The Best Female Director Movies on Free Services

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 (Peacock) & rent or buy from $3.99 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: Despite her sheltered upbringing, Jenny is a teen with a bright future; she's smart, pretty, and has aspirations of attending Oxford University. When David, a charming but much older suitor, motors into her life in a shiny automobile, Jenny gets a taste of adult life that she won't soon forget.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (IMDb TV), stream on a subscription service (Sundance Now) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 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, The Criterion Channel & 2 others) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 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 (Hoopla & Sundance Now) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: When a sleazy TV exec offers Wayne and Garth a fat contract to tape their late-night public access show at his network, they can't believe their good fortune. But they soon discover the road from basement to big-time is a gnarly one, fraught with danger, temptation and ragin' party opportunities.

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

What it's about: Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other. Emboldened by her success, she decides to give hopelessly klutzy new student Tai a makeover. When Tai becomes more popular than she is, Cher realizes that her disapproving ex-stepbrother was right about how misguided she was -- and falls for him.

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: After a long voyage from Scotland, pianist Ada McGrath and her young daughter, Flora, are left with all their belongings, including a piano, on a New Zealand beach. Ada, who has been mute since childhood, has been sold into marriage to a local man named Alisdair Stewart. Making little attempt to warm up to Alisdair, Ada soon becomes intrigued by his Maori-friendly acquaintance, George Baines, leading to tense, life-altering conflicts.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Vudu).

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 (Peacock), stream on a subscription service (Philo, fuboTV, Showtime & 1 other), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime & AMC) & rent or buy from $3.99 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: A young boy makes a snowman one Christmas Eve, which comes to life at midnight and takes the boy on a magical adventure to the North Pole to meet Santa Claus.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Ameba) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Two women, one from the United States and one from the United Kingdom, swap homes at Christmastime after bad breakups with their boyfriends. Each woman finds romance with a local man but realizes that the imminent return home may end the relationship.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Peacock) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 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) & 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: Book superstore magnate, Joe Fox and independent book shop owner, Kathleen Kelly fall in love in the anonymity of the Internet—both blissfully unaware that he's trying to put her out of business.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play, Microsoft & 1 other). Coming soon to Hulu on January 31st, 2021 (PST).

What it's about: Two women, Nic and Jules, brought a son and daughter into the world through artificial insemination. When one of their children reaches age, both kids go behind their mothers' backs to meet with the donor. Life becomes so much more interesting when the father, two mothers and children start to become attached to each other.

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: 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).

What it's about: On the east coast of New Zealand, the Whangara people believe their presence there dates back a thousand years or more to a single ancestor, Paikea, who escaped death when his canoe capsized by riding to shore on the back of a whale. From then on, Whangara chiefs, always the first-born, always male, have been considered Paikea's direct descendants. Pai, an 11-year-old girl in a patriarchal New Zealand tribe, believes she is destined to be the new chief. But her grandfather Koro is bound by tradition to pick a male leader. Pai loves Koro more than anyone in the world, but she must fight him and a thousand years of tradition to fulfill her destiny.

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

What it's about: Mia is a rebellious teenager on the verge of being kicked out of school. Her hard-partying mother, Joanne, neglects Mia's welfare in favor of her own, and her younger sister hangs out with a much older crowd. Sparks fly between Mia and Connor, Joanne's new boyfriend, and he encourages Mia to pursue her interest in dance. As the boundaries of the relationships become blurred, Mia and Joanne compete for Connor's affection.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (The Criterion Channel) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 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, Plex & 2 others), stream on a subscription service (Hoopla, Kanopy & Sundance Now) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Microsoft).

What it's about: Documentary filmmaker Amy Berg investigates the life of 30-year pedophile Father Oliver O'Grady and exposes the corruption inside the Catholic Church that allowed him to abuse countless children. Victims' stories and a disturbing interview with O'Grady offer a view into the troubled mind of the spiritual leader who moved from parish to parish gaining trust ... all the while betraying so many.

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

What it's about: A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations.

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

What it's about: A growing number of Evangelical Christians believe there is a revival underway in America that requires Christian youth to assume leadership roles in advocating the causes of their religious movement. Jesus Camp follows children at a Christian summer camp as they hone their "prophetic gifts" and are schooled in how to "take back America for Christ." The film is a first-ever look into an intense training ground that recruits born-again Christian children to become an active part of America's political future.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV & Plex), stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu, Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 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: An independent, single mother who owns a small hotel on a Greek island is about to marry off the spirited young daughter she's raised alone. But, the daughter has secretly invited three of her mother's ex-lovers in the hopes of finding her biological father.

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: 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: 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: In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, an orphaned teen must battle a ruthless warlord to save the girl of his dreams.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, Plex, Vudu & 1 other), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Shudder) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Canadian actress and filmmaker Sarah Polley investigates certain secrets related to her mother, interviewing a group of family members and friends whose reliability varies depending of their implication in the events, which are remembered in different ways; so a trail of questions remains to be answered, because memory is always changing and the discovery of truth often depends on who is telling the tale.

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

What it's about: A man coping with the institutionalization of his wife because of Alzheimer's disease faces an epiphany when she transfers her affections to another man, a wheel chair-bound mute who also is a patient at the nursing home.

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

What it's about: A semi-fictionalized documentary about a day in the life of Australian musician Nick Cave's persona.

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

What it's about: The Los Angeles punk music scene circa 1980 is the focus of this film. With Alice Bag Band, Black Flag, Catholic Discipline, Circle Jerks, Fear, Germs, and X.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & PlutoTV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Kanopy & Shout Factory TV), stream on a TV everywhere service (TCM) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: A documentary that tells the emotional journey of Shane and Tom, two young men in a loving and committed relationship — a relationship that was cut tragically short by a misstep off the side of a roof.

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

What it's about: Fed Up blows the lid off everything we thought we knew about food and weight loss, revealing a 30-year campaign by the food industry, aided by the U.S. government, to mislead and confuse the American public, resulting in one of the largest health epidemics in history.

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: Based on the experiences of Nebraska cop Kathryn Bolkovac (Rachel Weisz) who discovers a deadly sex trafficking ring while serving as a U.N. peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia. Risking her own life to save the lives of others, she uncovers an international conspiracy that is determined to stop her, no matter the cost.

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

What it's about: A paedophile returns to his hometown after 12 years in prison and attempts to start a new life.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV) & stream on a subscription service (Kanopy & Sundance Now).

What it's about: Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat, and the other characters made famous in the Our Gang shorts of the 1920s and 1930s are brought back to life in this nostalgic children's comedy. When Alfalfa starts to question his devotion to the club's principles after falling for the beautiful nine-year old Darla, the rest of the gang sets out to keep them apart.

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: Alex, an intersexed 15-year-old, is living as a girl, but she and her family begin to wonder whether she's emotionally a boy when another teenager's sexual advances bring the issue to a head. As Alex faces a final decision regarding her gender, she meets both hostility and compassion.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Kanopy) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: With the epic dimensions of a Shakespearean tragedy, The Queen of Versailles follows billionaires Jackie and David’s rags-to-riches story to uncover the innate virtues and flaws of their American dream. We open on the triumphant construction of the biggest house in America, a sprawling, 90,000-square-foot mansion inspired by Versailles. Since a booming time-share business built on the real-estate bubble is financing it, the economic crisis brings progress to a halt and seals the fate of its owners. We witness the impact of this turn of fortune over the next two years in a riveting film fraught with delusion, denial, and self-effacing humor.

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

What it's about: Lore leads her four younger siblings across a war-torn Germany in 1945. Amidst the chaos she encounters a mysterious refugee who shatters her fragile reality with hatred and desire.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Fandor, Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 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: In a beauty salon in Beirut the lives of five women cross paths. The beauty salon is a colorful and sensual microcosm where they share and entrust their hopes, fears and expectations.

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

What it's about: Documentary depicting the lives of child prostitutes in the red light district of Songachi, Calcutta. Director Zana Briski went to photograph the prostitutes when she met and became friends with their children. Briski began giving photography lessons to the children and became aware that their photography might be a way for them to lead better lives.

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

What it's about: The Arab Spring in Egypt: From a dictator to free elections, back to a dictatorship. One comedy show united the country and tested the limits of free press. This is the story of Bassem Youssef, a cardiologist turned comedian, the Jon Stewart of Egypt, and his show "The Show".

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV & Plex) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: James is a new speech teacher at a school for the deaf. He falls for Sarah, a pupil who decided to stay on at the school rather than venture into the big bad world. She shuns him at first, refusing to read his lips and only using signs. Will her feelings change over time?

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: Elle Marja, 14, is a reindeer-breeding Sami girl. Exposed to the racism of the 1930s and phrenological examinations at her boarding school, she starts dreaming of another life. To achieve this other life she has to become someone else and break all ties with her family and culture.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Fandor, Hoopla & 2 others) & rent or buy from $4.99 on 1 service (iTunes).

What it's about: Wendy, a near-penniless drifter, is traveling to Alaska in search of work, and her only companion is her dog, Lucy. Already perilously close to losing everything, Wendy hits a bigger bump in the road when her old car breaks down and she is arrested for shoplifting dog food. When she posts bail and returns to retrieve Lucy, she finds that the dog is gone, prompting a frantic search for her pet.

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

What it's about: Four women in Gujarat talk about men, sex and life as they struggle with their individual demons.

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

What it's about: The auto-biographical story of Howard Stern, the radio-rebel who is now also a TV-personality, an author and a movie star.

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