The Best Keke Palmer Movies & TV Shows, Ranked
She’s only really been picking up film and TV projects for the last six years or so, but Keke Palmer has made a huge impact whenever she’s on-screen.
Palmer has a background in music, appearing in various videos for the likes of Ludacris and Usher, as well as having a big back-catalogue of her own songs. It’s no wonder she’s such a vibrant, energetic personality whenever she’s in front of a camera – Keke Palmer was born to perform, and we’re the ones who benefit from her living her dream. Beyond acting, she’s also made a name for herself in the podcasting world with her show, Baby, This Is Keke Palmer, which recently had fans in a tizzy over her fiery chemistry with Hot Ones’ Sean Evans.
Admittedly, Palmer’s filmography is a mixed bag, but when it’s good, it’s really good. Even if the end product isn’t great (like Scream Queens, IMO), it’s fair to say that the star lights up everything she does regardless. Here, we count down the seven best Keke Palmer movies and TV shows, from least good to best.
With a cast including Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogen, Aziz Ansari, Sandra Oh, and Stephen McKinley Henderson, Good Fortune would already have our attention even without knowing that Keke Palmer also has a key part. This story of a kind but clueless angel who tries to improve the lives of two very different people is like a silly version of It’s A Wonderful Life and will definitely appeal to anyone who likes the Kevin Smith movie Dogma.
While not necessarily a laugh-out-loud comedy or anything groundbreaking, it’s still a super light watch that has mass appeal. Good Fortune is only just over an hour and a half, and I’d say it’s worth the £3.49 to rent from Prime Video if you fancy something easy to watch one evening.
Palmer’s latest project is a remake of the 1989 comedy-horror movie, The ‘Burbs. That Joe Dante cult classic had the star power of Tom Hanks in the lead; for the new TV version, we get a whole lot of Keke Palmer instead, which is never a bad thing. Whoever’s idea it was to pair her with Jack Whitehall deserves a raise, as they both bounce off each other so well in this show.
The 2026 iteration of The ‘Burbs revolves around an intriguing little mystery at the heart of a very funny show. With eight relatively short episodes, it won’t take long to binge, and you’ll probably be left wanting more.
In 2022’s Lightyear, Keke Palmer proved she doesn’t even have to be on-screen to make a project pop. Here, she voices the main supporting character alongside Chris Evans’ role as the titular hero, bringing all her trademark energy to make Izzy Hawthorne a lively, witty, and very three-dimensional character.
Obviously, if you’ve watched Toy Story and its sequels, you’re going to have an interest in this animated movie, but it’s not essential to have that prior knowledge of Buzz Lightyear, as this is technically a different iteration of the iconic space ranger. Lightyear is on Disney+, and if you’re into recent films like Elio and Strange World on the platform, you’ll enjoy this colourful, charming adventure.
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This might be another animated project, but you definitely need to put the kids to bed before you hit play on Big Mouth. It’s packed full of very explicit sexual references and foul language, making it quite literally one of the crudest, naughtiest adult cartoons you’re likely to find. Still interested? Well, all 81 episodes are on Netflix, and there’s even a spin-off called Human Resources you could dive into, as well.
Palmer voices the character Rochelle Hillhurst, a lovebug with a bit of a dark side who spends most of her time mentoring young Missy Foreman-Greenwald (voiced by Ayo Edebiri). Over the course of the show, Rochelle encourages Missy to make her best friends and parents absolutely miserable, but she eventually has a change of heart. The show is all about emotions and the trials and tribulations of puberty, so if you’re into things like Freaks and Geeks or anything by Seth McFarlane, you’ll relish the humour in Big Mouth.
This is one of my favourite comedies from 2025. With Keke Palmer and musician SZA joining forces, One of Them Days should really have gotten more attention than it did, but you can still show this buddy comedy some love by catching it on Now TV Cinema. And if you’re already a customer, it’s an absolute no-brainer to stick this on for a movie night. I watched this with my fiancée, and she loved it.
One of Them Days has the same chaotic energy you’d find in movies like Uncut Gems and After Hours, but it’s far more slapstick and silly – the likes of Dude Where’s My Car? and Pineapple Express are probably better indications of the kind of experience you’ll have with this film than those tense Safdie brothers’ films. It’s great seeing Palmer really let her funny side out; hopefully we get to see more of that in the future.
One of the first times Keke Palmer really hit the mainstream was in Lorene Scafaria’s fantastic movie about sisterhood and strippers, Hustlers. Indeed, in many ways, this was her big breakthrough role, and it says a lot that she managed to stand out from the crowd despite the cast also including Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu, and Julia Stiles.
There’s a thrilling true story at the heart of Hustlers. Sick and tired of rich men taking advantage of them (and ruining the economy back in 2008), a tight-knit crew of strippers takes matters into their own hands through rather shady methods. You will have to pay to rent this one from Apple TV, but with dazzling visuals, a killer soundtrack, and a great mix of thrills and humour, Hustlers is well worth paying £3.49 for.
As good as Hustlers is, there’s still a pretty significant gap between the rest of this list and the top spot. Nope is the third movie from one of the new masters of horror, Jordan Peele. While Get Out obviously made him a household name, it’s Nope that proved just how ambitious and provocative he can be.
On the surface, it’s an alien movie, and a pretty stunning one at that – some of the cinematography here is absolutely to die for. But scratch deeper and Peele’s cerebral story has plenty to say about curiosity and trauma, and the lines we simply shouldn’t cross for the sake of entertainment. There are some things we simply should not witness, but Nope is certainly not the kind of film you can take your eyes off of.
With Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya as the protagonists of this suffocating yet scintillating tale, we have complex characters to root for, and both bring an incredible screen presence to their respective roles. A £2.49 rental fee on YouTube is a bargain for one of the most engrossing films of the 2020s.
