Abstract
[Excerpt] In the Foreword to Action Heroines in the 21st Century, Lisa Purse notes that, “for too long, the lone woman has been the most prominent flag-bearer for female representation in the action film” (xiv). She nonetheless observes that “female collectives” and “female solidarity” have also emerged within the genre (Purse xvi). These latter tropes are the subject of the newly published edited collection, which offers a compelling exploration of how groups of women are increasingly depicted as central figures in action-led television and cinema since the early 2000s. This timely and intersectional study is the first of its kind to focus on collective female agency within the genre, examining representations that span a wide international scope, from Indian and South Korean productions to Icelandic-Ukrainian, American, and British media.