Film still from 'The Negotiation'
Men have dominated the big screen for a long time.
In 2017,
the Guardian reported that out of the 100 top-grossing films of the year (most of them American), women played the lead roles in only 24% of them. That is a terrible statistic, given that there are actually about ten million more women than men in the US.
Let's hope that this year, which is the year of the #metoo movement, marks a positive change in female on-screen representation.
InCinemas highlights five upcoming movies that star strong female lead characters.
1. The Negotiation
Son Ye-Jin ('Be with You', 'The Last Princess') plays crisis negotiator Ha Chae-Yoon from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.
Her job requires her to negotiate with criminal perpetrators such as kidnappers and terrorists. In Korea's male-dominated film industry, it's most refreshing as well as surprising to see a female taking on a powerful lead role.
'The Negotiation' is a tense and gripping crime thriller with an unexpected twist, featuring intense performances from Son and Secret Garden's Hyun Bin.
'The Negotiation' opens in cinemas 4 October 2018.
2. Lizzie
The former IT girl Chloë Sevigny ('The Snowman', 'Gummo') plays the eponymous Lizzie Borden, a social outcast who finds a kindred spirit in Kristen Stewart's character Bridget Sullivan, a young maid who came to live with the Borden family.
Lizze's oppressive father takes to Sullivan as the two girls slowly find intimacy with each other. One thing leads to the next and pretty soon, blood is spurting.
Exploring themes of patriarchal oppression and abuse, 'Lizzie' is a feminist reimagination of the infamous 1892 murders of the Borden family.
'Lizzie' opens in cinemas 18 October 2018.
3. Halloween
To call Halloween is a franchise is an understatement.
Till today, there have been nine sequels to the original John Carpenter-directed 'Halloween', including Rob Zombie's two remakes, making the upcoming Halloween the tenth sequel.
But this is no ordinary Halloween sequel. It is significantly different for a number of reasons. For one, it will ignore all previous sequels as it intends to be the direct sequel to the original.
What's great for Halloween fans is that Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her role as Laurie Strode, but she is no longer playing the 'final girl' archetype. Instead, Strode is taking on a more active role. While Michael Myers was in prison, Strode has been arming and training herself for the day when Michael is released - for one final confrontation.
The new Halloween looks potentially to be the best Halloween film since the original. In an interview with The Guardian, Carpenter, who is executive producing the film, wants to make the tenth sequel "the scariest of them all."
'Halloween' opens in cinemas 25 October 2018.
4. The Girl in the Spider's Web
We have a new Lisbeth Salander.
Formerly played by Rooney Mara, Salander is now played by Claire Foy ('The Crown', 'Unsane') in 'The Girl in the Spider's Web'.
As the new Salander, Foy is almost unrecognizable. She sports piercings, chopped short black hair, and even a Swedish accent!
In this installment of the Millennium film series, Salander is back to avenge women who have been abused by men.
'The Girl in the Spider's Web' opens in cinemas 6 November 2018.
5. Widows
The 2013 Academy Awards winner Steve McQueen is back with a new film, 'Widows'.
Viola Davis ('Fences', 'Suicide Squad') plays Veronica Rawlins, a widow whose husband got murdered in a heist gone wrong.
Together with three widows (played by Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo) whose husbands got killed in the same heist, they decide to finish the job that their husbands started.
'Widows', which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, is already generating Oscar buzz.
'Widows' opens in cinemas 6 December 2018.