LA FEMME INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2026 REVIEW! In Menopause After Dark: A Musical Comedy, director Rebekah Wiggins and star Audrey Walters take us on a personal, physical, social, and musical journey through menopause.
A woman (Audrey Walters) has her life buttoned up tight until a hot flash hits and drops her into a full-blown ’90s hip-hop fever dream. Backed by four dancers, she raps through the physical side of menopause, the stuff we all joke about until we experience it. Then a frantic song about hot flashes kicks in, and the heat rolls over her in waves. She sweats, she fans herself, and nothing she does stops it.
“A woman (Audrey Walters) has her life buttoned up tight until a hot flash hits and drops her into a full-blown ’90s hip-hop fever dream.”
Next, she asks, “Am I crazy?” The song goes directly after the outdated idea that menopause turns women into lunatics. Things get kinky in the third number, a BDSM-style routine. In the fourth, our protagonist gets buried under a pile of well-meaning advice from everyone who thinks they know better. As the noise grows louder, she has to choose. Does she keep smiling and telling everyone she’s “fine,” or does she finally tell the truth?
As a dude, it’s easy to do some quick internet research to “help” my partner through this inevitable change that God or nature has bestowed upon women. Now, as I look for a good divorce attorney, I realize Audrey Walters has written a musical that highlights not only the stigma of menopause but also the stigma placed upon women going through it.
The comedy is biting, hitting all the textbook advice and commentary before Walters gets very personal. As a musical romp, Walters goes for truly catchy beats, 80s-style dance numbers, and in the end, Menopause After Dark becomes less about change or losing one’s identity and more about creating and charting a new path in life.
Menopause After Dark: A Musical Comedy screened at the 2026 LA Femme International Film Festival.
"…highlights not only the stigma of menopause but also the stigma placed upon women going through it."
