7 Movies About Female Friendship to Celebrate Galentine's Day

9 to 5

Watch on: HBO Max

 

This comedy classic has become a totem for female empowerment, while the accompanying hit song by Dolly Parton serves as an iconic anthem. Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Parton play a trio of secretaries who feel undervalued, sexually harassed and generally mistreated by their boss Franklin Hart (Dabney Coleman). They fantasize about retaliation, which inadvertently becomes reality. While Hart is out of commission, Judy, Violet and Doralee use the opportunity to create a better workplace.

Watch on: Disney+

 

The protagonists of Hidden Figures not only have to deal with a workplace that overlooks its female employees but one that overlooks people of color. Based on the true story of Black mathematicians working at NASA in the 1960s, the movie focuses on three extraordinary women: Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), who calculates flight paths for Project Mercury; Dorothy Vaughn (Octavia Spencer), who becomes the programming department's supervisor; and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), who becomes the agency's first Black female engineer. Through it all, they support one another as they conquer new frontiers.

Watch on: Paramount+

 

A good book, a glass of wine and the company of your best friends sounds like the perfect night. In Book Club, longtime pals Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen begin to shake up their fairly staid meetings — and their lives — after they read the best-selling pot boiler 50 Shades of Grey. With encouragement from the group, each woman begins to take more chances and pursue the versions of happiness they've always wanted.

 

Watch on: HBO Max

 

In The First Wives Club, Bette Midler, Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn star as three divorcées who band together after the tragic death of a friend. They all have toxic ex-husbands who deserve a comeuppance, so they plot to reveal their fraud, financial problems and other misdeeds. Their (mostly comedic) road to retribution turns a bit rocky, but putting their friendship first smooths everything out. And their motives aren't entirely selfish, as they plan to use the money to help other women in crisis.

Watch on: Hulu

 

There's no crying in baseball, but don't be surprised to find tears in your eyes by the end of this sports-themed comedy-drama. The fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League chronicles the formation of the league during World War II. Geena Davis and Lori Petty play sisters Dottie and Kit, who join the Rockford Peaches along with Doris and Mae (Rosie O'Donnell and Madonna). They must contend with a gruff manager Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks), a skeptical public and sexism— plus Dottie and Kit's simmering rivalry. At the end of the day, though, a baseball game is just nine innings; sisterhood lasts forever. (In 2022, an original series based on the movie debuted on Amazon Prime.)

 

Watch on: Amazon Prime

 

If you and your best friend would do anything — seriously, anything — for one another, call yourselves Thelma and Louise. In the 1991 road trip classic, timid housewife Thelma (Geena Davis) and sassy waitress Louise (Susan Sarandon) embark on a weekend fishing getaway. But when a man at a local bar tries to rape Thelma, Louise shoots and kills him. Instead of going to the police, they try to flee to Mexico. Along the way, they pick up a handsome young thief (Brad Pitt) and do what they can to evade law enforcement. But as they rapidly approach the end of the road, their options dwindle.

 

Watch on: Netflix

 

Amy Poehler, whose Parks and Recreation character invented Galentine's Day, directs and co-stars in this bawdy comedy about a group of female friends who gather in Napa for a 50th birthday celebration. What's meant to be a relaxing, wine-filled weekend turns tense when the women begin to clash. Unbeknownst to each other, they are all privately dealing with their own issues, including depression, a potential health crisis, an inattentive husband and general malaise. When the vacation threatens to utterly break down, the friends must find a way to come together.

 

Galentine's Day is observed on Feb. 13 and the unofficial holiday originated from an episode of the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation. It's a day for "ladies celebrating ladies," according to main character Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler).