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Midlife in all its glory can often be something we don’t see enough of in the cultural landscape, but the tide is turning. This autumn sees an array of books and podcasts celebrating the shift in awareness and attitude that comes during our midlife (or heyday, as we like to call it!). When it comes to the big and small screen, this too can be lacking when it comes to stories where going through the years is a positive, but there are some there. From the recently brilliant Fleabag, to older films and characters who deal with new challenges as they go through midlife, a selection is below…

Fleabag

Sitting at the bar, martini in hand, Kristin Scott Thomas declares, in one of the most memorable monologues of the cult BBC drama Fleabag, that menopause is the “most wonderful fucking thing in the world. And yes, your entire pelvic floor crumbles and you get fucking hot and no one cares. But then – you’re free! No longer a slave, no longer a machine with parts. You’re just a person, in business.” Fleabag says she has been told the whole thing is horrendous, but Scott Thomas’s character responds: “It is horrendous, but then it’s magnificent. Something to look forward to.” It’s so rare that menopause is embraced on screen in this way; Scott Thomas’s character alone is enough to make this your next much-watch.

Carol

Todd Haynes’s period piece about the romance between two women — sophisticated, enigmatic Carol (Cate Blanchett) and peculiar, vulnerable Therese (Rooney Mara) is luminous on screen. Haynes beautifully captures the tragedy of not being able to love who you love, while viscerally depicting in image and gesture, colour and sound, just how completely desire can reshape your world. Carol, married and a mother, yearns to embrace a fresh start, to live as herself, free from societal restrictions which threaten to push her under – and her story is mesmerising to watch.

The Devil Wears Prada

There’s a lot to be said for a woman at the height of her career powers in midlife and Meryl’s Miranda is just that. The editor of the most influential magazine in the US, she is both feared and admired in equal measure, taking no prisoners to get things done the right way. Many talk about her icy demeanour but so few mention the raw talent that got her to the top of the career ladder – and refreshingly her age is never even mentioned in the film. And whilst you will have seen this film, long ago, it deserves a re-watch through a new lens because she simply doesn’t give a shit, is full of confidence and conviction, and we need more of this attitude, and characters like her on screen.

Leaving

Kristin Scott Thomas is here again in one of her finest French-speaking roles. She plays Suzanne, a mother-of-two, married, living in France and getting back to work after years of raising her family. Her world is upended when she meets Ivan, a handyman and they begin a passionate affair. The affair triggers an explosion of hate from her icily obnoxious Samuel, which in turn fosters a defiant passion in Suzanne. You won’t necessarily agree with her choices and the ending is shocking, but it’s an intense, raw and emotional film about a woman in midlife who suddenly realises just how much she has to lose.

Gloria Bell

Who better to play Gloria Bell, a free-spirited divorcee who frequents LA nightclubs looking for love in her fifties than the brilliant Julianne Moore? Soon she meets Arnold and struggles to find the balance between the excitement of a new love and complications of dating. She feels stuck in her insurance job, having been divorced for a decade and mostly ignored by her two adult children, but her choice to embrace the pure joy that life can bring, is what makes this movie shine in every way.

Calendar Girls

Chris and Annie are two of the more rebellious members of a charitable institute. After Annie's husband succumbs to leukaemia, the friends decide – hesitant at first – to pose nude for a calendar to raise some funds. The true story of the Yorkshire Women's Institute members who stripped for charity is perfectly and warmly depicted. The impact the calendar has on each of the women’s lives is profound; their midlives were comfortable, if predictable, before and soon some realise they must embrace the joy of now, and others that they can start again. It’s one of the best feel-good films ever made.

Jennifer McShane, October 2020.

What say you, dear reader? Tell us in the comments below…