Hollywood’s melodramas of the 1950s marked a high point of the classic genre in works of directors like Douglas Sirk and Vincent Minelli. Late 20th-century directors like Rainer Fassbinder and Todd Haynes reinvented the genre with films like “Ali: Fear Eats the Soul” or “Far From Heaven.” Although directed by men, these films center on women’s desires and experiences. But female filmmakers have also reinterpreted the genre in remarkable ways, often showing us women through male characters’ eyes. We’ll discuss millennial women’s genre reinvention to think through classic melodramatic issues of family, attachment, sacrifice, and loss in a contemporary light.