There’s an element of feminine melancholy within Greta Gerwig’s work. With films primarily featuring female protagonists, Gerwig has a way of perfectly encapsulating the trials, tribulations and celebrations of what it means to identify as a woman.

“Lady Bird” glows. There is no other way to describe it. In indie darling Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut, Saoirse Ronan is the titular Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson, a Catholic-school-plaid-clad...