The Best Strong Female Lead Movie for Family Movie Night

If you’re looking for the best strong female lead movie for your next family movie night, add these ideas to your collection of movies for homeschooling.

There are plenty of wonderful movies out there, and many of them can be included in your daily lessons. But sometimes you just need a movie with a strong female lead.

Little girls need somebody they can relate to when looking for role models. And let’s be real, us older women like that too!

Our kids are going to look up to somebody, whether we like it or not. We might as well give them somebody worth emulating.

Girls Need Strong Female Leads To Emulate

When I was younger, movies with strong female leads were at the top of my watch-list, every single time. In fact, as a child, I refused to watch movies that were about boys. It wasn’t that I didn’t like boys, per se, but I had this weird thing where I couldn’t relate to movies or TV shows that didn’t feature girls. If the main character wasn’t a girl, I just wasn’t interested.

You know, it’s funny because even as an adult, I still gravitate towards movies and TV shows that are about women and girls. I’m not a sexist, I promise. I’m not even a feminist! I just enjoy watching movies about women because I can relate to them more and I can more easily put myself into the character’s shoes. So of course these are some of my favorite movies for homeschoolers.

Please tell me I’m not the only one with this weird weird quirk.

However, I’m sure you’ve noticed that movies and TV shows that feature female leads tend to get a little stale for lack of a better word. No matter how well-done the show, this genre of movie with multiple female characters tends to follow the same general storyline again and again and again, with very few exceptions.

This article may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy for more details.

This post was sponsored by Mount Hideaway Media. I received this product for free and I was compensated for my time. However, I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions will forever remain my own.

Now that I’m a mom of girls, I’m trying to make sure my daughters are more open in their movie-watching than I was and that they are more okay with ‘boy movies’ vs ‘girl movies’ than I was. I don’t want them growing up missing out on all the wonderful things that can be taught from men and male leads.

But even with that goal, I still understand the importance of providing my girls with strong female characters they can emulate and look up to. After all, I cannot expect to be their only female role model, now can I?

Related: The Best Collection Of Ideas For Family Movie Night

Counteract The Decline In Family Values With Positive Movies

If you’ve spent any amount of time observing Hollywood or the people and projects that come from Hollywood, then I’m sure you are as well-aware as I am of the demoralization happening in the world today.

Things have been spiraling downwards for years now, but it seems to me like the downward spiral is getting steeper and faster. I am so grateful I have the opportunity to homeschool my kids so that I can better protect them from these evils.

However, protecting our children requires more than just making sure they choose good and influential friends or keeping them away from pornography. It is not enough to merely safeguarding them from negative and degrading media. As parents, we must also strive to provide our children with good, strong role models and other good influences.

Even families who don’t practice a particular religion still crave child and family appropriate media. Unfortunately, clean movies and music sources are getting more and more difficult to find.

Clinging To Positive Values During Family Movie Night

In our family, we try not to restrict our kids to ‘kid movies’ for lack of a better term. Animation vs live-action does not guarantee it will be child-appropriate, just like the era the movie was made in does not guarantee values will lean one way or another.

Because of this, my kids have been watching live-action, superhero type movies from the time they were small. They haven’t seen Hunger Games yet so they are unfamiliar with Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, but they are familiar with Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia and Daisy Ridley as Rey in Star Wars. Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde is also decently well-known in our house.

My kids loved The Black Panther because of the female superhero portrayals in the unique African-American tribe and they were big fans of the new Jumanji movies, which they were lucky enough to see on the big screen.

All of these movies portray strong female characters. Unfortunately, all of these movies also highlight morals and values that we would rather not be duplicated by our children in real-life.

Sometimes as a mom, I feel caught between a rock and a hard place. The Hollywood box office is not doing us any favors when it comes to teaching our kids strong family values.

That’s why I was so excited to learn about the new movie put out by Mount Hideaway Media entitled Mount Hideaway Mysteries: Exes and Oh No’s. I encourage you to check out their site and see what they’ve got going on!

Here’s a trailer for you to check out.

The Best Strong Female Lead Movie for Family Movie Night

Mount Hideaway Mysteries: Exes and Oh No’s is an independent film that was made entirely by homeschoolers. The director/producer, the actors, and even the characters they portray are all homeschoolers.

I thought that was a really fun fact but it’s not the reason I really enjoyed this movie.

Even though there is not much mention of faith or Christianity inside the film (which may or may not be a good thing in your book) the filmmakers all hold strong Christian values which makes this a movie you can feel good about supporting, and also a movie you don’t have to worry about showing your kids.

There are no dirty or risque romantic behaviors of any kind. Language is very clean and all character interactions and completely appropriate (at least they were for my family).

While the film-makers advertise this movie as appropriate for ages 12 and up due to the thrilling and mysterious storyline, I had no problem showing this movie to my entire family, including my young elementary-aged children and my preschoolers.

My kids were on the edge of their seats! They truly enjoyed this family-friendly mystery thriller.

A Movie Review – Mount Hideaway Mysteries: Exes and Oh No’s

I first watched this movie with my husband, without the kids. I wanted to make sure the movie would be appropriate for my young family to watch, although this was completely unnecessary as the movie proved to be 100% okay for our own familial circumstances.

My first impression was of the acting. As a teenage actress myself, I spent a lot of time watching and reviewing actors in all kinds of situations. Honestly, my short high school acting career makes it difficult to watch a lot of movies nowadays because I am not a hard-core acting critic.

So I am pleased to say that I was quite impressed with the acting abilities of all of the actors in Mount Hideaway Mysteries: Exes and Oh No’s. (Even if the fight scene was a little cheesy.)

Were they perfect? No. Was this a big-budget Hollywood film with millionaire actors? No. But this was certainly not a small, community theater production or a backyard filmmaking project. The actors in this film definitely knew what they were doing.

My next reaction was intrigue. The movie starts with a homeschooled co-op participating in a fun forensic science activity. I have always been fascinated by forensic science so this was a fun opener for me.

And finally, it didn’t take me long to get caught up in the mystery surrounding the town and the people in it. My husband and I easily got caught up in the mysterious goings-on and we spent the whole movie trying to figure out what was going to happen next. You know, the typical who-done-it that goes along with a good mystery thriller.

The main character, Beth, and her best friend Amy both bring a lot of talents and character to the table as they try to solve the mystery. They are both strong female leads who manage their lives with the extra craziness that pops up with grace and poise. Drama comes into play as they experience flashbacks along with strange encounters with other characters.

And throughout it all, each young woman maintains her own values, no matter what she faces. No sex scenes, no dirty or romantic implications, and no immoral behavior. In fact, the movie is so clean that even though the plot surrounds a murder mystery, there is no blood or gore of any kind. I can’t even say that about some of our homeschooling curriculum!

I’m trying to be vague here so I don’t give too much away. Hopefully, I’m giving you just enough information to pique your interest without revealing any spoilers.

I will throw out one warning though – the cliff hanger is pretty intense. Be prepared to get excited about the entire series.

You can currently find Mount Hideaway Mysteries: Exes and Oh No’s streaming on Amazon, iTunes, AppleTV, and Google Play. You can also buy the DVD, which comes with some fun bonus features, on Amazon. (Sorry, no Netflix for this intriguing movie.)

Girls Need Movies with Strong Female Characters

More and more, girls (and boys!) need movies with strong female characters who refuse to compromise their values for any reason whatsoever.

And although I may be the minority in this, I believe one critical value that these female characters must portray is the respect of men. You see, women are not the only ones being demoralized these days. With the rise of feminism comes the weakening of strong, Godly men. I appreciate how the female characters in Mount Hideaway Mysteries: Exes and Oh No’s not only stick up for themsleves, but they do so without degrading or demeaning the men in their lives.

In fact, all of the protagonistic characters show everybody else a good amount of respect. It was quite refreshing.

29 More Movies That Feature Strong Female Characters

More movies that contain strong female leads include

• Star Wars
• Mulan
• Captain Marvel
• Wonder Woman
• The Hunger Games
• Legally Blonde
• Brave
• Moana
• An American Girl Series
• Kiki’s Delivery Service
• Lilo and Stitch
• My Neighbor Totoro
• Encanto
• Heidi
• Pippi Longstocking
• Pollyanna
• Anne of Green Gables (the original)
• A Little Princess
• Akeelah and the Bee
• Brave
• Ever After
• Fly Away Home
• Raya and the Last Dragon
• Matilda
• The Miracle Worker
• Troop Beverly Hills
• A Wrinkle In Time
• Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
• Sister Act

This list is by no means complete. Many many Disney movies and superhero movies from D.C. and Marvel feature strong female characters that you might consider watching for your next family movie night.

Some of these movies you can find on Netflix and some you cannot, but regardless, you’re going to want to invest in purchasing a whole collection of clean, family-friendly movies featuring strong female leads. Think of it as investing in your kids’ character education.

But even having seen and enjoyed many of these movies, I still really appreciate the unique perspective Mount Hideaway Mysteries: Exes and Oh No’s brings to the table. It was nice to enjoy a true mystery adventure thriller that didn’t leave me cringing and hiding my kids’ eyes, and that wasn’t animated.

The only thing I’d change would be the cliff-hanger ending. I can hardly wait for the second movie so I can find out what happens next! Hopefully Mount Hideaway Media releases the next movie soon.

Free Movie vs Book Comparison Worksheets

One of the best ways to include movies in your homeschool is by having your kids do a write-up of the movie after watching it. This is particularly beneficial if there is an accompanying book that your kids can compare and contrast.

Today I am sharing a free educational resource with you! Grab your free movie vs book comparison worksheets and use them anytime you watch a movie in your homeschool. Print them off again and again and have your kids really think about the media they are exposed to, each and every time!

Grab your free movie vs book comparison worksheets now!

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