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Afemale buddy film is a type ofbuddy film. In these films, women are the main characters and their friendships and relationships with each other drive the story. The plots of female buddy films can share the same concept of male buddy films—opposite personalities go on an adventure or journey of sorts—or they can concern an ensemble group of women. Female buddy films gained popularity in the 1960s from the emergence of thewoman's film and the male buddy film genres.[1]
The main characters of female buddy films are women, and the film's events center on their situations. The main cast is often female, depending on the plot. Critic Hannah McGill ofSight & Sound wrote, "Films that centralise friendship between women and girls are thus always doing something slightly radical, whatever their other themes and content. They repudiate the message that women are adjuncts to men; they emphasise the fact that women and girls still exist when there are no men or boys in the room."[2]
The buddy film was historically agenre limited to men and rooted in the literature and culture of America, with the fictional portrayal ofmale bonding in the United States tracing back to 19th-century authorMark Twain's charactersHuck Finn andTom Sawyer, as well as Huck andJim inAdventures of Huckleberry Finn.[3] The occurrence of one woman interacting with another in film was so rare that concepts like theBechdel test originated as a means of measuring the representation of women in fiction.[2] Female buddy films appeared as early as the 1930s, withGeorge Cukor'sThe Women andGregory La Cava'sStage Door.[4] Other prominent examples includeDance, Girl, Dance (1940),[2]Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953),[5][2]The Group[4] (1966), andDaisies (1966).[6][2]
1991'sThelma & Louise remains one of the most notable female buddy films to date and had a similar impact on popular culture as buddy filmButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid did in the late 1960s.[7][8] Similar films also paved the way for onscreen female friendships such as that between Amelia and Laura inWalking and Talking.[9] Though there are far fewer female buddy films than there are male buddy films,[10] their frequency has increased in conjunction with rising numbers of women in production and creative roles.[11][2]
Jonathan Rosenbaum has praisedJacques Rivette's 1974 filmCéline and Julie Go Boating as an example of the genre and wrote that he knows "many women who considerCéline et Julie vont en bateau their favorite movie about female friendship."[12]Dennis Lim sees the influence of Rivette's film in other female buddy films, such asSusan Seidelman'sDesperately Seeking Susan andDavid Lynch'sMulholland Drive.[13]Célineand Julie was also an influence onErick Zonca's 1998 filmThe Dreamlife of Angels.[14]
Female buddy films are not limited to lighthearted fare, and some critics argue there is a significance in the representation of complex female friendships on screen.[11] "For women to whom a significant component of equality is the recognition that they embody the full spectrum of human traits, not just the sugar-and-spice ones, the onscreen depiction of ‘toxic’ friendships can be as significant and affecting as the celebration of healthy ones," critic Hannah McGill wrote.[2]
In 2011, the comedy filmBridesmaids was a major box-office success, crossing over the $100 million mark in just 23 days.[15][16] The film's popularity arguably ushered in a trend of R-rated female buddy comedies in the following years, such asThe Heat,Bad Moms,Snatched,Rough Night, andGirls Trip.[17][18] ProducerDavid T. Friendly called this phenomenon "theBridesmaids effect".[15]
The genre is crossed with thebuddy cop film in the 1988 comedyFeds and the 2013 comedyThe Heat.[19] In both films, two female cops who are opposites in personality are paired up together.[10] Other recent examples includeBooksmart (2019)[20] and the animated TV seriesTuca & Bertie.[11]
