Male incels have been plentifully depicted on screen, while few film-makers have explored the varied controversies of toxic female radicalisation and the ‘womanosphere’. But a handful of movies have been treading a brave path
Most people would agree that mainstream media has now comprehensively (if not entirely successfully) covered “incel” culture. The small screen has delivered the likes of Adolescence and Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere; the movies have offered multiple meditations on male radicalisation such as The Beast, Manodrome, Don’t Worry Darling, Joker and even Barbie’s Kens.
The irony of women being overlooked feels almost too obvious to flag, yet we are definitely suffering a dearth of onscreen “femcels”. This lack of representation is all the more glaring amid the rise of tradwife culture and the wellness to “alt-right” pipeline – largely made up of female influencers dubbed the womanosphere – and the fact that around 50% of white US women voted for Donald Trump in 2024.
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