We independently assess all our recommendations. Purchases through our links may earn us a commission.
Few stories can lay claim to the level of fame that’s been achieved by Ira Levin’s 1972 novel The Stepford Wives. The book and its subsequent 1975 and 2004 movie adaptations serve as a cutting commentary on the gender roles of 20th-century America and the resistance encountered by the feminist movement. The Stepford Wives became so iconic that its title quickly became synonymous with the stereotype of the subservient, unquestioning retro housewife who has no life outside of domestic chores and neighborhood gossip.
It doesn’t take a lot of brain cells to figure out that The Stepford Wives is a feminist horror set in suburbia that masquerades as a sci-fi story. Strip it of its fantastical elements and it becomes an eerie mimicry of the idealized 1950s suburban life that we think of when we imagine “the good old days” before “wokeism” – whatever that word is code for.
We’ve handpicked these films for sharing key themes with The Stepford Wives such as the horrors of womanhood, of being targeted and controlled by a more dominant group, and the unsettling feeling you get from a situation that feels forced to be perfect.
1. Swallow (2019)
Let’s get one thing out of the way first because apparently, a lot of people thought the lead actress for Swallow (2019) was Jenniffer Lawrence. Hunter Conrad, the main protagonist of Swallow, looks a lot like Jennifer Lawrence in the film’s poster, but she’s actually played by Haley Bennett.
Swallow is a treat for people who loved The Stepford Wives and can tolerate a bit of body horror as Hunter swallows inedible objects in the film to cope with the stresses of her unhappy marriage.
It’s not hard to see why Hunter agreed to marry Richie – he’s wealthy and he doesn’t have any blatantly obvious red flags at first, making him a tolerable choice for the much poorer Hunter. When they do get married though, Richie reveals himself to be a controlling and emotionally distant husband who intrudes on her autonomy and micromanages her psychological and physical health. But from the outside? They just look like a beautiful couple.
2. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Speaking of having your body and mind micromanaged by other people who want to control you, you should check out Rosemary’s Baby. The 1968 film holds up terribly well even today and has only become more relevant now that the U.S. Supreme Court has abandoned its ruling on Roe v. Wade. Well, that and the novel that this film is based on was also written by Ira Levin so you can be sure it plays with the same themes of female horror.
Rosemary’s Baby centers on Rosemary, the wife of a quickly rising actor. After the couple move to New York, Rosemary’s husband starts landing more prestigious roles…but under strange circumstances. Regardless, they’re richer now and Rosemary’s husband decides they might be financially ready for a baby. We get some hints that Rosemary doesn’t really want to have a baby right now, but she has to do it just to make him happy. Either way, she doesn’t have a choice in it as her husband makes sure they have that baby.
Rosemary carries the trauma of her loss of bodily autonomy throughout the entire film, making us wonder what’s actually more horrifying in this film – the supernatural elements or what everybody thinks they can do to Rosemary just because they feel they know what’s best for her.
3. Goodnight Mommy (2022)
Goodnight Mommy (2022) tackles the third struggle of womanhood: becoming a mother. Motherhood is hard, there’s no doubt about it. What a lot of people, even mothers themselves, are afraid of speaking aloud, however, is how motherhood can give women an identity crisis as their pre-baby selves become completely subsumed by the only identity that’s expected to matter: Mommy.
In Goodnight Mommy, the horror goes both ways. A mother struggles to distinguish herself from her sons and her sons struggle to grasp the idea that the woman before them is an actual person aside from being their mother. The results are horrific. As a cherry on top, we never learn what their mother’s name is.
4. Gaslight (1944)
The Stepford Wives may have popularized the idea of the continually subjugated and gaslighted housewife, but the 1944 movie Gaslight was the one that made the term ‘gaslight’ a thing. It’s the movie that walked so all the other feminist horror films that came after it could run. According to The New York Times, the term ‘gaslighting’ comes from Gaslight’s use of gas lamps to slowly drive its heroine insane by making her doubt her own perception of reality.
Despite being an old film, the movie is startlingly accurate in its depiction of the way manipulative people gain control over their victims. Gregory, the main character’s husband, convinces his wife that she’s just overreacting, being forgetful, and developing symptoms of mental illness. The build-up is gradual and he starts testing the waters of messing with her head by convincing her that the dimming gas lights in the house are just her imagination.
5. The Shining (1980)
To see what makes The Shining (1980) a little similar to The Stepford Wives, you have to take a step back and imagine how this all feels entirely from Wendy’s perspective. She has a violent alcoholic for a husband who keeps acting like his aspirations are more important than either her or her son’s wellbeing. Suddenly, her husband – who is established to be not above laying his hands on his own son – wants to drag them off to an isolated hotel where he’ll serve as a caretaker and work on his oh-so-important manuscript.
6. Don’t Worry Darling (2022)
Don’t Worry Darling (2022) isn’t a direct adaptation of The Stepford Wives, but it certainly feels like an updated version made especially for the 2020s. The film incorporates newer technology, such as virtual reality, into its story even though the plot is set in the ‘50s. Taking inspiration from the company towns of the 20th century, the movie takes place in Victory, a fictional company town owned by a company of the same name. It’s not clear what Victory does and what the husbands’ jobs are, but all of the wives are expected to stay inside the town
Alice and Jack are just one of many happy couples in Victory, but their idyllic life is disturbed by visions that Alice experiences. In these visions, she keeps seeing herself as a doctor, leading her to start questioning the nature of Victory.
7. Get Out (2017)
The 2017 film Get Out has been a favorite of horror fans for a few years now and for good reason – it’s a well-crafted horror that stands on its own even if you just pay attention to what it is on the surface. Scratch that surface just a bit and you get commentary on how the wealthy and powerful use the bodies of the poor and marginalized – whether that’s for organs, abilities, or their labor – for their own benefit. Because of these themes, Get Out comes off as an African-American man’s Rosemary’s Baby.