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Based on a true story, the movie stars Vince Vaughn as a man who opens a restaurant and hires local nonnas to cook for it. The titular grandmothers are played by all-time greats Susan Sarandon and Lorraine Bracco, along with Talia Shire and Brenda Vaccaro. But who wants to spend their retirement toiling away for Vince Vaughn? I seethed. I Googled the poster and only became more incensed. There was Vaughn, looming over his little brood of brassy broads, smiling paternally down at them. They, unsurprisingly, just beamed at each other. Some of these women are our best actresses 鈥� and this is all we have for them?

I paused, wondering why this innocuous movie made me so mad. I realized: it鈥檚 a cumulative effect. I flashed back to Oscar night. I鈥檇 been riding high all season, filled with elation at the prospect of Hollywood lifer Demi Moore finally getting her due for her unvarnished performance in 鈥淭he Substance.鈥� The Academy Award seemed a done deal. And then, Mikey Madison鈥檚 name was read out. I actually emitted an anguished scream, right in the middle of the newsroom.

It’s a well-known fact that Hollywood is less than kind to its older female denizens. The truth of it, however, has started to smart more and more as I myself age into a demographic under-represented both onscreen and behind the camera. Where are my old-lady stories?

Worse still, it feels like the rare movies about older women all fall into the same pattern: a quartet of well-known older actors band together for a whimsical book club (鈥淏ook Club,鈥� 鈥淏ook Club: The Next Chapter鈥�) or summer camp (鈥淪ummer Camp鈥�) or cheerleading squad (鈥淧oms鈥�) or vacation (鈥�80 for Brady鈥�). Are these actors being packaged by the pound? It鈥檚 like studio executives think we won鈥檛 see a movie with women over age 50 unless there are at least three to four white Oscar winners crammed into feel-good lockstep.

Otherwise, 鈥渋f they are offered a role,鈥� says Women in Film & Television 海角社区官网executive director Karen Bruce, 鈥渋t’s often a supporting role as a wife or girlfriend, and most often to be depicted as frail, frumpy and/or feeble.鈥� She also cites a Geena Davis Institute report that discovered only 25.3 per cent of characters over 50 are female; characters over 50 are most often white and heterosexual as well, worsening the lack of representation.

Sure, there are one-offs, but even a lot of decent recent films about older women often hinge on their relationship to men, whether it鈥檚 dutifully tracking down a missing husband (鈥淚鈥檓 Still Here鈥�) or an obsession with a hot intern (鈥淏补产测驳颈谤濒鈥�).

The numbers don鈥檛 yield much good news. The San Diego State University Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film releases annual research on the state of women in film; their most recent study showed that the percentage of female characters in speaking roles went up a mere two percentage points from 35 per cent in 2023 to 37 per cent in 2024. Major female characters? They only crawled up one measly percentage point from 38 per cent in 2023 to 39 per cent in 2024.

And ageism continues to run rampant. 鈥淭he percentage of female characters plummeted from 35% in their 30s to 16% in their 40s. In stark contrast, the percentage of male characters increased as they aged from their 30s (25%) to their 40s (31%),鈥� the study says. 鈥淛ust 26% of female characters were 40 and older, whereas 55% of males were 40+. Only 5% of female characters were 60 and older, compared to 9% of male characters.鈥�

Film programmer Danita Steinberg co-runs We Really Like Her! at the Revue Cinema, Toronto’s only screening series dedicated to women in film. She is quick to quote Goldie Hawn’s character in 鈥淭he First Wives Club鈥�: there are only three ages for women in Hollywood: babe, district attorney and 鈥淒riving Miss Daisy.鈥� 鈥淚 think this is still very much true, almost 30 years later! Women have this expiration date that men don’t, so the juicy, complex, quality roles just aren’t there,鈥� she said. 鈥淯ltimately, society devalues older women and Hollywood reflects that.鈥� (For the record, Steinberg is a fan of 鈥淏ook Club,鈥� 鈥淧oms鈥� and 鈥�80 for Brady,鈥� but did not care for 鈥淭he Fabulous Four,鈥� which featured a clich茅 fighting-over-a-man storyline and Sarandon 鈥減laying a mousy cat-lady character, which was a bummer.鈥�)

Steinberg has struggled to find films to screen that centre older women, so instead, whenever possible, they get intros from women filmmakers, many of whom are in their 60s and 70s now, like Lizzie Borden and Susan Seidelman. 鈥淪o while their films aren’t necessarily about older women, we love getting to celebrate them later in life and proving they are as relevant as ever!鈥� she said.

They鈥檝e also screened 鈥淢amma Mia!鈥� four years in a row. One of the highest-grossing films starring a woman over 50 of all time, it has turned into a full-blown community event. 鈥淢y co-host Emily Gagne and I have fostered a space that welcomes women of all ages to enjoy films by, about and for women, which is much needed in a world full of film bros,鈥� she said.

I checked in with Lanette Ware-Bushfield 鈥� a local actor, writer and producer who remains booked and busy 鈥� to get her take. 鈥淗ollywood鈥檚 gender imbalance? Oh, it鈥檚 real. The numbers don鈥檛 lie and, frankly, they鈥檙e embarrassing,鈥� she said, citing another chilling stat out of the San Diego State University Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film: that women directed just 16 per cent of the 250 top domestic grossing films in 2024.

She鈥檚 had to grapple with the challenges of portraying older women onscreen. Ware-Bushfield remembers the first time she was asked to wear a grey wig for a role playing a wise auntie. She was a little unsure, given that she hadn鈥檛 gone grey herself and she seldom saw other Black women her age wearing their hair grey. 鈥淭hen came the wigs: short, unflattering, chosen not because they fit the character, but simply to age me,鈥� Ware-Bushfield said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when I had to ask myself: was I playing a character or a caricature? Audiences would see me and know I wasn鈥檛 30. I wasn鈥檛 even in my 40s anymore. So why the rush to stamp me with grey hair?鈥�

With the support of her female director, Ware ended up sporting her own hair with a few natural grey streaks. 鈥淭hese moments remind me that pushing back against outdated stereotypes 鈥� about Black women, aging, femininity 鈥� is a lifelong conversation. And I welcome it. Because this perimenopausal phase of life? It鈥檚 not something to shrink from; it鈥檚 something to embrace,鈥� Ware-Bushfield said. 鈥淲e are the norm. It鈥檚 time the fullness of our experiences be represented onscreen. It鈥檚 time for stories to reflect the full spectrum of womanhood, with all its grit, humour and fire. We鈥檙e not fading. We鈥檙e charging forward with joie de vivre.鈥�

Ware-Bushfield charges forward by producing her own projects; her latest short film 鈥淣ow What?鈥� is currently making the rounds on the festival circuit. Starring a cast of folks over 50, she describes the story as 鈥溾�楩alling Down鈥� meets 鈥楾he Equalizer.鈥欌�� She also has roles in two upcoming films helmed by female actor-producers over 45, and is developing another two projects herself, 鈥渉onouring women over 40 who have shaped nations and sparked change.鈥�

鈥淲omen behind the camera aren鈥檛 new, but we鈥檙e finally carving out space that reflects the complexity of our experiences 鈥� especially for those over 40,鈥� she said. 鈥淭oo often, we鈥檙e relegated to roles where our only motivation is love, heartbreak or sacrifice for a man. Nah. We鈥檙e deeper, sharper and, frankly, way more interesting than that. And if Hollywood won鈥檛 change it? We will. Because if there鈥檚 one thing women have always done, it鈥檚 make space for ourselves where it never existed.鈥�

I ended up getting a last-minute screener of 鈥淣onnas鈥� and found it to be exactly what I expected: a sweet trifle mostly focused on the male hero鈥檚 personal journey, with the briefest sojourns into the women鈥檚 lives. The best part of the movie? A short sequence where the gals just sit around and talk about their experiences, opening up about everything from their relationships (or lack thereof) to their missteps. Making space. I was riveted. This was the good stuff.

No Vince Vaughn required.