25 must-see films playing at this year’s AFI Fest

On the Basis of Sex

What’s the story?: On the Basis of Sex follows a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Felicity Jones) as she attempts to break the glass ceiling of law while trying to fight gender discrimination before the U.S. Court of Appeals.

This movie has been my most anticipated movie of the year for a variety of reasons. For starters, it’s a biopic about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, aka “Notorious RBG,” during her time as a struggling lawyer trying to deal with the cultural belief that women should be at home caring for their children. Earlier this year, we saw the documentary RBG which detailed the Supreme Court justices’ life at the moment, and this alooks to be a great Hollywood complement. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a feminist hero, and while a Hollywood portrayal is always meant to be taken with a grain of salt, the first trailer looks to be what women need in 2018.

Felicity Jones takes over the role originally planned for Natalie Portman, and while Jones has distinguished herself as well as Portman, this could be the role to finally break her into the A-list. More importantly, it’s directed by Mimi Leder, the helmer of Deep Impact and several episodes of HBO’s masterpiece, The Leftovers. Leder is often held up as an example of the blackballing women directors receive if their movies fail, and this marks her first major film venture in a decade. Armie Hammer plays Ginsburg’s husband, Martin, and if you don’t know anything about the marriage of Ruth and Marty Ginsburg go read up on it. They’re relationship goals.