Loneliness in cinema is rarely just about being alone. For women on screen, it is often shaped by control, expectation, silence, and longing for a life that feels just out of reach. The films on this list sit with that discomfort instead of resolving it neatly. They are intimate, unsettling, tender, and sometimes rage-filled. Together, they form a watchlist that understands how isolation can both wound and transform.
In ‘Swallow’, Hunter appears to have everything: wealth, marriage, pregnancy, but her pristine life feels suffocating. Her compulsion to ingest inedible objects is not framed as spectacle, but as resistance. What looks shocking on the surface becomes a way to reclaim autonomy over a body constantly monitored and dismissed. The film turns domestic spaces into psychological horror, where swallowing becomes a language for everything she was never allowed to say.
Set during a humid Parisian summer, ‘Water Lilies’ follows teenage girls circling desire, reputation, and power. Marie’s quiet longing for Floriane aches precisely because it remains unspoken. When Floriane is branded a ‘slut’ despite her inexperience, the cruelty of adolescent labels is laid bare. Céline Sciamma captures the fragility of being fifteen, where wanting someone feels as terrifying as it is intoxicating.
In a Gujarat village ruled by patriarchy, three women endure lives shaped by cruelty and control. Lajjo is abused for ‘being barren’, Rani shoulders widowhood, and Bijli survives through performance. What saves them is not romance or rescue, but shared laughter, rebellion, and solidarity. ‘Parched’ is fierce, messy, and liberating, a reminder that freedom can begin with choosing each other.
‘Carrie’ White’s loneliness is brutal and total. Abused at home and mocked at school, her brief moment of recognition turns into public humiliation drenched in pigs’ blood. What follows is vengeance that feels mythic rather than monstrous. De Palma transforms teenage cruelty into catastrophe, and Carrie’s desire to be seen ensures no one will ever forget her.
‘Bulbbul’ reclaims folklore to tell a story of violence and retribution. Married off as a child and brutalised by men meant to protect her, Bulbbul’s transformation into the chudail becomes an act of justice. This is not empowerment packaged neatly, but rage steeped in pain, moonlight, and blood. Tripti Dimri’s performance makes the horror deeply human.
Julie drifts through careers, lovers, and versions of herself, unsure where she belongs. Her relationships with Aksel and Eivind expose the quiet panic of feeling trapped by expectations. Joachim Trier’s film captures the confusion of late-twenties womanhood with rare honesty, messy, tender, and painfully relatable.
Set against Kerala’s monsoon floods, 'Ullozhukku' traps its characters in grief and secrecy. Anju’s unwanted marriage, forbidden pregnancy, and shared mourning with her mother-in-law unfold slowly, devastatingly. The film finds empathy in unexpected places, anchored by powerful performances from Urvashi and Parvathy Thiruvothu.
As a rogue planet approaches Earth, Justine sinks deeper into depression. While others panic, she finds calm. The apocalypse becomes a mirror for mental illness, the certainty that everything is already ending. Kirsten Dunst’s portrayal is haunting, making this the ultimate feel-bad film that feels brutally honest.
Ratna, a widowed domestic worker, dreams beyond the limits imposed on her. When her employer falls in love with her, she understands what he cannot, that love does not erase class or caste. Her quiet dignity and restraint make her heartbreak unforgettable.
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After unimaginable loss, Dani clings to a relationship that offers no emotional safety. What begins as a trip becomes a slow unravelling, where grief and gaslighting bloom beneath flower crowns. Florence Pugh’s raw performance turns folk horror into an unsettling breakup story about belonging gone wrong.
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These films do not offer easy comfort. Instead, they honour women’s loneliness, rage, desire, and resilience with honesty.
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