On both the big and small screens, male "incel" culture has been widely covered, from series like Adolescence and the documentary Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere, to films like Joker or Don't Worry Darling, which explore different forms of male radicalization.
But while these narratives have become commonplace, a glaring gap remains: the representation of female radicalization online, often associated with what is called the “womanosphere” or “femcel” culture.
In the age of social media, including trends like “tradwife culture” and the shift from wellness to far-right ideologies, the role of women in these online spaces is real and growing. However, cinema has shown little interest in this phenomenon, leaving the figure of the “femcel” almost invisible.
Most films that touch on this topic do so superficially, focusing on image obsession and the “perfect” life on Instagram, as in Ingrid Goes West and Not Okay. However, some more daring works have attempted to delve deeper into this world, such as Red Rooms, Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World and Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama.
In “The Drama,” for example, a young couple confronts a shocking past when it emerges that the wife, Emma, planned an act of extreme violence as a teenager. The film raises difficult questions about how society responds to women who have walked dark paths, often with less empathy than men in similar situations.
Meanwhile, in “Red Rooms,” the character Kelly-Anne represents another form of online isolation and radicalization, where an obsession with true crime and the internet replaces contact with reality. She lives almost entirely in digital space, losing touch with social norms.
In Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, the character Angela represents another form of this culture: a life divided between ordinary work and an online identity built on extreme provocation and irony, reflecting the impact of the attention economy and influencers.
Despite these examples, the representation of “femcels” in cinema remains rare. This lack raises an important question: why has the media been quicker to explore the online radicalization of men than that of women?
Some scholars argue that this is related to ingrained stereotypes of women as more “caring” and less prone to extremism. But the online reality shows a more complex picture, where women also actively participate in polarized ideological spaces, often helping to soften the image of radical movements.
Characters like Emma, Kelly-Anne, and Angela, although different, share a common characteristic: they live more in the digital world than in the real one, reflecting the way algorithms and social media culture shape identity.
However, cinema still treats these figures as exceptions, not as part of a wider phenomenon. And as the online world continues to change, the lack of a deeper reflection on this reality remains a visible gap on the screen. /GazetaExpress/
t7 live
