Women Like Us Brings Whoopi Goldberg, Jenifer Lewis, Vanessa Williams and Vivica A. Fox to Netflix

Netflix is putting veteran Black women at the center of a story about friendship, grief and the right to keep dreaming.

Women Like Us, a new original comedy, will star Whoopi Goldberg, Jenifer Lewis, Vanessa Williams and Vivica A. Fox. Tasha Smith is set to direct, with Netflix, MACRO Film Studios and Higher Ground collaborating on the project.

The story follows a recently widowed woman whose lifelong friends and sister take her to the Hamptons during what should have been her 30th wedding anniversary. The getaway becomes a larger journey through marriage, loss, friendship and the realization that ambition does not come with an expiration date.

That premise gives the film room to operate as more than a conventional group vacation comedy. It can be funny without ignoring grief, and uplifting without pretending reinvention is simple.

The casting is the immediate headline. Goldberg, Lewis, Williams and Fox bring decades of comedy, drama, television, theater and cultural recognition to one ensemble. Their presence also pushes against an industry habit of narrowing the roles available to women as they age.

Smith’s involvement behind the camera adds another layer. Her work as an actor and director gives her experience with performance-driven material, while the script comes from Ali Kinney with writing by Tracy Oliver.

Charles D. King and James Lopez will produce for MACRO Film Studios, with Anikah McLaren and Mark R. Wright producing for Higher Ground. Michelle Obama is among the executive producers. Netflix says the film marks the first collaboration between MACRO and Higher Ground.

Production is expected to begin this fall in New York City. A release date has not been announced.

The project’s cultural opportunity is straightforward: let accomplished Black women occupy the full range of the screen. They can carry jokes, heartbreak, romance, conflict and reinvention without being reduced to supporting roles in someone else’s story.

Women Like Us will ultimately be judged by the chemistry on screen and the quality of its script. But its starting point is already compelling—a collection of performers with distinct voices, a director who understands actors, and a story that treats later chapters of life as active territory rather than an epilogue.