The President’s Wife – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MOVIE OF THE WEEK May 30, 2025: Team MOTW’S Summer Watch List

May 25, 2025June 4, 2025 Jennifer Merin Being Maria, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, Jazzy, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, nell minow, Pam Grady, Pangolin: Kulu's Journey, Sabdue Angulo Chen, sherin nicole, STORY $ PICTURES BY, The Assessment, The President’s Wife, There’s Still Tomorrow, Timestalker, We Were Dangerous

If you’re looking forward to some summer cinema chilling with some hot movies, here’s AWFJ’s list of ten must see femme-directed femme-centric films for your June-July-August viewing pleasure. Each of the films on this watch list was featured on AWFJ.org as one of our previous 2025 Movies of the Week.For our summer 2025 watch list, each member of Team MOTW selected her favorite of 2025’s featured MOTWs to recommend to you. Representing the diverse preferences and perspectives of Team MOTW members, the list includes titles ranging from romcoms to thrillers to documentaries, each with a compelling new story or a fascinating twist on a classic, a timely and relatably relevant theme, and exceptional artisanship by female creatives. We suggest that you read the original MOTW post for each (the links are included) to get the full array of Team MOTW’s takes on the film.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK April 18, 2025: THE PRESIDENT’S WIFE

April 13, 2025April 22, 2025 Jennifer Merin Bernadette Chirac, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Catherine Deneuve, cohen media group, Denis Podalydès, jennifer merin, Léa Domenach, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, Michel Vuillermoz, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, sherin nicole, The President’s Wife

Catherine Deneuve shines as iconic French First Lady Bernadette Chirac in director Léa Domenach’s sly dramedy The President’s Wife. Based in fact but taking plenty of liberties to tell the story of the woman who stoically stood by the side of France’s President Jacques Chirac no matter what blunders or missteps he made, it depicts Madame Bernadette as a canny, crafty strategist who was ultimately far more politically savvy than her notorious husband.

Reviews

THE PRESIDENT’S WIFE – Review by Loren King

April 7, 2025April 12, 2025 Loren King Bernadette Chirac, Catherine Deneuve, Denis Podalydès, Michel Vuillermoz, The President’s Wife

This wildly entertaining film blends stylish family soap opera with intriguing behind the scenes political drama, and gives the brilliant Catherine Deneuve a great late career role as Bernadette, the former First Lady of France. We are told from the start of the film that this is a fictionalized account of Bernadette Chirac’s life as wife of the notorious and corrupt conservative Jacques Chirac (a solid performance by Michel Vuillermoz), the former Paris mayor who became President of France from 1995 to 2007. Deneuve’s portrayal of Bernadette is equal parts Emma Thompson’s channeling of Hillary Clinton in Primary Colors and Glenn Close’s glowering shunned spouse in The Wife.