Five characters on Netflix that portray ‘angry young woman’ perfectly
Anger has never been a polite emotion, and it’s even less polite when it comes from women, according to the so-called “societal standards”. That’s why watching female characters boil over on screen feels so electric. Because then, it’s not just drama; it’s recognition.
For too long, men have been handed the “angry young man” badge, and they have sure worn it like a crown. Women who dared to rage were called unhinged or difficult, as if fury could only ever look respectable on a man. Netflix has quietly started to chip away at that. It is putting young women front and centre who are allowed to scream, break, lash out, and refuse to apologise.
But don’t confuse them for delicate breakdowns, which are packaged neatly for sympathy. They are proper explosions. Sometimes they might be funny and sometimes heartbreaking, but they are always, always raw. When these women snap, it’s not random. It has been years of pressure, finally cracked. And the result is magnetic to watch.
Here are five Netflix characters who carry that kind of rage and also are not afraid to show their complicated, sometimes terrifying side, which is always unforgettable.
Five angry young women of Netflix
Devi Vishwakumar (Never Have I Ever)
Devi Vishwakumar doesn’t just get angry. A better way to describe her would be ‘combustion’. She combusts. Her fury comes out in hallways, classrooms, and dinner tables, usually at the worst possible moment. Remember the scene where she screamed at her mother for moving on after her father’s death? It wasn’t graceful, but it was gutting. And if you thought the anger was about the argument at hand, then you are wrong. It was grief spilling out as rage, the kind that burns everyone who comes in its path.
Mindy Kaling did not write Devi to be a “good girl” character meant to hold her tongue and smile through the pain. Devi blurts out what most teenagers only think. She slams doors, fights with friends, and never pretends to be easy. This doesn’t cancel the fact that she is selfish and sometimes cruel, but her anger is honest, and that’s why it works.
Wednesday Addams (Wednesday)
Wednesday’s rage is colder and sharper. Some fans felt that at times it was deliberate. But she doesn’t scream; she seethes. Watching her dump piranhas into a pool to get revenge on bullies in the very first episode prepared us for everything that followed. It wasn’t just payback. It was a declaration that she wouldn’t be silenced or outmatched.
What makes her such a perfect angry young woman is the control she exerts over her fury. Wednesday doesn’t waste anger on pointless battles. She has prepared herself to weaponise it. Every glare, every cutting remark, every act of rebellion is sharpened into a blade.
Maeve Wiley (Sex Education)
Maeve’s anger has always been somewhat rooted in survival. She was abandoned by her parents, especially her mom, when she was too young. Then judged by her peers and forced to grow up before her time, she is left with no patience for nonsense. The scene where she shredded her mom for showing up out of nowhere, pretending like she could suddenly be a parent again, was pure fire. Maeve didn’t cry for sympathy; she burned with fury that had been building for years.
Even when she is running the underground sex clinic at school, Maeve’s edge is what makes her magnetic. Do you think Otis alone could’ve managed to counsel kids and make money? Sure, he had the knowledge, but the brains have always been Maeve. She’s not polished or polite, and that’s the point. Her anger is the shield she built to survive, and it gives her a toughness most of the show’s other characters could never fake.
Beth Harmon (The Queen’s Gambit)
Beth is not the “angry young woman” in the traditional sense, as she doesn’t lash out much. Her anger isn’t loud, but her rage hums under the surface of everything she does. When you start seeing that, you realise The Queen’s Gambit isn’t just a story of a chess prodigy. In fact, her chess victories weren’t just about strategy. They were about proving every man in the room wrong. That scene where she walked back into the tournament hall after being written off, tearing through opponents with icy focus, felt like a punch in the face of every person who once shamed a little girl.
Her addiction, her sharp tongue, and her constant need to push herself further: all of it comes from the same place. Beth is furious at the world for underestimating her, for boxing her into roles she refuses to play. And that quiet, burning anger is what made her unstoppable.
Sydney Novak (I Am Not Okay With This)
Sydney showcases the messy side of young female rage. She doesn’t just feel angry, but lets it out when she knows it’s impossible for her to control it. The scene at the school dance, where her bottled-up emotions literally exploded into blood, was the ultimate metaphor for what it means to be a teenage girl who’s been told to shut up one too many times. We have all been there, haven’t we?
Most importantly, her anger isn’t neat or rational. It is destructive. Sometimes it’s so dangerous, it becomes terrifying even to her. But it’s also honest. Sydney shows what happens when young women aren’t given space to channel their rage: it erupts, no matter the cost.
