For decades, Hollywood operated on a cruel arithmetic: once a woman turned 40, her "value" plummeted. The offers dried up. The romantic leads became grandmothers. The script notes said "too old" when she was only just hitting her prime.

Representation for mature women isn't just about "diversity." It’s about reality . Half the population ages. Finally, cinema is reflecting that back to us. Crucially, this renaissance is happening because women are seizing the means of production.

But if you’ve been paying attention to the cinema releases and prestige TV of the last few years, you know something has shifted.