Empowering Feminist Film On Netflix: MOXIE

Did you know that today is International Women’s Day? And I thought what better way to celebrate than with sharing a brilliant film that I watched on Netflix.

Moxie is a celebration. It follows Vivian; a shy teenager sick of the way girls are treated at her school. So, inspired by her mother’s rebel teen years and a new student, she publishes an anonymous pamphlet calling out the sexism. What follows is a fiery, empowering story of how your voice can make a difference – especially when others join in.

“Keep your head down. He’ll move on and bother someone else”

“I’m going to keep my head up. High.”

– MOXIE

THE BEST BITS

• I first saw Moxie in the Coming Soon section on Netflix. Whilst it’s a section I normally avoid, (because it’s full of the season finales of shows I’ll never watch) I couldn’t stop thinking about Moxie once I saw it. The trailer is flipping inspiring and you can find it here.
  
• Moxie has the makings of a let down. I’d seen some reviews complaining that it has the potential of a cringe fest… and I see where they’re coming from. The ‘quiet girl turns rebellious and smashes stuff up’ has definitely been done before. Whilst I’m not saying that Moxie is a drastically different rendition, it’s a brilliant example of how this trope can turn out really well. There’s reason it’s done a lot!
  
• The message is incredibly strong. The time flew by when watching it, and the plot is also really solid. The characters are well rounded – even if Vivian’s transgression from ’quiet child’ to ‘rebel girl’ was very abrupt, and consisted of a montage and some eyeliner!
  
• I hate cringey movies. I’m that friend who will never be able to watch to the end of Notting Hill because it’s just… ugh (heavenly *shudders*). Whilst Moxie had a heavy dose of scenes that could turn into a cringe-fest… they weren’t. Not to say that I found the first date where they went to a funeral home totally normal (I-just watch it 😂), the good much outweighed the bad. It would be easy to turn all the characters backstories into emotional floods, but it was kept in check. There was a pretty big flood barrier in the way of all these pent up tears… and that was THE MUSIC.
  

• My favorite part about Moxie was the soundtrack. I’m a sucker for montages, and there was SO MANY extended cuts of people doing stuff to punk rock. Love it. There was some gorgeous songs, I’m going to be listening to the playlist on repeat…
  
• Also, I thought that the diversity was brilliant. It didn’t feel like the director was screaming LOOK WE’RE INCLUSVE!! *Ticks off The Kissing Booth shaped box*. There was gender, sexuality and racial diversity; plus a big push on the fact that of course men and trans women can be feminists. But these weren’t major details in the story, just… “there”. As they should be.

THE NOT SO GOOD BITS

• On the other hand, these diverse characters weren’t major details in the story, just… “there”. I guess you can’t have it both ways, but I wanted more development of trans girl’s storyline and the sapphic relationship. Because they were too just “there”, I want to see where it went!
  
• The love interest wasn’t your typical teen rom-com boyfriend – and neither was their relationship (see previous point about first date at funeral home). The first difference was that this was actually a healthy relationship!! But I was a bit uncomfortable with one scene where Vivian yells at him in front of her family, because he hadn’t done anything wrong? I also wasn’t a big fan of how the actors were no where near teenagers themselves – but you have to stick to the typical teen rom-com guidelines somehow…
  
• Lastly, Vivian’s rebellious tactics deteriorate towards the end of the film. As expected. But I didn’t understand why wasn’t she punished for VANDALISING the school? That felt a bit stupid (I’d imagine straight after the credits rolled, Vivian would be expelled), but her speech whilst completing the vandalism was pretty moving. So I guess its all good!

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To finish… WATCH IT WATCH IT WATCH IT! Moxie made me angry, want to make change, but also had a uplifting message. And it’s rare that those two are side by side in rebellion movies. It was super enjoyable and a brilliant film to watch to celebrate International Women’s Day!

Have you seen this film? Have opinions on it’s themes? Or got any other recommendations similar to Moxie? let me know in the comments!