Maire Claire
The Best Movies About Female Friendship
By Katherine J Igoe
November 18, 2024
When you’re spending the night in and want to watch a movie with friends, or are down and need a feel-good film, sometimes the best movies are about female friendship. They warm our hearts for several reasons—but largely because they remind us of our own beautiful relationships and all of their complexities.
Films about female friendship can range from hilarious comedies about gal pals getting up to wild antics or coming of age together to compelling dramas about the strength women find by standing by one another. Whether you’re craving positive friendship depicted on screen or want to watch something with your besties, this list is a great place to start. Below are the best movies about female friendship.
‘Banana Split’ (2020)
This movie avoids many potential pitfalls: a high schooler (Hannah Marks) discovers her ex (Dylan Sprouse) is dating someone new (Liana Liberato) and goes to a party to investigate her. The two girls immediately realize they should be best friends, and light shenanigans ensue. It’s a really fun watch.
‘Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar’ (2021)
Let this outrageous comedy set at an all-inclusive resort in Florida wash over you like a third round of Piña Coladas. If you can handle ridiculous satire, you’ll absolutely appreciate this hysterical movie written by and co-starring Bridesmaids screenwriters Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo as two timid women who take the vacation of their dreams.
‘Beaches’ (1989)
With a friendship spanning decades (and a multitude of ups and downs), C.C. and Hillary (Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey, respectively) are a lovely example of two people growing with each other. It’s aged well, given that it was made four decades ago.
‘Booksmart’ (2019)
Long-term besties (Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever), who are headed to different Ivy League schools, decide to pack all of the partying they never did in high school into one night. The night before graduation, in fact. Things go awry, let’s say, but the journey and the destination are both delightful.
‘Bridesmaids’ (2011)
This movie perfectly encapsulates the stress of being someone’s bridesmaid (and having to get along with the rest of her wedding party). It’s also one of the funniest movies of all time—hands down. While the women in the movie are not particularly kind to each other throughout much of the film, the happy ending feels earned.
‘Charlie’s Angels’ (2019)
Amidst all the butt-kicking, the titular Angels (Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu) are sweet and deeply loving together. Fun fact: The film features a real-life best friendship between Barrymore and Diaz, so their chemistry isn’t entirely acting!
‘Clueless’ (1995)
Clueless is based on the Jane Austen book Emma; both novel and movie are smartly critical of their heroine and how she’s…. not always a great friend. Cher (Alicia Silverstone) goes from meddling in her new pal’s love life to realizing she should practice a softer, gentler form of friendship. And a bonus: The fashion can’t be topped.
‘The First Wives Club’ (1996)
This ’90s movie was a huge influence on the “female friendship” film genre. Before that idea was popularized, this movie came along starring Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton as the perfect trio of pals who decide to make their exes suffer. It’s incandescent.
‘Frances Ha’ (2012)
A lot of people missed this underrated movie the first time around. Greta Gerwig (who also co-wrote the film) is Frances, whose friendship with best pal Sophie (Mickey Sumner) becomes strained. The movie lets its characters be messy without ever losing empathy for them—and it helps that the two recognize how much they mean to each other.
‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ (1992)
The friendship between a shy housewife (Kathy Bates) and a woman in a nursing home (Jessica Tandy) allows for a nice flashback structure to the older woman’s close relationship with another woman (Mary Stuart Masterson). The book makes their relationship more overtly romantic, but this movie was still praised for its representation.
‘Ghost World’ (2001)
This cult classic may not have landed as well with audiences in 2001 but has since been reclaimed by modern fans. It has much in common with Daria, with Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson deadpanning their way through the difficulties of high school and beyond.
‘Girls Trip’ (2017)
This film pulls exactly zero punches, really going there in an impressive way. Four women who call themselves the “Flossy Posse” (Regina Hall, Tiffany Haddish, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Queen Latifah) reconnect in New Orleans, with all the relevant partying that might suggest.
‘Hidden Figures’ (2017)
This film focuses on three Black women working for NASA during the Space Race (played by Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe), but the friendship between the, is an important narrative underpinning. It’s subtle, but incredibly powerful.
‘Hustlers’ (2019)
Even though this movie is about strippers who turn into con artists, the heart of the movie is the friendships between the women. Destiny (Constance Wu) and Ramona (Jennifer Lopez) bond over shared circumstances… and then their shared interest in scamming men.
‘Josie and the Pussycats’ (2001)
While it may not have been fully appreciated at the time, Josie and the Pussycats features a really sweet chemistry between three girls who just want to play music (Rachael Leigh Cook, Tara Reid, and Rosario Dawson). You’re rooting for the band all the way—while listening to an iconic soundtrack and digesting a surprisingly smart parody of the pop music industry.
‘The Joy Luck Club’ (1993)
This drama is an impressive multi-generational story, with four older Chinese women reminiscing about their backgrounds, while their adult daughters try to reckon with tradition and modernity. A book-to-movie adaptation of Amy Tam’s beloved novel, it marked the first major movie out of Hollywood with a predominantly Asian-American ensemble.
‘Joy Ride’ (2023)
This buddy comedy goes in some surprising, hilarious directions. Audrey (Ashley Park) and some pals head to China, ostensibly for Audrey to close a business deal. Shenanigans ensue, which is an understatement.
‘Lady Bird’ (2017)
Teenage angst has never been so beautifully written, thanks to Greta Gerwig. Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) goes through a series of transformations in the film, but among the most moving is her estrangement from best friend Julie (Beanie Feldstein). Spoiler alert, but not really: The two are made to last.
‘A League of Their Own’ (1992)
A dramatization of the founding of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) during World War II, this sports movie follows the women who come together to compete during a time when women’s sports weren’t terribly well-established or appreciated. And they become quite the team, personally and professionally.
‘Little Women’ (2019)
There have been many iterations of Little Women, but Greta Gerwig’s version really nails the central friendship between the four sisters. Even despite life and relationships getting in the way, the women forge forward without losing sight of each other.
‘Muriel’s Wedding’ (1995)
Muriel’s Wedding is proof that some of the greatest love stories are friendships. Muriel and Rhonda (Toni Collette and Rachel Griffiths, in early roles) are bonded through the difficulties of their young lives. Muriel, obsessed with weddings and relationships, comes to realize how important Rhonda is to her. (Sniff).
‘Mystic Pizza’ (1988)
This is for you if you have fond (or less-fond) memories of a local job, complete with coworkers you feel bonded in boredom with. Three girls (Annabeth Gish, Lili Taylor, and Julia Roberts) are all on the cusp of their future as they waitress at a local pizza place. This has a star-studded cast—and Matt Damon’s film debut!
‘Never Goin’ Back’ (2018)
If you missed this little indie, it’s an absolute treat. Maia Mitchell and Camila Morrone play two friends who just want to go to the beaches of Galveston, Texas. Life, and their own decisions, make that tough. This is a stoner comedy but it’s also an awesome (and deeply profane) physical comedy, too.
‘Never Rarely Sometimes Always’ (2020)
This drama from Eliza Hittman has a lot to say about abortion access and care, while also being about the supportive relationship between two cousins (played by Sidney Flanigan and Talia Ryder), one of whom needs the other’s assistance with travel and funds, and the other who supports without judgment.
‘Now and Then’ (1995)
With a veritable who’s-who in the cast (including Christina Ricci, Melanie Griffith, and Demi Moore), this cult classic moves back and forth in time. The older versions of the characters reminisce about a particularly eventful and poignant summer when they were teens.
‘Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion’ (1997)
If you’ve ever been faced with the prospect of going to your high school reunion without having done much in your life to date, this movie nails exactly how that feels. BFFs Romy and Michele (Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow) invent fake lives, put on some cute dresses, and lean in on the experience.
‘Sister Act’ (1992)
This movie is a perfect fish out of water story. Whoopi Goldberg is lounge singer Deloris, who needs to be put into witness protection when she sees a murder. She’s placed inside a convent and proceeds to completely overhaul their choir in increasingly awesome ways.
‘The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants’ (2005)
If you were of a certain age, this adaptation of the book of the same name is pretty important to you. Four friends (America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, Blake Lively, and Alexis Bledel) find a pair of pants that they can all fit into and pass it around as they spend their first summer apart.
‘Spy’ (2015)
Melissa McCarthy plays a CIA employee who chronically feels under-appreciated at her agency—until she gets thrown into a covert mission. By her side through thick and thin is her best friend, played by Miranda Hart. The two have some of the best lines in the whole movie.
‘Steel Magnolias’ (1989)
If you’re not familiar, this film might make you quite weepy—but stick with it. Several women in Louisiana congregate at each other’s houses and the hair salon; their lives and the various tumult therein are captured in exquisite and poignant detail.
‘Thelma & Louise’ (1991)
When you think of a friendship-centric movie, this Ridley Scott film might be what comes to mind. It’s considered a landmark film of feminism. If you only know the ending but have never watched, it’s worth getting to know these two empowering, loyal friends.
‘Waiting to Exhale’ (1995)
While all four women in a tight-knit friend group (Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, and Lela Rochon) fret over their romantic relationships, their bond is the true center of the movie. Thank goodness, because there’s a lot of romantic drama to unpack!
