Over 50 years since its release, The Stepford Wives remains a sci-fi touchstone thanks to its unnerving portrayal of a small town where women suddenly change from independent free thinkers to compliant housewives. The 1975 adaptation of Ira Levin’s novel felt like the perfect film for the time, as feminist activists pushed to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment into law amid staunch conservative opposition. The core message of The Stepford Wives — that patriarchy prefers submissive women over those who desire autonomy — has never stopped being relevant. In 2004, a remake seemed primed to update the story for the George W. Bush era, but audiences didn’t expect a camp satire of a decade in flux.
