Horror movies made by women and specifically addressing women’s anxieties or hyperreal strengths aren’t new, but there is currently a wave of new contributions to the genre. Some of the current crop are more effective than others, but all share one trait: They’re about vulnerability but not necessarily victimization. Most of the women in these movies aren’t heroic in the superhero sense, but they’re also not the girl who needs to be saved.

The Silence Breakers

Eliana DocktermanHaley Sweetland EdwardsStephanie Zacharek / Time Magazine
When movie stars don't know where to go, what hope is there for the rest of us? What hope is there for the janitor who's being harassed by a co-worker but remains silent out of fear she'll lose the job she needs to support her children? For the administrative assistant who repeatedly fends off a superior who won't take no for an answer? For the hotel housekeeper who never knows, as she goes about replacing towels and cleaning toilets, if a guest is going to corner her in a room she can't escape?