Hollywood has made many top movies with single women in them, and quite a few of them are made with the express goal of showcasing the drama, twists, and tribulations of being a single woman. So, today, we thought we’d go ahead and whip a quick list of the Top 7 movies about single women, at least in our humble opinion.

A League Of Their Own (1992)

One of the few sports movies about women’s sports, but also legit one of the best sports movies ever, A League of Their Own is a truly special flick. The movie is so iconic that it even got a TV show remake in 2022. The 1992 movie focuses on the story of Dotty, played by Geena Davis, and her all-women baseball team set on the backdrop of World War II. Other notable stars include Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell, while the team’s coach is Jimmy Dugan, played by Tom Hanks.

As you’d guess, both Dotty and her teammates go through various hilarious situations throughout the movie. Like all good sports movies, however, A League of Their Own is about more than just the sport itself – it’s about the lives of these different women, how they deal with the domestic reality of WW2, how they bond, and the various other things in their lives worth living for. Needless to say, A League of Their Own definitely passes the Bechdel Test.

Waiting To Exhale (1995)

While Waiting to Exhale isn’t Whitney Houston’s most famous movie, it’s probably the singer/actress’s best movie in a film catalog that’s already quite stacked anyway. Based on Terry McMillian’s book, Waiting to Exhale follows the lives of four women played by Houston, Lela Rochon, Loretta Devine, and Angela Bassett.

Even in this cast filled with legit acting powerhouses and directed by Forest Whitaker, Houston not only holds her own but impresses in the role of Savannah, a woman struggling through a failing and ultimately doomed relationship. Still, Angela Bassett does steal the show with her Oscar-winning role as Bernadine and the particularly iconic “car burning” scene.

The First Wives Club (1996)

It should go without saying, but a great film about single women doesn’t have to be about young single women. In fact, this is kind of the motto of The First Wives Club. As the quote goes, “There are only three ages for women in Hollywood—babe, district attorney, and Driving Miss Daisy.”

While divorced men’s first instinct often is just to try and meet younger girls in bars or to find a bride online on websites such as BridesUniverse, the women of the First Wives Club have other plans. Not that this is a dig at trying to find beautiful mail order brides online or anything – you do you. But, in the meantime, Elise (Goldie Hawn), Brenda (Bette Midler), and Annie (Diane Keaton) have other plans – namely, to get revenge on their ungrateful ex-husbands and take what they see as rightfully theirs – their ex’s businesses.

Clueless (1995)

For yet another 1990s film on this list, Clueless follows Cher, a young and rich Beverly Hills girl who fancies herself as a matchmaker for everyone around her, including her teachers. Played by Alicia Silverstone, Cher and her two best friends Dionne (played by Stacey Dash) and Tai (played by Brittany Murphy) end up having to learn a lot about the world they didn’t realize were rather… clueless about.

Funny in a cleverly sarcastic kind of way, Clueless is one of the precious few actually intelligent teen comedies of the last few decades – this alone makes it a must-watch.

Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961)

You know a film is a classic if, even over half a century after it’s come out, people still argue whether it’s iconic, problematic, or both. Starring the legendary Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s is the story of Holly Golightly – a young socialite from New York City who is interested in her new young neighbor George Peppard, played by Paul Varjak.
The film is famous for beautifully capturing the glitz and glamor of 1960s NYC, and the image of Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly is basically engrained into the minds of several generations of Americans. The tight black dress, the large sunglasses, the white pearls, and the overly large cigarette holder – it’s like a modern superhero costume in that even people who haven’t watched the movie know who the character is.

Yet, nowadays, the movie does get some flack for portraying and romanticizing many societal biases that were prevalent at the time but are seen as harmful today. Regardless of where you stand on this discussion, however, Breakfast at Tiffany’s is still a must-watch, whether because you want to enjoy one of the most iconic romantic comedies of all time, or because you want to see exactly how idolized said harmful biases really were.

Under The Tuscan Sun (2003)

Another classic about the single life of divorced women, it’s difficult to accept that Under the Tuscan Sun is just over two decades old. This iconic romantic dramedy features Diane Lane as Frances Mayes, a recently divorced 35-year-old writer from San Francisco who decides to move to a house in Tuscany, Italy. In doing so, she attempts to leave not just her husband behind but hopefully her depression and writer’s block as well.

Together with her best friend Patti (played by Sandra Oh), Frances not only manages to move on with her life but realizes that her future could hold much more than “just not being depressed and not having a writer’s block.” Or, as the movie itself puts it, “Unthinkably good things can happen even late in the game. It’s such a surprise.”

Whip It (2009)

The last of the seven movies we quickly whipped out is 2009’s Whip It, starring Elliot Page as Bliss Cavendar, Drew Barrymore as Smashley Simpson, and Kristen Wiig as Maggie Mayhem. In fact, this is the second sports team on this list, as the awesomely named heroines of Whip It are part of a roller derby team. And, just like A League of Their Own¸ Whip It is also more than just a sports movie.

Instead, the movie focuses mostly on the journey of Bliss Cavendar, a small-town indie-rocker misfit who is dealing with all the angst and misery associated with growing up in a small town in the middle of nowhere in a family that’s just incapable of understanding what you’re going through.