If you want to know when Greta Gerwig went from the queen of mumblecore to future Hollywood power player, it was probably 2012’s Frances Ha: the story of an aspiring ballet dancer (Gerwig) trying and failing to reach her dreams of being a star in New York City. Not only does it mark her second collaboration with future husband Noah Baumbach and an early appearance by a fresh-off-the-set-of-Girls Adam Driver, but it’s also the moment when wider audiences started to realize that Gerwig was the real deal and not just a festival darling. A black-and-white ode to the French New Wave, it may well stand as the definitive NYC film of the early 2010s. – Richard Whittaker
