witty, raunchy screenplay elevate this comedy above the norm. Martina is an aging pop star in Argentina who makes a journey to Chile in pursuit family, adventure, and most importantly, orgasms.

Violeta at Last (Hilda Hidalgo)

The only reason this Costa Rican film isn’t in the ”Wives” category above is that 72-year-old Violeta is already divorced from her slimy husband when the movie begins. Though too gentle and soft focused for its own good, this pleasant dramedy builds on female friendship and empowerment to such a degree that heartthrob Gustavo Sanchez Parra is notable by how little he actually does playing opposite the spry and engaging Eugenia Chaverri in the title role.

Let the Sunshine In (Claire Denis)

Critics loved it. Regular filmgoers, not so much. Count me with the regular filmgoers. It boasts a game effort from the always watchable Juliette Binoche as Isabelle, as she works her way through one unsatisfying relationship after another. Despite moments of great warmth and wit, its meandering journey through one undesirable man after another becomes quite a chore. But if you want to gauge where you stand on the “Critic-Regular Fan” paradigm, or if you just love Binoche, check it out.

ENSEMBLES

Numerically distinguished from the Buddy Movie.

In Between (Maysaloun Hamoud)

I am writing this in October of 2018 and using that fact to include a couple of movies that were released in the USA in late 2017. I come from a family of lawyers and am well adept at legal loopholes. Hamoud’s portrait of three disparate Muslim women thrown together by circumstance of housing is among the best depictions of sisterhood any country has produced in the past few years. Professional Layla, rebellious Salma, and devout Nour will remain in your heart long after more generic ensembles have faded away.

Annihilation (Alex Garland)

This treads in similar artistic territory as 2016’s Arrival, putting a feminine spin on the traditionally masculine sci-fi genre. Led by Natalie Portman’s Lena, the cast features Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, and Tuva Novotny as they employ both brains and brawn to battle an unknowable alien force.

Assassination Nation (Sam Levinson)

A satire about the evils of mob mentality in the age of cyberdom, Assassination Nation is hyper violent, hyper profane, and well, just plain hyper. Levinson does not soften his four heroines, especially with regard to Hari Nef’s Bex – a transgender teen (played by a transgender actress) who is unapologetically bitchy. The story is excessive and doesn’t always hold together, but that’s not a terrible sin in an over-the-top satire.

Book Club (Bill Holderman)

And then there is something for us older folks. As a traditional, crowd-pleasing comedy, Holderman and his iconic cast mostly push the right buttons. Some of the comedy is stale and some of the resolutions are overly tidy, but there are worse ways to spend a couple hours than watching Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen kvetch about life and love after a certain age. I mean, between them, you have six Emmys, four Oscars, and two AFI Lifetime Achievement Awards.

MOTHERS

And the lengths they go to.

Felicite (Alain Gomis)

In case you’re keeping track, this is the other movie that snuck in under the wire, coming out in the States in late 2017. From a ragged, dark opening in a rundown Congolese bar, Gomis develops one of the year’s most powerful stories about a resolute mother, determined to take care of her teenage son after he suffers a crippling accident. Vero Tshanda Beya Mputu’s lead performance as a singer who goes to any lengths necessary for her son recalls Marion Cottilard’s outstanding work in Two Days, One Night (2014), but this desperate journey takes us places many of us have never seen.

Good Manners (Marco Dutra, Juliana Rojas)

Spoiler alert – my next section will be called “Oddities.” This Brazilian fantasy/horror could easily take its place in that section. But I include it here because at its core, it is a story about a mother sacrificing everything for her adopted son. If it were only about twenty minutes shorter, Good Manners would be among the year’s best movies. But even though it drags a bit, and undergoes a major genre shift at the midpoint, it remains memorable, with Isabel Zuaa offering a controlled explosion of passion in the main role. It also features one of the best closing shots in recent memory, especially if you are one of those horror fans who finds the climax of Frankenstein a little too sentimental.

Halloween (David Gordon Green)

Michael Myers may be the one to get the shout-out in Lil Wayne’s “Let It Fly” but in 2018, it’s all about Laurie Strode. Jamie Lee Curtis, with help from Judy Greer and Andi Matichak comprise three generations of women who team up to battle it out with the quintessential boogeyman.

ODDITIES

As promised, a few that just don’t fit anywhere else.

The Wolf House (Joaquin Cocina, Cristobal Leon)

Cocina and Leon employ their stunning stop motion cinematography and a whole lot of masking tape to create one of the most idiosyncratic film experiences of the year. Purported to be a “recently discovered” film from the archives of the Colonia, The Wolf House uses the structure of a fairy tale to shed new light on this fascinating and disquieting piece of Chilean history.

Get My Gun (Brian Darwas)

The amateurish aura of the production and the acting somehow enhances Darwas’ gonzo tale a woman’s brutalization and ultimate revenge. It might be going a little too far to say that Get My Gun tries to reclaim the brutal sex/slasher genre from the I Spit on Your Graves of the cinematic world, but at least in Kate Hoffman, we get a heroine we can really get on board with.

The Misandrists (Bruce La Bruce)

A convent full of castrating terrorist nuns? If last year’s The Beguiled was too tame for you, La Bruce dives head first into cheap exploitation that treads just this side of outright pornography. It’s far more likely to make you laugh than to make you think, but if you can’t laugh at castrating terrorist nuns…

THE BLOCKBUSTER

Crazy Rich Asians (Jon M. Chu)

Just a shout-out to the highest grossing female-centric movie of 2018. This enjoyable comedy is currently ranked tenth on the year-long list, making it the second highest grossing movie that is not animated, or part of a super-hero or action franchise. (It trails A Quiet Place by a few million dollars.)

Were we to expand this to documentaries, we could go on and on. There were docs about lawyers (Seeing Allred and RBG, currently the second-highest grossing documentary of the year, trailing only Mr. Rogers), docs about film people (Love Gilda, Jane Fonda in Five Acts, Tea with the Dames, Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache), docs about activists (Westwood: Punk Icon Activist, On Her Shoulders), and lots of singers – Whitney Houston, M.I.A., Joan Jett, Grace Jones. And there was Maiden, about the first all-female crew to compete in the Whitbread Round the World Race. Tracy Edwards, the skipper of Maiden back in 1989, is setting off on a new three-year journey around the world in hopes of promoting women in sailing. She is clearly a woman who has travelled a long way. And who still sees just how much farther she has to go.