May 26, 2026 5:00pm IST
Like Geetu Mohandas with ‘Toxic’, 11 Female Filmmakers That Helmed Films With Action, Violence or Gore
There’s no denying the skewed gender statistics when it comes to filmmaking. Even genres like rom-coms, often considered “chick-flicks”, are dominated by male directors. But that doesn’t mean female filmmakers aren’t flexing their chops in male-dominated fields. Take “Toxic,” for example, the upcoming period action thriller starring Yash, which is making headlines not just in India but at international forums like CinemaCon too. It’s directed by Geetu Mohandas.
In his chat with Variety, Yash discussed the perspective a female director can bring to a film. “There is always a different point of view when women look at things. We miss out on a lot of emotions or a lot of things. Maybe it doesn’t matter to us. What matters to us may not be the thing which they’ll be focusing in an incident or a situation. So that perspective becomes so refreshing, and it’s so layered, and it’s so deep.”
Interestingly, in Indian cinema, female filmmakers have dabbled in selected genres. Farah Khan’s filmography boasts entertainers like “Main Hoon Na” and “Om Shanti Om” with a little bit of everything for the classes and the masses. Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti’s films and series, from “Dil Dhadakne Do” and “Made In Heaven” to “Gully Boy” and “Dahaad”, offer intimate portrayals of urban and rural hopes and dreams and what happens when they shatter. While Kiran Rao, with her two films “Dhobi Ghat” and “Laapataa Ladies” puts an interesting spin on drama with social commentary, Meghna Gulzar loves a good character study of real people through her films like ”Raazi,” “Chhapaak” or “Sam Bahadur.” There’s also Sudha Kongara, who has dabbled across genres, from a sports drama (“Irudhi Suttru”) to drama (“Soorarai Pottru,” “Parasakthi”).
And yet, there hasn’t been a woman filmmaker who has given an out-and-out action film. However, in Hollywood, or rather in world cinema, we can find female filmmakers who have served action, violence and gore in their own style. Here’s a list.
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Kathryn Bigelow
The first female filmmaker to win a Best Director Academy Award, Kathryn Bigelow has quite the list of action thrillers in her filmography, from the Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze-starrer “Point Break” (1991) and Jamie Lee Curtis starrer Blue Steel (1990) to political action thriller “Zero Dark Thirty” (2012) and war drama, “The Hurt Locker” (2008), for which she won the Oscar.
Patty Jenkins
Patty Jenkins gave us films with ass-kicking female leads, such as Charlize Theron in “Monster” (2003) and Gal Gadot in “Wonder Woman” (2017) and “Wonder Woman 1984” (2020). Interestingly, Jenkins counts Kathryn Bigelow as one of the influences on her filmmaking style.
Gina Prince-Bythewood
Maybe an action film with Charlize Theron is a rite of passage for an action filmmaker. Because her “The Old Guard,” about a band of immortal mercenaries led by Theron’s Andromache of Scythia, is one of the coolest action films in recent times. She also helmed “The Woman King” (2022), an intense action-adventure film about women warriors from the African kingdom of Dahomey, starring Viola Davis as their general. Prince-Bythewood is also helming the upcoming 2027 action-fantasy adaptation of Tomi Adeyemi’s 2018 novel, “Children of Blood and Bone,” for Paramount Pictures.
Cathy Yan
Cathy Yan’s 2020 superhero outing, “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” is a cult favorite amongst the DCeU (DC Extended Universe) fans for Margot Robbie’s performance, but also for its elaborate stunts and thrilling action.
Cate Shortland
Scarlett Johansson’s “Black Widow” (2021) might not have gotten the solo outing a Marvel Avenger deserved. But it had some cool action picturized on Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff and Florence Pugh’s Yelena, and it was directed by Cate Shortland, who got the emotional beats right to balance the action sequences with.
Chloé Zhao
Chloé Zhao might not come to mind when thinking of action filmmakers. But she did give us “Marvel’s Eternals” (2021), which featured some poetic action sequences, notably the one in the climax. Zhao was also poised to deliver a “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” reboot, with Sarah Michelle Gellar returning and a new slayer ready to bust vampires, but alas, it was cancelled.
Anna Boden
One half of a directing duo, which also includes Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden, directed the Brie Larson starrer "Captain Marvel" (2019), becoming the first female filmmaker to direct a live-action film that grossed $1 billion. Along with Fleck, Borden has directed several films, including the neo-noir sci-fi anthology, "Freaky Tales" (2024), featuring Pedro Pascal and Ben Mendelsohn.
Niki Caro
Caro has directed the live-action "Mulan" (2020), which featured some stunning martial arts sequences, as well as the 2023 action thriller, “The Mother”, starring Jennifer Lopez, Joseph Fiennes and Gael García Bernal.
Lexi Alexander
A martial artist and stunt performer herself, Lexi Alexander directed Sony’s Marvel universe film, “Punisher: War Zone” (2008), which had Ray Stevenson as Frank Castle, aka The Punisher.
Karyn Kusama
Once again, a team-up between a female filmmaker and Charlize Theron begot an action flick. Kusama directed “Aeon Flux” (2005), a dystopian sci-fi action film about a deadly virus that kills 99% of Earth’s population, causing the survivors to fight for their lives. The film may not have done well on the box office, but COVID definitely caused a resurgence in public memory.
Lana and Lily Wachowski
The Wachowskis gave us “The Matrix” franchise (1999 and 2023), adapted Japanese anime into live action with Speed Racer (2008) and wrote and produced “V for Vendetta”, “Sense8” and more.
Notable Mentions:
While not exactly action films, female filmmakers like Coralie Fargeat (“The Substance”), Julia Ducournau (“Titane,” “Alpha”), Mary Harron (“American Psycho”), Jen and Sylvia Soska (“See No Evil 2”) and others have directed movies containing intense violence, gore and body horror.
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