check out our list of movies about older women

HAROLD AND MAUDE (1971) This was a classic in my youth but maybe it doesn’t resonate any more. That confuses me because what’s not to love about a young man obsessed with death who falls in love with a fabulously eccentric 79-year-old woman? Harold may kick the film off, but Maude is its beating heart. Harold fakes his own death, drives a hearse and is generally as creepily macabre and emo as they come. Harold meets Maude at a stranger’s funeral; he likes attending them and so does she. The perfect way to connect or a massive red flag? Who cares. The friendship begins with the carefree Maude showing Harold how to make the most of his time on earth. I try to channel Maude when I get too caught up in the seriousness of life, you know, the fear of losing everything and failing. Maude wouldn’t care about that. Maude shows Harold how to live and the friendship blossoms into a romantic relationship. Harold turns away all the young female suitors his mother tries to set him up with in favour of his older, wiser and livelier love, Maude. This black comedy became a cult classic years after its unsuccessful release. Please watch it.

GLORIA (1980) Gena Rowlands (aka Gloria) certainly isn’t old, but she’s older than the average Hollywood leading lady. She’s a hell of a lot tougher, too. Gloria isn’t the femme fatale here – she’s the kickass, gun-wielding hero who takes on the mob. Gloria ends up with Phil, the six-year-old orphaned son of Jeri, her friend and neighbour. Jeri and her husband, Jack, were murdered by the mob after they learnt that Jack was planning on turning informant for the FBI. Never a good career move. Phil may be small but he doesn’t seem to notice and the mob doesn’t care – they want him dead and they want the book of mob accounts that his parents gave him to hide. (It’s the evidence Jack was planning on releasing to the FBI.) Gloria, an ex-mistress to a mobster, is unwilling to give Phil up, so the pair go on the run. Oh, and it’s not just the mob that are after them – soon the police get involved too. Gloria isn’t the maternal type but she rallies against the injustice of the killing and the mob’s relentless pursuit of Phil. And maybe, just maybe, there’s a touch of maternal love that starts to emerge. But don’t worry, nothing soppy; Gloria is always tough.

A LOVE SONG (2022) This is a quiet film. There are no thrills or laughs or explosions. It’s a lake in the mountains and a woman watching life pass by, grieving, and rebuilding herself. Her life is simple but there’s joy in that – in the birdwatching book she keeps, in the small tub of ice-cream she scoops cones from, in her watching the world. This film hinges on Dale Dickey’s performance. Not only is she not 30, she also isn’t trying to hide her glorious age. She’s wrinkled and that’s great. Dickey is striking and so is her performance. Faye (played by Dickey) travels in her caravan to the lake with the loose plan of meeting up with Lito –  an old friend with romantic potential. She waits for him, connecting with others at the lake and biding her time. When he arrives, the tensions are real and the characters bond over their shared grief, having both lost their partners. In the background, there’s a family of siblings who are waiting for Dickey to leave her campsite so they can dig up and relocate their father’s remains. I don’t want to drop any spoilers so just watch it. This film is simultaneously heartbreaking, liberating and tender. If you liked Nomadland (another great example of a leading lady over 25), give A Love Song a go.

JUANITA (2019) Look, this film isn’t going to change your life. But most films won’t and that’s fine. What it will do is entertain you for an evening (or two if you’re slow with movies like me). Juanita is done with it all. She’s a middle-aged woman in Columbus with one son in jail, another on the cusp of trouble, and a daughter with a baby. Juanita loves her granddaughter but is sick of being used as the babysitter, the house cleaner, the provider. Her escapism is limited to fantasies about the studly Blair Underwood, played by himself, who visits her every night. When even Underwood starts asking to borrow cash from Juanita, her limit is reached. Juanita quits her hospital job, packs a suitcase and heads to the bus station. There, she sits with a map and chooses her destination: Butte, Montana. Pronounced beaut. It’s here that the story follows a formulaic but much-loved path: woman moves to new town, meets man, he’s a wreck, she’s a bit of a wreck, they help each other emerge from the rubble of their lives. He’s a bit younger than her, which is always a plus (for more of that, see Good Luck to You, Leo Grande). Like I said, it’s not revolutionary but it’s enjoyable. Alfre Woodard is delightful and Juanita’s story deserves an audience.

LUCKY GRANDMA (2019) Lucky Grandma is refreshing in so many ways – Grandma is a grumpy jerk. She’s a chain-smoker who worked hard her whole life only to end up broke after her husband died. She’s under pressure from her son to give up her apartment and move in with him and his kids (oof). Having been told her luck would be high on a certain day, Grandma empties her bank account and gives her luck a go at the casino. After a night of highs at the roulette table, she unsurprisingly walks out empty-handed. That is, until a mobster dies beside her on the bus home and she discovers his sports bag filled with cash. Lucky Grandma indeed. Except maybe not, because people talk and the mob soon realise who walked off that bus with the sack of cash. And so Grandma’s life gets turned upside down. Desperate, she hires bodyguard Big Pong, a gentle giant who plays well alongside Grandma’s harsh edges. Even though she has Big Pong, Grandma still fights her own battles, all while wearing a quilted vest and Hush Puppies.

BOOK CLUB (2018) “Sex must not be taken off the table.” Jane Fonda says it but the film proves it. You don’t need to be 30 to have an active, interesting sex life. People cringe when you say that because that means parents have sex, but I don’t want to be 70 and not having sex. There is life beyond 30, plus you have all that time to fill in retirement. Book Club has it all – four flawed but awesome heroines, bad dates, good dates, appropriately aged partners and joy. Jane Fonda is the sexy, wealthy, emotionally distant businesswoman. Diane Keaton is an older Annie Hall, which is always amazing. Mary Steenburgen is the under-loved minx in a marriage losing its edge. And Candice Bergen is the accomplished federal court judge who hasn’t had sex in nearly two decades and is worried about her depressed cat. The women have had their book club since their 20s but have recently, in varying degrees, hit the rut of late middle age. Until… spicy Jane Fonda picks 50 Shades of Grey as their next read, and everything changes. This film is like Sex and the City for 70-year-olds but set in LA, less cringeworthy and funnier. Book Club: The Next Chapter is out now and you better believe I’ll be watching that.

These movie recommendations come straight from the pages of issue 116. To get your mitts on a copy, swing past the frankie shop, subscribe or visit one of our lovely stockists.