tessa thompson – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

HIS & HERS – Review by Susan Granger

February 2, 2026February 2, 2026 Susan Granger Alice Feeny, His & Hers, Jon Bernthal, netflix, series, Sunita Mani, tessa thompson

Looking for a twisty thriller to binge-watch? Try His & Hers, based on the novel by Alice Feeny. Adapted for television by William Oldroyd, this murder mystery takes a deep dive into the dilemma of ‘two sides to every story.’ Having ‘disappeared’ after the tragic death of her child, grieving former TV news anchor Anna Harper (Tessa Thompson) returns to Atlanta to try to reclaim her prestigious job by reporting a brutal murder that took place in Dahlonega, her small Georgia hometown.

Reviews

HEDDA – Review by Diane Carson

November 24, 2025November 28, 2025 Diane Carson hedda, henrik ibsen, nia dacosta, nina hoss, tessa thompson

Film adaptations of Henrik Ibsens Hedda Gabler are many but none has been as inspired as Nia DaCosta’s, in which Hedda is a Black woman and Ejlert Lövborg becomes Eileen, thereby doubly altering the storys power dynamics through racial and sexual transformations.

Reviews

HEDDA – Review by Sara Clements

October 25, 2025January 13, 2026 Sara Clements hedda, henrik ibsen, nia dacosta, nina hoss, tessa thompson

Filmmaker Nia DaCosta’s adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler imagines a woman who refuses to stay buried emotionally, socially, or even existentially. She comes back to life over and over, every time someone tries to define her, contain her, or silence her. This Hedda, played with combustible grace and glacial poise by Tessa Thompson, is not just alive: she’s dangerous.

Reviews

HEDDA – Review by Julia Swift

October 19, 2025October 20, 2025 Julia Swift hedda, nia dacosta, nina hoss, tessa thompson

Director Nia DaCosta doesn’t deliver the easy, beautiful, genteel world of manners audiences have come to expect from a period piece. Rather, Hedda plunges into the raw, electric undercurrents of desire, resentment, and power struggles that define its heroine. DaCosta reimagines Henrik Ibsen’s canonical play not by transposing it to a contemporary setting, but by situating it in an undefined modern world—a realm of opulence, racial and sexual diversity, and persistent social unease. This ambiguity of time and place allows the film to explore timeless themes of female repression, alienation, and identity within a visually sumptuous yet psychologically claustrophobic environment.

Commentaries Festivals

Tribeca 2023 Women’s Performances To Watch – Liz Whittemore reports

June 16, 2023September 4, 2023 Liz Whittemore female filmmakers, gabriela cowperthwaite, gender parity, tessa thompson, Tribeca 2023, TRIBECA FILM FEST 2023

The 2023 edition of The Tribeca Film Festival upped the ante for female filmmakers. Femme-centric storytelling gave us innumerable outstanding performances from women of all ages. As usual, I begin my annual roundup with the caveat that this list pertains solely to the films I watched. You can read more about the festival lineup in our collective AWFJ coverage, and it is aplenty this year. Here is my 2023 list of Women to Watch from Tribeca.

Festivals Reviews

THE LISTENER (Tribeca 2023) – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

June 11, 2023June 12, 2023 Valerie Kalfrin Anka Malatynska, rebecca hall, steve buscemi, tessa thompson, The Listener

In the wee hours of the morning, a woman walks onto her porch, talking on the phone with someone she’s just met. The caller, a college professor freshly out of a job, has no close family or friends—and no rational argument against killing herself. She didn’t always think this way, she says, her voice calm, analytical. “Sometimes the energy to live exceeds the benefit.” What to say to someone like her? As the conversation unfolds over twenty-six minutes in the meditative drama The Listener, we’re riveted, a testament to the power of empathy and connection in a world often aching with loneliness.

Reviews

CREED III – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

February 27, 2023March 1, 2023 Valerie Kalfrin Creed III, Jonathan Majors, Keenan Coogler, MICHAEL B JORDAN, Mila Davis-Kent, phylicia rashad, tessa thompson, Zach Baylin

More of a split decision than a knockout, Creed III immerses viewers in visceral boxing scenes but falls short in the character development that made the first two entries in this franchise such a delight. Michael B. Jordan (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) again returns as Adonis Creed, the son of Apollo Creed, Rocky Balboa’s foe turned friend from the original Rocky franchise. Adonis, also called Donnie, is now a world championship boxer with a wealth of success who feels antsy in his retirement—one of several plot points that feel rushed and similar to the earlier Rocky films.

Reviews

CREED III – Review by Susan Kamyab

February 27, 2023March 1, 2023 Susan Kamyab Creed III, Jonathan Majors, Keenan Coogler, MICHAEL B JORDAN, Mila Davis-Kent, phylicia rashad, tessa thompson, Zach Baylin

Creed III is not exactly a knockout, but it is an intense match with some fantastic performances, and a solid directorial debut by Michael B. Jordan. Writing wise, the story has its flaws and feels a little slow at times. However, Jordan’s creative shots and thrilling fight and training sequences help compensate for any sluggish moments. It punches up enough emotions and excitement to satisfy any Rocky fan and is a crowd pleaser that hits harder when watched on the big screen.

Reviews

CREED III – Review by Nadine Whitney

February 27, 2023March 1, 2023 Nadine Whitney Creed III, Jonathan Majors, Keenan Coogler, MICHAEL B JORDAN, Mila Davis-Kent, phylicia rashad, tessa thompson, Zach Baylin

In his directorial debut, Creed III, Michael B. Jordan isn’t reinventing the wheel in terms of a sporting story, but he is adding an emotional nuance to it that makes it more than an ex-friends turned enemies battle of wills. Jordan wears his heart on his sleeve as both director and actor. Jonathan Majors could not be more perfectly cast as Dame – he is an actor that even at over six foot and looking like he could throw a truck across a room, is able to exude an internal intensity that is often astonishing. It feels that both Creed and Dame are fighting for their respective lives. Forgiveness is the key to Creed III, whether that be forgiving a child for his reckless actions or forgiving a man who was forged in the worst kind of fire. Jordan’s debut is a knockout.

Reviews

PASSING (Sundance2021) – Review by Pamela Powell

January 28, 2021February 4, 2021 Pamela Powell nella larsen, Passing, rebecca hall, Ruth Negga, Sundance Film Festival 2021, tessa thompson

Rebecca Hall’s impassioned feature directorial debut, “Passing,” is based on Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel of the same name. The story depicts two Black women who were once childhood friends, Clare who ‘passes’ for white and Irene who’s troubled by her own ability to do so, who are unexpectedly reunited. Their chance encounter will change their lives forever as they are pushed to look at the world through a different lens.

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