50 Great Screenplays by Women to Download and Study for Free
You need to read all these scripts, like, right now...what are you waiting for?
A few months ago, my dear friend writer-director Liz W. Garcia (THE LIFEGUARD) replied on Twitter to a tweet from a male filmmaker recommending a series of “perfect” feature scripts…written exclusively by men. Sadly, it’s far from the first time I’ve seen filmmakers (consciously or unconsciously) omit women from the cinematic conversation.
If you’re an aspiring, emerging, or established screenwriter and you are not reading screenplays by women, you are failing yourself in so many different ways. Amongst them:
The educational factor: losing out on seeing how 51% of the population think to write screenplays, how they approach characters both female and male, how they tackle conflict, and more.
The patriarchy factor: participating in the sexist system of Hollywood storytelling that has dominated for nearly a century and appears will do so, according to most data, for many years to come. Male or female or however else you identify, don’t focus entirely on what the Industry and our childhoods tell us makes great stories. Step away from the common narrative.
The brilliance factor: there are so many spectacular screenplays out there written by women, many of which have reshaped popular culture.
To assist you in your education, I’ve curated a list of 50 screenplays written by women.
All these screenplays tend to vanish, as all things do on the Internet. Download ASAP for your personal educational purposes. If you want more resources like this one, be sure to check out my articles:
“Read the 10 Feature Screenplays the WGA Thinks Are the Best of 2023”
“10 Screenplays by the Great Walter Hill to Download and Study”
“15 Iconic '90s Pilot Scripts to Download and Study”
“20 Christmas Movie Screenplays to Download and Study for Free”
“30 Brilliant BBC Drama Scripts to Download and Study for Free”
“40 Great Action Screenplays to Download and Study for Free”
“50 Essential 21st-Century One-Hour Pilot Scripts to Download and Study for Free”
“50 Great Screenplays by People of Color to Download and Study for Free”
“60 Great Comedy Screenplays to Download and Study for Free”
“60 Screenplays About Love and Heartbreak to Download and Study for Free”
“100 Horror Screenplays to Download and Study for Free”
Enjoy!
AMERICAN PSYCHO by Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner
BELLE by Misan Sagay (Misan is a dear personal friend and this is a beautiful script)
BRIDESMAIDS by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
ERIN BROCKOVICH by Susannah Grant
E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL by Melissa Mathison
THE FAREWELL by Lulu Wang
FIRST COW by Kelly Reichardt and Jon Raymond
THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION by Radha Blank
GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn
HUSTLERS by Lorene Scafaria
INSIDE OUT by Meg LeFauve, Pete Docter & Josh Cooley; story by Docter and Ronnie del Carmen (Meg LeFauve is another dear friend; you can read my in-depth interview with her here)
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN by Abi Morgan
JUNO by Diablo Cody
LEGALLY BLONDE by Karen McCullah and Kiwi Smith
LITTLE WOMEN by Greta Gerwig
THE LOST DAUGHTER by Maggie Gyllenhaal
LOST IN TRANSLATION by Sofia Coppola
LOVE AND BASKETBALL by Gina Prince-Blythewood
THE MATRIX by the Wachowskis
MAUDIE by Sherry White
MIDDLE OF NOWHERE by Ava DuVerney
MUDBOUND by Dee Rees and Virgil Williams
THE POWER OF THE DOG by Jane Campion
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN by Emerald Fennell
RESPECT by Tracey Scott Wilson; story by Callie Khouri and Tracey Scott Wilson.
A ROOM WITH A VIEW by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
SAVING MR. BANKS by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith
SENSE AND SENSIBILITY by Emma Thompson
SHE SAID by Rebecca Lenkiewicz
SILKWOOD by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen
THELMA & LOUISE by Callie Khouri
THIRTEEN by Catherine Hardwicke & Nikki Reed
WHEN HARRY MET SALLY… by Nora Ephron
THE WOMAN KING by Dana Stevens; story by Maria Bello and Dana Stevens
ZOLA by Janicza Bravo and Jeremy O. Harris
If this article and the time I spent on it added anything to your life, please consider buying me a coffee so I can keep this newsletter free for everyone.
PSALMS FOR THE END OF THE WORLD is now available from Headline Books, Hachette Australia, and more. Paperback will hit shelves on May 25th. You can order it here no matter where you are in the world:
Nora=GOAT 👍🏻
Thank you Cole for spotlighting women’s voices and accomplishments. I’ve seen most of these films. I had no idea Ephron wrote SILKWOOD. I saw that when I was very young.