In Santa Barbara, determined single mother Dorothea is in her 50s and raising her teenage son Jamie at a moment of cultural change. To help Jamie’s upbringing she enlists two younger women: the free-spirited artist Abbie lodging in Dorothea’s home, and Julie, a savvy, provocative teenage neighbor.

A family drama that questions gender norms and is rich with feminist values, 20th Century Women feels like a delightful, elongated dinner conversation, with no less than Greta Gerwig, Elle Fanning, and Annette Benning as a reflective single mother. A tender and clever intergenerational tableau.