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While there’s plenty of talk this month about Valentine’s Day, we also can’t forget about the gals — and that’s what Feb. 13, aka Galentine’s Day, is all about. To celebrate an occasion that’s dedicated to female friendship and empowerment, we’ve compiled a list of movies and series with those exact themes.
As a monologue from one such pink-powered motion picture puts it, sometimes “it is literally impossible to be a woman.” But on the worst of days, it’s the best of friends — both IRL and on-screen — who are there to pull us through. So gather your support squad, make the friendship bracelets, bake some heart-shaped cookies, and fall in love with these 13 titles that are perfect for Galentine’s Day.
Barbie (Margot Robbie) is living happily in the picture-perfect dream world of Barbie Land until one day, she thinks about death — and her iconic arched feet fall flat! To find out where this existential dread is coming from, Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) sends her straight to the source: the real world. But before she arrives, Barbie discovers a stowaway in the back seat of her pink convertible: a lovesick Ken (Ryan Gosling) who’ll do anything for Barbie’s attention and affection. With stunning visuals, an empowering pack of pals, and a boppin’ soundtrack, we can’t get Kenough.
This 2002 coming-of-age film, written by Shonda Rhimes, stars Britney Spears, Taryn Manning, and Zoe Saldaña as three friends on a life-changing road trip. On the night of their high school graduation, Georgia teens Lucy (Spears), Kit (Saldaña), and Mimi (Manning) dig up an old “wish box” they’d buried as kids. Remembering their childhood dreams inspires them to take off the next morning for Los Angeles, chasing love, a fresh start, and a lost family member. We recommend karaoke before or after viewing. (You’ll see!)
Exactly how much mischief can five Northern Irish teens at a Catholic girls’ school in ’90s Derry land themselves in? If you’re Erin Quinn (Saoirse-Monica Jackson), her cousin Orla (Louisa Harland), or their friends Clare (Nicola Coughlan), Michelle (Jamie-Lee O'Donnell), and James (Dylan Llewellyn), it’s quite a lot. Expect a laugh a minute in this charming sitcom as the aforementioned entourage balances school, home life, and all things teenager during the Troubles, a time of political and cultural unrest in the country.
Statement fashion, mouthwatering pastries, and um, Paris!? There’s so much to be excited about in this rom-com series, including the ride-or-die bond between our titular Emily (Lily Collins) — a social media strategy savant who relocates to France for work — and Mindy (Ashley Park), an heiress–slash–aspiring singer who is Emily’s best friend in the City of Light. Even when things get messy with Emily’s paramours (plural), Mindy is the one relationship that stays très bien.
Stars Hollow stans, this one’s for you! No G-Day watch list would be complete without this beloved show about best friends who can feel like family, and family who can feel like best friends. Single mother Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and her daughter, Rory (Alexis Bledel), are figuring it out one day (and piping hot coffee from Luke’s) at a time. And in their corners? Lorelai has a cheerleader in chef/inn co-owner Sookie (Melissa McCarthy, while Rory can always turn to her music-obsessed pal Lane (Keiko Agena).
Debuting in 2000, this ensemble sitcom follows the lives of four Los Angeles women: Joan (Tracee Ellis Ross), Maya (Golden Brooks), Lynn (Persia White), and Toni (Jill Marie Jones). Although they come from very different backgrounds and don’t always see eye to eye, these die-hard friends do still see one another through triumphs and trials alike. Whether it’s tackling love, loss, careers, family, and everything else in life — the show offers a smart, relatable take and plenty of cover-your-mouth giggles. We can’t imagine you and your girlfriends not loving Girlfriends.
From frenemies to besties — that’s the journey of retired cosmetics mogul Grace (Jane Fonda) and hippie artist Frankie (Lily Tomlin). When their husbands (Sam Waterston and Martin Sheen) announce that they’ve fallen in love with each other and are leaving their wives, Grace and Frankie — who’ve never exactly been pals — also end up cohabitating. But these unlikely roommates have got to figure out how to make it work — for everyone’s sake. Equal parts heartwarming and hilarious, Fonda and Tomlin’s roller-coaster relationship is a comedy master class.
Inspired by co-creator Issa Rae’s web series Awkward Black Girl, this comedy-drama’s first season has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Issa Dee (Rae) and Molly Carter (Yvonne Orji) are two college friends, now in their 20s, who’ve moved back to their hometown, South Los Angeles. The pair work hard to maintain their friendship while also finding time to date and launch careers. With stellar performances and thoughtful storylines, Insecure offers a relatable, hilarious, and insightful look at the experiences of modern-day Black women.
There’s something extra special about the friends you have as a teenager. And that’s extra obvious in the case of Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), Fabiola (Lee Rodriguez), and Eleanor (Ramona Young). At the start of sophomore year, each girl has big plans to change her life. Devi wants to be popular, Fabiola wrestles with coming out as a lesbian, and Eleanor attempts to repair a relationship with her estranged mother. Honest, self-aware, and delightfully awkward, this coming-of-age comedy is critically acclaimed for a reason.
Here’s to the franchise that proves great friends are our true soul mates. The Emmy-winning series introduced us to Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), and Samantha (Kim Cattrall) — four 4000 Manhattanites helping one another navigate life, love, and lust in their 30s and beyond. For some particularly Galentine’s-feeling episodes, we suggest “The Post-it Always Sticks,” “The Real Me,” or “The Chicken Dance.” Just avoid any arguments with your pals about which of you is a Carrie and who’s actually a Samantha.
One of the ultimate friendship tests? Getting your girl through a breakup — especially one of the long-term, true-love variety. Thankfully, Jenny (Gina Rodriguez) has buddies in Blair (Brittany Snow) and Erin (DeWanda Wise) who are up to the task. After Jenny’s split with her boyfriend (LaKeith Stanfield) of nine years, the ladies commit to one last epic night together in New York. Can Jenny move on from her heartbreak before she moves across the country?
Best friends since childhood, Maddie (JoAnna Garcia Swisher), Helen (Heather Headley), and Dana Sue (Brooke Elliott) call themselves the Sweet Magnolias. The trio has stayed close while growing up, falling in (and out of) love, pursuing careers, and raising families in the fictional small town of Serenity, South Carolina: Whatever life throws at one of them, it throws at all of them. Based on the novel series of the same name by Sherryl Woods, this cozy drama proves you should never underestimate the power of girl talk and strong margaritas.
What if some of the funniest comedians in the game decided to star in a film about a girls’ trip to idyllic Napa Valley? The result, naturally, is Wine Country. Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph, Paula Pell, Emily Spivey, and Tina Fey come together with a chemistry that’s unmatched, thanks in part the longtime IRL friendships that exist between the actors. There’s sweetness, silliness, and hey, lots of wine. What’s not to like?