The Best Female Director Movies and TV Shows on Free Services

What it's about: Girlfriends is an American comedy-drama sitcom that premiered on September 11, 2000, on UPN and aired on UPN's successor network, The CW, before being cancelled in 2008. The final episode aired on February 11, 2008. When Girlfriends returned in fall 2007 for its eighth season, it became the longest-running live-action sitcom on network television that was on air that year, as well as one of the highest-rated scripted shows on television among African American adults and women 18-34, including its spin-off The Game.

Where to Watch: 8 episodes (5%) are available to watch free online (CW Seed). 136 episodes (78%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix). 31 episodes (18%) are available to rent or buy from $0.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: Once a rising star of the rodeo circuit, and a gifted horse trainer, young cowboy Brady is warned that his riding days are over after a horse crushed his skull at a rodeo. In an attempt to regain control of his own fate, Brady undertakes a search for a new identity and what it means to be a man in the heartland of the United States.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Newly transferred to the bustling port city of Marseille to assist with a crackdown on organized crime, energetic young magistrate Pierre Michel is given a rapid-fire tutorial on the ins and outs of an out-of-control drug trade. Pierre's wildly ambitious mission is to take on the French Connection, a highly organized operation that controls the city's underground heroin economy and is overseen by the notorious —and reputedly untouchable— Gaetan Zampa. Fearless, determined and willing to go the distance, Pierre plunges into an underworld world of insane danger and ruthless criminals.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, Plex, Vudu & 1 other), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hoopla) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: Convicted of witchcraft, 8-year-old Shula is brought to live in a penal colony where witches do hard labor in service of the government in this ravishing and revelatory feature debut. I Am Not a Witch is the rare satire that inspires laughter and tears within the span of a single scene.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Hoopla, Kanopy & Sundance Now) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Vudu).

What it's about: Young Rosemary Woodhouse and her husband Guy move in with a rich couple, who soon take an unusual interest in the Woodhouses' attempts to have a second baby after Rosemary miscarried the first one. Guy soon has unusual success and Rosemary becomes pregnant, but it becomes clear that the two are connected and that the pregnancy may not be all that Rosemary hoped for...

Where to Watch: 2 episodes (100%) are available to watch free online (Plex). 2 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 2 services (Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: Tara and Maya are two inseparable friends in India. Their tastes, habits, and hobbies are the same. Years later, the two have matured, but have maintained their friendship. Tara gets married to the local prince, Raj Singh, who soon succeeds the throne as the sole heir. After the marriage, Raj gets bored of Tara and starts seeking another female to satisfy his sexual needs. He notices Maya and is instantly attracted to her. He has her included as one of his courtesans, and is intimate with her. Watch what happens when Tara finds out and the extent she will go to keep her marriage intact.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Plex) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Ripley Holden is a small-time entrepreneur desperate to make it big with his new state-of-the-art amusement arcade. The opening extravaganza is overshadowed by the find of a dead body on the premises. DI Carlisle is called in and quickly finds he has more on his mind than murder, when he falls in love with Ripley's long-suffering wife.

Where to Watch: 6 episodes (100%) are available to watch free online (PlutoTV).

What it's about: Drama about a deaf girl who witnesses the audacious murder of a policewoman.

Where to Watch: 4 episodes (100%) are available to watch free online (Tubi). 4 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a subscription service (AcornTV).

What it's about: A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (IMDb TV), stream on a subscription service (fuboTV) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: The battle between Nene King, editor of Woman's Day, and Dulcie Boling, editor of New Idea, from the rival Packer and Murdoch empires, to make their publication the number one seller in Australia.

Where to Watch: 2 episodes (100%) are available to watch free online (Tubi). 2 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Two lost souls visiting Tokyo -- the young, neglected wife of a photographer and a washed-up movie star shooting a TV commercial -- find an odd solace and pensive freedom to be real in each other's company, away from their lives in America.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Peacock) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, an elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, Plex & Crackle), stream on a subscription service (fuboTV) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Simone inherits a dilapidated farmhouse in France and makes her way there with her husband Eric and their two children. Her dream is to turn the house into a bed and breakfast but as the hectic pace of the rebuilding gets underway, she gets caught up in the romance and chaos of it all. Losing sight of her goals, she must find her way back to the dreams and ambitions which brought her there in the first place.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & fuboTV) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: An emotionally scarred highway drifter shoots a sadistic trick who rapes her, and ultimately becomes the United States' first female serial killer.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex & 3 others), stream on a subscription service (fuboTV, Hoopla & Sundance Now) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Ambrosia is the story of an Iranian-Canadian couple, Ali and Leila, who dream of an exciting future in Vancouver: Ali owns a pizza shop and thinks of expanding and Leila is an up-and-coming clothing designer. However, their situations change dramatically when Ali's shop is affected by bad economy and Leila is hired to work at a fashion design firm.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & PopcornFlix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 2 services (Google Play & YouTube).

What it's about: Based on the real-life adventures chronicled by Cameron Crowe, Fast Times follows a group of high school students growing up in Southern California. Stacy Hamilton and Mark Ratner are looking for a love interest, and are helped along by their older classmates, Linda Barrett and Mike Damone, respectively. At the center of the film is Jeff Spicoli, a perpetually stoned surfer who faces-off with the resolute Mr. Hand—a man convinced that everyone is on dope.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (IMDb TV), stream on a subscription service (fuboTV) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: After her son Kevin commits a horrific act, troubled mother Eva reflects on her complicated relationship with her disturbed son as he grew from a toddler into a teenager.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, Plex, Vudu & 2 others), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu, fuboTV & 3 others) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: The Square, a new film by Jehane Noujaim (Control Room; Rafea: Solar Mama), looks at the hard realities faced day-to-day by people working to build Egypt’s new democracy. Catapulting us into the action spread across 2011 and 2012, the film provides a kaleidoscopic, visceral experience of the struggle. Cairo’s Tahrir Square is the heart and soul of the film, which follows several young activists. Armed with values, determination, music, humor, an abundance of social media, and sheer obstinacy, they know that the thorny path to democracy only began with Hosni Mubarek’s fall. The life-and-death struggle between the people and the power of the state is still playing out.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix, Prime Video & Fandor) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 2 services (Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: Following a terrible car crash, a woman awakes to find an enigmatic mortician preparing her for burial.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex & 1 other) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: In June 2013, Laura Poitras and reporter Glenn Greenwald flew to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden. She brought her camera with her.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: A biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV), stream on a subscription service (Hoopla & Paramount+) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Meru is the electrifying story of three elite American climbers—Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Renan Ozturk—bent on achieving the impossible.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: In a world connected by YouTube, iTunes, and Facebook, Lola and her friends navigate the peer pressures of high school romance and friendship while dodging their sometimes overbearing and confused parents. When Lola's mom, Anne, "accidentally" reads her teenage daughter's racy journal, she realizes just how wide their communication gap has grown.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hoopla) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: In the heat of the summer lays a lonesome house in the countryside where nine year old twin brothers await their mother’s return. When she comes home, bandaged after cosmetic surgery, nothing is like before and the children start to doubt whether this woman is actually who she says she is.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & PlutoTV) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (Google Play, Microsoft & 2 others).

What it's about: A group of male friends become obsessed with five mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Kanopy, Sundance Now & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Two teen track stars discover first love as they train for the biggest relay race of their young lives.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 2 others).

What it's about: Po is now living his dream as The Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, The Furious Five - Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey. But Po’s new life of awesomeness is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu. It is up to Po and The Furious Five to journey across China to face this threat and vanquish it. But how can Po stop a weapon that can stop kung fu? He must look to his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins; only then will he be able to unlock the strength he needs to succeed.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (IMDb TV) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: An unexpected love story set in WW1 France between a young Australian baker who has deserted the front line, and a grieving French woman, who puts her own life at risk by sheltering him from the authorities.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & AcornTV) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: This is the extraordinary tale of two brothers named Moses and Ramses, one born of royal blood, and one an orphan with a secret past. Growing up the best of friends, they share a strong bond of free-spirited youth and good-natured rivalry. But the truth will ultimately set them at odds, as one becomes the ruler of the most powerful empire on earth, and the other the chosen leader of his people! Their final confrontation will forever change their lives and the world.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Peacock) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: 400 years into the future, disease has wiped out the majority of the world's population, except one walled city, Bregna, ruled by a congress of scientists. When Æon Flux, the top operative in the underground 'Monican' rebellion, is sent on a mission to kill a government leader, she uncovers a world of secrets.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hoopla & Paramount+) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: After her widowed father dies, deaf teenager Dot moves in with her godparents, Olivia and Paul Deer. The Deers' daughter, Nina, is openly hostile to Dot, but that does not prevent her from telling her secrets to her silent stepsister, including the fact that she wants to kill her lecherous father.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Vudu).

What it's about: A modern-day witch uses spells and magic to get men to fall in love with her, with deadly consequences.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV, Plex, Vudu & 2 others), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, fuboTV, Shudder & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A set of six nested stories spanning time between the 19th century and a distant post-apocalyptic future. Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future. Based on the award winning novel by David Mitchell. Directed by Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Angelique, a young student, is in love with a married doctor. We see her attempts to make him leave his pregnant wife, but he does not appear for meetings or finally the booked journey to Florence. Then the movie is turned back to the beginning, and the view changes: We are now following the view of the doctor instead of Angeliques. And things look quite different now...

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: Recently-widowed Leann and her 17-year-old daughter Julina move into an isolated polygamous compound, where the freethinking Julina meets like-minded Ryder, son of the religious compound’s charismatic Prophet, Ervil.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Peacock).

What it's about: Breaking up with Mark Darcy leaves Bridget Jones over 40 and single again. Feeling that she has everything under control, Jones decides to focus on her career as a top news producer. Suddenly, her love life comes back from the dead when she meets a dashing and handsome American named Jack. Things couldn't be better, until Bridget discovers that she is pregnant. Now, the befuddled mom-to-be must figure out if the proud papa is Mark or Jack.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Liam wakes from a car crash with no memory of who he is. As he makes his way into town to look for help, he finds only dead bodies, all with strange pale eyes. Liam's first assessment is that a virus is present in the air, but he soon discovers the horrible truth: anyone who comes within a 50-foot radius of him dies instantly.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, Plex, Vudu & 1 other), stream on a subscription service (fuboTV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Megan is an all-American girl. A cheerleader. She has a boyfriend. But Megan doesn't like kissing her boyfriend very much. And she's pretty touchy with her cheerleader friends. Her conservative parents worry that she must be a lesbian and send her off to "sexual redirection" school, where she must, with other lesbians and gays learn how to be straight.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex & 1 other), stream on a subscription service (Hoopla) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Alan and Wendy Barnet have been married just long enough for the excitement to have gone out of their relationship, and they're looking for a way to put some spice back in their lives. After placing a personal ad looking for another couple interested in swapping mates, the Barnets are led to the Zebra Lounge, where they meet Jack and Louise Bauer, a pair of seasoned erotic adventurers. While the Barnets find the swinging scene exciting at first, they soon decide it may be doing more harm than good to their marriage. But easing the Bauers out of their lives proves to be neither simple nor safe.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Microsoft).

What it's about: Rachel is a quick-witted and lovable stay-at-home mom. Frustrated with the realities of preschool auctions, a lacklustre sex life and career that's gone kaput, she visits a strip club to spice up her marriage and meets McKenna, a stripper she adopts as her live-in nanny.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Peacock & 3 others), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hoopla, Sundance Now & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A failed New York playwright stages a suicide in an attempt to win back her ex, only to wind up in the custody of her gambling-addict mother.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV & Plex), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & fuboTV) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Olivier Assayas, Gus Van Sant, Wes Craven and Alfonso Cuaron are among the 20 distinguished directors who contribute to this collection of 18 stories, each exploring a different aspect of Parisian life. The colourful characters in this drama include a pair of mimes, a husband trying to chose between his wife and his lover, and a married man who turns to a prostitute for advice.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Vudu & 1 other), stream on a subscription service (fuboTV, Hoopla, Kanopy & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Microsoft).

What it's about: An alien spaceship crash-lands in an isolated town in the middle of the Australian desert, releasing an insidious parasite that attacks the brain of all creatures including humans, making them disorientated, unnaturally strong and violent. Sargeant Jo Sharp, readying for a return to the big city beat, wakes to find the township, her family and friends falling victim to an evil that is spreading faster than it can be contained.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu & Hoopla) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: After putting together another Broadway flop, down-on-his-luck producer Max Bialystock teams up with timid accountant Leo Bloom in a get-rich-quick scheme to put on the world's worst show.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Peacock) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Cecilie and Joachim are about to get married when a freak car accident leaves Joachim disabled, throwing their lives into a spin. The driver of the other car, Marie, and her family don’t get off lightly, either. Her husband Niels works in the hospital where he meets Cecilie and falls madly in love with her.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi).

What it's about: The classic story of Emma Bovary, the beautiful wife of a small-town doctor in 19th century France, who engages in extra marital affairs in an attempt to advance her social status.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Peacock & 4 others), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, fuboTV, Hoopla & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Microsoft).

What it's about: Vampire death dealer Selene fends off brutal attacks from both the Lycan clan and the Vampire faction that betrayed her. With her only allies, David and his father Thomas, she must stop the eternal war between Lycans and Vampires, even if it means she has to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (TVision) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A prudish woman working on tenure as a literacy professor at a large urban university finds herself attracted to a free-spirited, liberal woman who works at a local carnival.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: When a train carrying atomic warheads mysteriously crashes in the former Soviet Union, a nuclear specialist discovers the accident is really part of a plot to cover up the theft of the weapons. Assigned to help her recover the missing bombs is a crack Special Forces Colonel.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, fuboTV & Paramount+) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: After leaving her daughter Jessica in a small town in Pernambuco to be raised by relatives, Val spends the next 13 years working as a nanny to Fabinho in São Paulo. She has financial stability but has to live with the guilt of having not raised Jessica herself. As Fabinho’s university entrance exams approach, Jessica reappears in her life and seems to want to give her mother a second chance. However, Jessica has not been raised to be a servant and her very existence will turn Val’s routine on its head. With precision and humour, the subtle and powerful forces that keep rigid class structures in place and how the youth may just be the ones to shake it all up.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).