Whether Friendship Day is the occasion or the rain simply made the decision for you, here are seven films to watch this monsoon weekend that get female friendship right. Some will make you laugh until your sides hurt. Others will make you reach for your phone and speak to friends who couldn’t be there in person.
1. Dear Zindagi (2016)
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This is less a friendship film and more a film about a woman learning to be her own best friend. The relationships that Alia Bhatt's character Kaira has with the women around her carry a warmth and specificity that feels true. Watch it when the evening calls for something thoughtful and the group is in the mood for a film that leaves you feeling gently rearranged.
2. Ocean's 8 (2018)
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This heist film is built entirely around eight women who are extraordinarily good at what they do and trust each other enough to pull it off. The friendship here is totally badass, which is its own kind of pleasure to watch. Stylish, fast and genuinely fun, it is the film for the evening when the group wants something slick and effortless. Catch this one for all the iconic women you and your girls admire - from Anne Hathaway to Rihanna.
3. Aisha (2010)
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Got a fashion girl gang assembling this weekend? What better than Aisha for a dose of style, sisterhood and good laughs? The friendship between Aisha and Pinky is warm, loyal and occasionally misguided in exactly the ways real friendship can be. Here’s a film that understands the particular pleasure of a friendship built on mutual affection and a willingness to be gently wrong about each other.
4. Angry Indian Goddesses (2015)
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Pan Nalin's film about seven women gathering at a house in Goa for a friend's wedding is chaotic, joyful, politically sharp and genuinely moving. It is one of the few Indian films that puts an ensemble of women together and lets them be fully themselves. You’ll witness their ambitions, desires, contradictions and histories that exist independently of any man in the story.
5. Little Women (2019)
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Greta Gerwig's adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott novel is, among other things, a film about what women owe each other and what they owe themselves. The four March sisters are not always easy-going with each other, which is exactly what makes their bond feel true. Saoirse Ronan and Florence Pugh are both extraordinary, and their performances give the friendship an emotional depth that builds slowly and lands hard.
6. Bridesmaids (2011)
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One of the funniest films made about female friendship, Bridesmaids is honest about the jealousy, competition and grief that can exist alongside genuine love between women. Kristen Wiig and Rose Byrne are remarkable together precisely because their dynamic is not straightforwardly warm. The film understands female friendships with all its layers and that the most sustaining ones survive their own worst moments. Watch it when the mood needs lifting, and the group needs to laugh until it hurts.
7. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (2005)
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One pair of jeans that fits all four friends perfectly in their own way? That’s magic with a side of life lessons. The film understands that female friendship at its best is the place where you are most completely yourself, and earns every moment of feeling it produces. Watch the protagonists keep their friendships intact from different parts of the world - perfect for a long-distance watch party with your long-distance best friend!
There is no wrong choice on this list. The right movie depends on the group, the mood and how much the rain outside has already decided the tone of the evening. Pick one, settle in and let the rest of the weekend take care of itself.