“What’s Galentine’s Day? Oh, it’s only the best day of the year….ladies celebrating ladies. It’s like Lilith Fair minus the angst.” 

– Leslie Knope, ‘Parks and Recreation’

 

For those of you not familiar with “Galentine’s Day”, it is a celebration akin to Valentine’s day with one’s female friends. Taking place around February 13th or 15th, the purpose is to celebrate your lady friends. Whether single or involved it’s a chance to recognise the special people in your life. The celebration often takes the form of a Ladies Night, and involves food, chocolate, alcohol and chick flicks. So to help you with your movie selection for this ‘Galentine’s Day’ your next girls night, here are our top 10 best movies featuring female friendship.

1. Girls Just Want To Have Fun(1985)

This 1980s dance classic stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt back when they were teens. The two strike up a fast friendship when they meet auditioning to be on “Dance TV”. Teenage dreams, boys, parents, friendship, and classic 80s dance music make this an automatic go to for any girls movie night.

2. Bachelorette(2012)

‘Bachelorette’ is a comedic gem. Lizzy Caplan, Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, and Rebel Wilson star in this answer to ‘The Hangover‘. BFFs since their clique days in high school, the four are reunited when Becky (Wilson), the “least likely” of the 3, gets married. ‘Bachelorette’ delves right in to the myriad of female challenges, balancing comedy and relatable issues.

3. Frances Ha (2013)

This is a charming story of female friendship and trying to “make it” in New York. Greta Gerwig plays Frances, your typical twenty-something struggling with work, friendship and trying to find her place in the world. A “must see” for any fans of HBO’s ‘Girls’, ‘Frances Ha’ portrays the challenges and awkwardness of young adulthood with the same authenticity.

4. The First Wives Club(1996)

As the title would suggest, this film is about a group of women in their 40s dealing with their marriages ending. Friends since college, they lost touch after marriage and children became their primary concern. Not until a funeral do they reconnect and revive their relationships, uniting against a common enemy: their ex husbands. Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton star in this comedy about female camaraderie and the mid-life hurdles women face.

5. Adore (2013)

So close they are often mistaken for lesbians, Roz and Lil (Robin Wright and Naomi Watts) have been best friends since adolescence. Moving through the stages of life together, falling in love, marriage, and children, their bond is tested when they fall in love with one another’s sons. Despite the taboo subject matter, this a touching heartfelt story of love, heartbreak and an exceptional female bond.

6. The Sweetest Thing(2002)

Cameron Diaz, Christina Applegate and Selma Blair star in this somewhat raunchy, romantic comedy musical. While the jokes are a little crude (think “SuperBad” in quantity of sex/penis jokes), the trio’s antics and adventures pursuing their love interests are entertaining. It’s also refreshing to see a film portray women in a more dynamic manner.

7. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)  You can almost never go wrong with Shakespeare. This modern adaptation of ‘The Taming of the Shrew‘ stars a young Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, and Joseph Gordon Levitt. It’s charming, funny, and at the heart of it all features the blossoming relationship between two sisters. It also showcases some classic 90s fashion, lest we forget.

8. What’s your Number(2010)

This is on the list more because it is an exceptionally entertaining rom-com (and because it stars the very dreamy, Chris Evans), than for the female relationships it features. Anna Faris stars as Ally, a young woman who is convinced that the man of her dreams lies in her past. Soliciting the help of her neighbour (Captain America), she tracks down all of her former lovers in hopes of finding “the one”. In keeping with our theme, the relationship between Ally and her sister Daisy is supportive and understanding.

9. Thelma and Louise(1991)

Arguably the quintessential film about the strength of female relationships, ‘Thelma and Louise’ could not be left off the list. If there is any movie that screams “you don’t need no man, just a best girlfriend” from the rooftops, it’s ‘Thelma and Louise’. Their solidarity, commitment, and defence of one another transforms their weekend getaway into something of a crime-spree. But not to worry, like all good girlfriends, they have each other’s back. Oh, and did I mention Brad Pitt makes his onscreen debut, wearing little more than a cowboy hat.

10. How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days (2003)  Andy, Michelle, and Jeanie all work together at “Composure” (think Cosmo) a fashion and lifestyle magazine. They are career focused, ambitious, fun loving friends, supportive but not coddling. In the interest of keeping her bff’s most most recent breakup off the pages of the magazine, Andy volunteers to write an article on “how not to date” by executing tried and true “dating no-nos” on an unsuspecting male sutor. Enter Matthew McConaughey as Benjamin, who unbenounced to Andy has his own work-related motivation for dating her.

Bonus: Death Becomes Her (1992)

Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, and Bruce Willis are the feature players in a decades long love triangle. Mix in a little magic and the drama escalates to a whole new level. What makes this film great for ‘Galentine’s Day’ is after years of fighting over the same man, the enduring relationship that develops is not romantic, rather a friendship blossoms between the two competing women to the eventual exclusion of the dufus-y man.

– Astrid Handling