Film

Gloria: In Her Own Words

Name: Gloria: In Her Own Words
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2011
Cast: Gloria Steinem, Walter Cronkite, Bella Abzug, Larry King, Henry Kissinger

A portrait of Gloria Steinem at 76, built from her own voice in her Manhattan apartment, archival footage, and decades of press clips. She reflects on decades fighting for women's equality while the world around her resisted, softening neither her convictions nor her wit. Essential viewing for anyone curious about how the women's movement actually happened, and who made it happen.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want a close, unhurried portrait of a single formidable mind, the kind that lets a famous activist talk in her own living room and lets the archive do the rest.

Skip it if you want a sweeping history of the women's movement, since this stays close to one woman's recollections rather than surveying the whole fight.

What it asks of you: Expect a brisk hour, a talking head in a quiet apartment, and archive clips that ask you to keep track of a lot of names and decades.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

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Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Gloria: In Her Own Words

The wildcard

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Hidden Figures2016

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Norma Rae1979

Sally Field as a textile worker organizing for unionization—a woman recognizing her own power and using it, in a film that respects her intelligence and her rage without romanticizing either.

But It's earnest in a very 1970s way, and the romance subplot feels obligatory to the story being told.

Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-19922017

Jeffrey Chong Bridges's archival essay about a decade of uprising and aftermath in Los Angeles, layering testimony with footage to show how systems fail and people resist anyway.

But The structure is elliptical rather than chronological; if you need clear narrative through-lines, you'll find it demanding.

Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992 poster

The Servant1963

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A psychological thriller about power, class, and who really serves whom in a London townhouse. It's cinema as argument—the way James Ivory constructs space and servitude is about economics and control.

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The Invitation2022

Both examine women's agency under constraint—how women have historically had to use the only tools available, and what that costs them.

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But It's deliberately cold and seductive in an unsettling way; if you need to like your protagonist, this will feel like punishment rather than entertainment.