Time flies when you’re having fun, doesn’t it? 2025 has been an absolute blast, with some truly epic cinema offerings on the big screen, and a whole host of gripping TV shows gracing the small screen, too.

As we hurtle towards the end of the year, we’ve taken some time to reflect on what we’ve seen so far. In fact, we’re getting really granular – not just thinking about our favourite things to watch, but looking at the very best film and TV characters of 2025.

From maniacal witches to demon-fighting popstars, revolutionaries to strange aliens, this might just be the most diverse list JustWatch has ever put together. You’ll find our top ten characters of the year, ranked below in ascending order. Did your favourite make the cut?

10. Aunt Gladys - Weapons

Following up on his monster hit Barbarian was always going to be a tricky task for Zach Cregger, but from the very first moment I saw a trailer for Weapons, I was obsessed. When the film finally dropped in August, I ran gleefully out of the cinema like one of those creepy kids. This brilliant horror-thriller movie is split into six chapters, five of which perfectly balance intrigue, moments of terror, and splashes of levity. But by the time the final chapter rolls around and we are shown the true machinations and methods of Aunt Gladys, the whole story comes to a sickening and satisfying conclusion.

From her garish red wig and heavy-set make-up to her deceptively frail frame and unsettling demeanour, Aunt Gladys is the kind of woman who leaves a lasting impression. In fact, she may well end this year as the horror icon of 2025. She’s a cruel and calculated menace, but boy, oh boy, is she fun to watch as she executes her demonic plan in such a calm fashion. My one complaint about Weapons is that it doesn’t really leave much room for interpretation by the end, but when the answers are this interesting, does it really matter?

9. Glordon - Elio

We go from one of the nastiest characters of the year to arguably the sweetest now. When the titular hero of Elio heads into space, he’s confronted by the mean intergalactic conqueror Lord Grigon. Thankfully, he also makes a new friend: Grigon’s adorable son, Glordon. The bond the pair shares is utterly charming, as they learn each other’s way of life and help one another with their respective problems. Glordon may look like a giant tardigrade, but he has all the childlike wonder and innocence you’d expect from a loveable human character.

My wife and I took our five-year-old son to watch this at the cinema, and we all had a great time for different reasons: Adults will appreciate the themes of familial bonds and the endearing qualities of the younger characters, while kids will revel in the glorious visual elements and space exploration concepts. I immediately felt like this would be what you’d get if you asked Steven Spielberg to make a cute animated alien movie, and I mean that as a compliment of the highest order. It’s on Disney+ now, so get the whole family together and have a lovely night in.

8. Agnes Ward - Sorry, Baby

While I liked the look of Sorry, Baby from the trailer, I simply wasn’t prepared for how brilliant and emotional it would be. I expected a quirky comedy, and while writer-director-star Eva Victor does bring her wonderful humour to the project, she also delivers a devastating and important story of abuse and trauma. Simply put, her work as Agnes Ward here is remarkable, and one of my absolute favourite performances of 2025.

Agnes is such a rich and multi-layered character. She’s not afraid to say what she thinks, and she often acts on impulse – like adopting a stray cat – but her easy-going manner is stunted almost irreparably by one moment of exploitation by someone she thought she could trust. From that moment on, we see Agnes wrestle with guilt, anguish, and a real emptiness that feels incredibly authentic and raw. If you like films like Shiva Baby, Sometimes I Think About Dying, and My Old Ass, you’ll get on board with this one.

7. Eddie Miller - Adolescence

There’s a good chance that Adolescence is the best, most thought-provoking and crucial piece of television Netflix has ever produced. The show took the world by storm earlier this year thanks to its hard-hitting messages on toxic masculinity, bullying, and knife crime. As the father of a teenage daughter and two young sons, Adolescence really struck a chord with me. It made me fearful of the world our children are growing up in, but determined to ensure that my kids will be raised to understand right from wrong. Quite literally, for some people, this is a life-changing show.

At the heart of it all is young Jamie Miller, played astoundingly by young breakthrough star, Owen Cooper. But while Cooper has rightfully lapped up plaudits and awards for his performance, it’s the depiction of his heartbroken father, Eddie, by the legendary Stephen Graham that has stuck with me all year. I may be a little biased as he’s one of my favourite actors, but I was mesmerised watching this seemingly strong man fall apart at the seams across these four episodes as he struggles to align his moral compass with his very natural parental instinct to protect his son at all costs. This is not an easy watch at all, but I urge everyone to give it a go.

6. Delta Slim - Sinners

For my money, Sinners is the best film of 2025, and it’ll take something pretty special to topple it. Genuinely, I think my soul left my body at least three times during my IMAX screening; it’s the kind of film that really reminds us why going to the cinema and watching cool stuff on a massive screen is one of the most exciting things we can do as humans. I could have picked several characters from this stunning vampire movie for this list. Jack O’Connell’s devilish villain, Remmick, comes close, but I’ve opted for Delta Slim, played sublimely by Delroy Lindo.

In a movie which thrives in its most bombastic and bold moments, it’s the understated, unerring Lindo who cuts through the noise with his inimitable screen presence and perfect line delivery. Delta Slim offers up words of wisdom and evocative tales with an air of cool, but it’s in his more frantic, fearful moments that this character excels, making the audience hang on his every word. Lindo was robbed of an Oscar nomination for Da 5 Bloods back in 2021, and he’ll be robbed again if he’s not recognised for his work in Sinners. Anyone who likes From Dusk Till Dawn or 30 Days of Night should tuck in to Sinners as soon as possible, even if it means paying £4.99 for a rental.

5. Rumi - KPop Demon Hunters

I’ll admit, when I first heard the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack dominating the radio, I rolled my eyes and changed the station. Now, they’re my most played songs on Spotify, and our whole family sings along to them in the car. Not only is this Netflix hit beautifully animated, but it’s also got a really entertaining storyline to match those incredible songs. And, at the heart of it all, is Rumi.

Rumi is the lead singer of HUNTR/X, and on the surface, she seems like the perfect popstar; a girl who has it all. But she’s harbouring a dark secret that even her best friends don’t know about, and that’s what makes her such an intriguing character. The journey Rumi goes on in the film is painfully relatable, from feeling like she has to hide who she really is to treading down a dark path. Eventually she realises she can be accepted by those who love her, regardless of her flaws. At just over an hour and a half, you’ll struggle to find an easier watch than KPop Demon Hunters, and it’s got so much rewatchability, too.

4. Kleya Marki - Andor

I’ve been obsessively raving about Andor ever since its first season was released in 2022. It’s not just the best Star Wars project Disney has produced, it might just be the most perfect thing to come out of the galaxy far, far away… ever. 

Given the current global political climate right now, I’d argue Andor is one of the most important pieces of television you could watch. Widespread oppression, ruthless dictatorships crushing the masses, media and news coverage ignoring the issues, and a passionate rebellion swelling in numbers among the shadows. It’s almost like Tony Gilroy held up a mirror to our world with this series, while still giving us a tiny bit of hope.

While Cassian Andor is obviously the main man here, I have to give a special shoutout to Kleya Marki, who goes from being a bit-part character to being a fully-formed firecracker of a revolutionary in Season 2. The way she rises to challenge and push Luthen Rael is genuinely goosebump-inducing stuff at times, leading to a highly emotional climax for the pair of them. Elizabeth Dulau, who plays Kleya, is a revelation; one of the brightest elements of an already phenomenal ensemble cast. She also sports iconic looks in the show, from elaborate hair and make-up to striking attire. Kleya really does have it all. 

As for Andor itself, you don’t even need to really know or like Star Wars to get on board – just jump in and enjoy some high-stakes espionage thrills!

3. Charles Heath - The Ballad of Wallis Island

I only watched The Ballad of Wallis Island on a whim, having seen Tim Key in a few other things before and liking his vibe. Much like Sorry, Baby, this is another film that really took me by surprise. Not only is it delightfully funny, but it feels so effortless and authentic, too, and let me warn you, this comedy movie packs an emotional punch. I won’t spoil how or when or why, but all I’ll say is, if you thought Tim Key was just a comedian, think again.

As Charles Heath, Key delivers his usual bumbling, irreverent humour, but takes his acting to new levels with a most sincere and heartbreaking dimension to his character. I still can’t get one particular scene and facial expression from Key out of my head – I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone look so convincingly upset in a film before. If you like quaint and quirky British comedies like Withnail & I, Sightseers, and Submarine, you’ll love The Ballad of Wallis Island. It’s well worth the £4.99 to rent. And, as a bonus, the music from fictional duo McGwyer and Mortimer in the film is lovely, too.

2. Seth Milchick - Severance

In a similar way to Kleya from Andor, Seth Milchick stepped up from being a side character in Severance Season 1 to truly stealing the show in Season 2. Tramell Tillman’s line delivery in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning was celebrated for being so emphatic and passive-aggressive, but fans of Severance will know he’s been doing this for years now.

In the sophomore season of the hit Apple TV+ show, Milchick was promoted to fill the void left behind by Harmony Cobel, but he finds it just as difficult to control the Macrodata Refinement team as Mark and Helly continue their rebellious activity in the workplace. The way Milchick loses his cool and tries to regain some authority, all while questioning his own place in the Lumon Industries mess, is absolutely captivating television. In a show that has A-list talent putting in career-defining work, it’s really something that Tillman can emerge as the standout performer.

1. Sensei Sergio St. Carlos - One Battle After Another

I can easily sum up why Sensei Sergio is the best character in film and TV in 2025 with just four simple words: “A few small beers.” If you’ve been on social media at all around the release of One Battle After Another, you’ll no doubt have seen this amazing little quote bandied around, and you know what? It absolutely deserves to go as viral as it has. Benicio del Toro probably had no idea what he had started when he delivered it in such an odd yet endearing way, but it’s the icing on the cake of a wonderful performance from a true master of his trade. 

From the moment he first appears on screen as Willa’s martial arts instructor, Sensei Sergio oozes cool and calm. In a film about political revolution filled with chaos and conflict, he’s the perfect remedy – a true hero for the way he so selflessly helps Bob evade the evil forces tracking him down. Sensei Sergio proves that you don’t always need passwords and plans to be a rebel; you just have to have heart and courage. He’s got those in abundance, and that’s why there’s simply no way any other character comes close to taking his crown this year. 

You’ll have to go out and watch One Battle After Another at the cinema for now, which I should say, is a treat! I went with a couple of friends to see it on release weekend, and we’ve still not stopped talking about this Paul Thomas Anderson masterclass. If you’re into films like Good Time, Django Unchained, or even, weirdly, The Grand Budapest Hotel, you’ll find a new favourite with this one. It’s funny, frenetic from start to finish, and I feel like it’s very accessible for almost any audience (of an appropriate age, of course).

You might recognise the Moomins as the smooth, white-coloured, large-snouted creatures from beloved older children's books. From 1945 to 1993, Finnish author and illustrator Tove Jansson published nine novels, several picture books, and a comic strip following the family-friendly adventures of the young Moomintroll, his parents Moominpappa and Moominmamma, his friends Little My, Sniff, Snorkmaiden, and others in their home, Moominvalley.

Beyond Jansson’s work, the Moomins’ adventures have been adapted into films and TV series around the world, from 1950s West Germany to 1990s Japan. Most recently, the CGI animated series Moominvalley has brought the Moomin family to a new generation of viewers, meaning you might have a renewed curiosity in discovering which adaptation is worth checking out.

Jansson’s Moomin books and comic strips are episodic, meaning there is mostly no continuous storyline to follow across the various productions, but book-ended adventures instead. This, in addition to the fact that most of the Moomin adaptations were made during different decades, in different countries, and by different companies, means there is no in-world chronological order to follow. 

Therefore, we recommend either watching the Moomin movies and TV series in order of release (as listed below) or simply starting at one of the more comprehensive and modern Moomin series, namely the 1990s anime Moomin or the 2019 series Moominvalley, for which you’ll find more details on further down.

The Moomin Family (TV series, 1959–1960)

The first series created from the Moomin books was the West German The Moomin Family, from the original German name Die Muminfamilie. The series is a black-and-white production by the Augsburger Puppenkiste, a renowned puppet theatre from Augsburg, Germany. 

The Moomin Family ran for a total of two seasons, with six episodes each, and brought different stories from the Moomin books to life for the first time. While the production is clearly quite old-school, it’s very wholesome and largely sticks to the plot of the two books it covers (Season 1: Finn Family Moomintroll, and Season 2: Moominsummer Madness). However, if you’re looking for a more modern introduction to the Moomins, it’s okay to skip this one. 

Moomintroll (TV series, 1969)

The 1969 Swedish series Moomintroll (from the original Swedish title Mumintrollet) was written by original author Tove Jansson and her brother Lars. The series had a total of 13 episodes and featured live actors in Moomin costumes portraying some of the classic stories. 

Unfortunately, it also became known as “The Decapitated Moomins” because the live actors infamously removed the heads of their costumes in the second episode in a misguided attempt to display the characters’ emotions. Instead, it terrified the young children watching, and it is probably not the best starting point for younger viewers today, either.

The Moomins (TV series, 1977)

Between 1977 and 1982, the Polish production company Se-ma-for produced a stop-motion series featuring felt puppets called The Moomins (from the original Polish Opowiadania Muminków). 

The series is one of the more well-known Moomin productions, and was so well received in Poland, Germany, and Austria (where it originally aired) that it was adapted into English and aired in the UK and the US in 1983. While The Moomins is one of the most faithful adaptations of Jansson’s work—indeed, the author herself approved the episode scripts before they were filmed—be warned that the tone gets rather dark and is scarier than your average children’s production.

Years later, bits of the series were recompiled into several films, including 2008’s Moomin and the Midsummer Madness, in which the peaceful Moominvalley endures a volcanic eruption. Other films featuring repurposed material from the felt puppet series include 2010’s Moomins and the Comet Chase, and 2017’s Moomins and the Winter Wonderland. Seeking those out could make for a more streamlined viewing experience.

Moomin (TV series, 1990–1992)

The 1990s Moomin anime series is perhaps the most famous of all the Moomin productions.

The beautifully animated Finnish-Japanese production is distinctly lighter in tone and more child-friendly than the 1970s Polish series. While the series does not stick as faithfully to Jansson’s original stories, it has become widely recognised as one of the best Moomin series to date, and therefore worthy of attention for its cultural footprint alone.

Running for two seasons that total 104 episodes, it’ll also keep you busy for a while; younger, non-Japanese-speaking viewers will also find it accessible as it was dubbed into several languages, including English. A prequel film for the series called Comet in Moominland was also released in 1992, if you want further material.

Moomins on the Riviera (2014)

In celebration of Tove Jannsson’s 100th birthday anniversary in 2014, a French-Finnish co-production released this hand-drawn animated film based on a storyline from the Moomin comic strip. 

Moomins on the Riviera follows the adventures of the Moomin family and their friends Snorkmaiden and Little My as they sail to the French Riviera. The film was well received when it debuted at the BFI London Film Festival, with reviewers praising it for its humour, artistic animation style, and ability to keep both kids and parents entertained.

Moominvalley (TV series, 2019–)

In 2019, a new British-Finnish CGI animated series was added to the Moomin roster, Moominvalley. It's since become one of the most successful Moomin productions to date, with its engaging, contemplative storytelling bringing Jansson’s classic stories into today’s era without discarding the original tone and magic. For the most modern and acclaimed introduction (or introduction) to Moomins, this is an ideal entry point.

Fittingly, the series has won several accolades, including Best Children's Series at the British Animation Awards in 2020, and is directed by Steve Box, who previously won an Oscar in 2005 for his work co-directing Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit; if you like the stop-motion charms of Aardman, this is a natural accompaniment. Adding to its prestige, it also features voice work from beloved actors like Taron Egerton, Rosamund Pike, Kate Winslet, and more.

Somewhere around the release of Suicide Squad, the idea of method acting jumped the shark. As it turned out, the world could only take so many stories about Jared Leto sending rats to his co-stars before the whole idea started to sound a little silly. 

It’s a shame, as the basic idea of method acting has always been rather simple: dig up a traumatic memory, push it down again, annnnd action! Perhaps the only star who can still get away with it these days is Daniel Day-Lewis—an actor whose name has basically become synonymous with the idea of total dedication to the craft. Despite announcing his retirement after Lincoln, the actor will soon be back on screens in Anemone, a film directed by Ronan Day-Lewis—who, as you may have guessed, is his son. 

In the list below, which is arranged in chronological order, we’ve looked back at the actor’s most famous (and infamous) techniques; how they amazed and enraged his co-workers; and how they ultimately enraptured everyone else. Read on to discover more about the actor’s best method moments, and use the guide below to find some of his greatest movies on services like AppleTV, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere.

My Beautiful Launderette (1985)

The story goes that Stephen Frears was unsure about casting Day-Lewis (the son of a renowned poet) to play a working-class punk in My Beautiful Laundrette, but the actor managed to soothe his nerves—in a way—by writing him a letter explaining that if he didn’t get the role, he’d break his legs. Subtle.

The film itself is a classic of queer British cinema, and if you’re a fan of Andrew Haigh’s Weekend or James Ivory’s Maurice, it’s one you’ll want to seek out. 

The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)

All things considered, the Frears story is a little low-key in the Day-Lewis canon. The first truly legendary prep that the actor did for a role came with Philip Kaufman’s adaptation of Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being, a gorgeous romance set against the backdrop of the Prague Spring—and a movie that will delight fans of swoony historical epics like The Age of Innocence and The English Patient. 

For the role of Tomas, a medical student whose heart becomes split between two women (played by Juliette Binoche and Lena Olin), Day-Lewis learned how to speak Czech, despite the fact that the movie was in English. In a later interview, the actor explained that he wanted his Czech accent to have a “kernel of truth.” Fair enough!

My Left Foot (1989)

Of all the stories surrounding Day-Lewis’ performances, his behaviour on the set of Jim Sheridan’s My Left Foot might be the most notorious. This is a film based on the memoir of Christy Brown, an Irish writer and artist who was born with cerebral palsy, so he learned to produce art using his lower extremity instead. Despite the subject matter, it’s actually kind of a blast—a film closer in tone to something like The Snapper than The Theory of Everything.

Naturally, Day-Lewis went all-in for the role, travelling exclusively by wheelchair—to the point that many crew members later complained about having to carry the actor to and from the set—and having his food fed to him. He also won Best Actor at the Academy Awards.

Hamlet (1989)

This version of Hamlet is, sadly, not available for streaming—but the story of Day-Lewis’ final performance as the Prince of Denmark is too good to leave out. This one came a little after some of the other stories on this list, but it has served as a kind of origin myth for the actor’s dedication.

The story goes that during a performance at the National Theatre in 1989, under director Richard Eyre and during the scene when Hamlet sees a ghost of his father, Day-Lewis was so wrapped up in his performance that he saw the ghost of his own father on stage. He immediately walked off and, 36 years later, hasn’t been on a stage since. Now that’s commitment to the bit. 

The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

Another classic in the Day-Lewis method canon was the actor’s meticulous preparation for his role in Michael Mann’s 1992 classic, The Last of the Mohicans. This is a brilliant historical epic, a movie that splits the difference between the detail and sentimentality of Dances With Wolves and the thrilling spectacle of Braveheart. 

For the role of Hawkeye, a white man raised by a Mohican tribe, the actor spent months in the wilderness, built his own canoe, learned how to skin and cook animals, and became skilled at firing and reloading a flintlock rifle while running. 

In the Name of the Father (1993)

In 1993, Day-Lewis reunited with his My Left Foot director, Jim Sheridan, to bring 

Gerry Conlon’s memoir to the big screen. In the Name of the Father tells the story of four men who were wrongfully imprisoned for the IRA bombings in Guilford in 1974—and if you’re interested in that period of history (think Hunger, Say Nothing), I highly recommend it. 

In preparation for the role of Conlon, who spent 15 years in prison before being cleared of the charges, Day-Lewis lost 50 pounds and spent almost 48 hours in solitary confinement without food or water. The performance earned him his second nomination at the Oscars, where he lost to Tom Hanks for Philadelphia. 

The Boxer (1997)

Some say the reason why Day-Lewis makes so few movies is simply due to the time it takes him to prepare—any director who calls him up knows they may have to play the long game. This was certainly the case with The Boxer, the actor’s third collaboration with Sheridan and another story rooted in that period of Irish history. This one follows a man’s attempts to put his life back together after doing 14 years in prison—if you’re familiar with Cutty’s story arc in Season 3 of The Wire, you’ll know what to expect.

In preparation for this one, the actor trained for three years to get into the boxer’s mindset. When it eventually became time to roll cameras, his coach claimed that the actor could’ve competed professionally. 

Gangs of New York (2002)

Having worked together on The Age of Innocence in 1993, Day-Lewis and Martin Scorsese reunited almost a decade later for Gangs of New York. The movie follows the early days of Irish immigration in America, and even though it’s not the director’s best, if you appreciate the period setting and mood of Scorsese’s Boardwalk Empire, or even the recent Netflix series House of Guinness, you’ll probably get into it! 

The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz, but there’s no doubt that Day-Lewis’ iconic Bill “The Butcher” steals the show. To prepare for the role, the actor apprenticed with a real butcher, studied 19th century New York dialects, and refused to take modern medicine when he caught pneumonia (having also refused to wear a modern winter coat.) Scorsese says that between takes, he would stalk the set while sharpening knives. 

Of course, he got another nomination.

The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005)

Anemone isn’t the first time that Day-Lewis has collaborated on a loved one’s film. In 2005, he starred in director Rebecca Miller’s (aka his wife’s) The Ballad of Jack and Rose. This is a tonally dark film about an ex-hippie raising his daughter on a secluded island off the coast of New England, where a commune once thrived—imagine a murky combination of Leave no Trace and Dogtooth and you might have some idea of what to expect.

This might be the most low-key film of Day-Lewis’ career, and yet, to no one’s surprise, it didn’t stop him from living alone in a shack without electricity or running water for the entirety of the shoot.

Lincoln (2012)

The level of accuracy that Steven Spielberg brought to his 2012 biopic, Lincoln, is already the stuff of legend—and if you appreciate the director’s historical work, like Saving Private Ryan or Empire of the Sun, this is one you’ll want to see. 

The great sound designer Ben Burtt once told me that he travelled to the Smithsonian in Washington just to record the ticking of one of the late President’s actual wristwatches. It seems that by 2012, the actor had cooled it a bit with his on-set antics, but Day-Lewis still rose to the occasion: he worked meticulously on Lincoln’s voice and mannerisms, producing a more introverted version than anyone expected; he also allegedly signed off his text messages with “Abe” and asked the cast and crew to refer to him as “Mr. President”. 

The role also won him a record-breaking third Academy Award. Say what you want, the guy gets results. 

He’s the master of neatness, building perfectly symmetrical, intricate worlds and then populating them with the most absurd yet charming characters you’re ever likely to meet. Wes Anderson’s quirky stories may not be for everyone, but there is no denying that he is one of the most sublimely stylish filmmakers working today.

From his early indie work and stop-motion animation to Oscar-winning triumphs, we’ve ranked every Wes Anderson movie (not including his collection of short films) to determine which is the best.

12. Asteroid City (2023)

At the bottom of the pile, Asteroid City commits the ultimate cinema sin. There’s no two ways about it, I just find it plain boring. A story about UFO sightings, a quarantined city, and meteorite crash sites sounds like a fascinating tale. Yet it’s let down by overly stilted dialogue and sluggish pacing – the film is only just over 100 minutes long, but feels far longer. In addition, Anderson unfortunately fails to get the best out of his incredible ensemble cast and struggles to handle the ambitious story he’s crafted. 

What I do admire, though, is the film tackling heavy themes of grief and the ways humans deal with chaos and tragedy. For me, he only scratches the surface with this, but it’s still something tangible and meaningful compared to his more whimsical tone. I will also admit the production design is perhaps Anderson’s greatest, with stunning blues and yellows that bring the American deserts of the 1950s to life.

Sure, it’s not for me personally, but if you enjoyed recent movies like White Noise from Noah Baumbach or Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid, I think you’ll be able to tap into Asteroid City and appreciate what Anderson is striving for. Plus, it’s on Netflix, so if you are looking to watch all of his work, you’ll at least find it very easily.

11. Rushmore (1998)

While Bottle Rocket was a riveting and spectacular debut (more on that later), Anderson’s follow-up, Rushmore, lacks its energy and intrigue. In many ways, this film sows the early seeds of that gratuitous quirkiness that has come to tarnish Anderson’s work in recent years.

Though I find Rushmore to be tedious, pretentious, and sadly, none of its humour quite works for me, one of my friends has this as his favourite Wes Anderson movie, so you shouldn’t write it off without watching it at least once. I do think it’s a real shame that I couldn’t get on board with the film. What could have been an interesting idea seems to lose its way, muddied by the urge to be outlandish for the sake of it. Still, it’s only an hour and a half long, and it’s on Disney+, too, so maybe I should give it another go. If you enjoy the likes of Dead Poets Society, Lady Bird, and The Social Network, you’ll probably get on board with Rushmore.

10. The Phoenician Scheme (2025)

The latest Wes Anderson movie has plenty of positives. Benicio del Toro is as superb as ever, the film looks breathtakingly beautiful (possibly the most visually pleasing of Anderson’s career), and there are some truly hilarious moments. But these positives are too few and far between in The Phoenician Scheme as Anderson fails to give us a story we can actually care about, leaving audiences wanting so much more on all fronts. When I saw this at the cinema, the first half an hour had me feeling like I could be watching a real return to form, but things sadly fall apart at the gorgeous, delicate seams in the second and third acts.

Those style-over-substance accusations are getting harder and harder to deny. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with The Phoenician Scheme, aside from the aforementioned story issues and the fact that it doesn’t quite utilise both Michael Cera and Benedict Cumberbatch as effectively as it could and should. Still, if you like the way Anderson plays around with various cameos, you’ll love spotting all the famous faces. At times, The Phoenician Scheme feels like Burn After Reading or Kinds of Kindness; it’s even got shades of Megalopolis about it, for better or worse. 

All in all, it’s a very ambitious picture, and one that will raise a few laughs. Remember, even watching a weaker Wes Anderson film is still usually a very good way to spend a couple of hours.

9. The French Dispatch (2021)

Anthology films are always hard to judge. Had Anderson opted to simply make a feature film expanding on the first segment, The Concrete Masterpiece, we would potentially be looking at one of his best-ever films. Benicio del Toro is outstanding as the enigmatic and unhinged artist at the heart of the tale, but Moses’s story is over far too soon. I’d give anything to see more of the gruff and grisly character and his oddly sweet chemistry with Lea Seydoux’s Simone; theirs is a truly intriguing tale, and it is the main reason I’ll be revisiting The French Dispatch in the near future.

The French Dispatch then moves on to Timothée Chalamet and Frances McDormand, who combine for a perfectly fine if unremarkable story of political rebellion. This chapter is by far the most typical of Anderson’s methodical and elaborate style, with an air of slapstick comedy juxtaposed with poetic dialogue. There’s no denying that Chalamet is captivating to watch (as always), providing us with the kind of character in Zeffirelli that we are eager to get to know better, and whose arrogant front belies a genuinely fascinating and impactful set of political ideologies. 

Sadly, The French Dispatch wraps up with a very stylish but underwhelming storytelling session from Jeffrey Wright. In short, this anthology ends up being less than the sum of its parts, but there’s enough in the first two stories to make it worthwhile, especially if you like it when Anderson takes on a more serious tone.

8. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

In this ranking of Wes Anderson movies, Moonrise Kingdom is the final divider between the very good and the very disappointing. There’s a lot to love about Anderson’s offbeat camping adventure, including heavily relying on child actors that pays off and then some, bringing a cute romantic tale to life. Ed Norton and Bruce Willis are fantastic as the more senior members of the cast, and the fact that this film helped make Jared Gilman – one of the funniest cinephiles on X – famous is worthy of celebration in itself.

In truth, there’s very little stopping Moonrise Kingdom from being higher up this list. Perhaps it merely lacks that splash of dynamism and energy that Anderson’s more effective work possesses, but that’s nitpicking a perfectly charming film. The only downside is that you’ll have to pay to rent it, as it’s currently not on any streaming services. But Moonrise Kingdom is totally worth the few pounds you’ll have to part with. Watch this one if you like films like Sing Street, The Florida Project, and Hunt for the Wilderpeople.

7. Isle of Dogs (2018)

While not as strong as his previous stop-motion work on Fantastic Mr Fox (more on that one later, too), Isle of Dogs is still a masterful animated effort. What it lacks in warmth and whimsy, Isle of Dogs more than makes up for in its provocative messaging and slick technical elements. Almost ten years on from his first foray into the medium, it’s clear to see Anderson had evolved as an animated storyteller by this point, with cleaner visuals and a desire to spin a more mature tale.

There’s incredible worldbuilding on display here, too, as Anderson drops us into the vast and diverse fictional city of Megasaki. But it is the ensemble of voice actors that is the real triumph, with Bryan Cranston proving he’s more than just the one who knocks; he’s also the one who barks. I remember seeing this at the cinema with my brother and daughter when it first came out, and we’ve since rewatched it together and loved it all the same.

6. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

You can pinpoint The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou as the start of Anderson’s affinity for the grandiose and extravagant. It’s a film rich with verve and visual flair, and it also introduced that off-kilter comedy he’s now renowned for. Obviously, having a cast that includes the likes of Willem Dafoe, Bill Murray, and Jeff Goldblum is always going to give you that magical balance of humour and charm.

It’s an absurd film, really, taking a mockumentary approach to riff on the life of famed French oceanographer, Jacques Cousteau (speaking of whom, you should totally watch the documentary Becoming Cousteau if you enjoy this film), and yet it all works so brilliantly. In many ways, this experimental effort could be the most important Wes Anderson movie of all, for what it stirred inside the filmmaker creatively. Give this one a go if you are into films like Captain Fantastic, Swiss Army Man, and The Peanut Butter Falcon.

5. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

If you enjoy the light and warm feeling Wes Anderson films give you, then prepare to be shocked by how cold and cynical The Royal Tenenbaums is. This is an incredibly raw and bleak story at times, with some truly harrowing moments that feel out of place in Anderson’s oeuvre now, and yet it all still works phenomenally well. When it’s funny, it’s laugh-out-loud hilarious, but when it veers towards the more emotional elements, it offers up a gutpunch or two.

Gene Hackman carries the film on his shoulders, which should come as no surprise, but the likes of Ben Stiller and Luke Wilson are outstanding in support. What’s interesting about this picture is that it’s the last time Anderson worked without the shackles of symmetry. That precision in his work is so often the source of success, but with The Royal Tenenbaums, he is firmly focused on story alone, and the film flourishes because of this. 

I was lucky enough to see this in the cinema recently, and it was predictably fantastic. But you can watch it on Disney+ at home. In fact, if you like Wes Anderson, having a subscription to the House of Mouse service is essential, as three-quarters of his work is on there.

4. The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

As I’ve discussed, the biggest criticism sent Wes Anderson’s way is that his work is more style over substance. With The Darjeeling Limited, that’s certainly not the case. Of all Anderson’s work, this is his most powerful and poignant – you can feel how personal this story is to him. In fact, in an interview with Empire, Anderson explained how his fascination with India led him to travel the country with his collaborators, Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola, to research and write this movie. And, it has to be said, that authenticity really shines through.

Of course, there’s still that trademark eccentricity we know and love, but it all feeds into the highly cathartic conclusion. Schwartzman, Adrien Brody, and Owen Wilson have exceptional chemistry together, and it’s because of them that everything collides in such a satisfying way by the end. At just over 90 minutes long, The Darjeeling Limited is one of those rare movies that makes good use of every single second of screen time.

3. Bottle Rocket (1996)

Anderson’s debut came almost 30 years ago now, but it still stands the test of time as one of his finest works. Bottle Rocket is a film brimming with confidence and swagger, and while it still leans into the comedic side of things, there’s also a real grit to this accomplished indie feature. It’s fascinating to think that Quentin Tarantino was making a name for himself around this time, as there are certainly shades of Pulp Fiction present in the way the story twists and turns while balancing humour and crime.

It’s so rare to see someone come out of the blocks firing on all cylinders in this way, but Anderson and his cohort deliver something truly special here. The Wilson brothers are in fine form, while Robert Musgrave offers up one of those lightning-in-a-bottle performances alongside them to steal the show. You’ll either have to rent this from Apple TV+ or sign up to BFI Player, but either way, it’s worth it. You simply cannot miss this early Wes Anderson movie.

2. Fantastic Mr Fox (2009)

As it turns out, the irreverent humour and quaint charm usually found in Anderson’s work translate wonderfully into stop-motion animation. His take on this Roald Dahl classic is full of warmth and playfulness, and the kind of film that leaves you marvelling at how anyone is capable of pulling off such a technical feat. What’s also great about it is that Anderson embellishes the source material with so many quirky details, turning a brilliant book into an even better movie.

Fantastic Mr Fox works for young viewers thanks to its silly, slapstick comedy, but it also has a deeper, more mature edge that’ll give older viewers a slice of the fun, too. By far his most universal and accessible film, this is also Wes Anderson at his most creative, and it’s a real treat to behold. This movie will always hold a special place in my heart, as it’s one of my daughter’s all-time favourites; we watch it together every year, and it never loses its magic.

1. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

The truth is, Wes Anderson peaked just over a decade ago, with his sumptuous concierge caper, The Grand Budapest Hotel. Not only is it one of the most stunning pieces of art of the 21st century, but it’s also incredibly funny and surprisingly heartfelt at times. Just be warned, it’s also a little bit violent and rude, so it’s not one to share with younger audiences.

Unsurprisingly, this beautiful picture won the Oscar for Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Production Design. The attention to detail in bringing this film to life is astounding – from those lavish costumes and large-scale set pieces, to unfathomably meticulous miniatures and camera work. Throw in a career-best performance from Ralph Fiennes and a razor-sharp script, and you have a truly perfect movie. This is right in the Goldilocks zone for Anderson, who strikes the ideal balance between his oddball energy, high-brow humour, and visual flair without it ever seeming ostentatious. 

If you’ve enjoyed films like Poor Things, Babylon, and The Banshees of Inisherin, you’ll be enraptured by your cinematic trip to The Grand Budapest Hotel.

While their reception among film critics and horror aficionados alike is mixed, there’s no denying the cultural and financial footprint of The Conjuring Universe. Based, with the widest creative license imaginable, on the infamous and controversial careers of real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film series began in 2013 with creator James Wan’s take on the Warren case that inspired The Amityville Horror, the story of a family being driven out of their Long Island home by incessant paranormal activity.

The film was a box office smash and a critical hit, leading to three direct sequels and six spin-offs to date, collectively propelling the extended universe to be one of the most successful in cinema history. It’s repeatedly been hailed as the only real competition to the MCU’s dominance, which is no mean feat for any franchise, let alone horror.

The secret sauce that pulls audiences in their droves to a Conjuring film isn’t just the signature flair that Wan, who is artistically underrated in my book, baked into their foundation, nor the haunted toy box of monsters powering the spinoffs. Without the chemistry and conviction that Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga bring to Ed and Lorraine, the main series simply wouldn’t work as well. I’d go so far as to say these movies, which are unabashedly mainstream, transcend horror in the way that their ‘elevated’ competitors do. At their heart, they’re simply classic tales of good vs evil, without irony or metaphor. For that reason, anyone after something truly unsettling should instead invest their time in modern horror series like Terrifier. Everyone else happy with Ghost Train-levels of thrill, meanwhile, can continue reading for my ranking of every Conjuring movie, from the least good to the very best.    

10. The Curse of La Llorona (2019)

There’s some debate as to whether The Curse of La Llorona counts as part of The Conjuring Universe. Series director Michael Chaves views it as an unofficial outlier, as, despite it taking place within the same world and featuring Annabelle’s Father Perez, it has the least connection to the Warrens. This might be why the film sits at the bottom of the pile for me – it feels far too inconsequential.

Inspired by a vengeful, weeping spirit from Latin American mythology and taking place in the 1970s, La Llorona is a standard (to a fault) haunted house tale starring the always excellent Linda Cardellini. It’s refreshing to spotlight folklore that isn’t Biblical or Eurocentric in origin, but La Llorona is neither the scariest nor the most lore-enriching Conjuring film. However, if you’re interested in learning more about Hispanic supernaturalism, or enjoyed low-key domestic horror like The Woman In The Yard or Night Swim, it’s a perfectly fine night in.   

9. The Nun 2 (2023)

Here’s where I begin my campaign to convince you that Valak, aka the ‘Demon Nun’ that plagues Lorraine in The Conjuring II, deserves to be the series mascot more than Annabelle. Unfortunately, that effort begins with the inferior sequel to the demon’s spinoff movie, but it speaks volumes about the character’s power that a disappointing series entry can still be worth recommending.

Actual nun Sister Irene is back in the habit in the 1950s French-set film, having supposedly exorcised Valek in mocking sisterly garb in the previous instalment. The film falls into the classic pitfall of retroactively fleshing out a hero’s backstory to explain their ‘specialness’ in order to justify continuing the story. Really, Sister Irene was compelling in The Nun because she was so ordinary – and because Taissa Farmiga (Vera’s younger sister) is an absolute trooper. The Nun II also doesn’t live up to the dark fantasy terror of the first one, though one especially inventive sequence involving Valak appearing on the covers at a magazine stand is one of The Conjuring’s most iconic.  

8. Anabelle Comes Home (2019)

Proving that Conjuring spinoffs really do have diminishing returns the longer they continue, the (so far) final chapter in the Annabelle trilogy just beats The Nun for this lowly place on the list. Based on a real-life ‘haunted’ Raggedy Ann doll, the possessed toy is whatever the opposite of being pride of place is in the Warren’s infamous home collection of confiscated occult items. 

Anabelle Comes Home completes a journey for the pigtailed menace we’ll get into later on, and the premise is really fun: the Warren’s daughter Judy, along with her babysitter and friends, breaks into the collection room and chaos ensues. Ghostbusters’ Grace McKenna (as Judy) doubles down on her horror kid credentials, and there’s a Ferryman-themed monster who really gives me the heebie-jeebies. However, a climactic projector-powered cameo from Patrick Wilson in full exorcism mode only serves to remind you how hollow most Conjuring films are without horror’s most wholesome couple.     

7. Annabelle (2014)

After debuting in the first Conjuring movie as a shadow villain to the central antagonistic force, Annabelle cuts loose in this first spinoff, set a few years before the first film. Annabelle reveals how the demon possessing the doll was summoned and ended up attached to it, as well as its link to the Warrens via Father Perez, who is called to the aid of the family Annabelle terrorises.

The late ‘60s setting and a demonic plot revolving around a newborn might strike a chord with anyone who likes Rosemary’s Baby, or the more modern Servant. As a foundational lore-dropper, Annabelle is also essential viewing for franchise fans; for everyone else, there are more exciting and scarier films to come on this list.

6. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)

The third Conjuring film in the main series is the least well-liked for a reason: based on another real-life event, in which the defence during a murder trial in 1981 rested on the claim that the 11-year-old defendant had been possessed during the crime, The Devil Made Me Do It transports the Warrens from their familiar haunted house territory to courtroom drama.

It’s an interesting twist on paper that, unfortunately, drains the undead life out of the film for much of its middle portion. However, that rather baggy, lax middle is bookended by some brilliant moments of tension, including Ed having an exorcism-fuelled brush with death and the Warrens uncovering the cavernous lair of Devil-worshippers – a nod to the satanic panic of the 1980s.

5. The Nun (2018)

Cue the baritone occult chanting… What makes The Nun a particularly strong spinoff movie is that it can stand alone from the rest of the Conjuring films. Taking place in a crumbling Romanian convent in the early 1950s, the film is the first chronological appearance of Valak, explaining how the demon came to take its titular guise and how it latched itself onto Sister Irene.

In the ‘Nunsploitation’ canon, it’s closer to the paranormal wildness of Immaculate than the subdued psycho-drama of Black Narcissus, making great use of its setting’s shadowy, gothic aesthetic to dial up the strange sense of both isolation and claustrophobia. The finale veers into the fantastical – The Pope’s Exorcist, but somehow more believable – but Taissa Farmiga grounds everything with a resolute, inner strength. It’s Bonnie Aarons’ Nun, however, that’s the driving force for me: floating through corridors with that dead-eyed, green stare, cementing Valak as one of modern horror’s most terrifying concoctions.

4. Annabelle: Creation (2017)

This middle instalment of the Annabelle spinoff trilogy takes us back even further than its predecessor, delving into the backstory of Annabelle’s protagonist and what motivates her to carry out a ritualistic slaying as an adult. The impetus for the horror is a grief-stricken couple praying for the resurrection of their young daughter, and the hell they unwittingly unleash on their foster children from the being who answers.

Creation is Annabelle at her fiendish best – hiding in barns, pushing kids down stairs, and in one sequence that still makes me shudder, simply lying in wait on a bottom bunk bed all night; masterful tension-building with pure paranoia. Obviously, it’s an important origin point for the character and a key Conjuring universe film, which is why it just pips The Nun to this position in the ranking. It’s also a must-watch for those drawn to creepy doll horror, like Child’s Play and M3GAN. 

3. The Conjuring (2013)

The film that started it all was a surprise runaway hit in the early 2010s, raking in over $300 million against a $20 million budget. Over a decade later, The Conjuring remains a satisfyingly disturbing haunted house classic for the modern age: a likeable, normal family tortured by volatile supernatural forces, and the dedicated couple (the Warrens) who valiantly come to their aid against these forces.

Lili Taylor is fantastic as the mother targeted by a vengeful, ghoulish entity, with memorable scenes involving mouth-to-mouth black gunk and a viscerally harrowing exorcism in the Rhode Island estate’s basement. Despite its subject matter, this is the most grounded of the series, with a strong focus on practical effects and character-driven storytelling that elevate the film above mere shock value. It helped usher in a new era of thoughtful, high-end horror, like the It remakes and Mike Flanagan’s Hill House anthology.

2. The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025)

Last Rites looks to be the concluding chapter of Ed and Lorraine’s cinematic journey, and it’s a suitably eerie but affectionate note to end on. Taking place in the late ‘80s, the film promises there’s “a reason this was [the Warren’s] last case”, dragging their adult daughter Judy, the inheritor of Lorraine’s medium ability, into the home of another poor family with a demon problem.

Though it’s a bit of a slowburn, this is a return to form following the slight disappointment of The Devil Made Me Do It: the opening flashback should not be viewed by anyone about to give birth, and that wedding dress changing room scene – inexplicably built like a fairground hall of mirrors – rivals that car scene in Weapons for the audience gasps it induces. Scares aside, Last Rites is Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga’s triumphant swan song, and their commitment to these characters is as unwavering as the Warren’s devotion to fighting evil.   

1. The Conjuring 2 (2016)

The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 are as close to perfect as blockbuster horror filmmaking can be, but for me, this first sequel is just that bit more special. All of the ingredients that go on to define the extended universe are formalised here: an array of entities with unique schticks (including our good friend Valak as the Final Boss), deeply sympathetic victims in a working-class British family beset by evil, and, in their second outing, Ed and Lorraine feel fully realised as a united force keeping hell at bay with nothing but a bible and a guitar.

Having some unusually robust source material helps, as well as some of the series’s most haunting imagery: Lorraine’s painting of the Demon Nun suddenly becoming real, the ghostly old man appearing in his armchair, the Crooked Man luring a child into a tent, and the climactic confrontation with Valak playing out with Old Testament grandeur. If you want to know what makes The Conjuring Universe tick, The Conjuring 2 has all bases covered.    

He may be cute and charming when he’s talking about movies, but when making them, Director Bong goes to some pretty dark places. Whether it’s strange aquatic monsters, brutal and bloody murder cases, or dystopian train rides, the Korean filmmaker has given us ample opportunity over the years to dissect and decipher our place in society through his work.

As far as foreign language directors go, there are few as popular – or indeed as talented – as Bong Joon-ho. After dominating the Oscars with Parasite in 2020, he returned in 2025 with the long-awaited Mickey 17. So, as his career goes from strength to strength, it’s time to crown the best Bong Joon-ho movie of them all.

For this list, we decided not to include two films, Tokyo and Digital Short Films by Three Filmmakers 2004, as even though they’re technically included in his filmography, Director Bong merely directed segments of these two anthology films, and as such, we’re not going to count them in this collection of feature-length projects. You’ll find eight of those below, ranked in ascending order.

8. Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000)

Debut feature films are hard. Very few filmmakers get them right, and sadly, not even the great Bong Joon-ho could do much with his first effort. The most interesting thing about Barking Dogs Never Bite is its creative title, which says all you need to know about the quality of this one. Maybe that was harsh – it’s not necessarily a bad film, but it is painfully raw and rough around the edges. 

It’s also guilty of the worst crime you can commit in film, which is that it’s immediately forgettable and not all that engaging. While Bong’s later work is imbued with a comical and clever cynicism, Barking Dogs Never Bite feels cold and cruel for the sake of it. Completionists can tick it off their list pretty easily, though: it’s fairly short and available on BFI Player. But be warned, if you’re sensitive to animal cruelty, don’t watch this one.

7. Mickey 17 (2025)

There were such high hopes for Bong Joon-ho’s follow-up to Parasite, especially when it was announced that Robert Pattinson would lead the cast, playing multiple versions of himself. That combo sounds like a dream, but sadly, Mickey 17 struggles tonally and lacks the flair of Bong’s earlier work. It’s not funny enough to be a comedy and it’s not exciting enough to be a thriller, so it ends up being little more than a fairly run-of-the-mill sci-fi. That a Bong Joon-ho picture could ever feel generic is crazy to imagine, but here we are.

While Mickey 17 does look great (the CGI work, in particular, is top drawer) and everyone seems to be having fun on screen (especially Mark Ruffalo), there’s a predictability to the story that drains the excitement out of the experience. At the time of writing, you’ll have to pay to rent this, and I wouldn’t recommend doing so other than to make your own mind up.

6. The Host (2006)

If you think a monster movie from Bong Joon-ho sounds like fun, you’d be absolutely right. The Host is an ambitious, bombastic, brilliant take on a tried-and-tested subgenre. It’s by no means perfect, but you have to admire the absurdity and technical creativity on show to bring this semi-horror sci-fi to life.

In many ways, this is Bong at his playful best. The film itself has its weaknesses – severely dated CGI, for one – but diving into this disaster movie is guaranteed to put a smile on your face in its delivery of razor-sharp social commentary around how we as a people may or may not selfishly act in times of crisis. It does have its dark, fairly gruesome moments, too, but that grey area between glee and gloom is where Bong has always thrived. Do yourself a favour: subscribe to Studio Canal and make this your first watch there.

5. Mother (2009)

Right, this is where this list steps up a notch from films you may or may not want or need to watch, to films like Mother, that you simply cannot ignore. In the early to mid-2000s, Bong Joon-ho was crafting far bleaker and more brutal work in his native tongue, and Mother is a fine example of this. Bong puts his audience in detective mode to unravel a deliciously dark mystery, and there’s a real no-holds-barred approach to the depictions of violence he puts on screen here.

It says a lot that this isn’t even his most sadistic and disturbing picture, but there’s something about Bong’s level of attention to every grimy, horrible little detail that gets under your skin. Watch this if you like movies like Psycho, We Need to Talk About Kevin, or The Game. Whether you sign up for Sundance Now and watch it there or pay to rent it, Mother is absolutely worth seeking out at all costs.

4. Okja (2017)

If you prefer Bong’s more fun side, Okja is the perfect hit of that. This Netflix-produced dark comedy is everything Mickey 17 wanted to be, but ended up being far less intriguing than. Between Jake Gyllenhaal hamming it up and the adorable titular creature at the heart of the story, you’ve got a bit of everything in this one, combining chaos and cuteness in a treat for all sensibilities.

Okja is also incredibly emotional – it made me cry, and I never cry! It’s a poignant inspection of mankind’s role in the world and the way we treat other living beings. Think Pete’s Dragon, but with more swearing and harrowing moments, or Princess Mononoke with a little less subtlety. It couldn’t be easier to watch Okja, either; just turn Netflix on and get on with it already!

3. Snowpiercer (2013)

Remember when we said Mother wasn’t the most bleak Bong movie? Well, here it is. Snowpiercer is grim, but it’s absolutely fascinating, and certainly Bong’s finest work in the English language. From the stunning snowy backdrops outside to the shadowy, grimy train carriages within, every inch of Snowpiercer is designed to make you feel claustrophobic and uneasy, fueling its harrowing central story of class hierarchy and a fight for survival.

It’s a very Orwellian tale: Animal Farm, essentially, but with people on a train. And if that doesn’t get you immediately scrambling to sign up to Paramount Plus and pressing play on Snowpiercer, then something is very wrong. Just be warned, if you love Chris Evans as Captain America, get ready for that poster boy image to be tarnished forever with one staggering line delivery – but it’s so worth it.

2. Memories of Murder (2003)

Not many filmmakers could claim that their sophomore feature film is near-perfect, but Bong Joon-ho definitely can. Memories of Murder is a captivating detective thriller story steeped in gruesome, grisly crimes and a cat-and-mouse chase for the ages. All the best aspects of classics like Seven, The Silence of the Lambs, and pretty much anything by Alfred Hitchcock are present here. While it’s not quite as violent or harrowing as I Saw the Devil, it’s pretty damn close.

It’s incredible to think that this effort came just three years after his subpar debut in Barking Dogs Never Bite. In that short space of time, Bong refined every aspect of his filmmaking, expertly guiding the lens, drawing mesmerising performances out of his cast, and threading a narrative so complex and compelling you’ll be absolutely hooked from the first minute to the last.

1. Parasite (2019)

It can be annoying to go for the obvious answer sometimes. But then again, if something is so obvious, it’s for a good reason, and the love that Parasite gets is more than justified. Simply put, there is no way anything else could have taken top spot in this ranking of Bong Joon-ho’s movies. Parasite is rip-roaringly funny, beautifully dark, and so unpredictable that the first time you watch this movie, your jaw will be on the floor by the end. This film deserved every award it won, and then some – it’s genuinely one of the best movies of the modern era. 

What’s also brilliant about Parasite is that it’s one of the most easily accessible foreign language movies. If you like the irreverence of Wes Anderson movies, the surrealism of Yorgos Lanthimos, or even the way Quentin Tarantino movies twist and turn and collide, you’ll have a blast with Parasite. It’s so easy to get over that “one-inch barrier” of words on the screen, as Bong put it himself, and it’s so worth it, too. When a story is this universal and wonderfully crafted, you’ll soon forget you’re even reading subtitles. Plus, it’s on Netflix, so it quite literally couldn’t be simpler. Stop making excuses and watch this life-changing movie tonight.

With the release of Sinners at the start of summer 2025, audiences were treated to a double dose of Michael B. Jordan. His star turn as twin brothers in Ryan Coogler’s epic vampire movie oozed charisma, firmly establishing him as one of the coolest and most accomplished actors working today.

The truth, though, is that we’ve known about his star quality for a long time now. Whether you’re just getting to know him or you’ve been following his career for years, there’s never a bad time to dive into the best Michael B. Jordan movies and see what he’s been up to. Below, you’ll find ten of his best so far, ranked in ascending order, as well as where to watch them.

10. Fantastic Four (2015)

Is it messy? Absolutely. Is it for the best that this version of Marvel’s ‘First Family’ was never seen again? Probably. But deep down, are we ready to admit that Fantastic Four is secretly a little bit fun? Yes. Yes, we are. First of all, I don’t want to live in a world that doesn’t have the ‘Say that again’ meme. Secondly, it’s very hard to completely hate on a film with a cast that includes Toby Kebbell and Miles Teller alongside Jordan. 

There’s actually a lot to appreciate about the direction Josh Trank’s vision for these characters was heading in. It had plenty of energy, some cool visuals, and it’s definitely nowhere near the worst superhero movie with Marvel’s name attached. With a runtime of 100 minutes, it’s not like you’re wasting your time either. Hell, even just talking about this movie right now has got me craving a rewatch – I wonder if I’ll still be a staunch defender of Fantastic Four after that.

9. That Awkward Moment (2014)

Here’s something we haven’t seen often from Michael B. Jordan: a romantic comedy. Given he’s one of the most charismatic actors on the planet, you’d think studios would be throwing these projects at him. Judging by his work in That Awkward Moment, he would knock every single one of them out of the park! Still, this rare light spot in his otherwise fairly heavy filmography is a real treat and an underrated gem in the genre overall.

He stars alongside Miles Teller and Zac Efron here, and the leading men of That Awkward Moment help to lift what could have been a fairly average flick into a very entertaining and easy watch. It’s filled with lots of genuinely funny moments, and also offers some – but not too much – commentary on the idea of toxic masculinity, too. You’ll have to pay to rent this movie on Apple TV+, but if you’re looking for a light watch for date night, it’s honestly worth a couple of quid.

8. Creed II (2018)

It’s really hard to separate all three Creed movies. When forced to pick, however, I have to admit Creed II is marginally weaker (it goes down to a split decision, but there has to be a loser in every fight). This sequel has a solid storyline at its core, but it just doesn’t quite have the spark of Coogler’s first instalment and lacks the creativity from Jordan in Creed III. Still, Steven Caple Jr. gets some of Stallone’s best work here, and Jordan really starts to make the franchise his own by this point. 

Love it or hate it, the decision to bring back Ivan Drago and have Adonis fight his son is a really interesting move, helping bring closure for both families and bringing the franchise to a wonderful full-circle moment. It may be marginally the weakest of the trilogy, but Creed II is still one of the best sports movies of the last decade. It leaves Prime Video at the end of September 2025, but you could always give Film Box+ a trial run and watch it there instead.

7. Chronicle (2012)

You may think Black Panther was Michael B. Jordan’s first dalliance with the superhero genre, but he actually gained special abilities long before that in 2012’s Chronicle. The Josh Trank movie has grown as a cult favourite over the years, garnering praise for its gritty approach to the superhero craze and the creative technical elements behind the indie flick. Rightly so, too. This is a film with enough visual flair and smart use of CGI to make its world immersive without overkill.

Despite the supernatural elements at play, this dark, thought-provoking sci-fi film is surprisingly human and grounded, exploring the mental and moral complications that would arise from gaining superpowers. Honestly, if it weren’t for the rise of the MCU around the same time, I think Chronicle would have absolutely blown audiences away. Next time you boot up Disney+, try this 83-minute movie rather than rewatching The Avengers for the umpteenth time.

6. Creed (2015)

The idea of resurrecting the Rocky franchise at all was a risky one, never mind the fact that, with Creed, the focus went away from Sylvester Stallone’s iconic title character and introduced us to a brand new hero to root for. But it damn sure worked, as the combination of Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler produced magic once more in 2015.

Stallone becomes the reluctant mentor here, helping Adonis Creed step out of the shadow of his father, Apollo, and earn champion status in his own right. Creed is a rousing, riveting study of the power of perseverance and mental fortitude, and is worth a watch whether you care for boxing or not. I have no interest in combat sports at all, but I still think these movies are incredible. 

While I believe Creed III is the most exciting film in the trilogy (more on that one later), I’ll always be in awe of the way Coogler was able to put his own stamp on such a prominent IP, putting a modern twist on the world of Rocky. 

5. Just Mercy (2019)

While Jordan is great value in his blockbuster roles, he is usually at his most impressive when he’s given more serious, real-world themes to chew on, like in the 2019 film, Just Mercy. Playing human rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, Jordan excels with this more dramatic, heartfelt material, generating excellent chemistry opposite Jamie Foxx.

This is not even Jordan’s best work in the social justice drama subgenre, but it’s still a movie that’ll make you enraged, empowered, and most importantly, educated. It’s a tragedy that this kind of story exists and still needs to be told even to this day, but, just like Fruitvale Station, this is a film that demands attention no matter how uncomfortable it may make us feel. 

I remember a friend of mine telling me time and time again to watch this movie a few years ago, and I’m so happy I listened to her. Just Mercy is, quite simply, essential viewing. Watch this if you’re a fan of films like Selma, If Beale Street Could Talk, and the documentary 13th.

4. Black Panther (2018)

An actor of Michael B. Jordan’s status was always going to pop up in the MCU at some point, and he bagged the ideal role in Black Panther as the forgotten heir to the Wakandan throne, Erik Killmonger. When he returns from his banishment, Killmonger tears his ancestral home apart, and his formidable tyranny is arguably the best part of the whole film. I’d say Killmonger is one of the top three villains in the entire MCU (Thanos and Loki might have him beat, but it’s close), and a lot of that is down to the work Jordan does.

It takes a lot to steal the show away from the late, great Chadwick Boseman, but Jordan manages it here with a rage-filled, cocksure performance. Black Panther isn’t just a brilliant superhero movie; it was a complete cultural moment, with Black people around the world finally feeling like they had a movie superhero to call their own (after Blade). The music, costumes, and production design won Oscars, and deservedly so. In particular, the score from Ludwig Goransson (my favourite modern composer) is off the charts.

As a side note, Jordan’s cameo in the sequel to this film is solid, but far too brief for us to really recognise Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on this list.

3. Sinners (2025)

When people say ‘They don’t make films like this anymore’, Sinners is exactly what they’re talking about. Coogler’s first foray into horror is a spectacular feat, and evokes memories of the big, bombastic genre pieces we used to get in the ‘90s. It’s gory, thrilling, and very, very sexy, and Jordan is at the heart of all of that.

Sinners may be a little bit chaotic, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Its first act is methodical and demands patience as we get to know the characters of this macabre play. The second act pivots to total carnage at breakneck speed, before a final act that’ll well and truly knock your socks off. What this film lacks in nuance at times (it’s vampires, there’s only so far subtlety can go before it has to step aside), it more than makes up for on the technical front, with some truly mind-blowing shots utilising the full scope of IMAX cameras, and that thumping score – put together by Goransson, again – providing the cherry on top of this deliciously dark cake. 

If you didn’t see Sinners on a massive cinema screen, I really do feel sorry for you. But watching it at home is still an absolute treat. This is my film of 2025, and I can’t see anything changing that before the year is out.

2. Creed III (2023)

The whole Creed trilogy is brilliant, as I’ve already made abundantly clear with this list, but it’s the third movie in the series that ranks the highest for me. This is also Jordan’s directorial debut, too, and he absolutely knocks it out of the park: Creed III not only takes Adonis’ story in a fresh and exciting direction, with the introduction of his estranged friend, Damian, but it’s also a highly stylised, impeccably choreographed sports movie. 

I love the way Jordan leans heavily on his anime inspirations – with the influences of Akira and Dragon Ball Z clear to see – and expertly utilises sound design and slow-motion to ensure you feel every single punch from this threequel. Watching this in a packed theatre with my brother (a massive anime fan) was a rip-roaring experience that I’ll never forget. I’d never seen a sports movie on this level, and probably never will again.

1. Fruitvale Station (2013)

One of Jordan’s earlier movies happens to be his very best, and it was his first link-up with Coogler, too. Fruitvale Station is a brutal sub-90-minute drama retelling the true story of the tragic death of Oscar Grant, a young man who was killed on New Year’s Day back in 2009 – a case of police brutality.

Jordan is immense in the lead role, giving us ample reasons to feel absolutely broken by his untimely death. He balances the lighter, more charming moments early in the film as he spends time with friends and family, before taking us down a dark and uncomfortable path for the absolutely harrowing conclusion. This is the kind of film you simply have to watch, even if you never want to again afterwards. 

You can catch Fruitvale Station on MGM+, and to be honest, it’s worth a subscription for this film alone. I’ll watch it again someday, but I still don’t think I’m ready for that pain yet…

Before March 2025, Sean Baker was just a really good filmmaker. Now, he’s a four-time Oscar winner who has entered the record books as one of only two people ever to win four Academy Awards in one night (alongside Walt Disney).

Thanks to Anora, Baker has become a household name over the last few months, but his thrilling, unorthodox love story is actually the eighth feature film he’s made. Most of Baker’s work carries themes of a sexual nature, with problematic relationships and a healthy dose of chaos at their core.

Naturally, given his recent success, you may now want to dive into everything Baker has ever touched, and you’d be right to do so. He’s a fascinating filmmaker, but for those who are more picky with their film-viewing habits, we’ve separated the best from the rest with every Sean Baker movie, ranked in ascending order.

8. Four Letter Words (2000)

Directorial debuts are always tricky, and Four Letter Words is very obviously the sign of a filmmaker with lots of promise, big ideas, and raw ability, but someone with lots to work out and refine, too. It’s a film which struggles with pacing and character development, but you can’t deny that it does its best on a low budget. Plus, it’s only just over 80 minutes long, which makes it all the more palatable.

Four Letter Words is reminiscent of Kevin Smith’s slacker comedies of the 1990s like Clerks and Mallrats, but it lacks the charm and endearing qualities of its influences. But even from this early work, you can clearly see what interests Baker, and that’s fascinating in itself. If you’re still keen to watch this one, however, we have bad news: It’s only available for streaming in Spain at the moment – but keep an eye out here for a future UK re-release.

7. Prince of Broadway (2010)

While Prince of Broadway still bears the same gritty, low-budget vibes of its predecessors, there’s a certain flair and panache about the visual side of things here, and Baker really manages to delve into the kinetic energy of the streets of New York with his camerawork – Baker is in charge of cinematography for this one, too.

It’s a film which is certainly not lacking in style, and there’s a lot of creativity and heart flowing through this picture. Unfortunately, the story just isn’t quite engaging enough to boost Prince of Broadway higher up this list, but it’s still a solid piece of filmmaking. If you like Taika Waititi’s Boy, but want something a little more serious, this might be up your street. The only snag is you’ll have to pay for the privilege at the time of writing, as the film is only available on Apple TV+.

6. Take Out (2008)

Baker teamed up with Taiwanese director, producer, and actor Shih-Ching Tsou for his sophomore effort, and his collaborator definitely brought out a more adventurous side to his work. Take Out is far from perfect, though, containing all the flaws you’re likely to see in this level of indie filmmaking. 

Still, we have to give credit to Baker here for stepping out of his comfort zone and taking on a far more challenging narrative than his debut. There’s just something about the aesthetic here that’s oddly captivating, and once again, Baker’s penchant for realism shines through, elevating Take Out beyond its means. The highest compliment I can pay to this film is that it reminded me a little bit of La Haine – the best French movie ever made, IMO – largely due to its gritty tone and the fact that its story is contained within such a short period of time.

5. Starlet (2012)

By 2012, Baker had a lot more experience under his belt, and that is abundantly clear within the first minutes of Starlet. Simply put, this is just a far better experience than his previous three movies in terms of the narrative and the acting on display, and it’s far superior on a technical level, too. The camera work is sharper, the editing is slicker, and the whole thing just feels more nuanced and refined.

The talents of Dree Hemingway in the lead role carry Starlet, while Besedka Johnson is fantastic in support. There’s a lot to be said for the fact that Baker clearly had a bigger budget here, and while some filmmakers might lose control of things given that much freedom, it definitely had the opposite effect here, letting Baker’s craft shine. That he relinquished control of the camera to focus on directing duties is a decision that absolutely paid off, too. Again, you’ll have to pay to watch this one on Apple TV, but it’s the first in this list that I would say is absolutely worth the time and money.

4. Red Rocket (2021)

There’s a really big divide between Baker’s first four movies and his more recent efforts. Indeed, we could have put the next few films in any order and would have been pretty happy with the ranking, but fine margins split the pack, and the highly entertaining Red Rocket just ends up on the outside here. It’s a very good movie, it’s just not quite as gripping as the top three.

Yes, the concept of the film is a bit uncomfortable (think Lolita but less subtle), but that’s the point, and Simon Rex does a stellar job of making the eccentric, at times reprehensible Mikey, a character that just toes the line perfectly between being unlikable and oddly endearing. His chemistry with Suzanna Son is, frankly, mesmerising at times, and the pair deserve credit for turning a potentially problematic film into something unusually sweet and very, very funny. Best of all, it seems to have universal appeal – I watched Red Rocket with my rather picky partner, and she was a fan.

3. Anora (2024)

Anora is Baker’s critical darling, but it’s not even his best film. That says a lot about the quality of his work, though, as Anora is still a superbly crafted cat-and-mouse story full of mayhem, slapstick violence, and some truly emotional moments. The film relies so heavily on Mikey Madison’s Oscar-winning turn as the titular character; she’s so good here that you forget you’re watching an actor for the most part. Still, if you’re looking for the MVP, it’s actually Yura Borisov, who plays the tragically sweet Igor – where was his Oscar, huh?

We love movies like Anora, as anxiety-inducing and disorderly as they are. Baker does a fine job of capturing a sense of surrealism and taking things to the extreme before crashing back down to Earth with a sobering bite of reality and genuine sincerity. It’s impossible to shake comparisons to something like Uncut Gems, with so much chaos packed into the runtime, but an undercurrent of humour makes it all bearable. That said, there are very few films that have left me feeling quite as crushed by the time the credits roll (Aftersun is another example) that I can’t even bear to move – get ready to be caught totally off guard by the final moments of this movie. 

Fair warning: please don’t watch this movie with your parents, as there is A LOT of sex and it’ll just be awkward!

2. Tangerine (2015)

Tangerine bears plenty of similarities with its latest sibling, Anora. Yet while the latter leans into Baker’s more absurd and outlandish tendencies, his 2015 film is much more grounded and thought-provoking, which, as a result, leads to a far more impactful climax as the story of transgender sex workers, Sin-Dee Rella and Alexandra, comes to a head.

While plenty of filmmakers have shot on an iPhone since, Baker’s effort on Tangerine is far from a gimmick; instead, it lends a richness and realism to his work. I remember when this movie came out and I heard about the way it was made – it blew my mind, to be honest, and made me want to get out there and make films myself. Sadly, I was nowhere near as good as Baker, so I quit and decided to just watch films like Tangerine instead. It’s a complete package, really: Tangerine is beautiful to look at, has a gripping narrative, and showcases creative filmmaking at its finest. Plus, it’s sub-90 minutes and on Prime Video, so what are you waiting for?

1. The Florida Project (2017)

The last three films in this list are excellent, but there’s something truly special about The Florida Project. While the life and limitations of a sex worker are once again a focus for Baker here, it is the impact of parenthood, both on mother and child, that really forms the beating heart of this stunning picture. Amateur actor Bria Viante is sensational as troubled mother Halley, while Willem Dafoe is typically fantastic in a significant supporting role. But it is the young Brooklynn Prince who shines the brightest as our playful protagonist, Moonee. 

As her spirited defiance gives way to a softer, more vulnerable nature, our heart breaks for this child who so desperately wants to dive headfirst into all the things children love to do, yet is severely inhibited by the life she was born into. It’s crazy to think that only Dafoe earned an Oscar nomination for his role here. The Florida Project, in general, was massively overlooked in 2018, but it’s garnered quite the cult following since. This is one of those films that I rewatch every couple of years, and it just gets better and better every time.

He’s Indiana Jones. He’s Han Solo. He’s Rick Deckard. He’s even a big, red, angry Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World, but we’re not here to talk about that. Harrison Ford is clearly one of the most beloved actors of his generation and has taken on some of the most iconic roles in the history of cinema, but there’s more to this living legend than franchise work. 

So, in case you’ve forgotten how incredibly versatile he is, we’ve compiled a list of his top ten movies over the decades in ascending order, plus five honourable mentions at the end that we simply couldn’t ignore.

Honourable mentions

• Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
• Clear and Present Danger (1994)
• Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
• 42 (2013)
• American Graffiti (1973)

10. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Of the original trilogy, you’re likely to see the general critical and audience consensus swing away from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, making it criminally underrated (I’d even go as far as to say it’s my personal favourite of them all). 

The highlight of this threequel is Sean Connery’s scene-stealing turn as Indy’s dad, Henry Jones Sr.. The James Bond actor brings all his natural charm and is clearly having so much fun with the role that it rubs off on Harrison Ford, too. While the first two movies in the franchise are pure adventure-thrillers, Last Crusade is almost more of a buddy comedy, and the playful tone works perfectly. But there’s still a strong emotional undercurrent as father and son reconnect. 

Best of all, if you are looking to dive into the Indiana Jones franchise, this movie is on Netflix, Prime Video, Sky Cinema, and even free on Channel 4 Plus, so there’s really no excuse!

9. Patriot Games (1992)

Harrison Ford took on another high-profile role when he stepped into Alec Baldwin’s shoes to become Jack Ryan (and did a far better job than his predecessor, I should add). Patriot Games is a taut thriller filled with epic action, shocking twists and turns, and some killer one-liners from Ford – all packaged into a neat sub-two-hour story; always a bonus.

As Ryan intervenes in an IRA assassination plot, he and his family become the target of a deadly revenge mission. Does he take it lying down? No, of course he doesn’t! With Ford’s effortless gravitas and the gritty determination of Tom Clancy’s character, Patriot Games is yet another classic display of heroism to add to the actor’s catalogue. 

If you’ve already watched all the Bond movies and want a new espionage thriller franchise to sink your teeth into, Jack Ryan is the man for the mission.

8. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)

Has there ever been a more exciting time than that brief period of unbridled joy leading up to the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens? After a decade of no Star Wars movies at all, and a huge 32 years since the last outing for the original trio of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo, their teased return in this new trilogy opener was immense. I remember watching the trailer pretty much every day until the film came out, and then I proceeded to watch the movie in cinemas four times.

Harrison Ford could easily have phoned in his reprisal as Han Solo, but instead, he gave it his all to deliver one of his most nuanced and poignant performances of all time. The whole film is a brilliant balance of nostalgic vibes and fresh energy for the franchise, but that moment between Han and Kylo Ren on the bridge (you know the one) might just be one of the most emotionally intense scenes Star Wars has ever produced.

7. Blade Runner (1982)

Many would proclaim Blade Runner to be the ultimate sci-fi movie, or at the very least, a genre-defining film of its time. And they’d be correct: From the neon-soaked visuals to the cerebral themes – man’s place in the future, the threat of technological advancements, and simply what it means to be human – in Ridley Scott’s epic ‘80s noir thriller, it’s hard not to be in awe of this iconic picture.

Ford once again bagged a timeless role as Rick Deckard, a suave, ruthless replicant hunter. But as the mystery at the heart of this story unravels, so too do Deckard’s machinations, and it’s fascinating to watch him question everything he believed to be true. 

If you’re able to, you should specifically watch the Final Cut version of Blade Runner (from 2007), which Scott views as the definitive, interference-free version of his work. Not only is it vastly improved on a technical level thanks to the visual effects upgrades, but it also delves deeper into those challenging themes mentioned earlier.

6. The Fugitive (1993)

Harrison Ford’s trademark running – second only to Tom Cruise’s impressive sprints – is at its very best in The Fugitive. When Richard Kimble (Ford) is wrongly accused of murdering his wife, he must flee the authorities hunting him and find a way to prove his innocence before the relentless Samuel Gerard (played superbly by Tommy Lee Jones) puts him away for life.

The Fugitive harks back to a more ambitious and adventurous period of filmmaking where stunts and huge set-pieces were done entirely for real rather than relying on green screens and digital effects. Fun fact: the chaotic St. Patrick’s Day parade scene was filmed during actual celebrations taking place in Chicago. 

If you’re looking for a raw, rugged thrill ride, this is Ford’s finest work as a leading man away from the big franchises. You can easily catch him (and the film) on Netflix or Prime Video.

5. The Conversation (1974)

Harrison Ford can’t always be the main man in every film he does, and it just so happens that in The Conversation, Gene Hackman does a rather good job of leading the line. But Ford is still there, and his role in the film is a pretty significant one. In fact, and I’ll say it quietly, but I believe he stole the show a little bit in this Francis Ford Coppola flick.

Whether you agree with me or not, there’s no denying that The Conversation is an understated masterpiece of the thriller genre. It’s not overly violent, loud, or bombastic, but drips with tension throughout. It’ll have you on the edge of your seat, listening just as intently as Harry Caul himself. 

The Conversation is so good, in fact, that the Academy nominated it for the Best Picture Oscar even though Coppola already got the nod for The Godfather Part II. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, it’s not as widely streamable as others on this list – you’ll have to be signed up to the Studio Canal channel to watch it.

4. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

While The Last Crusade is uber-fun and plucky, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom carries a far greater sense of dread. It may actually be a pretty heavy experience for younger viewers following Indy’s adventures. In particular, the scenes of a melting face and Mola Ram ripping out a guy’s heart scarred an entire generation (in a good way). Still, if you’re thinking of showing it to your kids now, I will say my rather boisterous nephews are obsessed with this film, and they don’t mind the gore at all (they are 11 and eight, if that helps).

In one of the finest movie trilogies of all time, The Temple of Doom stands out as the strongest of the trio for me, thanks to its delightfully dark story, and the fact that Ford had well and truly embraced the titular role by this point: he serves up so much swagger here, it’s practically oozing out of the screen.

3. Apocalypse Now (1979)

This one almost feels like cheating, but we couldn’t ignore the fact that Apocalypse Now is one of the greatest movies ever made, and Harrison Ford is technically a part of it. Yes, it may be a fleeting appearance at the start of the epic war movie, but Ford’s role as Colonel Lucas is an important one, as he is the man to assign Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) his daunting mission.

As a brutal, visceral depiction of the horrors of war, Apocalypse Now is one of the most important, impactful, and impressive films of its kind. For that reason, it’s not for the faint of heart, with some pretty gnarly moments throughout, but if you can stomach that, you’re going to have a truly life-changing cinematic experience here. 

Like Blade Runner, there are also multiple cuts of this film. Of them all, we’d advise avoiding the Redux Cut and sticking with either the theatrical or final cuts – those two are far more accessible and coherent, while the Redux muddies the waters a little with unnecessary extra scenes.

2. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Controversial, perhaps, but Blade Runner 2049 might actually be superior to its predecessor. While Ridley Scott’s original movie deserves to be acknowledged and respected for what it achieved, especially in how it paved the way for so many others to follow, Denis Villeneuve’s legacy sequel deserves something far greater: reverence.

The follow-up improves on the original in just about every single way. 2049 not only looks impeccable, it’s also got a far more coherent narrative, without sacrificing any of the complexities and ambiguities of Scott’s effort. It’s mightily impressive that this film is not only spectacular in its own right, but actually manages to elevate the original, too. 

2049 may have been a box-office flop, but don’t let that put you off. For my money, this is one of the very best films of the 21st century, excelling on both a technical and thematic level. It’s also available as part of a Netflix subscription, so subscribers can quickly and easily judge for themselves.

1. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

It had to be, didn’t it? When Star Wars is at its best – as it is with The Empire Strikes Back – there is simply nothing more exhilarating and awe-inspiring than this franchise. The core characters may be separated for most of this sequel, but that only serves to showcase just how big George Lucas’ galaxy is, and it allows each of our heroes to prove their individual merit, too. From the snowy battleground of Hoth to the murky swamps of Dagobah and the decadent city in the sky, Bespin, this film is pure moviemaking magic from start to finish with immersive set designs, iconic set-pieces, and truly impeccable storytelling. While The Empire Strikes Back will forever be known for delivering one of the greatest plot twists of all time, there’s a special place in my heart for another legendary moment in this film, spotlighting Harrison Ford: We all love Han Solo. And guess what? He knows. 

There’s never a bad time to watch the Original Trilogy, whether it be your 100th rewatch or your first foray into the galaxy far, far away (and the best part is, you’ll have to watch A New Hope and Return of the Jedi if you’re going to hit play on The Empire Strikes Back, so it’s a three-for-one deal). I wouldn’t be the sci-fi-obsessed geek I am today without this incredibly special movie, and I can’t wait to show it to my kids when they’re old enough.

Paddington Bear is a British institution. He’s been entertaining audiences since 1958, starting life in children’s books before moving to the small screen. In the past decade, we’ve been treated to feature-length Paddington media, and rather surprisingly, his current three-film run is one of the best movie trilogies of the modern era in cinema.

From his first outing under Paul King’s directorship, featuring Nicole Kidman’s villainous turn as Millicent, to Hugh Grant’s scene-stealing arrival in Paddington 2, and the third entry, Paddington In Peru, this series of films has given audiences so much joy. These movies are the ultimate comfort watches; the kinds of films that bring the whole family together with their playful humour, madcap adventures, and warm, fuzzy visuals.

There can be no doubt that he’s everybody’s favourite cuddly little bear, but there are simply not enough Paddington films to satisfy our need for anthropomorphic cuteness. So, what do you do when the marmalade sandwiches run out and you need more of those sweet vibes? You come to JustWatch and find a bunch of other movies just like Paddington, of course.

Wonka (2023)

You could watch Wonka and immediately know it’s a Paul King film without having to be told as much. The director carries over all the charm, whimsy, and vibrancy that we’ve come to expect from the man responsible for Paddington and its sequel–it’s clear to see why he got the gig for Wonka. 

There are so many familiar faces here, including Paddington stars Sally Hawkins, Hugh Grant, and Olivia Colman, but it’s Timothee Chalamet’s performance as the titular character that elevates this musical beyond a bit of family movie fluff to one of the most impressive Roald Dahl adaptations ever made. Wonka combines the worldbuilding and energy of something akin to Barbie with the showmanship and delightful cheesiness of the Mamma Mia! movies, and gives it all a good, old British twist. 

If you’re tired of watching the same Disney movies with the kids again and again, Wonka is a brilliant change of pace.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Remember in Paddington 2 when our half-pint hero is incarcerated and turns everyone’s prison gear pink? Well, imagine that, but with a Wes Anderson spin, and you’ve got a perfect match in The Grand Budapest Hotel. It’s not only one of the most aesthetically pleasing films of the 21st Century, but also an oddly sweet film; for all its madcap antics and tomfoolery, Anderson’s Oscar-winning tale is, at its core, a story of friendship and camaraderie.

Be warned, though, The Grand Budapest is not suitable for young children. It comes with a healthy dose of profanity and even a bit of violence, albeit of a slapstick variety. I even tried to get my teenage daughter to give it a go, given she loves Fantastic Mr. Fox, and she wasn’t into the irreverent humour. I’d mark this one as a recommendation for adults who love Paddington.

My Neighbour Totoro (1988)

What is Paddington, if not the story of a fluffy animal going on wild adventures with his human friends? In that respect, you’ll get the same kicks out of this Studio Ghibli movie, and then some. The prolific anime house has produced some of the best animated movies of all time, but My Neighbour Totoro might just be the finest of them all. It’s endearing, funny, imaginative, and has an emotional undercurrent that elevates it beyond mere kids’ entertainment into something truly beautiful.

If you’re looking to get the kids into the world of anime, there can be no better choice for your introductory screening. My Neighbour Totoro is not even 90 minutes long, so they’re not going to lose focus; plus, it’s easily available on Netflix right now, so there’s really no excuse not to watch it!

Wolfwalkers (2020)

Speaking of beautiful animated movies, Cartoon Saloon is one of the most exciting new studios on the block – they’re yet to miss with their relatively small but superb catalogue of films. One could argue that My Father’s Dragon has more in common with Paddington, given the playful nature of the eponymous creature, but it’s Wolfwalkers that is most deserving of your attention. 

With an unflinching approach to death, grief, and xenophobia, there’s a real profundity to Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart’s mythical tale, which makes it a far more serious viewing experience than Paddington. Yet it still evokes that same childlike wonder that we cherish so much in the latter, largely thanks to the stunning 2D animation style and the more playful moments littered throughout. 

If you have an Apple TV+ subscription, Wolfwalkers is a must (and if you don’t have one, it’s genuinely worth a trial for this film alone).

Marcel The Shell With Shoes On (2021)

Paddington may be adorable, but Marcel has him beat paws down. This unique and delightful A24 flick combines clever stop-motion animation with real-world settings to tell the simple story of a little shell trying to find his place and purpose in life. Much of the credit for this brilliant film has to go to Jenny Slate, who does a wonderful job bringing the titular character to life with her voice work.

While the mockumentary framing device here is very different to Paddington – and probably puts Marcel the Shell with Shoes On out of reach for younger viewers – there’s no denying that, tonally, these two films share a kinship rooted in heart and humour. If you enjoy films like My Life as a Courgette or Memoir of a Snail, which use animated characters to tell a weighty story, you’ll definitely connect with Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.

Okja (2017)

You wouldn’t ordinarily expect to see a Bong Joon-ho picture on a list making comparisons with Paddington, but here we are. Thankfully, Okja doesn’t align with the blood-soaked chaos one would normally get from the acclaimed director. Instead, the Netflix movie goes hard on emotional weight and childish innocence. Not only is it an intriguing and imaginative story, but Okja also boasts some superb technical work, particularly in the CGI crafting of the central creature.

Okja is humorous – in that dark manner in which Bong excels – but it carries a strong environmentalist message, too, and one that Paddington Bear himself would be proud to endorse, we’re sure. 

Just a warning, though: If you’re sensitive to depictions of animal cruelty, Okja might be an uncomfortable watch at times. I don’t often cry when watching movies, but this one even managed to get me weeping.

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024)

From one British institution to another, it would be foolish of us to neglect the work of Aardman Animation on this list. The only difficult part is picking which Wallace and Gromit film to focus on. However, in selecting their most recent effort, Vengeance Most Fowl, we can also sneakily persuade you to watch The Wrong Trousers, too, as the newer movie relies on you having seen the iconic 1993 film first. Given Paddington’s propensity for dealing with nefarious characters, it wouldn’t be out of place to see him battling returning villain Feathers McGraw in Gromit’s place. 

What’s great about this new entry is that it captures everything that makes these characters so special and entertaining, while also offering a fresh, modern story laced with technological anxieties about the rise of AI for them to exist within. 

I remember when this movie came out just before Christmas 2024, my young son wanted to watch it over and over again, which I had zero complaints about!

Ratatouille (2007)

A quick game of word association can connect the dots between Paddington and Ratatouille quite easily: Animal, hat, food, mischief… You get the picture. 

The Disney-Pixar movie is a bona fide classic and a deserving winner of the 2008 Oscar for Best Animated Feature. And yet, it does feel like one of the lesser-known Disney movies among younger audiences today. My kids hadn’t seen it until very recently, but their first watch went down a treat (giving me a newfound appreciation for the movie, too).

At its core, Ratatouille is a story about finding a passion in life underpinned by the universal feeling of leaving a past life behind to pursue a new one: In this case, Remy the rat leaves behind the garbage cans of the Parisian streets to ingratiate himself in the grandeur of fine dining restaurants. It’s something Paddington knows all too well, having upped sticks and taken on a big adventure in London after leaving Peru. 

Another big plus is that this is an easy one to find online for streaming – it’s permanently housed on Disney+.

The Wild Robot (2024)

With a classic fish-out-of-water story and found-family elements, The Wild Robot has the same themes you find in the Paddington trilogy. There’s actually an argument to be made that The Wild Robot could be even more wholesome than Paddington. If that’s what you’re in the mood to watch, you could certainly do far worse.

One of the best recent animated movies, The Wild Robot has such a sweet story and stylish animation style, you cannot help but fall in love with Roz and her animal companions. I particularly love the landscapes in the film and the way they transition through the seasons – from bright, luscious summer through to the cold, desolate winter. 

Despite The Wild Robot being a pretty upsetting movie, it didn’t seem to affect my four-year-old when he watched it, so I’d say it’s still very child-friendly.

Where The Wild Things Are (2009)

Spike Jonze’s adaptation of the classic children’s book is a spectacularly imaginative and nuanced interpretation of a source material that is actually incredibly short. Jonze imbues his version of Where The Wild Things Are with such a surprising degree of humanity and realism that you’ll soon forget you’re watching a bunch of giant monsters on a fantasy island.

This is not one that younger children are likely to engage with, truth be told. However, for slightly older kids who are perhaps beginning to get to grips with their emotions (or indeed, any adults who are doing the same), Where The Wild Things Are is a poignant experience. It’s very much along the lines of films like A Monster Calls and Pan’s Labyrinth. 

The only issue is you can’t watch this for free anywhere at the time of writing, but it’s not too expensive to rent or buy, and certainly worth 100 minutes of your time.

The devil works hard, but Steven Soderbergh works harder. The acclaimed filmmaker put out not one, but two projects in 2025, with POV ghost movie Presence up first, before the tense espionage thriller Black Bag to mix things up.

Black Bag perfectly scratches the itch for anyone craving original, intriguing movies, and as an added bonus, it comes in at a cool 93 minutes, too. With slick directing, a captivating story, and brilliant performances from Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett, it’s a surefire win for any film fan.

But what happens when the credits roll and you want more? Well, dive into our list of the best movies to stream next if you love Black Bag, and get even more of those cat-and-mouse thrills.

Sicario (2015)

If it’s edge-of-your-seat thrillers you’re into, look no further than Denis Villeneuve’s breakout hit, Sicario. Between the blistering story crafted by Taylor Sheridan, the camerawork of the legendary Sir Roger Deakins, and the roaring score from the late, great composer, Jóhann Jóhannsson, this 2015 flick is a treat for all the senses.

It’s hard to pick an MVP from this one, with Emily Blunt doing some of her best work in the lead role, while the double act of Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro is formidable in support. Sicario is gripping stuff, and honestly, it is the kind of film you’ll want to watch again and again. I’ve watched it once a year, every year, since it came out, and I’m champing at the bit for my next appointment with this Villeneuve masterpiece.

Skyfall (2012)

You can’t discuss spy movies without mentioning 007. But, if you’re new to the James Bond series and just want to dip your toes into his world without watching 20-odd films first, Skyfall is perfectly serviceable on its own merits without being burdened by its predecessors. Think about how The Dark Knight can almost be viewed as a standalone Batman movie, and you’re on the right track with this Bond film.

The action sequences here are out of this world; Nikki Berwick and the stunt team knock every single death-defying moment out of the park, and Daniel Craig’s weary Bond throws himself into the carnage with an unnerving relish. Meanwhile, Javier Bardem puts up one of the great villainous performances of the modern era opposite him – Anton Chigur, eat your heart out!

The Killer (2023)

Michael Fassbender is one of the finest actors of his generation. While his more nuanced work comes in powerful dramas like Shame and Hunger, if you’re after his more hard-hitting side, look no further than David Fincher’s The Killer.

In this Netflix original, Fassbender takes on the role of a contract killer who finds himself in a tangled web of murder plots, backstabbing, and betrayal. It’s as close to Black Bag as you’re likely to get among Fassbender’s filmography to date, and it’s another example of a filmmaker looking to put out fun, flashy movies that don’t take themselves too seriously. 

As you may have expected, this one’s available exclusively on Netflix, and I’m happy to report that watching it at home doesn’t diminish any of the film’s bombastic and brutal qualities.

Thief (1981)

You know when people say, ‘They don’t make movies like this anymore’? Well, Thief is exactly the kind of movie they’re talking about. Every inch of every frame in this Michael Mann classic is oozing with flair and panache, and not a second is wasted as every moment is filled with compelling character work or searing action.

It’s almost impossible to believe that this was Mann’s feature debut. Thief feels more like the work of a seasoned pro; something Mann has, of course, proven himself to be over the years. Just like Black Bag, you’ll be hooked from the get-go with this ‘80s classic. I watched Thief for the first time only last year, and my only regret is that I hadn’t watched it a hell of a lot sooner!

Blow Out (1981)

More ‘80s thrills from another master of his trade, Brian De Palma, with Blow Out offering up a healthy dose of mystery and twists and turns, just like Black Bag. John Travolta has arguably never been better (yes, he’s even better here than in Pulp Fiction), as his character Jack Terry is embroiled in a criminal conspiracy that is not at all what it seems.

The technical elements of Blow Out are simply superb, with exceptional sound design and editing bringing this enthralling, tight thriller to life. It’s all shot with a raw, rough-around-the-edges lens that gives the film an eerie, almost documentarian feel. And, with a runtime of just 108 minutes, you’ll find the wild ride flies by and knocks you for six by the end. 

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Cate Blanchett has had quite the career, and a diverse one at that. If you like her work in Black Bag and want to find something remotely similar in her eclectic body of work, The Talented Mr. Ripley will deliver deliciously dark, dramatic moments, a hint of violence, and lots of twists, too.

While Blanchett is not on screen as much as some might like, the performances of Matt Damon, Jude Law, and Gwyneth Paltrow as the central trio will more than make up for it, while the late Philip Seymour Hoffman is, as always, a real scene-stealer in his supporting role. 

If you want to watch this one for free, be quick, because (as of this writing) it’s leaving Prime Video in early September 2025.

North by Northwest (1959)

We’re heading back in time here for one of the genuine classics of a bygone era. Alfred Hitchcock would have loved Black Bag, evidenced by the Master of Suspense having put together one of the most flawless spy movies of all time, North by Northwest. 

This is the ultimate cat-and-mouse tale, and for its time, a film that features some truly special action set-pieces. We’ve all seen that incredible scene of a plane descending on Cary Grant, but there’s so much more to North by Northwest outside of its iconic moments. Ask any filmmaker worth their salt what their inspirations are, especially those who craft thrillers and spy flicks, and North by Northwest will undoubtedly be on the list. It’s smart, scintillating, and simply perfect in every single way. 

The only downside is that it’s not available for free on any streaming service at the time of writing, but it’s so worth paying for.

Double Indemnity (1944)

If we’re talking about cinematic greats, we can’t leave out Billy Wilder. While his comedies, such as The Apartment and Some Like it Hot, steal the spotlight, his noir detective thriller, Double Indemnity, is arguably his most impressive work; if not, certainly his most tense. A quiet and brooding black and white picture, it brims with energy and hits like a hammer blow at every twist and turn.

This film is only just over 100 minutes long (it’s actually ideal if you don’t quite have time for North by Northwest), but it packs so much into that short runtime. Its tricky tale is filled with complex characters that will put the viewer’s moral compass to the test, leading you one way and then another as the mystery unfolds before your eyes. 

This is another that you’ll have to pay for to stream at the moment, but once again, it’s worth every penny.

Insomnia (2002)

Before Batman, sprawling science fiction, and Oscar-winning biopics, Christopher Nolan dabbled in gritty detective thrillers like Insomnia. While the film has a decidedly darker edge to it than Black Bag and slightly less action, it’s still an intense and intriguing study of deception, considering what to take at face value, and when to dig deeper.

With Robin Williams taking on one of his more dramatic roles, and the legendary Al Pacino flexing his immense screen presence as always, you’ll not want to take your eyes off this one. It’s wild to think this is low-tier Nolan, but that says a lot more about the filmmaker than the film, trust us. 

The recent Nolan season in UK cinemas left Insomnia off its re-release roster, which is a crying shame. You can check this one out through the BFI Player, though.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005)

Alright, we’ve got all the serious stuff out of the way. Let’s be honest, one of the most appealing facets of Black Bag is the fact that it puts beautiful people into very entertaining, explosive scenarios. So, if you want to go even further into that playful side of the spy genre, Mr. and Mrs. Smith is the ideal light watch to cater to your tastes.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie bring so much charm to proceedings, and you can totally tell they were having a lot of fun working together on this one. The Doug Liman flick even ticks the box when it comes to the whole, ‘Should I trust my spouse?’ plot point that is the beating heart of Black Bag. In many ways, there is no film on this list more similar to Black Bag, actually. 

Unlike everything else I’ve mentioned, Mr. and Mrs. Smith is the ideal date night movie, too, which is always a big bonus!

Anora was the latest in a long line of Best Picture winners when it took home the top prize at the 97th Academy Awards. If you’ve recovered from the stress and chaos of the brilliant Sean Baker movie, it might be time to dive into others that are in a similar vein.

Whether you’re looking for another frenetic thrill ride or want to dabble in themes of romance, eroticism, hedonism, and extravagant lifestyles, JustWatch has assembled a list of ten movies that capture the same spirit as Anora. We’ve got something for everyone here – from cult classics to modern masterpieces, and international exports to Hollywood-backed comedies.

Uncut Gems (2019)

If you thought Anora was hectic, the Safdie Brothers’ monster hit Uncut Gems will leave you curled up in a ball, craving a nice warm hug; in a good way, of course! The Adam Sandler vehicle is one of those films where you find yourself screaming at the screen, begging characters not to do the foolish things they’re about to do, and it’s so much fun.

Like Anora, this is a story of wild adventure in a dark, seedy, crime-ridden world. The difference is, while we root for poor Ani, Sandler’s Howard Ratner pretty much deserves everything he gets. It’s by far the best Sandler movie of all time, and if you’ve got a Netflix subscription, it’s an absolute must-watch – grab some drinks, kick back with friends, and embrace the chaos.

Tangerine (2015)

While The Florida Project is the more high-profile flick in Sean Baker’s back catalogue, Tangerine is his most impressive and creative. Shot entirely on an iPhone, with acting novices Mya Taylor and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez in the lead roles, this 2015 indie movie is what filmmaking is all about: getting out there, shooting something, and producing raw magic. This film genuinely made me go out and start trying to make my own films… I struggled, of course, but Baker absolutely flourished with this effort.

Like most of Baker’s work, Tangerine leans on themes of problematic relationships, the treatment of sex workers, and absolute mayhem on the streets of America. If Anora and The Florida Project are a little too polished and refined for your tastes, Tangerine offers all the grit and grime you’re looking for.

After Hours (1985)

Long before Sean Baker and the Safdie Brothers sparked a new wave of disruptive and distressing narratives, the master filmmaker, Martin Scorsese, had the subgenre locked down. His dark, twisted 1985 comedy, After Hours, has without a doubt influenced so many since. If you want to go back and see the blueprint for films like Anora, this is it.

After Hours is a severely underrated Scorsese effort, overshadowed by its glitzier, more star-studded siblings. However, if you ever wanted to see the revered filmmaker embrace his weird side, this is where he really lets loose. Be warned, though, catching this sharp 90-minute flick on a streaming service is going to cost you, but it’s totally worth it.

Mommy (2014)

Xavier Dolan captures all the misery and messiness of Anora and ramps it up to 11 with his 2014 coming-of-age story, Mommy. The French-Canadian film depicts the troubled life of teenage tearaway, Steve, and his widowed mother, Diane, as they navigate the ups and downs of their tumultuous relationship, with a little help from their benevolent neighbour, Kyla.

It’s a blistering and brutal rollercoaster ride filled with violence and anger, but a painful amount of love, too. If you don’t end up heartbroken and teary-eyed by the end of Mommy, then something has gone horribly wrong; don’t go into this expecting any kind of a happy ending. On a more positive note, you can watch this film for free on a couple of streaming services right now, such as Plex and Wedo TV.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)

Perhaps you want something a little less stressful now? The Last Black Man in San Francisco has similar themes to Anora, like wanting to find a better life or purpose, and there’s even a more literal, physical journey to be found at the core of the story, too. Thankfully, this one is a much calmer and poetic adventure than Anora. Instead of having you pulling your hair out, The Last Black Man in San Francisco is more likely to pull on your heartstrings and get you contemplating life.

Jimmie Fails shines in the lead role as a man desperate to reclaim his familial home from the gentrification of San Francisco. Along the way, he confronts class struggles, racial profiling, gang violence, and an identity crisis, but we promise it’s not too stressful. The Last Black Man in San Francisco is one of those rare movies that left me open-mouthed, stunned at the sheer beauty of what I’d just watched.

Ema (2019)

Pablo Larrain may be better known for crafting sublime period piece biopics about powerful women through history, like Jackie and Maria, but when he reverted to his native tongue in 2019 for Ema, he created something monumental and truly electric.

It’s a film that simply isn’t spoken about enough, and one of the greatest in a foreign language of the last decade. Ema tells the story of a severely broken relationship that erupts with tremendous ferocity through a shared trauma; you essentially get all the chaos of Anora, with ten times as much pain, but at least all that hurt has a gorgeous backdrop. If you’ve never given MUBI a try, now is the time to get a trial and make Ema your first watch on there.

The Nice Guys (2016)

Okay, we hear you, too much pain, suffering, and stress. Got it. So why not kick back and relax to some pure, unadulterated slapstick fun with Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe in Shane Black’s The Nice Guys? Truth be told, I will never miss a chance to talk about this movie, but I’m totally justified to do so on this occasion.

It’s the movie everyone on the Internet wants a sequel for, and we’re afraid we will never get that wish fulfilled. But the 2016 comedy is perfect just the way it is, and might just be the funniest film of the last ten years. The missing persons search at the heart of it all is just as much a wild goose chase as Ani’s search for Ivan in Anora, but it’s also hilarious watching Holland March and Jackson Healy stumble their way through the case. If you want a side-splitting comedy that’s under two hours, there are few better options than The Nice Guys.

Mandy (2018)

Chances are, we could hook you in with just one sentence when it comes to Mandy. How about this: Nicolas Cage goes on a wild, neon-soaked, LSD-fuelled rampage in search of his wife’s killers and their demonic cult leader. If you’re still here and need more persuading, Mandy features a rip-roaring score from the late, great Jóhann Jóhannsson, the violence is gruesome and gnarly, and Nic Cage is at his untethered best in this absolutely savage yet oddly stunning revenge tale.

It’s safe to say Anora is a pretty lighthearted movie, aside from a few darker moments here and there. If you like that kind of balance, don’t let that promise of graphic violence put you off. Like any Nic Cage movie, there’s an undeniable wackiness and tongue-in-cheek, black comedy to this Panos Cosmatos picture.

Boogie Nights (1997)

Did someone say graphic nudity and sex scenes? Anora pulls no punches in its depiction of sex workers, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights is much the same in its handling of the amateur porn scene. And, just like Anora, this ‘90s classic has the perfect blend of humour and harrowing moments.

This is by far Mark Wahlberg’s best performance of all time, while the likes of Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, and Heather Graham all shine alongside him. It’s a long and sprawling epic (coming in roughly 15 minutes longer than Anora) that, at times, feels almost Tarantino-esque in the way the plot weaves and winds into one big messy web. So, make sure you’ve got plenty of time on your hands before you dive into this cult classic.

Burn After Reading (2008)

We couldn’t talk about amusing yet disorderly comedy-drama-thrillers without including a movie by the Coen Brothers, and it’s Burn After Reading that perhaps best embraces that genre mash-up. To be honest, you’d be hard-pressed to find many comedies as funny as this, and equally, there are not many crime capers as sharp or intriguing, either.

The stakes may be sky high in this story – with CIA secrets on the line – but the sheer silliness of the ensemble cast undercuts all the tension in such a brilliant way, and provides so many laugh-out-loud moments. Brad Pitt and John Malkovich are simply exceptional here as they let their comedic chops loose, and the haphazard plot they find themselves in is an ideal companion piece to the slightly more serious Anora. Plus, as an extra bonus, it’s just 96 minutes long, which is always a treat!

It feels like an eternity (or perhaps, an infinity) since the last Avengers team-up. By the time we get to Avengers: Doomsday in 2026, it will have, in actuality, been seven years since we saw all of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes on the same battlefield.

The MCU has been through a tough time lately with a few critical misses, but things are now back on track thanks to the positive reaction to Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps this year.

If you’re invested in the MCU, then you’ll already know that the Avengers: Doomsday cast is absolutely huge, which is very exciting. With so many names in there, it’s important to understand where all the key characters are as we close in on the release of this massive event movie. Before you watch Avengers: Doomsday, here are all the other MCU films that are essential to revisit, and where you can watch them.

Avengers: Infinity War & Avengers: Endgame (2018; 2019)

Let’s go back to that last team-up for all the Avengers, new and old. Watching Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame back-to-back is one of the all-time great double bills in cinema. 

Rewatching it will not only refresh your memory as to the sheer strength in numbers the super team possesses, but it’s also just a great way to remind yourself how amazing the MCU can be at its peak as it embraces the scale and stakes of potentially universe-ending threats. Far too often, comic book movies wrap things up in a neat, happy ending; Avengers: Infinity War didn’t do that, and Avengers: Endgame certainly didn’t, given the sacrifices made by the heroes by the end.

Plus, with Robert Downey Jr. back in the MCU, albeit as a very different character in Doomsday, it’s worth a look at how his time as Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, came to a close back in 2019. Of all the older films in this list, these two are by far the most important and enjoyable.

Thor: Love and Thunder

Chris Hemsworth is still going strong as our favourite Asgardian, and with four solo movies to his name, Thor is the most prolific of the original Avengers team. His most recent MCU outing on the big screen in Thor: Love and Thunder saw the God of Thunder team up with his ex-girlfriend, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), to take on Gorr the God Butcher. By the end, he had a new, far younger teammate by his side.

If we’re being honest, Thor: Love and Thunder is down near the bottom of our MCU ranking. This movie falls considerably short in replicating the comedic tone Taika Waititi imbued in Thor: Ragnarok; the visuals are rough in places, and the narrative is incredibly messy. Thankfully, Christian Bale’s incredible performance as Gorr is one of the finest villainous turns in the MCU to date, so it’s not all bad. While it has its ups and downs, Love and Thunder is still essential viewing if you want to know what the mighty Mjolnir-wielder is up to ahead of his return.

Captain America: Brave New World

With Steve Rogers now gone (but never forgotten), it’s up to Sam Wilson to take on the mantle of Captain America, and the former Falcon has not had an easy time of it in the early days of his tenure in the stars and stripes.

In Captain America: Brave New World, he not only ramps up his reputation as the new Cap by taking on President Ross’ Red Hulk, but the movie also lays the foundations for the new Avengers team he’s putting together ahead of Avengers: Doomsday. Make no mistake, Sam will be a leading figure by the time Doom arrives next year. 

Unfortunately, Brave New World is another disappointing effort from the MCU. Much like Thor: Love and Thunder, this movie feels like it was rushed, chopped and changed behind the scenes, resulting in an odd aesthetic and confusing character choices. But, despite all its flaws, you simply cannot ignore Harrison Ford ‘Hulking out’ as one of the most fun and satisfying moments in the MCU; seriously, getting him on board was a masterstroke!

Thunderbolts*

Before the release of this film, we all imagined the likes of Red Guardian, Ghost, and US Agent would be very expendable. Yet, they’ll all be joining Yelena (Florence Pugh) for Avengers: Doomsday, meaning the team in Thunderbolts* have become far more important than we (or indeed, they) ever expected.

Before it came out, many had written the film off as something of a pointless venture that would barely make an impact on the main MCU timeline, giving attention to characters who perhaps didn’t deserve more screentime. However, Thunderbolts* delivers surprisingly genuine emotional weight and cataclysmic stakes, while also managing to have fun at the same time.

Not only do you need to know what’s going on with Sentry (Lewis Pullman) ahead of the next Avengers movie, but judging by the post-credit scene in Thunderbolts*, this band of misfits might just be the first team that Earth turns to when the next big threat bears down on the planet.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Even more crucial than the Thunderbolts will be the likes of Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) and Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), who, alongside Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), comprise the cast for The Fantastic Four: First Steps. And, as any comic book aficionado will tell you, you can’t have Doctor Doom without Marvel’s first family.

Thankfully, like Thunderbolts*, this is a top-tier effort from Marvel. Getting the Fantastic Four right on-screen has arguably not been fully done before, and this version is a perfect introduction. There’s no time wasted on origins; the characters are given flaws and put in intriguing moral dilemmas, and there’s a genuine sense that they could lose it all when Galactus makes his move. How refreshing it is to see Marvel making movies that look good again, along with fully fleshed-out characters that we care about instantly.  

This is also the most important of the new wave of MCU movies to tick off your list ahead of the release of Avengers: Doomsday, especially on the back of the post-credit scene in The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

The X-Men trilogy

By the time Avengers: Doomsday comes around, it will have been 20 years since many of the players from the original X-Men trilogy were last seen on screen. Some, like Patrick Stewart’s Professor Xavier, have popped up more recently, but with the likes of Mystique (Rebecca Romijn), Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming), and Cyclops (James Marsden) all set to reprise their roles for the new Avengers movie, you’d better refresh your memory on how things went down all those years ago – especially X-Men, X2, and X-Men: The Last Stand. 

While the first two entries listed are absolutely brilliant, especially in terms of the action sequences and visual elements for the time they were released, the trilogy-closer is a bit of a rough ride. In simple terms, X-Men: The Last Stand rushes its plot, and there’s simply too much going on and not enough control of its various storylines. Still, with that top-tier cast of Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and Hugh Jackman, it’s hard not to revel in the chaos.

The Marvels

Speaking of random mutants, you’ll have to watch The Marvels, too, ahead of Avengers: Doomsday. That’s not a chore by any means, though, as the team-up of Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Ms Marvel (Iman Vellani), and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) is actually a lot of fun. 

It’s really nice to see a filmmaker being given the freedom to play around with tone and style – The Marvels even has a musical number in the middle of it; a rare treat in a comic book movie! My teenage daughter may not have appreciated the cheesiness of that particular scene, but while it might not hit the spot for all viewers, it’s exactly the kind of bold swing we should be celebrating and seeing more often in these movies.

While it’s a largely self-contained story, we know the young Ms Marvel will be back for Avengers Doomsday at the very least, as will Kelsey Grammer’s X-Men character, Beast, who pops up in the end-credits scene here. His presence in an alternative timeline alongside Rambeau, who is very much lost in space, could well be the key to bringing the various universes together in Avengers: Doomsday. We can’t wait to see Earth-616 and the X-Men collide!

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

With Chadwick Boseman sadly gone, it’s now up to Letitia Wright’s Shuri to don the Black Panther costume in the fight against Doctor Doom. She will be joined by Tenoch Huerta, who plays Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. That production clearly suffered from losing Boseman, which is understandable. Passing on the mantle to Shuri, at least this soon, was obviously not the plan, and it does take some adjustment for audiences to connect with his replacement. But once the dust settles and she locks into the heroic role, the film ultimately becomes a very emotional and important entry in the MCU.

Namor, meanwhile, imbued Black Panther: Wakanda Forever with a real sense of moral conflict while also showing glimpses of his incredible power. When the first Black Panther movie showed us Wakanda, it was a mind-blowing expansion of the MCU’s world. Exploring Namor’s spectacular home of Talokan made its sequel feel just as fresh and innovative.

Comic book fans will know just how powerful Namor is. He’s a key player in the Secret Wars arc, too, so don’t be surprised to see him have a big role to play in Avengers: Doomsday if Marvel is gearing up for a similar trajectory to the one he takes in the source material. 

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

In many ways, we wouldn’t blame you for almost forgetting about Shang-Chi (Simu Liu). His solo movie came out in 2021, and we’ve not seen or heard him even mentioned in the MCU since then. 

It’s a shame, as Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings features some of the best fight choreography in the MCU. If you like the gritty, kinetic combat scenes in shows like Daredevil, you’ll love seeing Shang-Chi kick ass in this film. It’s not all fist fights and machismo, though; Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has levity thanks to Awkwafina’s Katy, and the legendary Tony Leung brings all his gravitas to deliver one of the most enigmatic and intriguing villains in the MCU.

We know Liu will be back for Avengers: Doomsday, and we suspect the titular artefacts that give the hero his powers could end up being very useful in stepping up the Avengers’ power levels when they face the might of Doctor Doom.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

One of the main surviving members of the fight against Thanos, and arguably the most powerful Avenger still left on Earth in the lead-up to Avengers: Doomsday, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) will have a massive role to play in the movie, one way or another.

In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the eponymous sorcerer is tasked with protecting America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) from Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen). In the process, Strange also practically breaks the multiverse, and the incursions mentioned in the movie may be the open door that Doom needs to bring havoc to Earth-616. 

Revisiting this one should be a lot of fun. Sam Raimi has one of the most unique and distinctive approaches in directing superhero movies; here, he brings his delicious penchant for horror and use of clever cameos to help this Doctor Strange sequel stand out from the crowd. You’ll not find another film in the MCU that’s as scary as this (thanks to Wanda Maximoff’s demonic turn) or packed with as much visual flair as this (shoutout to that iconic Wong transition). You can tell that Raimi wasn’t going to be merely a director-for-hire on this project; he made it his own, and the film reaps the rewards of that bold vision.

Deadpool & Wolverine

While neither Deadpool nor Wolverine have been announced for the Avengers: Doomsday cast, there is still plenty to take away from their anti-hero comic book movie to feed into what could occur in the next big Marvel flick.

For a start, there’s a whole host of multiversal chaos in Deadpool & Wolverine, which ties in nicely with the events of the TV show, Loki. In addition, unlike the title characters, Channing Tatum’s Gambit, who finally makes his debut in this movie, is set to appear in Avengers: Doomsday.

Deadpool & Wolverine may be stuffed to the brim with cameos and callbacks, but it’s certainly not to its detriment, and we end up with one hell of a fun movie. In fact, all that fan service that could so easily have been overkill or a distraction to the main plot actually works perfectly given the way the film explores Deadpool’s place in the multiverse. Not only is this movie the ideal way to incorporate the Merc With A Mouth into the MCU’s main timeline, it’s also a surprisingly lovely way to celebrate the incredible characters in the Fox universe that laid the foundations for him to join the Disney family. 

You’ll laugh, you’ll gasp, and you will probably even shed a tear by the time this one wraps up. 

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

The final film we advise you watch before Avengers: Doomsday is a bit of an odd one. The reason for this is that the main focus of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is actually on setting up Kang as the MCU’s next big bad. Those plans have all been scrapped with Kang’s actor, Jonathan Majors’ forced exit, and we’re not expecting any of those breadcrumbs to be picked up. If anything, we’re pretty sure Marvel would prefer you just forget it exists at all.

Still, Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man will be part of the team for Avengers: Doomsday, so it’s worth catching up with his most recent activity. While it’s not the best MCU movie, with some dire visual effects and a lacklustre final act, Kang’s (now redundant) backstory is still fascinating, and you can’t deny that diving into the quantum realm is really cool. Sure, you’re likely to come away from this with more criticisms than commendations, but you just never know what Marvel will carry into their next, epic Avengers team-up, so it’s best to cover all bases here.

The original version of this article was written by Jess Bacon and published on 29 February 2024.

Rebecca Ferguson has been involved with some of the best TV series and film franchises in recent years, demonstrating the breadth of her range across a variety of genres from Silo to The Greatest Showman. The Stockholm-born actor made her debut in 1999 while still a teenager, in the Swedish language soap opera, Nya tider, before making her feature film debut in the slasher horror, Drowning Ghost, in 2004.

From there, Ferguson has gone from strength to strength, with her more recent recurring roles in the Mission: Impossible and Dune franchises confirming her position as one of the biggest stars to emerge from Hollywood in the last decade. With so many incredible films and TV series to sift through, here are the best Rebecca Ferguson performances and where they’re available for streaming from services like Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere. 

We’ve ranked them not by the quality of each movie, exactly—though that occasionally coincides—but by some combination of Ferguson’s performance and her character’s significance, from the least to most notable.

10. The Greatest Showman (2017)

Despite banking $435 million at the box office and a whole bag of awards (including a nomination for best song at the Oscars), The Greatest Showman is a bit of a hate-it-or-love-it kind of movie. If you’re into fantastical musicals like Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge!, you’ll probably fall into the latter.

We’ve placed it low here as Ferguson, memorable as she is playing Jenny “Swedish Nightingale” Lind (though former Voice contestant Loren Allred stepped in for the singing), only appears in a supporting role.

9. Dune (2021)

Dune being ninth on this list is not a reflection on the movie itself. Denis Villeneuve’s incredible adaptation of the first half of Frank Herbert’s novel is the kind of dense, mature sci-fi that the director of Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 has become synonymous with. Naturally, if you’re a fan of those movies, you will definitely be a fan of this one. 

The movie occupies this position on our list as Lady Jessica’s role is relatively smaller than what Fergusson gets to do in Part Two (more on that in a minute). In fact, the actress was initially reluctant to take on the role of Paul Atreidas’s mother (did being only 12 years older than Timothée Chalamet’s have something to do with it?), but Villeneuve eventually convinced her, and we can all be thankful for that. 

8. The White Queen (2013)

The White Queen is the show that finally gained Ferguson international prominence, earning the young actress a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a miniseries along the way. Made for the BBC, the ten-part series focuses on King Edward IV’s wife, Elizabeth Woodville (Ferguson), during the War of the Roses.

This is the kind of show that revisits long-discussed historical events from the POV of the women involved. So, if you like punky, period stories told through the female lens (think The Great, The Favourite or Corsage), this is one you’ll want to see.

7. Doctor Sleep (2019)

Long before adapting Stephen King’s The Life of Chuck, Mike Flanagan made Doctor Sleep, a daring attempt to make a sequel to one of the greatest adaptations of the author’s novels. Fans of King adaptations in general, or those who are curious to see a pretty interesting expansion of the world of The Shining, might be curious to check this one out.  

Ewan McGregor stars as a now adult Danny Torrence who finds a young girl who has been cursed with the same gift, but Fergusson steals the show as the evil Rose the Hat. 

6. Silo (2023)

Silo is one of those shows that would have been absolutely enormous had it been released before the streaming wars. If you like mystery box series with sci-fi twists, like Lost or the recent adaptation of Fallout, you’ll easily get hooked on its alluring premise.

Set in a dystopian future where human beings are literally siloed underground, Ferguson absolutely kills it in the lead role as Juliette: an engineer whose curiosity puts her on a path to discovering the truth. 

5. House of Dynamite (2025)

For some viewers, A House of Dynamite will be a match made in heaven: a movie with the bingeable, gripping pull of a show like 24 mixed with director Katheryn Bigelow’s erudite taste for politically topical subject matter. You’ll lap this up if you’re a fan of her more recent output, especially The Hurt Locker or Zero Dark Thirty.

The movie roughly covers the same half hour, told from three sets of perspectives, to show how the US government might respond to the appearance of a rogue nuclear missile on their radar screens. Fergusson appears in the first of these segments, playing a duty officer in the situation room trying to hold it together through some uncomfortable calls with her son. As usual, she also steals the show. 

4. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning (2023)

Rest assured, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning won’t be the only movie in the franchise to feature on this list—though it’s certainly one worth seeing if you like the later instalments of the series and seeing Cruise at his most death-defying.

It’s the first we’ll mention here, however, as Ferguson’s limited screentime as Ilsa Faust means it’s perhaps the least substantial of her performances in the series. That said, she does get to wear an eye patch, shoot an enormous sniper rifle, and have a fateful sword fight on a Venetian bridge. Credit where credit’s due.  

3. Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

Mission: Impossible - Fallout places higher than Dead Reckoning because a) it might be the best action movie of the decade, and b) because Fergusson, again as Ilsa Faust, gets way more stuff to do. 

Over the course of the movie’s substantial running time, Ferguson is involved almost from start to finish, and all the way up to the grand finale, where she gets to fight Solomon Lane to defuse a plutonium core. She also gets to do more flirting with Ethan and ride a motorbike—all of which are crucial factors of this performance’s high ranking on this list. 

2. Dune Part Two (2024)

If you liked the vibe of Dune Part 1 but grew a little tired of all the table setting, Dune Part Two is your well-earned reward—an astonishing achievement in mature sci-fi cinema that any fan of that genre needs to see. 

Like most other things in Dune Part Two, Ferguson built on what she had achieved with Lady Jessica in Part One and made it even better—evolving into the Reverend Mother, getting some dope face tattoos, drinking the “Water of Life”, and essentially hyping her son into a full-blown Messiah. But hey, isn’t that what all mothers are for?

1. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)

Now we’re talking! Ilsa might have had to face the indignity of playing second fiddle to an overblown pickpocket in later instalments of the Mission Impossible franchise, but her first appearance as Ilsa Faust, in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, is one of the best character portrayals in the entire series. 

Director Cristopher McQuarrie certainly knew what he was up to in casting a Swedish-born actress to play a character named Ilsa in a certain Moroccan city, but Ferguson transcended those winks to cinema history to make the character her own. Her emergence from the swimming pool is enough to leave Benji speechless, but it’s Ferguson’s delivery of that line that really sealed her place in the annals of M: I and, IMO, made her a star.

Romantic comedies have the power to make us laugh out loud, cry harder than we thought possible, and renew our belief in love—and rom-com series only increase the time we get to spend with these delightfully flawed characters. Whether you’re in the mood for a messy charmer like Lena Dunham’s latest series, Too Much, want to laugh at Rose Matafeo’s antics on Starstruck, or escape with a nostalgic classic like Sex and the City, there’s a series on this list for everyone. 

Check out why you should watch Too Much, as well as eight more of the best rom-com series available to stream in one fell swoop right now.

Too Much (2025)

Lena Dunham’s Netflix series Too Much takes the modern rom-com to new levels of lovable dysfunctionality. The series follows Jess (Megan Stalter), an American who moves to London for a job after a devastating breakup. Jess is not your typical rom-com protagonist: she’s big, she’s brash, and she has only the slightest of filters. 

While many might find her “too much”, Jess has a heart of gold and is willing to open herself up to love again when she meets the struggling musician Felix (Will Sharpe) in a dingy loo on her first night in the city. If you’re in the mood for a witty rom-com that doesn’t shy away from its protagonists’ messier sides, be sure to check out Too Much.

Starstruck (2021–2023)

This three-season gem of a series, from the mind of New Zealand comedian Rose Matafeo, is perfect viewing for any fan of a classic rom-com with killer humour and a modern feel. 

The series stars Matafeo herself as Jessie, a funny and somewhat lost late-20s Kiwi working a series of odd jobs in London. When she bumps into Tom at a New Year’s party and the two have a one-night stand, Jessie realises Tom is actually a big film star. As their relationship goes through the motions and they learn more about themselves in the process, they try and figure out if their lifestyles are compatible.

Relatable, hilarious, and sometimes very real, Starstruck is without a doubt one of the best rom-com series of the past decade.

Girls (2012–2017)

Girls focuses on the lives of four 20-something women trying to get their lives and careers on track in an unruly New York City. Hannah (played by Lena Dunham) is an aspiring writer dating the commitment-phobic Adam (Adam Driver). Both have their fair share of issues, and over the years, their relationship evolves in ways that prove both deeply frustrating and relatable.

While Girls is much more than a pure rom-com series, there’s no doubt that Hannah and Adam’s on-again, off-again relationship is one of the most compelling aspects of all six seasons. Dunham’s original creation has been subject to much critique over the years, mostly for its lack of diversity, but it has recently had a resurgence in popularity. 

As with Too Much, Dunham’s masterful ability to capture the messiness of dealing with oneself and others in a relationship is on full display.

Sex and the City (1998–2004)

It’s fair to say there is no rom-com series more iconic than Sex and the City. While Girls and Too Much revel in the messiness of being human, Sex and the City favours an escape into the glitz and glamour of New York life.

The protagonist, Carrie Bradshaw (played by Sarah Jessica Parker), writes a successful column about dating and sexuality that somehow permits her to live in a West Village brownstone and splurge on Jimmy Choos every other week… Her and her tumultuous relationship with the enigmatic Mr Big plays a big role, and while the storyline falls into many of the unhealthy tropes of heterosexual dating, it remains a big pull for any romantic soul. 

Like Girls, there is much to criticise about Sex and the City by modern standards, but the series was one of the first to depict women over 30 dating and exploring their sexuality, and there’s no doubt that it remains extremely relevant even today.

Fleabag (2016–2019)

While Fleabag is certainly much more than a ‘pure’ rom-com, the title character’s second-season romance with a priest is enough to land it a solid place on this list. This two-season masterpiece, adapted by Phoebe Waller-Bridge from her one-woman stage show, follows an unnamed woman, aka Fleabag, whose life is spiralling out of control after the death of her best friend.

In Season 2, she tentatively emerges from this personal abyss to fall for a cheeky priest (Andrew Scott), and we are treated to Fleabag breaking the fourth wall to tell us with all her signature wit exactly how she feels about him. While their relationship might be doomed from the start, the genuine affection and longing between them—not to mention that steamy scene in the confessional—is a beautiful thing to behold.

Nobody Wants This (2024–present)

Nobody Wants This is a fun, modern rom-com based on the real-life story of actress Erin Foster, who also created the series. Her on-screen persona, Joanna (Kristen Bell), is an agnostic, outspoken woman who co-hosts a successful podcast about sex and romance with her sister, Justine. When Joanna meets a handsome rabbi, Noah, the sparks fly despite their clearly mismatched lifestyles and beliefs. 

Nobody Wants This is the perfect salve for anyone burned out by the current dating scene. Noah’s ability to listen, be supportive, and regulate his own emotions will melt your defences and make you raise the bar for any future dates.  

Love (2016–2018)

Netflix’s Love is a classic rom-com with a thoughtful modern twist. The series follows the story of two dysfunctional Los Angelinos: Mickey, an impulsive recovering alcoholic, and Gus, who is unstoppably neurotic and emotionally needy. While they both come with their fair share of problems, after their meet-cute in a 24-hour shop, the two sincerely try to work together to build a better relationship than any they had had before. 

Throughout Love’s three seasons, the series patiently yet engagingly deepens our love for Mickey and Gus at the same pace they fall for each other. The ups and downs of their relationship feel very real, and while there might be plenty of laughs, the series is surprisingly soft and intimate.

Modern Love (2019–2021)

The pros and cons of an anthology series like Modern Love are that some episodes really stand out while others blend into a standard mix of clichés. This series, based on the popular New York Times weekly column and podcast featuring real-life love stories, contains two seasons of eight episodes, each with its own unique story and a host of A-list cast members. 

In episodes like “When Cupid Is a Prying Journalist,” in which Dev Patel’s Joshua and Catherine Keener’s Julie exchange stories about “the one who got away”, and “On a Serpentine Road, With the Top Down,” in which Minnie Driver’s Stephanie is only able to talk to her deceased first husband while sitting in a rundown sports car, Modern Love captures the universal experiences of love’s beauty and pain in the modern world.

Time to pull up a stool and wait for things to settle as Netflix’s House of Guinness is taking the streaming world by storm. Like the creamy head on a lovely pint, the show has been topping the streaming charts ever since its release—at least at the time of writing—while racking up a formidable 90% score on Rotten Tomatoes in the process. 

If we look back a little, the show is just one in a long line of gripping family sagas that have dominated our screens for the last 25 years—some of which, I believe, have represented the peak of dramatic television in that time. So, if you’ve just downed the first season of HoG and are thirsty for more, here are ten of the very best of them.

We’ve arranged this list in descending order, with the top being closest in terms of similarity to HoG and the last few more roughly adjacent to it. Read on to discover more and use the guide below to find them on services like AppleTV, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere.

Succession (2018 - 2023)

When House of Guinness was released, the go-to comparison on everyone’s lips was Jesse Armstrong’s masterful Succession—and if you loved HoG for all the familiar infighting, wealthy brats and cut-throat inheritance squabbles, you’ll probably love it. 

The story follows Logan Roy (Brian Cox), the head of a powerful, right-leaning media corporation, and the efforts of his three children to be chosen as the next in line to his throne. Armstrong made his name for his early collaborations with Armando Iannucci, so if you’re a fan of The Thick of It or Iannucci’s more recent Veep (think sharply written satire and colourful profanities), this is definitely one for you. 

Peaky Blinders (2013 - 2022)

The other comparison that is impossible to ignore is showrunner Steven Wright’s previous long-running series, Peaky Blinders. If you’re a fan of House of Guinness for its style (all those flat-caps and moustaches, the devilish charm of Anthony Boyle), you’ll definitely be into it. 

Over six seasons, each produced by the BBC, Cillian Murphy’s Thomas Shelby became an international style icon. Oh, and the show wasn’t bad either—a slick, period-set crime saga that lovers of Narcos or the Scorsese-produced Boardwalk Empire will lap up. The cast includes a host of British luminaries, including Tom Hardy and Stephen Graham, and with a movie on the way at Netflix, there’s probably never been a better time to get into it!

The Sopranos (1999 - 2007)

And speaking of long-running crime sagas, there are plenty of reasons why people still consider The Sopranos not simply the best crime show ever made but arguably the best TV show ever made. Those who like House of Guinness for its sharp writing, dark comedy, and the way it examines the underbelly of that world are in for a treat.

The Sopranos ran for six near-flawless seasons on HBO and made stars of James Gandolfini, Edie Falco and the rest of the cast. Imagine The Godfather mixed with Fargo but set in ‘00s New Jersey—except with a little more existential humour and way more gabagool—and you’ll know what to expect.

The Crown (2016 - 2023)

Alternatively, if you are particularly into House of Guinness for its period settings and depictions of wealth from that era, you might be more interested in checking out The Crown. This is Peter Morgan’s epic, six-season series on the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II—beginning with Claire Foy in the lead role in 1947, Olivia Coleman from 1964 to 1990, and finally with Imelda Staunton up until 2005. 

Morgan structures the series almost like an anthology, with nearly every episode working as a self-contained story—each focusing on a notable incident or scandal from that time. This will be particularly up your alley if you’re a fan of dramas that explore the more recent history of the royal family, like Spencer or The Queen.

Mobland (2025 - )

The most recent series on our list is Mobland. This is a crime saga that focuses on the Harrigans, a ruthless and powerful family of Irish mobsters living in England in the present day. This is one that fans of House of Guinness’s Hibernian flavours might particularly appreciate.

It’s certainly true regarding the cast, which contains not just the great Tom Hardy (playing a fixer) but also Navan’s own Pierce Brosnan as the menacing patriarch, Conrad, and Emma Thompson donning an Irish brogue as his wife and confidante, Maeve. Ronan Bennet created the show, so if you liked his previous one, the excellent Day of the Jackal, or are simply a fan of all things Pierce, you’ll definitely want to check this one out. 

Yellowstone (2018 - 2024)

Moving a little farther afield, if you’re looking for another period-set show with an inheritance angle, the long-running, Kevin Costner-starring, and constantly expanding Yellowstone might be a good shout. The show (which now boasts five seasons and two spinoffs, with more in the works) focuses on the Dutton family, owners of the largest cattle ranch in Montana, and the conflicts that arise not just with neighbouring farmers and natives, but ultimately between themselves.

This is one of the prolific Taylor Sheridan’s many creations, so if you liked his Oscar-nominated Hell or High Water or his more recent series, Landman, you’ll probably be into it. 

Bloodline (2015 - 2017)

Sticking with shows on that side of the Atlantic, Bloodline is a family saga that takes place in the hot and humid world of the Florida Keys. Set in the present day, it focuses on a respected family whose lives are turned upside down when an estranged older brother returns home. It could be the one for you if you like House of Guinness for its subtle character development and gradually revealing characters.

Alongside Kyle Chandler and Sissi Spacek, the show also stars the great Ben Mendelsohn in a deliciously layered role (he plays the prodigal son), so if you appreciated what he brought to Andor Season 2 or to movies like Animal Kingdom and Mississippi Grind, you’ll want to check him out in this. 

Ozark (2017 - 2022)

Ozark is in many ways a similar show to Bloodline: a contemporary story set in a very particular part of America, about a normal family whose lives begin to unravel after the arrival of an unseen force. In this case, it’s a Mexican cartel, so if the crime world subplots of House of Guinness drew you in, along with the family drama, this one might be a great shout for you.

Jason Bateman, Julia Garner and Laura Linney lead the excellent cast in a show that fans of True Detective and Mare of Easttown will easily warm to. 

Pachinko (2022 - )

Moving a little farther afield, Pachinko is a decades-long saga about a Korean family that begins in 1910, when the country was still under Japanese colonial rule. If you found the political tensions in House of Guinness interesting, this might be of particular interest. Based on Min Jin-hee’s novel, the first two seasons have so far taken us from the early 20th century all the way up to the 1960s—so don’t be concerned about the pace of the storytelling.

Pachinko is also one of the best-looking series to be released in recent years. This is thanks to the location shooting but also Florian Hoffmeister’s cinematography—so, if you liked the DP’s work on the most recent series of True Detective, or on Todd Field’s incredible TÁR, you’ll want to check it out.

The Righteous Gemstones (2019 - 2025)

We’ll finish on something a little more light-hearted, though no less rooted in the dynamics of a powerful family. We’re talking, of course, about The Righteous Gemstones—a story about a family of wealthy evangelists who rarely, if ever, practice what they preach. 

This is the latest show from the brilliant and hilarious Danny McBride. If you’re a fan of his previous work (think Eastbound and Down, Vice Principals), you’re gonna love it.

Given that most horror franchises start with relatively tiny budgets, it’s no surprise that the movies tend to get more ambitious by the second or third instalments. Horror filmmakers (especially in the days of practical effects) have always been among the most creative and resourceful in the business, so it makes sense that a little more time and money occasionally result in something more expressive, adventurous, and hopefully more terrifying.

I’ve arranged the list of superior horror sequels below in no particular order and always with the greatest respect for the originator of each franchise. Read on to discover more about them and use the guide below to find them on platforms like AppleTV, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere. 

Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Growing up in the ‘90s, I used to assume that Wes Craven invented the idea of meta horror with movies like Scream and the later Elm Streets; so naturally, it came as a shock to learn that James Whale had done something similar six decades before. 

In 1935, Whale followed up the huge success of Frankenstein with a kind of meta-sequel, Bride of Frankenstein—and if you appreciate the kind of horror that just seems to know it’s a horror (like the classics I just mentioned, but also movies like The Cabin in the Woods), or if you enjoy the more campy stuff, like Vincent Price’s House on Haunted Hill, I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Beginning with a scene set on Lake Geneva, where Mary Shelley traded ghost stories with Byron before coming up with the idea for her legendary novel, this is a daringly modern movie that’s been inspiring horror filmmakers ever since. 

Pearl (2022)

In 2022, Ti West followed up his well-received X with Pearl, a wonderfully inventive mish-mash of terror and technicolour homage that did for classic Hollywood and melodrama what X had done for ‘70s exploitation movies—imagine if The Wizard of Oz and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre had a baby, and you might have some idea of what to expect with Pearl.  

This is a follow-up that trumped its predecessor less for outright scares (though there are plenty of them) and more for sheer, demented joy and originality, particularly thanks to Mia Goth’s astonishing—and immediately memed—performance as the titular star. 

(P.S. Make sure to keep an eye out for future Superman David Corenswet, who appears dangerously suave here in a supporting role.) 

Final Destination 3 (2006)

I think you can tell a lot about a person by their favourite Final Destination movie. The first one is a gem that, having been shot on film, still looks like a million bucks. The second boasts some iconic moments, no doubt, but it’s just a little gloomy for my tastes. Part Three, however, is the moment when the series really found its groove—and if you’re a fan of the more recent outings in the franchise, like this year’s Bloodlines, or appreciate mid-00s Mary Elisabeth Winstead, as in Scott Pilgrim or Deathproof, this is one you’ll want to check out.

Along with its iconic theme park opener, the movie is full of great noughties-era details, like a particularly consequential digital camera. It also has some of the best kills in the franchise—just be warned, it might stop you from ever going into a tanning bed again. 

Scream 2 (1998)

Not for the first or last time on this list, we turn to the great Wes Craven. Now, I can’t argue that Scream 2, a movie that is even more self-aware than the original, had as much of a cultural footprint as Scream, but by doubling down on the meta-experimentation (that Stab opening scene!), it managed to be even more fun. If you like the other meta horrors we’ve mentioned on this list already, you’ll love it. 

The last act lets it down a bit, but the switch to a college campus and the addition of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jerry O’Connell, and Laurie Metcalf to the cast make Scream 2 an iconic piece of late-‘90s pop culture. I mean, if you’re getting parodied in Scary Movie, you must be doing something right. 

Aliens (1986)

This might be the most controversial choice on this list. Ridley Scott’s original Alien is an undisputed classic—a haunted house movie set in outer space where, famously, no one can hear you scream. If I had to take one Alien movie to the grave, however, I’d take James Cameron’s follow-up, Aliens—a movie that is solidly in the pantheon of great action sci-fi like The Terminator and Starship Troopers.

You could argue that Cameron’s effort is less horror-coded than Scott’s, but that’s beside the point. Building to a showdown between two unconventional mothers, one of whom is Sigourney Weaver in a bright yellow mech suit, this is a perfect movie and a masterclass in tension-building and design. 

Smile 2 (2024)

As a huge admirer of the first Smile movie, I entered first-time director Parker Finn’s sequel with some apprehension. Needless to say, Smile 2 blew me away—a brilliant, funny and terrifying vision (fans of smart, inventive horror like It Follows and Weapons should try it out) that will haunt anyone who’s ever experienced sleep paralysis, and probably anyone who hasn’t.

The plot follows a pop star named Skye, which is a setup that allows for all kinds of creepy possibilities while allowing Finn to explore the smothering nature of fame. The scene in which Skye’s dancers follow her in one flowing, amoebic movement through her apartment was one of the best things I saw last year. 

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Again, we’re wading into controversial water here. George A Romero’s Night of the Living Dead is a stone-cold classic, a still provocative movie that basically invented a still thriving genre today. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, however, is just a lot more fun. If you’re a fan of The Last of Us or of Zack Snyder’s perfectly good 2004 remake, we’d recommend going back to experience the original. 

The idea to set the story in an abandoned shopping mall was simply genius by Romero—a move that creates all kinds of possible scenarios for the characters while suggesting the zombifying nature of consumer capitalism in one foul swoop.

Evil Dead II (1987)

This one is slightly cheating, as Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead II is more or less a remake of the first movie—but hey, there’s a “II” in the title. And whatever the case, Ash’s second round of misadventures with the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis is a classic example of the amazing things that can happen when an already inventive filmmaker is given access to a whole new box of tools. If you’re a fan of what Raimi did with the recent Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it’s cool to see the same visual trickery on show here.

The plot is the archetypal cabin in the woods set up, where a haunted book is discovered and all sorts of hell is let loose. Fair warning: while Raimi tones it down significantly from the original, there is still a scene in the woods (in which Bobby Joe is attacked by the trees) here that will appear quite extreme by today’s standards.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) 

Once again, we return to Wes Craven with the best movie in the Elm Street franchise, which is also, no surprise, the only movie of the original six that Craven was involved with after Part One. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors is the movie where Freddy became the star, and also kind of funny—but without the awful self-parody of later instalments. 

This is one for appreciators of creative kills (like in the Final Destination movies) but also of imaginative, hand-crafted horror movies—among Craven’s incredible team was director Chuck Russell, who would go on to make The Mask, and co-screenwriter Frank Darabont, who went on to make The Shawshank Redemption. Wes Craven would return with 1994’s excellent New Nightmare, but I think that movie feels more like a primer for Scream than a sequel for Freddy. 

Terrifier 3 (2024)

Some people will say that Terrifier 2 is the obvious choice here, but I find that the switch to Christmastime and the establishment of recurring, legacy characters in Terrifier 3 make the movie, and Art the Clown’s demented sadism, just feel a bit more substantial.

Working with a larger budget, the movie also has some of the most creatively horrendous kills—just be warned, this one is not for the faint of heart. But if you’re a degenerate like me and occasionally appreciate horror that’s a little more on the extreme side (think Martyrs or Audition), it might be what you’re after.

The original version of this article was written by Jess Bacon and published on 11 April 2024.

Dev Patel has been a prominent presence in the British film scene ever since his breakout role in Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning sensation, Slumdog Millionaire. Since then, the London-born and bred actor has gone from strength to strength, co-starring alongside some of the great stars of the era, being cast by some of the most beloved indie directors, and even shaking things up by directing a film of his own.

Indeed, the actor went behind the camera to bring audiences his first feature as director and co-writer of Monkey Man, a film that received widespread acclaim for both Patel’s performance and direction. The actor’s next project, Rabbit Trap, to releases in late 2025, so what better time to look back over his finest performances? Read on to discover more about Patel’s 10 best roles, ranked here in ascending order, and use the guide below to find out where to stream them on platforms like BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere.

10. Chappie (2015)

Chappie is an original and inventive sci-fi that never quite recovered from some harsh early reviews, but if you’re a fan of director Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 and Elysium, I’d recommend giving it a shot. Just be warned, the movie plays it a bit fast and loose with cultural appropriation, so if that’s something that tends to trigger you, you might be better off watching one of the other movies on this list. 

For Blomkamp’s movie, Patel played the nervy engineer responsible for looking after the eponymous protagonist, a robot he sets free only for it to learn to talk Jo-berg trash after hanging out with Die Antwoord for too long—as we said, it’s original and problematic.

9. I Lost My Body (2019)

I Lost My Body almost achieved the same success that Flow did earlier this year. Like that Latvian wonder, this gorgeous animation made it all the way from a small premiere at the Cannes Film Festival to the Oscars—it just didn’t quite manage to win. 

This is an animation that fans of organic-looking work, like Persepolis or The Red Turtle, will appreciate. Patel, of course, doesn’t appear, but his voice work as the protagonist, Naoufel, in the English language version adds to the movie’s tremendous warmth and soul. 

8. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and its 2015 sequel, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel are movies made to appeal to an audience of a certain age, but not exclusively, so if you enjoy shows like Downton Abbey or movies like Hope Springs, it could well be one for you.

The cast contains UK acting royalty like Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton, but as the hotel manager, Sonny Kapoor, Patel kind of holds the whole thing together. The heart-warming movie was one of the highest-grossing films of 2012, making a staggering $136.8 million on its $10 million budget so at the very least, you can give it a watch to see what all the fuss was about.

7. Lion (2016)

Patel’s most celebrated role arguably came in the 2016 drama Lion, a movie that told the true story of a 25-year-old Indian man who used Google Earth to locate the family he left behind when he moved to Australia at a young age. Patel stars as Saroo Brierly alongside Nicole Kidman as his adoptive mother—it’s the kind of movie you’ll love if you like uplifting true-life dramas like Wild or Thirteen Lives.

The performance was critically acclaimed, with Patel going on to win the BAFTA for Best Actor in a Supporting Role before picking up a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards—despite it probably being better described as the lead role. 

6. Monkey Man (2024)

It’s rare for actors to make the jump to directing, especially when it comes to movies like Monkey Man—an action thriller with influences ranging from Bollywood classics to John Wick. If you like the idea of seeing that kind of action mixed with the textures of another kind of cinema, we highly recommend it. 

Along with directing, Patel took on the titular role, reuniting with his Chappie co-star Sharlto Copley (as always, a great antagonist) as well as the Indian actors Pitobash Tripathy, Vipin Sharma and Sikandar Kher. Nope director Jordan Peele even served as producer on the movie, which grossed four times its budget, along with scoring a formidable 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

5. Skins (2007)

Dev Patel might not have the biggest role in Season 1 of Skins, but the show’s importance to his career can not be understated. The iconic Channel 4 series proved to be a launchpad for a whole generation of English actors, from Patel, Nicolaus Hoult and Daniel Kaluuya in Season 1 to Jack O’Connell in the next generation. For Season 1, Patel played Anwar, a pill-popping party-boy struggling to square his lifestyle with his cultural background and Muslim upbringing. 

This is a show for fans of ‘00s indie sleaze debauchery—if you liked Saltburn, this is kind of the genesis of that whole vibe. 

4. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)

Given Patel’s easy charm and excellent comic timing, it was probably only a matter of time before Wes Anderson came along with a role for him. The movie that did it was The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, the Oscar-winning short film adaptation of the deep-cut Roald Dahl novella. Fans of Anderson’s other Dahl adaptation, Fantastic Mr. Fox, won’t want to miss this one. 

The plot follows Benedict Cumberbatch’s Henry Sugar, a gambler on a journey to acquire the gift of clairvoyance that might help him to cheat. The cast is typically stacked, but Patel’s performance is a standout. It’s a pure delight. 

3. The Green Knight (2021)

With all the success Patel has had, it’s strange he hasn’t been picked up to lead a huge number of projects. Perhaps his experience with The Last Airbender made him more cautious with choosing blockbusters. Whatever the reason, his appearance in David Lowery’s fascinating The Green Knight is one to cherish—especially for fans of A24 movies like The Lighthouse, or Robert Eggers’ more recent work, The Northman.

Patel plays Gawain, the nephew of King Arthur, who risks losing his head by travelling to confront the titular Knight. This is rich, evocative, indie filmmaking at its best.

2. The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019)

If you’re a fan of Armando Iannucci’s unique brand of humour, especially Veep and The Death of Stalin, don’t sleep on The Personal History of David Copperfield—the writer-director’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic has wit and energy to burn.

Credit should also go to the filmmakers for deciding to go with colourblind casting—an approach that’s been common in theatre for ages but has taken cinema a while to catch up with. If it weren’t for that choice, Patel wouldn’t have gotten the role and fans of the actor wouldn’t have gotten this exceptional performance. 

1. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Just a year after appearing on Skins, and long before his soon to be famous friends did the same, Patel made the jump to feature films with Slumdog Millionaire, a movie that rode a wave of good reviews and word of mouth to become the most successful independent British film of all time, win best picture at the Academy Awards, and earn Patel (who was still 19) a nomination for Best Actor at the BAFTAs. 

Adapted from Vikas Swarup’s novel Q&A, Patel stars as the 18-year-old Jamal Malik, a boy from a slum in Mumbai who wins the grand prize on India’s version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, only to be accused of cheating. It perhaps hasn’t aged impeccably, but if you are a fan of Patel (especially in dramatic roles like Lion) or Danny Boyle’s work, it’s kind of an essential watch.

The original version of this article was written by Jess Bacon and published on 31 May 2024.

Paul Mescal rose to fame after the release of the BBC’s adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People in 2020 and has never looked back. Since then, the Irish actor has gone on to star in some of Ireland and Britain’s best independent feature films and even made the jump to Hollywood with Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II in 2024.

With his turn as William Shakespeare, in Chloe Zhao’s devastating Hamnet, currently earning the young star yet more acclaim and award season nominations, what better time to look back on the roles that got him here.

Use this guide to find out where to watch Paul Mescal's best movies and TV shows, which are ranked below in ascending order. Plus, all the latest offers for his movies on streaming platforms like Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere.

10. History of Sound (2025)

Mescal might find it lazy and frustrating, but it’s difficult not to think of Brokeback Mountain while watching The History of Sound. If you’re a fan of Ang Lee’s masterpiece, however, there’s every chance you’ll enjoy it—just don’t expect a movie on quite the same level. A closer comparison might be Cold Mountain, another period-set love story in which music and song are just as important as the words being spoken. 

Oliver Hermanus’s follow-up to Living—a wonderful, Kazou Ishiguro-scripted reimagining of Kurosawa's Ikuru—didn’t exactly set the world on fire at its Cannes premiere in 2025, but working alongside Josh O'Connor, Mescal does fine work with a challenging role. He also gets to wear some tiny glasses, which is a big plus. 

9. Foe (2023)

Foe remains something of an outlier in the Mescal canon: a psychological, sci-fi thriller that’s not a million miles off some melancholy episodes of Black Mirror, or the recent Adam Sandler movie, Spaceman. It did, however, offer the opportunity to work with Saoirse Ronan, the biggest Irish star of her generation—which was something he was never going to turn down.

It's safe to say, Garth Davis’s movie was a little too bleak for some viewers, but the chance to see these two work together makes it well worth a watch—especially if you can't wait to see them as Paul and Linda in Sam Mendes' upcoming Beatles movies.  

8. Gladiator II (2024)

Gladiator II is the kind of sequel that takes the most successful elements of the original and turns up the dial. You could compare it to other legacy movies like The Force Awakens or Blade Runner 2049, but Ridley Scott’s follow-up never comes close to capturing the same magic he achieved with Russell Crowe in the original.

Some of the blame is possibly due to Mescal’s casting: the actor has physical presence and intensity to burn, but he hasn't got Crowe's unique ability for endearing grandiosity—indeed, very few people have. No matter, Gladiator II a perfectly enjoyable movie on its own terms, and it’s fascinating to see such an interior actor attempt to translate those abilities to such a wide canvas. 

7. Carmen (2022)

Carmen is probably Mescal’s least seen project, but if you like the idea of watching the actor dance and sing (as we will apparently get to see again, one day in the distant future, in Richard Linklater’s Merrily We Roll Along), then this is one you might want to seek out. 

For his debut feature, the dance choreographer Benjamin Millepied (who, amongst other things, created the sandwalk for Villeneuve’s Dune) reimagines the Bizet opera in present-day Mexico, with Mescal giving a physical performance alongside Melissa Barrera as two doomed lovers.

6. God’s Creatures (2022)

With two films premiering in Cannes, 2022 proved to be another landmark year for Mescal. The first to screen was Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer’s God’s Creatures, an Irish-set drama starring Emily Watson as Aileen, the manager of a seafood processing plant on the West Coast. It’s a dark and brooding movie, somewhere in the vein of Calvary and Banshees of Inisherin, but with none of those movies’ inherent dark humour. 

Mescal gives a fascinating performance as Aileen’s son, a young man who mysteriously returns from Australia and is soon accused of assault—the question that lingers is how long Aileen will decide to swallow his side of the story.

5. The Lost Daughter (2021)

In 2021, Mescal made his feature film debut in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter, a movie that received Academy Award nominations for its lead actresses Olivia Coleman and Jesse Buckley—and if you’re a fan of their work in movies like The Favourite or I’m Thinking of Ending Things, you’ll want to see what happens when they share the screen here. 

Similar to Creatures, Gyllenhaal’s movie focuses on the dark secrets of a small community, but Mescal’s role is far more sympathetic. He even gets to do a little bit of polite flirting with Coleman, which is obviously worth the ticket price alone. 

4. All of Us Strangers (2023)

Andrew Scott got more of the plaudits for Andrew Haigh’s supernatural romance, All of Us Strangers, but Mescal’s supporting performance was just as strong—and needless to say, if you liked Haigh’s landmark queer movie Weekend or similarly heartbreaking movies, like Celine Song’s Past Lives, get ready to ball your eyes out with this one.

For his role as Harry, Mescal gives the movie an electric charge, taking on an impeccable Leeds accent and committing to several wonderfully intimate scenes. For this performance, Mescal was nominated for a Bafta for Best Supporting Actor and was unlucky not to do the same at the Oscars—even if nobody was beating Robert Downey Jr. for Oppenheimer that year.

3. Hamnet (2025)

With The History of Sound and Gladiator II not landing with critics and audiences quite as well as expected, there was some pressure on Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet to hit the ground running—but as its win for Best Drama at the Golden Globes recently showed, it's being received by most (if not all) viewers with open arms. Adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s bestseller, this is the kind of heart-wrenching period movie that only comes around every once in a while—think The Remains of the Day, Little Women and Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

Zhao’s movie reunites Mescal and Jessie Buckley as William and Agnes Shakespeare and focuses on the tragic death of their son. At time of writing, it stands as second favourite for Best Picture at the Oscars.

2. Normal People (2020)

Mescal was an up-and-comer on the Dublin theatre scene before landing the role of Connell Waldren in the 2020 miniseries Normal People, a role that stunned audiences across the globe and changed the young actor’s life. Based on Sally Rooney’s best-seller, Normal People is a beautifully moving, wonderfully directed and consistently heartbreaking account of young love that fans of the Netflix series One Day, and anyone else with a heart, will immediately warm to.

The show was nothing short of a sensation, and a lot of that was to do with the performances of Daisy Edgar-Jones and Mescal, the latter of whom went on to win a BAFTA for Best Actor and secure a Primetime Emmy nomination.

1. Aftersun (2022)

The second of Mescal’s Cannes premieres in 2022 was Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun, a movie that came into the festival with little fanfare and ended up being voted by some reputable publications as the best movie of the year. This is one for fans of heart-wrenching coming-of-age movies like Call Me By Your Name and Moonlight—another entry in the canon of deeply personal, honest and melancholy filmmaking, and an incredibly beautiful one, too.

Mescal’s performance as a young, troubled, single father remains, at least for now, the standout moment in an already exceptional career—a role that earned him his first nomination for Best Actor at the Academy Awards. I’m certain it won’t be his last.

Now more than ten years into her celebrated career, Margaret Qualley (the daughter of ‘90s leading lady Andie MacDowell) has long since shed the Nepo-baby tag. Having worked with Hollywood legends like Ethan Coen and Quentin Tarantino, as well as celebrated international auteurs like Yorgos Lanthimos and Claire Denis, she might soon be able to stake a claim at being the most successful member of the family. 

In 2025 alone, Qualley has been on an incredible roll: joining her The Substance co-star Demi Moore at the Oscars, appearing in Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon at the Berlin Film Festival, Ethan Coen’s Honey Don’t! in Cannes, and even taking time to do a cameo in Netflix’s Happy Gilmore 2.

With Honey Don’t! in cinemas and Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars very much on the way, what better time to take stock of the actress’s career so far? Read on to discover Qualley’s ten best performances so far, ranked here in ascending order, and be sure to use the guide below to find out where to stream them on platforms likeDisney+, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere.

10. Drive-Away Dolls (2024) & Honey Don’t! (2025) 

If you appreciate the Coen Brothers but aren’t in the mood for all the existential dread, Honey Don’t! and Drive-Away Dolls might just have the mix of goofy energy you’re looking for. Certainly check out the latter if you enjoyed Dolls, Ethan Coen’s first solo effort. Both movies are period pastiches of classic genres with LGBTQ+ twists, so if you liked the recent Love Lies Bleeding, you should find plenty to enjoy here. 

Dolls and Honey Don’t! are the first two instalments in Coen and his partner Tricia Cooke’s proposed trilogy of queer B-movies. Both feature zany performances from Qualley, so if you enjoy the actress in that particular mode, you’ll probably like them both.

9. The Nice Guys (2016)

If you like your buddy cop movies to come with a dash of dark humour and a 1970s sheen (think The Other Guys mixed with Liquorice Pizza), The Nice Guys is an absolute must-see. The story follows a classic mix of noir tropes, but it’s the chemistry between Russel Crowe and Ryan Gosling (two actors who really should do more comedies) that really makes it tick.

The movie is known for launching the career of the Aussie actress Angourie Rice, but Qualley’s performance as Amelia, the yellow-dressed woman who sets the drama in motion, is just as memorable. 

8. Stars at Noon (2022)

By my count, Margaret Qualley is the only actor to have worked with both Quentin Tarantino and Claire Denis, the legendary French director behind such arthouse classics as Beau Travail and 35 Shots of Rum—and if you’re a fan of those, or are keen to see Qualley directed by one of the greats, I’d recommend giving this one a go.

I’ve placed it high on her list of achievements as it’s one of the rare Qualley movies where the actress undoubtedly plays the lead. The story is set in Nicaragua, with Qualley playing an American journalist who seduces an Englishman (Joe Alwyn) to help her escape. There is even a steamy love scene between the current Ms Jack Antonoff and the former Mr Taylor Swift.  

7. Blue Moon (2025)

Speaking of working with the greats, Qualley gives an excellent performance in Richard Linklater’s soon-to-be-released Blue Moon, a movie that follows Ethan Hawke’s Lorenz Hart, propping up the bar in Sardi’s, on the night when his former writing partner, Richard Rodgers, opened his first solo hit, Oklahoma!. Fans of musical theatre history or those who like movies that peek behind the proscenium, such as Birdman, will want to keep an eye out for it. 

It’s a dialogue-heavy movie that Linklater presents in real time, meaning that the actors involved (Hawke especially) really get to work their magic—and that goes for Qualley too, who is wonderful as Hart’s 20-year-old protégée, Elizabeth Weiland.

6. Sanctuary (2022)

If you’re a Qualley fan who appreciates intense, confined, and steamy dramas—a little bit Secretary, a tiny bit Phantom Thread—you should really check out Sanctuary. This is, in some ways, the movie that confirmed her potential as a leading indie actress. It also earned her a bunch of rave reviews. 

The story is basically a two-hander between Qualley’s dominatrix and her client (played by the always reliable Christopher Abbott), a rich kid who has to break off their arrangement before inheriting the family business. Easier said than done. 

5. Poor Things (2023)

Given Qualley’s skills at physical comedy, it was only a matter of time before Yorgos Lanthimos (a director who has always enjoyed turning his actors into rag dolls) cast her in a movie. The actress has now made two: the perfectly fine Kinds of Kindness and the perfectly great Poor Things.

This is a movie that has both the fantastical period vibes of Guillermo del Toro (think Nightmare Alley) and the punky feminist critiques of movies like Titane and The Favourite. Qualley, of course, plays second fiddle to Emma Stone’s iconic Bella Baxter, but she still crushes every scene. 

4. The Leftovers (2014-2017)

Okay, so maybe Qualley isn’t the most prominent actor in Damon Lindelof’s The Leftovers, but we would be remiss not to have it around the upper reaches of this list. This was the role that put Qualley on the map, and if you’ve not seen the show, you’re really in for a treat—especially if you’re a fan of Lindelof’s other twisty shows like Lost and Watchmen. 

Qualley plays Jill Garvey (the daughter of Justin Theroux’s Kevin and Amy Brenneman’s Laurie), a young woman attempting to deal with the show’s central tragedy while also dealing with all the other things that young women have to try and deal with. 

3. Maid (2021)

We can’t claim that Maid has had a similar cultural impact to some other movies and shows on this list, but it’s the project that’s given Qualley her most grounded and dramatic role so far in her career. Of course, she rises to the occasion with a wonderful performance—one that went on to earn her her first nomination at the Golden Globes.

The show is based on the memoir of Stephanie Land, a single mother who escaped an abusive relationship and went to work as a house cleaner. Needless to say, this one deals with some heavy themes, but if you like raw storytelling that tackles serious issues, like Adolescence or The Outrun, then it might be up your street.

2. The Substance (2024)

Qualley’s second nomination at the Golden Globes could hardly have come for a more different movie. Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance is a gross-out body horror that satirises Hollywood’s obsession with youth and young women. It stars Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, a star who begins to take a de-ageing serum that allows her to turn (in a sense) into a younger version of herself, who, of course, is played by Qualley.

Imagine if David Cronenberg directed a mashup of Jekyll and Hyde and Death Becomes Her, and you’ll have some idea of what to expect.

1. Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood (2019)

There can only be one movie at the top of this list, and that movie is Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino’s love letter to 1960s L.A.. If you’re a fan of QT’s work, as well as other shows and movies that glamourise that era, like Mad Men or Catch Me if You Can, it’s simply one you have to see. 

The story follows Rick Dalton, a TV actor on a career downturn, and Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), his trusty stuntman. The plot turns on the moment when Booth briefly crosses paths with the Manson girls—almost all of whom are played by now mega-famous actresses, but as Pussycat, Qualley gets the choice role. The image of her trying to hitch a ride from Cliff’s VW convertible remains, at least for now, the most iconic in her career.

With some movies premiering at Sundance as early as January, some award seasons start before the previous one has even wrapped up. That said, all bets are usually off until the autumn season, when the film festivals in Toronto, Venice, Telluride and New York unleash their slates of prestige projects.

Aside from one very notable movie, this year is largely no different—almost all of the movies we will mention below premiered in the last few weeks, lapping up reviews and standing ovations to solidify their place on the awards circuit. Having only seen a handful of these titles, I’m making some educated guesses here, but even at the early stage, the main contenders already look solid. 

Read on to discover more, and use the guide below to keep track of when they'll be available on platforms like BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere.

Best Picture 2026 Contenders 

With the Oscars set for March 15 2026, the frontrunners for the major prizes have already stuck their noses out in front. 

The strongest contender, at the time of writing, is Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, a movie that Warner Bros decided not to premiere at any festival. Even before its release in late September worldwide, early reviews have begun calling it not just the best movie of the year, but possibly one of the best of the decade. Though loosely based on Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland, the story is set in the present day (the first Anderson movie to do so since Punch Drunk Love) and features Leonardo DiCaprio as a burnt-out revolutionary still clinging to his own fading rebellion. For fans of the director’s Inherent Vice, or similar paranoia-tinged, rabbit-hole movies, like Under the Silver Lake, it looks like an absolute must-see. 

Anderson’s main contender looks to be Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet, a more classical, prestige tearjerker in the vein of Remains of the Day or Sense and Sensibility. Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s bestseller and starring the Irish actors Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley as William and Agnes Shakespeare, the story follows the Shakespeares as they attempt to deal with the death of their 11-year-old son. Unlike Anderson, Zhao has been behind a Best Picture win before, with Nomadland, but also the epic misfire of Eternals. The question will be whether the Academy chooses to go for the more familiar Hamnet or Anderson’s contemporary wildcard. 

Best Actress 2026 Contenders

As usual, the main contenders in the Best Picture bracket will likely influence many of the other categories. This is good news for fans of Jessie Buckley, a beloved actress whose nomination for The Lost Daughter remains her only recognition from the Academy so far. 

A slightly different narrative suggests that Renate Reinsve has a chance. The Norwegian was unlucky not to be nominated for The Worst Person in the World in 2022, and her latest performance, in Worst Person director Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, a huge hit in Cannes, is significantly less comedic, which, I’m sad to say, tends to mean more awards.

Indeed, it’s looking like a good year for the indies in general, with Rose Byrne’s remarkable turn as a woman losing her mind with postpartum depression in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You and Emma Stone’s typically Lanthimos-y turn in Bugonia rounding out the category. Just don’t sleep on Cynthia Erivo showing up with Wicked: For Good—albeit with fewer recognisable songs.

Best Actor 2026 Contenders

For the first time in a while, the Best Actor race is looking the tastier of the two. A big question will be whether Paul Mescal will run for Supporting Actor for Hamnet, which seems likely given the wealth of competition. If Neon decides to run him, the Irish actor will be going up against DiCaprio for One Battle—though I feel a second Leo win seems similarly unlikely. 

The smart money will be on two stars from two separate Safdie Brothers movies: Timothée Chalamet (who was desperately unlucky not to win last year for A Complete Unknown) for Josh’s Marty Supreme and Dwayne Johnson (who has his own potent comeback narrative) for Benny’s The Smashing Machine—and if you’re a fan of the Safdie’s Uncut Gems or Good Time, we highly recommend putting both those movies on your radar.

The fourth contender is Jeremy Allen White, whose upcoming performance as Bruce Springsteen in Deliver Me From Nowhere is sure to garner a similar following to A Complete Unknown. I think it would feel particularly cruel if Chalamet were to lose to a musical biopic. 

Best Supporting Actress 2026 Contenders

Here’s where things start to get a little freaky. Only three people in history have been nominated twice for playing the same fictional character: Al Pacino as Michael Corleone (Godfather I and II), Sly Stallone as Rocky Balboa (in Rocky and Creed) and Paul Newman as Eddie Felson (The Hustler and Colour of Money), and of those, only Newman won (at the second attempt). Next year, much to the delight of Wicked fans everywhere, that list will almost double if Erivo again gets the nod for Best Actress (for Elphaba) and Ariana Grande does the same (for Glinda) in Supporting.

Unlike Erivo, however, Grande has as good a shot as anyone of winning. She will face stiff competition, however, from Teyana Taylor, who gives an absolute dynamite performance in One Battle After Another, albeit with very limited screen time (I haven’t been able to find a number for this, but I’m guessing it would be in the region of shortest ever, were she to win). Emily Blunt could also feature for The Smashing Machine, as could Taylor’s young co-star, Chase Infiniti; however, I must say I’ve had a feeling about Elle Fanning’s remarkable turn in Sentimental Value ever since the movie played in Cannes. Whatever the case, this’ll be a tight one. 

Best Supporting Actor 2026 Contenders

Again, this is a hard race to call. Mescal and Penn will probably both feature for Hamnet and One Battle, with a whole chasing pack of actors close behind them. But again, if I had to guess, I’d keep an eye on Sentimental Value. This is the kind of moving, multigenerational family drama that Oscar voters love (think Minari), and particularly in Stellan Skarsgård’s performance, the Academy will eye an opportunity to celebrate the legendary actor’s career. 

Outside of that, it’s anyone’s guess—but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Adam Sandler finally pick up a long overdue nomination for Jay Kelly, a Noah Baumbach movie that feels like a return to Marriage Story form. 

Best Original Screenplay 2026 Contenders

Unless there’s an all-out sweep (which is always possible), Best Original Screenplay tends to go to a beloved movie that proved a little too something for recognition in the biggest categories. Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme) and Baumbach (Jay Kelly) are certainly in contention. A more likely winner, though, is Black Panther director Ryan Coogler for Sinners—and if you’ve yet to see it, imagine what From Dusk Till Dawn would be like if it were about the history of blues music and featured deranged Irish vampires.

Coogler’s movie looks set to pick up a lot of nominations but, outside the technical categories, risks going home empty-handed. A similar narrative could follow Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value, a beautifully written movie that will probably just miss out in the biggest races. I see this one coming down to the wire. 

Best Adapted Screenplay 2026 Contenders

If Paul Thomas Anderson (who is, don’t forget, still Oscar-less) doesn’t score elsewhere with One Battle, I feel like they will simply have to give him this one. 

Otherwise, Zhao’s Hamnet looks unbeatable—adapting a beloved bestseller is, as we all know, rarely as easy as it seems. 

Best Director 2026 Contenders

The director branch of the academy decides the nominees, and their votes tend to veer more towards international and arthouse than the other major categories. In fact, since 2009, the award has only gone to an American on three occasions—so don’t be surprised to see Zhao (who was born in China) joined by Trier (Norway) and the Palme d’Or winner Jafar Panahi (Iran), for It Was Just an Accident) in this year’s nominees. 

Despite all that, Coogler is long overdue for a nomination, and Anderson is long overdue for a win—even if Hamnet takes the big one, it’s hard to see the Academy awarding Zhao for the second time and passing on Anderson again. This is PTA’s to lose.

Best Foreign Language 2026 Contenders

As mentioned above, it’s another strong year for international movies at the Oscars—a trend that’s become less of an anomaly since the Academy began diversifying in 2016, a decision that directly led to Parasite’s era-shifting win three years later. 

Trier and Panahi will lead the pack here, with the Iranian probably a nose in front thanks to Sentimental’s likely wins in other categories (they’ll want to share the wealth). These two movies will probably be joined by The Secret Agent (a movie that’s lead actor, the handsome Narcos star Wagner Moura, even has a chance of his own nomination), and another Cannes gem, Sirât—a movie about a group of ravers in trucks crossing the Atlas Mountains that fans of William Friedkin’s Sorcerer will want to see. 

Guillermo del Toro is a master storyteller whose films blend dark fantasy, horror, and fairytale elements into visually stunning and deeply emotional experiences. Known for his love of mythical and gothic themes, haunting creature designs, and intricate world-building, del Toro has carved a distinct niche for himself in the film industry.

Del Toro has completed 12 films to date, and his latest upcoming project, the highly anticipated Frankenstein, is set to premiere on Netflix in November 2025. From action films like Hellboy and Pacific Rim to the Oscar-winning The Shape of Water, del Toro’s catalogue is full of great films that appeal to a wide variety of people while still bearing his signature style. 

In this ranking, we explore Guillermo del Toro’s films from his least good to his best work. Whether you’re a long-time fan or new to his work, these films are a testament to the evolution of one of the most original filmmakers alive today.

12. Mimic (1997)

Guillermo del Toro’s first big studio film, Mimic, certainly put him on the map as a horror director to watch out for, but it was still a far cry from the heights he would arrive at later in his career. The film takes place some years after entomologist Dr Susan created a new species of insects that mimic and kill disease-bearing cockroaches. The species evolves into a dangerous subway-dwelling monster capable of threatening humankind. 

Due to fights over creative control and the final edit, del Toro actually disowned the theatrical cut while maintaining he was still proud of the visuals. If you’re a del Toro fan, watching Mimic isn’t a must, but it does hold up as a solid horror film in its own right, and certainly demonstrates the director’s unique vision despite the studio interference.

11. Crimson Peak (2015)

Crimson Peak is a pure gothic romance with truly stunning visual elements. Set in Victorian-era England, the film follows wealthy heiress Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) after she marries the dashing Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), and they settle (along with his overbearing sister, Lucille) in the family’s remote Gothic estate in Cumberland. But Edith soon discovers the house is very much alive with secrets from the past. 

While del Toro’s ninth film is beloved by many, overall, the reviews were mixed. What the film gets unequivocally right is its powerful visuals, creating a truly dreadful feeling of malignancy as the secret-laden house rots from the inside out. What’s more, del Toro’s ability to create tension while building toward the crescendo keeps the audience absorbed throughout. However, there’s no denying that the chemistry between the main duo (Wasikowska and Hiddleston) is severely lacking, and what should have been a central love story falls far short of the mark. 

Lastly, through no fault of del Toro himself, the marketing campaign sold Crimson Peak as a horror film, which gave fans the expectation that they would be quivering with fear by the end. While Crimson Peak has its scary moments, it is ultimately a gothic romance with some horror elements, and the inaccurate marketing left many fans feeling disappointed. 

10. Cronos (1993)

Guillermo del Toro’s first independent film, Cronos, brought him to the attention of critics and studios in the United States. The film follows the story of antiques dealer Jesús Gris (Federico Luppi), who finds himself caught in a power struggle with dying businessman Dieter de la Guardia (Claudio Brook) and his oafish nephew Angel (Ron Perlman) over a centuries-old mechanism that gives the wielder eternal life.

The film demonstrates del Toro’s growing ability to balance horror with drama, which he would later perfect in films like The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth. Critics praised the film’s on-point religious references, and the performances from frequent del Toro’s soon-to-be collaborators Ron Perlman and Federico Luppi. All in all, Cronos is a great film to watch if you’re curious about the evolution of del Toro’s filmmaking process and want to see his early attempts at creating a style he would later master.

9. Blade II (2002)

Blade II is del Toro’s fourth film, and his second big studio American production. It follows the story of the human-vampire hybrid Blade (Wesley Snipes) as he continues to protect humans from dangerous vampire aggressors. In an effort to block a sinister plan by mutant vampires known as the Reapers to wipe out all other vampires and humans, Blade joins forces with an elite group of vampires.

While the film was widely praised for its wild visuals and largely continues in the steps of the first film, it lacks a bit of overall character and plot development. That being said, Blade II is prime viewing for anyone looking to get lost in a visual extravaganza of mesmerising fight scenes and nightmarish creature designs. The grotesque mouths of the Reapers, plus a truly horrendous autopsy scene, clearly come from the nightmares of del Toro himself—harking back to his previous creations for Cronos and Mimics. While Blade II is less interesting substance-wise than his later films, it’s still very much worth watching for the action alone.

8. Pacific Rim (2013)

Pacific Rim is so delightfully overblown in its visuals, action sequences, and creature design, it’s almost not a problem that it’s clearly a style-over-substance creation. The film takes place in a distant future where gigantic sea monsters known as Kaiju have emerged from an interdimensional portal in the Pacific Ocean and are waging war on humans. In order to take on the Kaiju, humans create monstrous robots known as Jaegers.

It’s clear that del Toro (who also co-wrote the film’s screenplay) is a big fan of kaiju films himself, and you can feel his die-hard enthusiasm throughout Pacific Rim. If you love over-the-top action and insane creature design, don’t miss out on this del Toro epic.

7. Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

The first Hellboy film is a fun ride, and the second instalment is equally so. With extra doses of action, heart, and laughs all around, Hellboy II: The Golden Army was just as well-received as the first, with Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defence members taking on Prince Nuada Silverlance (Luke Goss), who wants to take over the world. 

While the first Hellboy found a spot in some top 50 superhero film lists, it fully came into its own as a franchise in The Golden Army. Del Toro gave his second outing even more of a comedic twist, but still took the time to fully develop the characters in a way that makes us root for them even more than in the first one. From the brilliant performances from the entire cast to the imaginative visuals and entertaining storytelling, the second Hellboy isn’t one to miss for both comic book fans and fans of del Toro’s work.

6. Nightmare Alley (2021)

In this noir thriller, del Toro flexes his skills at character development and devilish plot twists in a way rarely seen in his other films. Nightmare Alley—based on William Lindsay Gresham's 1946 novel—stars the massively talented Bradley Cooper as Stan Carlisle, an ambitious and charismatic carnival worker who learns the tricks of the trade to become a highly successful psychic in 1940s Buffalo, New York. 

Nightmare Alley might not have been as enthusiastically received as some of del Toro’s most well-known productions, but its world-building – in the vein of Chris Nolan’s The Prestige – top performances from Bradely Cooper, Cate Blanchette, and Roony Mara, and compelling twists make it one of the director’s best films to date.

5. Pinocchio (2022)

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is one of the few remakes of a classic tale that truly lives up to the original while adding something new. In this stop-motion dark fantasy version, the elderly woodworker Geppetto creates a wooden puppet to ease his heartbreak after losing his son, Carlo. The film then follows the puppet, Pinocchio, after he becomes sentient. From school to military training to the stomach of the Dogfish, Pinocchio is full of dark, fantastical twists and turns.

While previous versions of the story, like Disney’s animated classic or the 2020 live-action film, were undoubtedly geared towards children, del Toro’s take is a darker mix. While it is still suitable for older children, it takes place during Mussolini’s brutal dictatorship and tackles more mature themes of life, death, war, and what it means to be an outsider. Like Pan’s Labyrinth, del Toro’s Pinocchio contrasts childlike innocence with the horrors of authoritarianism, challenging audiences with philosophical and moral questions. What's more, the film’s beautiful stop-motion animation, heartfelt direction, and amazing voice cast led it to win Best Animated Feature at the BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and Academy Awards in 2023.

4. The Devil’s Backbone (2001)

After the taste of big studio interference with his film Mimic, del Toro decided to find independent funding for his next feature, the Spanish-language The Devil’s Backbone. The film takes place during the final year of the Spanish Civil War. A young boy named Carlos is taken to an orphanage run by Republican loyalists, where he’s visited by the ghost of Santi, a young boy who was killed on the property.

One of del Toro’s best to date, the film shows the promising beginnings of his ability to blend horror with poignant social commentary, something he’d go on to perfect in The Shape of Water and Pan’s Labyrinth. However, while The Devil’s Backbone weaves a compelling and tragic ghost tale with the very real horrors of wartime, it ultimately packs less of an emotional punch than those other films when he revisited the topic later in his career. 

3. Hellboy (2004)

Hellboy is one of del Toro’s most beloved films, with both critics and fans praising it for its visuals, humour, and high entertainment value. Based on Mike Mignola’s comic book of the same name, Hellboy follows the story of a demon (played expertly by Ron Pearlman) turned paranormal investigator for the US government’s Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defence. 

When Hellboy first debuted, it attracted a whole new audience to del Toro’s films. While his previous big mainstream film, Blade II, introduced him as a promising action director, Hellboy demonstrated his ability to blend humour and fantasy with some killer action—something that would inspire later generations of superhero films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whether you’re a fan of the Hellboy comic book, del Toro’s directing and visual style, or are just looking for a good mix of laughs and action with a unique flair, make sure you don’t miss Hellboy.

2. The Shape of Water (2017)

The Shape of Water is perhaps Guillermo del Toro’s most critically acclaimed film to date– nominated for 13 awards at the 90th Academy Awards, and winning a total of four, including Best Picture and Best Director. An unusual Oscar contender, let alone winner, The Shape of Water’s win marked a turning point for the Academy, indicating a softening toward genre films.

Set during the Cold War in 1962, this dark romantic fantasy tale follows the highly allegorical love story between a mute cleaning woman named Elisa (Sally Hawkins) and a humanoid fish-man (Doug Jones) being kept in a government lab. Highly unusual, del Toro’s prowess in both storytelling and visual effects makes The Shape of Water a powerful and deeply moving tale of outsiders finding solace in one another, despite the odds.

1. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Every great director has at least one film that epitomises their unique style, and Pan’s Labyrinth is that film for Guillermo del Toro. The film takes place in 1944 in Francoist Spain, and follows the story of the young Ofelia after she discovers a labyrinth on the grounds of a remote military outposting. Inside, she meets an ancient faun who gives her three tasks to complete to become immortal. 

Like The Devil’s Backbone before it, Pan’s Labyrinth contrasts the lightness of childhood fantasy with the real-world evils of wartime and grotesque human violence. While this might be a fantasy, be warned that its content is quite dark and deals with harsh themes—including violence toward children. But pitting the light against the dark is exactly the point, and no film in del Toro’s back catalogue does it better than Pan’s Labyrinth.

The perfect blend of dark fantasy and drama set against the backdrop of the horrors of the Spanish Civil War, Pan’s Labyrinth is an emotionally devastating and visually stunning masterpiece. 

Chad Michael Murray was one of the most recognisable teenage heartthrobs of the early ‘00s. From his starring role in One Tree Hill to his parts in hit series Gilmore Girls, Dawson’s Creek, and the film A Cinderella Story, Murray carved out a niche for himself as one of the ultimate teen boy crushes of the era.

Although he stepped out of the limelight for many years and focused on smaller projects, he has recently experienced a renaissance of sorts–enthusiastically reprising his role in the Gilmore Girls revival, starring in the Canadian series Sullivan’s Crossing, and returning as Jake in the highly anticipated Freaky Friday sequel, Freakier Friday. 

Clearly, it’s the perfect time to revisit Murray’s best roles. Find his most notable movies and TV series below, as well as where you can watch them online.

One Tree Hill (2003)

Chad Michael Murray’s star fully rose in the early 2000s with his starring role in the teen drama series One Tree Hill. Murray plays Lucas Scott, a good-natured high schooler with a passion for basketball whose gentle nature and fierce loyalty to his friends and family made younger Millennials swoon for six seasons.

His on-screen love triangle with Brooke (Hilarie Burton) and Peyton (Sophia Bush) was one of the series’ main pulls, and Murray’s contemplative charm quickly made him into one of the biggest heartthrobs of the decade.

Gilmore Girls (2000)

Before getting his big break with One Tree Hill, Murray had a relatively small but memorable part in the first season of Gilmore Girls. He plays Tristan, one of the students at Rory’s new prep school, Chilton, who makes a habit of teasing her incessantly. While he comes off rude and antagonistic, it’s not long before their dynamic transforms after romantic feelings develop.

While Murray only appeared in 11 episodes of Gilmore Girls—because soon after he got the role in One Tree Hill—he is one of Rory’s fan-favourite love interests. In 2016, he even made a cameo appearance as Tristan in the “Spring” chapter of the four-part revival miniseries Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.

A Cinderella Story (2004)

Chad Michael Murray firmly cemented his reputation as the ultimate 2000s high school crush with his role in A Cinderella Story. He plays Austin Ames, the Prince Charming to Hilary Duff’s Sam, in a modern-day retelling of Cinderella. 

They meet as pen pals online, not knowing they go to the same school because they’re in very different social circles. Then their first physical meeting happens at the school’s masked ball. While A Cinderella Story brought out Murray’s unique boyish charm on full display, it must be said that Jennifer Coolidge as the evil step-mother, Fiona, really steals the show.

Sullivan’s Crossing (2023–present)

In recent years, Chad Michael Murray’s main project has been the ongoing Canadian series Sullivan’s Crossing. Now that the actor is in his 40s, he’s graduated from playing high school crushes to more mature roles. 

Still just as handsome as ever, Murray plays Cal Jones, a man looking for a fresh start in a small town in Nova Scotia. Sparks fly when he meets the series’ protagonist, neurosurgeon Maggie Sullivan (Morgan Kohan), after she returns to her hometown to reconnect with her father, played by Gilmore Girls actor Scott Patterson.

In this series, it’s clear that Murray’s ability to bring emotional depth and a sense of groundedness to his characters has only increased with age.

Freaky Friday (2003)

Complete with a curtain haircut and ‘sensitive bad boy with pretentious music taste’ personality, Murray’s Jake Austin in Freaky Friday remains the perfect early ‘00s teen love interest. In Freaky Friday, Lindsay Lohan’s Anna and her mother Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) switch bodies, and only an act of complete selflessness can restore them to their proper selves.

In the meantime, they both try to get through each other’s everyday lives, leading to some truly hilarious scenes in which Murray gets to show off his comedy chops as a young guy who suddenly finds himself falling for the much older Tess (who is actually Anna).

Freakier Friday (2025)

There’s nothing we love more than a classic receiving a truly quality update—and luckily, that’s what we’ve got with Freakier Friday. While there might be one too many jokes about ageing, this next chapter in the story of Anna and Tess is still a fun and nostalgic ride. 

This time, Tess and Anna wind up switching bodies with Anna’s daughter, Harper (Julia Butters), and the daughter of Anna’s fiancée, Lily (Sophia Hammons). While Anna might be about to marry someone else, her ex Jake (played by Murray) makes a return as the girls use their newfound power as adults to try to break up the wedding and get Anna back with Jake. 

While Murray doesn’t play a huge role in this sequel, his baffled expression when Harper (in Anna’s body) tries to seduce him in his record shop is peak comedy.

Riverdale (2018)

Season 3 of the Archie comics series Riverdale transformed Chad Michael Murray into one of the season’s main baddies, Edgar Evernever. Edgar is the leader of a local cult called The Farm, which specialises in hypnotising people to make them confront their deepest fears and expose their vulnerabilities.

Murray’s transformation from high school heartthrob to sinister mind controller is smooth and impressive. Using his good looks and effortless charm to reel people into his psychological trap feels like a new skillset Murray unlocked, and we’d love him to use it again soon.

Chosen (2013)

Murray joined the cast of Chosen during its second season, playing the bartender Jacob, who is roped into a deadly game. The series also stars another Gilmore Girls alum (and romantic interest for Rory), Milo Ventimiglia, as another apparently normal man, Ian, selected by a shadowy organisation to carry out an assassination. Each person is sent a box with a gun and a picture of someone to kill within three days, or else their family will be harmed.

Murray’s Jacob starts out trying to do the right thing, but understandably adapts his morals as the stakes become clearer. In this role, Murray shows off his action chops, even sharing in interviews afterwards that he sustained several injuries while filming the action-packed sequences.

Marvel’s Agent Carter (2015)

In one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first television series, Agent Carter, Murray stars as Jack Thompson, an arrogant and ambitious agent who dreams of leading the SSR and is prepared to do almost anything to get to the top. 

While he’s not a complete baddie, Jack isn’t constrained by a tight moral code, and his relationship to Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) is often strained and antagonistic. This role gave Murray the chance to flex his range, playing a morally ambiguous character who is nevertheless hard not to like.

Dawson’s Creek (2001)

While Murray’s Charlie Todd wasn’t a main character in this classic teen drama series, his role in Season 5 of Dawson’s Creek is quite memorable. Like many of the others discussed on this list, this role is another epitome of an early ‘00s bad boy, and Murray uses his smooth looks and college charm to perfectly pull it off.

While he was troubled but conscientious in other similar parts at the time, here, Charlie is much more of a classic ‘bad boy’ musician. Although he genuinely falls for Joey in the end, his two-timing of Jen and Nora, coupled with his emotional unavailability and immaturity, make him a rather untrustworthy character.

More than two years on from Barbie, Margot Robbie makes her long-awaited return to the big screen in Kogonada’s supernatural rom-com, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey. This is the director’s first foray into large-scale filmmaking, following his acclaimed independent features, Columbus and After Yang. The plot follows two strangers (Robbie and Colin Farrell) who meet at a friend’s wedding. Later on, they’ll discover a portal that allows them to revisit and share some of the most consequential moments from their lives. 

This is the first in a handful of high-profile movies set to feature Robbie in the next 18 months or so—with Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights looking destined to cause a stir next year and a new, Robbie-led prequel to Ocean’s Eleven (co-starring her Barbie BFF Ryan Gosling) also said to be in the works. With all that, it feels like the right time to look back over the Australian megastar’s greatest roles, which we’ve ranked below in ascending order. ​​Read on to discover more and use the guide below to find them on platforms like AppleTV, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere.

12. The Big Short (2015)

Can playing yourself for roughly a minute while sipping champagne in a bubble bath really be considered a great role? It hardly matters: when Adam McKay’s The Big Short was released, Robbie’s cameo was the only thing anyone was talking about. This is a role that seemed to confirm her place as the A-list female star of her generation.

The movie itself is a rip-roaring account of the 2008 financial crisis told from the POV of a group of smart and morally conflicted dudes who got rich by predicting it would happen. If you’re a fan of fast-talking movies that focus on that world (Margin Call and Dumb Money are both good examples), you’ll probably love it. 

11. Asteroid City (2023)

Robbie’s appearance in Asteroid City wasn’t a whole lot longer than her cameo in The Big Short, but it brought her into the rarified air of Wes Anderson’s troupe of Hollywood stars. Robbie’s role is short but memorable, appearing in a dream as the ghost of Augie Steenbeck’s (played by Jason Schwartzman) deceased wife. 

The movie is Anderson’s first experiment in sci-fi, taking place in a Roswell-type town that appears to be visited by aliens. Imagine a cross between Moonrise Kingdom and The X Files, and you’ll have some idea of what to expect.

10. Mary Queen of Scots (2018)

In 2018, Robbie starred as Queen Elisabeth I, opposite Saoirse Ronan’s Mary Stuart, in the period drama, Mary Queen of Scots. Beginning in 1561, it follows the 19-year-old Mary’s return to Scotland to reclaim her throne after the death of her husband—an act that her cousin Elisabeth is not entirely appreciative of.

The movie is a work of revisionist history, a story that retells historical events from a female POV—so, if you’re a fan of movies like The Favourite or Corsage, you might want to check it out. 

9. Birds of Prey (2020)

Robbie had been unlucky that her first appearance as Harley Quinn happened to be in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad—a movie that was famously cut beyond recognition by the studio and, in the end, widely disliked. Luckily, Robbie was also the best part of it and got to have her own standalone, neon-tinted movie a few years later. 

Birds of Prey involves a somewhat similar setup to Squad, with Quinn as the head of a motley crew of deadly women who must fight a local crime boss after her relationship with The Joker ends. If you appreciate Robbie’s eccentric performance in Gunn’s The Suicide Squad or like ragtag team-up movies in general, like Thunderbolts*, you’ll probably be into it.

8. A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025)

Robbie makes her big screen return in 2025 for Kogonada’s Big Bold Beautiful Journey, a movie that has been the recipient of mixed reviews, though not for Robbie’s performance in the central role. As we mentioned above, the movie stars Robbie and Farrell as two strangers who meet at a friend’s wedding. Later on, they’ll discover a portal that allows them to revisit and share some of the most consequential moments from their lives.

This is a film that might appeal to fans of fantastical romantic movies, like About Time or The Time Traveller’s Wife. Just be warned, the levels of cringe and whimsy are a little high…

7. Bombshell (2019) 

Over the years, Robbie has been nominated for a bunch of awards as both actress and producer. Her only Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress to date came for her performance as Kayla Pospisil in Bombshell. The movie is about the women who helped take down the disgraced former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes and stars, alongside Robbie, Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly and Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson, with John Lithgow giving a daring performance as the monstrous Ailes. 

Though the movie is mostly based on fact, Robbie’s character was largely fictional: a spiritual composite for Aisles’ many victims. If you appreciate other movies that focus on MeToo adjacent themes, like The Assistant or She Said, you might be interested in checking it out. 

6. Babylon (2022)

Babylon is a wildly passionate and expressive movie that unfortunately never quite found its audience upon release—but I must say, I’m starting to get the feeling that it’ll be rediscovered and championed sooner rather than later. The movie focuses on the chaotic early days of Hollywood movie production and the transition from silent to sound—think a little bit The Artist, a little bit La La Land and a little bit The Great Gatsby, all rolled into one.

In one of her most physical performances, Robbie is excellent as Nellie Laroy, an up-and-coming actress who rises as Brad Pitt’s ageing matinee idol, Jack Conrad, falls.

5. The Suicide Squad (2021)

The Suicide Squad feels like an important movie in the Robbie canon for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was the project that brought James Gunn to DC during his Marvel exile; so, it essentially gave us not only Peacemaker but Superman and the new DCU—and if you like any of those, you’ll probably love it. 

It also gave Robbie’s Quinn the Suicide Squad movie she deserved. The story is a bonkers version of a typical antihero team-up, with Quinn, Idris Elba’s Bloodsport, John Cena’s Peacemaker, and a few others, having to find a way to work together to overcome a—well, you should probably find that out for yourself. 

4. I, Tonya (2017)

I, Tonya is the movie that earned Robbie her first and so far only nomination for Best Actress at the Academy Awards. It’s also the first movie produced by LuckyChap, the production company she founded with her now husband, Tom Ackerley, in 2014, and from which movies like Emerald Fennel’s Promising Young Woman and Saltburn were both crafted. 

I, Tonya is a darkly comic, true-crime story with a tone somewhere between Eddie the Eagle and Foxcatcher. The movie uses multiple POVs to tell the complicated story of Tonya Harding, a figure skater and two-time Olympian whose legacy was forever tainted when her rival, Nancy Kerrigan (played by Caitlin Carver here), was attacked.

3. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

The story goes that Robbie landed the role of Naomi in The Wolf of Wall Street when she went off script and slapped Leonardo DiCaprio during her audition. Whatever the case, her resulting performance is outstanding. She eats up every second of screen time and, incredibly, manages to go toe-to-toe with DiCaprio, despite being a relative Hollywood newcomer at the time. Needless to say, it sent her career into overdrive.

The movie itself is an absolute smash—an ideal chaser to The Big Short and a perfect movie for fans of the fast-paced debauchery of Scorsese’s Goodfellas and Casino. Not everyone was on board with it upon release, but that didn’t stop The Wolf of Wall Street from becoming Scorsese’s most successful movie at the box office. It is now considered his defining work of the 21st Century.

2. Barbie (2023)

There was quite a lot of controversy around the fact that Margot Robbie wasn’t nominated for Best Actress for playing the title role in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie at the 2024 Oscars. Not to worry, though: the movie was a cultural phenomenon that redefined what we expect from this kind of IP filmmaking. Raking in over a billion at the box office, it was also the most successful movie of that year. Not bad for Robbie, who was in fact nominated for Best Picture as one of the movie’s producers. 

Funny, thoughtful and full to the brim with eye-popping production design, Barbie is a film that the whole family can enjoy—especially fans of the humour and heart of Gerwig’s Little Women and Lady Bird. 

1. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019)

It might be controversial not to have Barbie at the top of this list, but when I think of Margot Robbie, I always think of her immaculate performance in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. This is a gorgeous, nostalgic ode to 1960s Los Angeles—the kind of movie that fans of Tarantino’s more sentimental work, like Jackie Brown, or even Paul Thomas Anderson’s Liquorice Pizza, will absolutely adore.

Robbie is perfectly cast as Sharon Tate, the wife of Roman Polanski, who was tragically murdered by the Manson family in 1969. It’s as much a performance as a glowing tribute to the fallen star.

The original version of this article was written by Jess Bacon on 22 March 2024.

Kate Winslet is one of Britain’s finest actors. For over 30 years, the actress has been at the forefront of cultural classics such as James Cameron’s Titanic, indie darlings like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the festive favourite, The Holiday. Winslet’s filmography moves from comedy to drama with effortless ease, and that range is reflected in her outstanding acting ability, earning her a Grammy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, five BAFTAs and five Golden Globes, along with her Oscar for The Reader.

In short, it’s difficult to distinguish the best performances within Winslet’s eclectic and outstanding filmography, as any number of titles could be called her standout performance—but hey, duty calls. Read on to discover her ten best roles, ranked in ascending order, and where to watch them on streaming platforms like Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere.

10. Lee (2023)

Lee is a biopic of Lee Miller, the legendary war photographer who started in the fashion business before being assigned to cover the Blitz for Vogue in the 1940s. If you’re curious about that period of history or are interested in stories about women (Jackie and Blitz come to mind) from that era, this might be up your street.

The movie was a big passion project for Winslet, who worked on it for nine years, at one point even paying the cast and crew's salaries for two weeks after funding fell through. 

9. The Holiday (2006)

The Holiday might not need an introduction. Nancy Meyers’ Christmas classic has been on repeat during the festival season for the best part of 20 years. Winslet plays a columnist in London who still holds a torch for her ex-boyfriend, so she decides to try a house swap with a movie producer in LA (Cameron Diaz). Festive, fish-out-of-water fun ensues.  

If you’re a fan of festive movies and Meyers' work (especially ones from that period, like It’s Complicated and Something’s Gotta Give), you will probably end up watching this at least once a year.

8. Revolutionary Road (2008)

Speaking of unhappy housewives, Revolutionary Road seemed to pick up where Little Children left off (more on that in a moment)—so if you like that previous movie or other period pieces in the Winslet stable, or are keen to see Leo and Kate reunite ten years after Titanic, or are a fan of the great Michael Shannon, this is one for you.

Sam Mendes’s movie follows a seemingly perfect couple in 1950s suburbia—but once again, things are less perfect than they first seem… 

7. Little Children (2006)

Long before directing Cate Blanchett as the iconic Lydia Tar, Todd Fields burst onto the Oscar scene with Little Children, one of many great melodramas in the Winslet canon and a movie for fans of early ‘00s suburban dramas like American Beauty.

Like most movies in that genre, Little Children concerns an idyllic community where things are not quite as perfect as they seem, with Winslet playing an unhappy housewife who has an affair. 

6. Heavenly Creatures (1994)

Heavenly Creatures is a great breakout movie for so many people. In a way, this movie gave us Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings. It also gave us the great Melanie Lynskey and, two years before Sense and Sensibility made her a star, it gave us Winslet, too – so if you appreciate any of those things, we highly recommend seeking it out. 

The story is based on a grisly New Zealand murder case, where two teenage girls (played here by Winslet and Lynskey) killed one of their mothers, but Jackson makes something surreal and fairytale-like from the material. 

5. Mildred Pierce (2011)

Mildred Pierce is a remake of a stone cold classic from 1941 starring Bette Davis that literally no one but Todd Haynes could have pulled off. Given the daunting task of filling Davis’s shoes, Winslet gives a marvellous performance as a single mother dealing with the sexist and classist societal structures of an earlier time. 

If noir melodramas from that era (Pierce, of course, but also movies like Double Indemnity) or Haynes’ period movies (like Carol or the exquisite Far From Heaven) are your thing, then this is a must-watch.

4. Mare of Easttown (2021)

Mare of Easttown did for Winslet what True Detective did for McConaughey—so if you’re a fan of that kind of gritty style and the kind of stories that really go for the dark underbelly of small communities (Sharp Objects also comes to mind), this is one you’ll want to see. 

The great thing about Mare is how much world-weary attitude Winslet brings to the role, especially when acting opposite the great Jean Smart. Despite the show’s heavy themes, the actors never let it become too solemn—if anything, it’s kind of a blast.

3. Sense and Sensibility (1995)

Sense and Sensibility is a period drama that even people who don’t generally like period dramas tend to enjoy—a decent comparison might be The Remains of the Day, or Greta Gerwig’s Little Women. It’s directed by the great Ang Lee, which should be all you need to know. 

After her eye-catching debut in Heavenly Creatures, this was the role that really earned Winslet her early fame. Her portrayal as Marianne Dashwood won her a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress and exceeded expectations to become one of the best Jane Austen adaptations of all time.

2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is iconic for many reasons: Charlie Kaufman’s unique screenplay, Michel Gondry’s creative flourishes, Jon Brion’s score, and Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet’s lovely central performances. For fans of any of their work (think Being John Malkovich or Be Kind Rewind) or similarly tactile indie movies from that time, it’s rightfully a classic.

As the slightly manic-pixie Clementine, Winslet’s performance suffers a little from the male gaze, but I think that’s mostly in keeping with the movie’s knowingly narcissistic approach. Like Joel’s fading memories, it’s a movie you’ll want to see again and again. 

1. Titanic (1997)

Now almost 30 years since its release, Titanic is rightly considered one of the best blockbusters of all time—a romance for the ages delivered with James Cameron’s peerless ability for big screen storytelling. It’s big and it’s sometimes silly, but my word, does it work. It’s hard to think of a comparison, but I’d put it up there with Brokeback Mountain or The Bridges of Madison County as one of those films that just always brings a tear to the eye. 

Undeniably, Rose remains Winslet’s best-known performance—her first of four nominations for Best Actress at the Oscars and a movie that became, at least for a while, the most successful of all time.

The original version of this article was written by Jess Bacon.Since the 1980s, Winona Ryder has been at the forefront of genre-defining movies and TV shows, from Beetlejuice to Stranger Things. After her feature film debut in Lucas in 1986, the actress was cast in Tim Burton’s horror comedy, Beetlejuice, the movie that catapulted her to superstardom. She would spend the next five years starring in hit after hit and working for some of the greatest filmmakers of all time.

In more recent years, Ryder was introduced to a whole new audience for her role as Joyce Byers in Stranger Things. With that Netflix series finally coming to an end after its iconic nine-year run, what better time to dive deep into the Ryder canon and rank the actress’s 10 greatest roles? Read on to learn more about them and use the guide below to find out where to stream them on platforms likeNetflix, Prime Video and elsewhere.

10. Mermaids (1990)

If you like the idea of Cher playing the mother of Ryder and a then nine-year-old Christina Ricci, as well as flirting with Bob Hoskins, you’ll want to check out Mermaids. A lovely movie about the bonds between mothers and daughters, the film will appeal to fans of everything from Steel Magnolias to Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird. 

The plot is a little on the absurd side, with Ryder’s angsty 15-year-old at one point becoming obsessed with Catholicism, but the scenes involving the three actresses together are a pure joy. The performance earned Ryder her first nomination at the Golden Globes. 

9. Night on Earth (1991)

Ryder was already an established A-lister by 1991, but Night on Earth confirmed her place as a Gen X icon. If you like the offbeat humour of indie legend director Jim Jarmusch’s other anthology movies, Coffee and Cigarettes and Mystery Train, this will be right up your alley. 

Appearing in the first of the movie's three taxi-set segments, Ryder plays the impossibly cool, bubblegum-blowing, aviator-wearing driver who picks up a Hollywood casting director (the great Gena Rowlands) en route to LAX.

8. Little Women (1994)

If you were a fan of Greta Gerwig’s recent take on Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, we highly recommend going back to this 1994 version from Gillian Armstrong. Ryder received her only Oscar nomination for Lead Actress for her performance as Jo (the role later played by Saoirse Ronan)—alongside Trini Alvarado, Kirsten Dunst and Claire Danes as the other March sisters.

It’s a beautiful adaptation that, similar to Gerwig’s movie, makes for lovely festive viewing. It even features a young Christian Bale as Laurie, the role which would eventually be played by Timothée Chalamet in 2019. 

7. Age of Innocence (1993)

Ryder had to make do with a supporting role in Age of Innocence, but it was enough to secure her a first nomination at the Oscars and a win at the Golden Globes. At the time of release, fans of director Martin Scorsese’s gangster movies didn’t quite know what to make of the movie’s luscious period detail, but it’s only grown in reputation as the years go by. If you’re a fan of epic romance with incredible production design (think Howard’s End, Remains of the Day), this is one you’ll want to seek out. 

Ryder plays May Wellend, the prim and proper side of the movie’s central love triangle. Daniel Day-Lewis and Michelle Pfeiffer are both brilliant in admittedly juicier roles, but Ryder still manages to stand out. 

6. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

Ryder’s peerless, early ‘90s run reached a cinematic high point with 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Francis Ford Coppola’s exquisite and wonderfully horny adaptation of the seminal text. Not for the first time, Ryder was cast as the ingenue: she plays Mina Harker, the fiancée of Jonathan Harker (Keanu) and the object of Gary Oldman’s flamboyant Dracula’s desires.

This is a movie that devotees of gothic horror and practical effects (think Frankenstein or the more recent Nosferatu) will want to sink their fangs into.

5. Stranger Things (2016-2025)

One of the reasons why Stranger Things is so successful is how lovingly it homages all things '80s. We’re talking the Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter era, so if you’re a fan of E.T. or The Thing, you’ll probably love it. 

Ryder’s casting was a huge part of all that. The actress’s mere presence as Joyce Byers, the fretful mother of Will, whose disappearance in Season 1 sets the story in motion, gives the whole project a stamp of ‘80s authenticity. 

4. Reality Bites (1994)

Coming off the back of working with Jarmusch, Coppola and Scorsese, Reality Bites solidified Ryder’s transition into maturer roles and boasted one of her finest performances. This movie is also the first thing that Ben Stiller ever directed, so if you’re a fan of Stiller’s or of ‘90s era Ethan Hawke (like Before Sunset), this is one you should check out. 

It’s another movie in the Ryder canon that finds the actress embroiled in a love triangle—this time between Hawke’s floundering guitarist and Stiller’s hotshot TV executive. It’s a wonderful time capsule.

3. Heathers (1998)

Heathers has a reputation as a cult classic, but it’s far more unhinged than you might think – it’s probably best to expect something more like Heavenly Creatures than Clueless. Either way, the film is an absolute blast.

Ryder gives an awesome performance as Veronika, a member of a popular high school clique who accidentally murders the head of the posse with the help of her sketchy boyfriend (a perfectly cast Christian Slater). It only gets weirder from there.

2. Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Edward Scissorhands made Johnny Depp a star, but it’s the chemistry between him and Ryder (they were dating IRL at the time) that made Tim Burton’s masterpiece an instant classic. Those who’re fond of Burton’s gothic aesthetic (recently back in style thanks to Wednesday) should get ready to treat themselves to his most beautifully realised project. 

Donning a long blonde wig over her signature black bob, Ryder lights up the screen with her performance—the shot of her dancing in the falling ice is one of the most beautiful in ‘90s cinema. 

1. Beetlejuice (1988)

Having to choose between Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice for the top spot was particularly tough—either one could take the position on another day—but there’s just something about Ryder’s performance in the latter, and not least the way she dances and mimes the Banana Boat Song for the grand finale. 

This is a movie that any fan of Burton’s, or of practical effects, or of Michael Keaton (think their Batman collaborations), and of course, Ryder, will absolutely adore: a riot of a movie that deserves its reputation as a modern classic. 

The original version of this article was written by Jess Bacon and published on 2 September 2024.

Though Jenna Ortega had been consistently acting since she was eight years old, the one-time child star skyrocketed to mainstream fame in 2022 with her mesmerising performance as Wednesday Addams in the Netflix smash-hit TV series, Wednesday. That role has been the cherry on top of an already impressive career that has, thus far, contained fan favourite streaming hits, horror gems, and indie darlings.

With Wednesday Season 2 doing huge numbers for Netflix, and with 2026 looking like a landmark year for the young actress (with starring roles in both J.J. Abrams’ comeback feature, Ghostwriter, and opposite Glen Powell in Taika Waititi’s Clara and the Sun), it feels like the perfect time to look back on the performances that got her here, which we’ve listed below in chronological order. Read on to discover more and use the guide below to find out where to find them on platforms like AppleTV, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere.

Jane the Virgin (2014-2019)

Ortega started as a child star in comedy-drama series, playing Harley Diaz in the Disney Channel’s Stuck in the Middle and, more memorable still, appearing as the young Jane in Jane the Virgin. The show focuses on Jane (Gina Rodriguez), a devout catholic who accidentally gets pregnant after a routine visit to a gynaecologist. Ortega, who was 11 at the time of the first season’s shoot, plays Jane in flashbacks. 

Thematically, it explores the mother-daughter dynamics in an American/Latinx family, so if you’re a fan of Ugly Betty or even In The Heights, you’ll probably get right into it.

You (2019)

From those early roles, Ortega went on to star in a host of Netflix productions, appearing in the family-friendly comedy Yes Day in 2021 after gaining attention for playing the role of Ellie Alves, Joe’s next-door neighbour, in Season 2 of the hit thriller series You.

Told from the POV of a stalker, this is a show that delights in putting its audience in morally grey areas, so if you enjoy series like Dexter and Hannibal, you’ll probably be into it. After Season 2, Ellie became a firm fan favourite and was rumoured to be reappearing in Season 5–only for Wednesday to come along and push the actress to a different level of stardom. 

The Fallout (2021)

Released to rave reviews at the SXSW film festival in 2021, The Fallout is one of Jenna Ortega’s most critically acclaimed movies. It focuses on the aftermath of a school shooting, so if that subject matter is difficult for you, it might be better to try a different title on this list.

If you do decide to watch it, you’ll be enthralled by Ortega's performance opposite Maddie Ziegler as a young woman suffering from survivor’s guilt who falls for one of her classmates (Ziegler). This is one for fans of indies that explore heavy themes, like the excellent Beach Rats and Palm Trees and Power Lines.

Scream (2022)

It didn’t take long for Jenna Ortega to become a certified scream queen. In 2013, she had her first brush with big-screen horror when she appeared in Insidious: Chapter 2, but the actress really became a certified Scream queen when she starred in the long-running franchise in 2022. 

Despite the name, Ortega’s Scream is actually the fifth instalment in the series, but as legacy reboots go, this is actually one of the better ones. Lovers of the original trilogy, or the underrated I Know What You Did Last Summer remake, should know it’s well worth checking out. Set 25 years after the original Woodsboro murders, it also features Melissa Barrera and Jack Quaid alongside legacy actors like Courteney Cox.

X (2022)

Ti West’s X is the first in a great modern horror trilogy that the director released in quick succession between 2022 and 2024. If you happen to have already seen Pearl or Maxxxine, you’ll want to go back and check this one out.

Ortega only appears in a supporting role, playing the ingenue to Mia Goth’s lead, but she makes the most of her screentime. The story, which pays loving homage to ‘70s exploitation classics like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, follows a crew of porn filmmakers who decide to shoot in a location where they really shouldn’t.

Scream VI (2023)

In 2023, Ortega confirmed her place as a horror final girl by coming back in Scream VI, the follow-up to the legacy sequel. Similar to what we mentioned above, this one will delight Scream devotees—it has all the movie references and nerdy cinephile stuff that fans of the franchise have always appreciated. 

The plot is a classic of the genre, and somewhat similar to Scream 2 in that we follow Ortega’s Tara Carpenter to college. Needless to say, Ghostface is stabbing and slicing his way through the student population before the opening credits roll.

Miller’s Girl (2024)

More recently, Jenna Ortega starred alongside Martin Freeman in the erotic thriller, Miller’s Girl, playing a young girl whose attempts to write an application for Yale University end up getting her emotionally entangled with her English teacher (Freeman). 

This is an Ortega movie for slightly more mature audiences, in that it deals with desire and problematic sexual power dynamics—but if you appreciate movies like Call Me by Your Name or Notes on a Scandal, it might be up your alley.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)

In 2024, having already played Wednesday for a season on Netflix, Ortega starred in the long-awaited sequel to another goth girl favourite, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The comedy horror continued the story of Tim Burton’s 1988 original, 36 years later, with Ortega playing the daughter of Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz.

This is obviously made for fans of Wednesday but also Burton’s movies in general, like Edward Scissorhands and Corpse Bride. I can’t say that I loved the movie, but as a symbolic passing of the torch from Ryder to Ortega, it feels quite fitting. 

Death of a Unicorn (2025)

Though Ortega has thrived in various cult horror franchises (even leaning into that persona with her appearance in Sabrina Carpenter’s viral music video, Taste), she’s also shown the breadth of her talent across a host of other genres. One of her least easily categorised is Death of a Unicorn, in which Ortega co-starred with Paul Rudd as a daughter and father who accidentally kill a unicorn while out driving.

This is, as you might have already guessed, an A24 movie. It’s also one of the studio’s weirder recent productions—but if you liked the similarly bonkers Swiss Army Man or Lamb, it might appeal to you!

Wednesday (2022-)

In 2022, Ortega became the seventh young actress to take on a role that began with Lisa Loring in 1964 and helped make Cristina Ricci a star in the early ‘90s. Those were some big boots to fill, but Ortega’s Wednesday was an immediate smash—an Addams Family hero for the TikTok generation who even had her own signature dance. This is one for the Burton heads—especially the movie we mentioned earlier—but also for fans of supernatural high school shows like Buffy and Stranger Things.

The horror comedy spin-off went on to become the streaming platform’s most-watched series of all time, surpassing even Stranger Things. To date, it’s been viewed for over 1.7 billion hours and earned Ortega Best Actress nominations at both the Emmys and the Golden Globes.

The original version of this article was written by Jess Bacon and published on 31 May 2024.

Andrew Scott is an award-winning Irish actor best known for his role in iconic TV series such as Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag and the BBC’s Sherlock, as well as being a regular on the West End, winning two Laurence Olivier Awards. The Dublin-born actor more recently starred in the lead role in Andrew Haig’s supernatural romance, All of Us Strangers, alongside Paul Mescal and won yet more recognition for playing the title role in Ripley last year. He’s back on screens in 2025 alongside his Spectre co-star Daniel Craig in Wake Up Dead Man, the latest instalment of the mystery thriller film franchise, Knives Out.

Read on to discover the best Andrew Scott performances, ranked in ascending order by some combination of Scott’s role and their wider impact, and where to watch them on popular streaming platforms like Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere.

10. 1917 (2019)

Scott’s role in 1917 is far from huge, but he makes every moment of screen time count: He plays Lt. Leslie in the WWI-set film, rocking the kind of beanie and rolled up cigarettes vibe of someone you might run into in your local cafe, just with a lot more swagger and sense of daring-do.

1917 is a battle movie that’s presented as a single, roving oner—so if you are a fan of those kinds of moments in films like Children of Men or Gravity, or appreciate operatic war scenes, as in the beginning of Saving Private Ryan, this is one you might want to see.

9. Too Much (2025)

Lena Dunham made a big return in 2025 with the Netflix series Too Much, and if you’re a fan of her more famous work, like Girls and Tiny Furniture, you’ll be delighted to have her humour back in your life again. 

The same goes for fans of Hacks, as Too Much gives Megan Stalter (who stole every scene in that HBO series) the lead role. Scott only appears in a couple of episodes as Jim, the self-absorbed, Raya-subscribing film director, but boy, does he make them count. 

8. Pride (2014)

In some ways, Pride was the first movie to put Scott on the map. It tells the unlikely true story of how a group of gay and lesbian activists came to fight alongside the striking miners in the small Welsh town of Onllwyn during the 1980s. Scott doesn’t play the lead here, but his role—as a Welshman who was shunned by his community after coming out 16 years earlier—is perhaps the most pivotal in the story. 

A wonderfully uplifting film about solidarity across cultural divides, if you like movies that focus on that moment in history, like Billy Elliot, or fish-out-of-water British comedies like The Full Monty, you’re probably going to love Pride. 

7. Blue Moon (2025)

It’s interesting how often Scott plays the supporting role in movies, but, like many of the great character actors before him, I think it’s something he prefers. For Blue Moon, director Richard Linklater’s love letter to Broadway, he plays Richard Rodgers, the famous ex-writing partner of central character Lorenz Hart, played wonderfully by Ethan Hawke.

If you like theatre world movies like All About Eve or Opening Night, or appreciate Hawke’s more dramatic roles, like First Reformed, make sure to put this on your watch list!

6. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025)

Wake Up Dead Man is the third movie to be released from Rian Johnson’s Knives Out franchise, so fans of the first two won’t need much convincing. If you haven’t seen them, just imagine a modern version of Agatha Christie—big ensemble, various twists and turns—and you’ll basically know what you’re in for. 

For Dead Man, Scott plays Lee Ross, an eccentric, best-selling author. Like many of his roles, it’s far from the centre of the action, but Scott once again makes every minute count. 

5. Spectre (2015)

Years before reteaming with Daniel Craig on Wake Up Dead Man, Scott shared the screen with the former 007 in the 2015 James Bond epic, Spectre, the penultimate film in Craig’s reign—it’s maybe not the best remembered of the Craig movies, but if you liked Skyfall or the more recent No Time to Die, it’s more than worth seeing. 

Scott plays Max Denbigh, the shady government official who turns out to be harbouring some secrets—exactly the kind of slippery character that Scott seems to relish playing. 

4. Ripley (2024)

And speaking of slippery characters, they don’t get more elusive than Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley. In 2024, Scott followed in the footsteps of Alain Delon and Matt Damon in bringing the legendary forger, impersonator, and sociopath to the screen. Ripley is a show that fans of those previous movies, The Talented Mr. Ripley, in particular, should really give a go.

Shot in black and white, it’s a more austere version than the sunny Jude Law caper from 1999, but it’s no less gripping for it—and we can thank Scott’s starring performance for that.

3. Fleabag (2016-2019)

He may already be sick of it, but to many fans, Scott will always be known for his role as “The Hot Priest” in the second season of the Emmy award-winning series, Fleabag. Written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the show is widely considered a modern classic, and deservedly so. 

This is a series to watch if you like smart and brutally honest humour—it’s hard to think of a direct comparison, but if you’re into the brilliant observations and offbeat humour of shows like I May Destroy You or Russian Doll, you’ll probably love it. 

2. Sherlock (2010-2017)

For his portrayal of Arthur Conan Doyle’s nemesis to Sherlock Holmes, Scott won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor—and deservedly so. His Moriarty only appears for a limited time, but Scott’s performance is electric, enigmatic and simply unforgettable. Sherlock is a must-see for many reasons, especially if you like smartly written and wonderfully acted mysteries like Hannibal or the more recent Ludwig, and Scott is one of them. 

Though Scott appeared in television programmes before his time as James Moriarty, this was the part that raised his profile and resulted in him being considered for prominent leading roles. 

1. All of Us Strangers (2023)

Scott brings out the best in every role he’s given, which makes it difficult to hold one performance in higher esteem than another. However, his work in Haig’s supernatural romance All of Us Strangers is a true standout—and if you liked Haig’s landmark queer movie Weekend or a film like Celine Song’s Past Lives, get ready to ball your eyes out. 

For his poignant role as Adam, Scott was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and was unlucky not to do the same at the Oscars. He imbues each moment of the performance with such intricate nuance and personal history, it’s nothing short of heartbreaking to watch.

The original version of this article was written by Jess Bacon and published on 16 February 2024.

Writer, filmmaker and occasional actor Edgar Wright is renowned for his contribution to action, comedy and satire films, with titles such as Hot Fuzz, Baby Driver and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World confirming him as one of the most beloved British filmmakers of his generation. Wright made his name as a frequent collaborator of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, with whom he co-created the iconic two-season comedy Spaced for Channel 4 before moving on to feature filmmaking with The Cornetto Trilogy. His latest is a remake of Stephen King's The Running Man and stars Glen Powell in a role once played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1987 original.

For this list, we’ve decided to leave a few things out for various reasons. Wright helped write the script for The Adventures of Tintin with Sherlock co-creator Steven Moffat and Joe Cornish, but that movie was, of course, directed by Steven Spielberg. In 2015, the acclaimed auteur also famously co-wrote the original screenplay for Marvel Studio’s Ant-Man (again with Joe Cornish), which stars Paul Rudd in the titular role, but that film would eventually be directed by Peyton Reed after Wright left the project due to creative differences with the studio.

With a plethora of action-packed films to choose from, here is every Edgar Wright movie in chronological order and where to stream (most of) them on services like Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere. 

A Fistful of Fingers (1995)

After a string of independent short films, Wright wrote and directed his first feature, A Fistful of Fingers in 1995—and as the name suggests, it’s a movie that attempted to do for spaghetti westerns (think Fistful of Dollars and The Good the Bad and the Ugly) what his later work, like Shaun of the Dead, would do for zombie movies.

A Fistful of Fingers remains notoriously difficult to find, so if you’re a fan and you get the opportunity to see it, make sure you take the chance. It’s always great to see the early movies of big directors, especially one like Wright who has such a signature style.  

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

For many, apparently including Wright himself, Shaun of the Dead is essentially the director’s first feature movie—and if you like the idea of seeing a satire of George A. Romero (think Night of the Living Dead), or are a fan of the movie-geek, post-modern homages of filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, it’s kind of a modern classic.  

Starring a then-largely unknown Simon Pegg, Wright’s unexpected debut hit is the kind of spoof that both celebrates and pokes fun at its subject matter, making it easily accessible for fans of zombie movies and newcomers alike. 

Hot Fuzz (2007)

Three years after Shaun, Wright returned with Hot Fuzz, the second instalment of what would later be called the Cornetto trilogy and a movie that did for cop shows and action movies what Shaun did for horror. The movie reunited Wright with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who play two policemen in a rural English town that doesn’t stay peaceful and quiet for very long. 

Lovers of ‘80s movies like Commando and Under Siege, or fans of comedies like Team America, will easily get the references and laugh from start to finish. 

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

Telling the story of a high school kid who must fight the increasingly deadly ex-boyfriends of a girl he has a crush on, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World allowed Wright to work with an incredible cast of young actors (including Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin and Aubrey Plaza) and musicians (Beck and Frank Black contributed tunes) while flexing his talents with a massive Hollywood budget for the first time—at up to $85M, it was his most expensive movie before directing The Running Man.

Scott Pilgrim is also one of those movies that really attempts to recreate the texture of a comic book, so if you like the feel of things like Kick-Ass or even the Spider-Verse movies, you’ll want to check it out. 

The World’s End (2013)

The World’s End rounds out the trilogy of Shaun and Hot Fuzz, so naturally, if you liked those movies for their humour and geeky movie references but felt they could have used a little sci-fi flavour (think a British This is the End or a send-up of Invasion of the Body Snatchers), it’s one you’ll want to cross off your list.

The World’s End, which follows a school friends’ reunion (led by Pegg and Frost, of course) that gets caught in the crossfire of an alien invasion, marked Wright’s return to England after Scott Pilgrim’s disappointing financial returns at the box office. It’s not the best of the trilogy, I think it's fair to say, but it’s a fine addition to the Wright canon.

Baby Driver (2017)

If you like heist movies (think Fast Five) and car chases (erm, also Fast Five?), watching Baby Driver will feel like an absolute sugar rush—especially if you also like those two things to be soundtracked by a playlist of stone-cold bangers. This is a movie that zips along faster than a suped-up Subaru and boasts some of the most finely-tuned driving scenes of all time.

Returning to filmmaking after his difficult experience with the MCU, Wright landed on his feet with Baby Driver. The movie was one of the most successful of his career, grossing ten times its budget and landing three nominations at the Oscars. It is a marvel of bright colours and pure escapism that proves simplicity is sometimes the Wright course of action. 

Last Night in Soho (2021)

Having done horror, action, sci-fi, comics and a heist homage, it made sense that Wright would eventually tackle film noir. Unluckily, Last Night in Soho doesn’t lend itself quite so well to the director’s talents—but if you like modern neo noir homages like Brick or even some of the movies it’s referencing, like Hitchcock’s Vertigo, you might have fun with this premise.

You also won’t find any issues in the casting—Anya Taylor-Joy and Thomasin McKenzie lead a remarkable ensemble that even includes what turned out to be the final role for Terence Stamp—but this is maybe one for the Wright completists only.

The Running Man (2025)

On a Twitter (as it was then known) AMA in 2017, Wright wrote that if he could remake one movie in the entire history of the medium, it would be The Running Man. That dream came true in late 2025 with the release of Wright's version of the early Stephen King story. The movie, which boasts red hot movie star Glen Powell in the lead role alongside a likeable bunch of supporting players (including Josh Brolin, Colman Domingo and Wright alum Michael Cera), was maybe not the huge success Wright had hoped for but it was nothing if not faithful to '80s action movies that the director adores. 

The story takes place in a dystopian near future where the popular show follows a group of contestants as they are hunted on live TV.  If you like the Arnie original or other breathless, sci-fi chase movies like Minority Report, this is one you’ll want to try. 

The original version of this article was written by Jess Bacon and published on 11 July 2024.

Long before the Avengers were on the scene (and on our screens), there was another super-skilled Marvel team saving the world: the X-Men. Since 2000, there have been 14 movies which, despite not having an overarching plan to begin with, are all interconnected in one way or another. The storylines have been epic, spanning several decades and introducing multiple versions of some of Marvel’s most iconic characters. 

So the question is, what’s the best order to watch all of the X-Men movies in? While there’s a clear release date order, the timelines within these 14 films shift drastically. First Class joins Charles and Magneto in the 1960s, while X-Men is set in the early 2000s, but was released before the prequel franchise. Other entries, particularly those concerning the ageless Wolverine (and the seemingly ageless Hugh Jackman), similarly take place at various points in history. 

It comes down to personal preference, but ultimately, I believe chronological release date is the right way to go as it’s important to have that relationship built up with the characters before seeing them reintroduced in later instalments. So without further ado, here is every movie so far in the X-Men universe listed in that order.

X-Men (2000) 

X-Men is the Marvel movie where it all began. Along with Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, Bryan Singer’s superhero movie set the tone for so many 21st-century blockbusters. If you’re keen to see how superhero movies looked in those early days, it’s well worth seeking out—just take note that the movie itself has aged better than its director’s reputation.

Despite being released a full eight years before RDJ’s Iron Man, X-Men is also now part of the canonical MCU—so if you need to brush up before Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier and Ian McKellen’s Magneto appear in Avengers: Doomsday (a full 26 years after the actors first portrayed them), there’s no time like the present. 

X2 (2003)

Given the number of superhero movies that we’ve seen in the last two decades, it’s remarkable that Singer’s X-Men follow-up, X2, is still widely considered one of the very best. Even if you’ve not seen the first part, it’s one that any comic book movie fan will enjoy.

I can still remember seeing it in the cinema for the first time: Brian Cox’s incredible performance as William Stryker, the landmark special effects used for Mystique’s transformations, and of course the opening sequence, in which Nightcrawler dances around the White House through puffs of smoke to Mozart’s Requiem—an elegant piece of action filmmaking that still looks incredible when seen today.

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

There are plenty of reasons why most people would rather forget X-Men: The Last Stand —Vinnie Jones’s The Juggernaut, anyone?—but if you’re feeling like being a Marvel completist, I suppose there are worse ways to spend a couple of hours. There are some touching scenes in the movie, especially the opening flashback where a still friendly Charles and Erik visit the young Jean Grey for the first time, but in the end, it’s a bit of a mess.

Things might have been different had the now problematic Singer not left the film to direct Superman Returns. In the end, Brett Ratner was brought in, and the rest is history. 

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a movie that retroactively became more significant than when it was first released. This is thanks to Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool (more on him in a minute), who makes his first appearance here but is unrecognisable from the Merc With The Mouth we know today. However, if you’re interested in seeing how not to do the character, or were wondering about all those references in the Deadpool movie, it’s worth a look!

It’s unfortunate the movie didn’t pan out really, as it features a script by Game of Thrones’s David Benioff, who was influenced by the popular Weapon X comic. But again, this is one for the completists. 

X-Men: First Class (2011)

X-Men: First Class was the brainchild of Matthew Vaughn, so if you like Vaughn’s breakout movie, Kick-Ass, you’ll want to check it out. It’s also a period-set superhero movie, so if you were into Captain America: The First Avenger or Wonder Woman, you’ll love this movie’s mix of superhero thrills and Cold War era historical references.

In retrospect, it was an incredibly bold undertaking to attempt to recast so many iconic actors, but boy did they nail it—even going so far as to bring in two similarly Celtic-adjacent actors (in James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender) to believably portray the young Stewart and McKellen. 

The Wolverine (2013)

Similar to First Class, James Mangold’s The Wolverine, his first stab at the adamantium-clawed hero (more on the other in good time), has the added narrative juice of its WWII setting. That fact alone makes it worth a look if you’re a fan of those other period superhero movies mentioned above.  

Similar to Logan, Mangold co-wrote Wolverine with the legendary Hollywood script writer Scott Frank, setting the story in a Japanese POW camp around the time of the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The movie doesn’t quite live up to its potential, but it’s a solid entry in the Wolverine canon. 

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Long before the multiversal shenanigans of the Spider-Verse movies and the MCU, X-Men: Days of Future Past managed to achieve the unthinkable in bringing two different portrayals of multiple characters into one movie’s overarching narrative. Fans of the Singer movies, as well as Vaughn’s new generation, have the unmissable chance to see both collide here. 

The movie itself is also more than worth the entry price, with more period-set action (this time it’s 1973 and the rise of the Berlin Wall) to go with its incredibly stacked cast.

Deadpool (2016)

If you like your superhero movies with more gnarly action, profanity, and general R-rated fun, Deadpool basically invented that entire subgenre. Ryan Reynolds had been attempting to make this fourth-wall-breaking, ultra-violent superhero movie for years before finally getting the go-ahead. 

The fact that he had to portray a watered-down version in Wolverine: Origin is one of the movie's many meta gags. If you like your superhero movies to come with a good dose of knowing self-reference, nobody does it better.

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Like X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: Apocalypse has to live with the reputation of fumbling the ball for an otherwise perfectly good trilogy—and like that earlier movie, this one is purely for the X-completists. With X-Men officially coming to the MCU, we may one day get a decent live-action version of Apocalypse, but until then, this movie remains the iconic villain’s only appearance—and yes, he was apparently played by Oscar Isaac, not that anyone would notice…

This was the movie that brought Singer back into the franchise. It was also released in the early days of # MeToo, when the allegations against the director were at their most public. For that and other reasons, it remains a tarnished entry in the X-Men franchise.

Logan (2017)

If you like superhero movies with R-rated action, deep themes and a generally maturer edge—think Nolan’s Batman movies, or Snyder’s Watchmen—Logan is one of the best to ever do it. Reimagining the legendary ‘Old Man Logan’ comic, it brings back Stewart’s Xavier and Jackman’s Wolverine for—what appeared to be at the time—a final hurrah. 

Logan is really one of the great superhero movies, so we can be thankful that Mangold, Franks and Jackman decided to take a second stab at it. Superhero movie fans are understandably protective of it, to the point that even the lovely Ethan Hawke got dragged for speaking vaguely negatively about it. If only I could remember who wrote that interview…

Deadpool 2 (2018)

If you like the R-rated violence and general, self-aware fun of the first Deadpool movie, or the wild antics of any of James Gunn’s superhero output, Deadpool 2 goes even harder. Shawn Levy and Reynolds make such a great team, it’s no surprise they’ve gone on to collaborate on so many other movies—and if you like their other work together (Free Guy, The Adam Project), you’ll probably love it. 

There are several great scenes, but the hilariously botched skydiving sequence still makes me laugh whenever I think about it. 

Dark Phoenix (2019)

If Apocalypse and Last Stand are not the best remembered of the X-Men movies, Dark Phoenix, which tells the story of Jean Grey’s heel-turn into the titular villain, almost makes them look good. Let’s just say this one is for the total completists and the diehards. If you simply must watch the last chapter of the McAvoy, Fassbender, Turner era, then go ahead—just don’t say we didn’t warn you!

With 22% on Rotten Tomatoes, this Simon Kinberg-directed instalment is the lowest-rated of any X-Men movie on the review aggregating site. There are reasons for that. 

The New Mutants (2020)

Similar to Dark Phoenix and some of the less liked entries on this list, there aren’t too many fans of The New Mutants out there—but if you liked director Josh Boone’s The Fault in Our Stars, you might be interested in seeing his attempt to bring those YA sensibilities to the world of superhero movies. 

Aside from that, The New Mutants boasts an impressive cast, with Anya Taylor-Joy starring alongside Game of Thrones’s Maisie Williams and Charlie Heaton from Stranger Things.

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

If you liked the first two Deadpool movies, the earlier incarnations of Jackman’s Wolverine, and the MCU in general (inclusding other ex-Fox IPs), you will presumably enjoy seeing Ryan Reynolds’s and Shawn Levy’s deranged attempt to mash all those things together in Deadpool & Wolverine—just be warned, this is not a movie to jump into without knowing those other things!

With a host of unexpected cameos and, after 24 long years, the chance to see Logan in his iconic yellow suit, this is pure superhero fan wish fulfilment. 

The original version of this article was written by Jess Bacon and published on 2 September 2024.

Stephen Graham has appeared in some of the most successful British dramas and Hollywood blockbusters in the past two decades. The Liverpudlian actor got his break with small roles in Guy Ritchie’s crime comedy, Snatch, from 2000 and Martin Scorsese’s historical drama, Gangs of New York in 2002, but it wasn’t until 2006 when he landed the role of Andrew Gascoigne in the This is England that he confirmed his place as one of the most exciting English actors of his generation. 

Despite becoming something of a Scorsese regular, Graham’s best roles have arguably come on the small screen, where the actor has used the time and space awarded by long-form drama to showcase the breadth of his talents. With three richly deserved Emmys for his work on Adolescence in the bag, it feels like the right time to round up the actor’s finest work. We’ve ranked ten performances in ascending order; use the guide below to find out where to stream them on platforms like BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere.

10. Public Enemies (2009)

Set in 1933, Public Enemies focuses on the FBI manhunt to capture John Dillinger and is one of the many mob-based stories that Graham has featured in over the course of his career. If you liked Graham in movies like The Irishman or shows like Boardwalk Empire, this is an earlier role you might want to check out.

Johnny Depp stars as Dillinger with Christian Bale playing FBI agent Melvin Purvis, the man in pursuit. Director Michael Mann cast Graham to play Baby Face Nelson, a notorious bank robber who became Dillinger’s right-hand man—it’s a role that suits his abilities to the ground.

9. Snatch (2000)

When people think of Guy Ritchie’s Snatch, they usually think of the way Brad Pitt says “dags”, but the movie was also Stephen Graham’s big break. Fans of Ritchie’s and Jason Statham’s early movies like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels will want to see this.

Statham and Graham play Turkish and Tommy, two boxing promoters who end up way over their heads when their fighter, Gorgeous George, gets knocked out by Pitt’s bare-knuckle boxer and Irish traveller, Mickey O’Neil. It’s a great early example not only of Graham’s screen presence but also his comic timing.

8. The Irishman (2019)

Graham was already well established in the Scorsese roster when the legendary director offered him the role of Tony Pro, a powerful member of the Genovese crime family, in The Irishman—a movie for fans of epic mob sagas like Once Upon a Time in America and The Godfather. 

Again, Graham plays a supporting role here, but his scene-stealing performance is incredibly memorable, not least for a particularly fiery showdown with Al Pacino’s Jimmy Hoffa. Even he can’t seem to believe that he got to do it. 

7. Line of Duty (2019)

Not everyone loved Line of Duty Season 5, but even the detractors had nothing bad to say about Graham’s performance. Focusing on an organised crime group, it’s probably the murkiest season of the long-running anthology show. If you’re into series like Gangs of London and Luther, though, you’ll definitely enjoy getting into Line of Duty’s expansive world. 

Graham is typically nuanced and hard to pin down as undercover officer John Corbett, a character who keeps you guessing for the series’ six-episode arc. 

6. Boiling Point (2021)

Boiling Point is a nerve-wracking cooking movie that fans of The Bear and The Menu will love. It’s also the first time that Graham collaborated with Philip Barantini, the director of Adolescence, and fans of that show will be just as drawn to this movie’s intensity and single-shot structure.

Taking place over the course of a couple of hours in a London restaurant, just as service starts up, Graham is brilliantly unhinged as the coked-up head chef trying to keep it together as the world around him falls apart.  

5. Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014)

Boardwalk Empire is one of those shows that deserves to be considered in the pantheon of TV’s second Golden Age—so if you like the high-quality HBO series from that time, like The Sopranos and The Wire, it’s about time you gave this one a shot.

Again, Graham isn’t playing the lead here (that’s left to great actors like Steve Buscemi and Michael Pitt), but as usual, he steals every scene with his performance as Al Capone. 

4. The Virtues (2019)

In 2019, Graham reunited with Shane Meadows and Jack Thorne, the director and co-writer of This is England, to make The Virtues, a low-key triumph about a man struggling with addiction who returns to Ireland to find a sister he hasn’t seen in years. The Virtues might not have quite the same name recognition as Graham’s most famous work, but for any fan of his and Meadows’ work, this is highly recommended viewing.

The show is one of the many projects that Graham and Thorne have collaborated on, so if you admire what they recently achieved with Adolescence, you might want to give it a shot. 

3. Time (2021)

Sharing the screen with the great Sean Bean, Graham was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the television BAFTAs for his performance in Time, a prison-based anthology drama that won best miniseries at that year’s awards. You won’t want to miss it if you’re interested in British prison dramas like Starred Up. 

Over three episodes, Graham brings incredible depth to the role of Eric McNally, a prison officer tasked with supervising Bean’s prisoner, Mark Cobden. Written by fellow Liverpudlian Jimmy McGovern, it’s a portrayal of the UK prison system that offers social critique along with a welcome amount of empathy. And as usual, Graham is incredible. 

2. Adolescence (2025)

It might have just missed out on the top of this list, but Adolescence is undoubtedly the crowning achievement of Graham’s career so far. If you like issue-based drama and gripping storytelling (the exceptional Riz Ahmed show The Night Of comes to mind), this is one you should binge immediately. 

Re-teaming with his Boiling Point director Philip Barantini, and longtime collaborator Jack Thorne, Graham did the unlikely: create a thrilling, technically daring, megahit show that also tackled some of the biggest issues of the day—namely the dehumanising side effects that screens might be having on young people.

Graham is phenomenal as Eddie Miller, a father attempting to process the unprocessable. The show has won eight Emmys, three of which went to the actor and co-writer—a wonderful achievement that has only further confirmed him as a national treasure. 

1. This Is England (2006 — 2015)

No one who saw Shane Meadows’s This Is England ever forgets the experience, and Graham’s career-defining and still career-best performance as Cosmo, the skinhead with a soul, is one of the main reasons why. Meadows captured lightning in a bottle with his young cast, especially lead actor Thomas Turgoose as his stand-in, Shaun, but it’s Graham’s jagged warmth that holds the film together, giving it its spark of electricity and lurking danger. 

Meadows’ examination of Britain’s 1980s far-right subculture was met with widespread critical acclaim that continued with three additional series: This is England ’86, This is England ’88, and This is England ’90. Graham appears in all of them, but it’s Meadows’ 2006 original that remains, IMO, the actor’s finest moment. 

The original version of this article was written by Jess Bacon and published on 22 May 2024.

In 2003, Richard Curtis revolutionised the festive film landscape with the romantic comedy Love Actually. With a cast like no other, Curtis brought together some of Britain’s greatest actors to tell ten interlinked love stories in the countdown to Christmas.

Set and filmed predominantly in London, Love Actually boasts a staggering ensemble of household names, including Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Bill Nighy, Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, Rowan Atkinson, Keira Knightley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Andrew Lincoln and Martin Freeman. There are even cameos from British TV royalty Ant and Dec and Michael Parkinson. Alongside this, notable American stars make an appearance, such as Billy Bob Thornton as the US President and Laura Linney as the hopeless romantic Sarah.

Upon release, Love Actually received mixed reactions from critics, but on a modest budget of $40 million, it grossed over $248 million at the worldwide box office and remained in the top ten for five weeks. For many, Thompson’s performance as Karen remains the most poignant moment of the film, but Bill Nighy’s BAFTA-winning turn as washed-up rockstar Billy Mack is just as great. There are many similar titles to enjoy that will offer the same warmth, romance and hope—including the short charity sequel, Red Nose Day Actually. Here are ten of the best, in no particular order.

Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

Four Weddings and a Funeral is the Richard Curtis movie where it all began, so if you’re a fan of Love Actually and want to see the blueprint for it, or how Curtis and Hugh Grant began their long collaboration, it’s one you’ll not want to miss. 

It’s worth noting that there are some heavier themes here—so if you don’t appreciate the more dramatic chapters of Love Actually, like the ones featuring Emma Thompson and Laura Linney’s characters, it might not be for you. 

Four Weddings is a classic for many reasons: introducing Grant to American audiences, the ingenious screenplay (which earned Curtis his first and only Oscar nomination), but most importantly, John Hannah’s recitation of Auden’s Funeral Blues—one of the great tearjerker moments in cinema.

The Holiday (2006)

If you’re a fan of Love Actually’s clash of British and American sensibilities around Christmastime, The Holiday is a movie you’ll be putting under your tree for the rest of your life. 

The story follows two couples who meet serendipitously after an English writer (Kate Winslet) and a Hollywood producer (Cameron Diaz) decide to swap homes over the festive season. Jack Black and Jude Law play the unlikely fellas. It’s written and directed by the great Nancy Meyers, so if you like Meyers’s later work, in particular (think Something’s Gotta Give or It’s Complicated), it’ll feel like a cosy blanket.

Notting Hill (1999)

While we’re on the subject of unlikely lads, Richard Curtis, British classics, and rom coms in general, you could make an argument that Notting Hill is the best to ever do it. Love Actually fans, and also fans of The Holiday, will love the spark between Hugh Grant’s bumbling Englishman and Julia Roberts’ movie star here. The actress’s smile has never been more dazzling.

Bonus points for the goofy supporting players (another key Love Actually theme), not least Rhys Ifans’ iconic performance as Spike and Hugh Bonneville as Grant’s best bud. 

Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)

Still looking for another movie in which Hugh Grant plays the delightfully bumbling love interest of an American actress (if one where the American, Renée Zellweger, is also playing an English person)? Look no further than Bridget Jones’s Diary and its subsequent sequels. Fans of Love Actually’s humour and goofy romance will feel right at home here, as will fans of Colin Firth, who rounds out the movie’s central love triangle.

The first film became a phenomenon to the point that, now over 20 years on, the character and Zellweger’s performance as her are both still with us. For context, that’s almost as lasting as Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. 

Valentine’s Day (2010)

If you liked Love Actually for its blend of seasonal comedy, ensemble casting and interlinked storylines, you might enjoy this trilogy of movies from rom-com legend Garry Marshall. Taking place on Hallmark’s favourite holiday, the cast features Academy Award winners Jamie Foxx, Shirley MacLaine, Julia Roberts and Kathy Bates alongside romantic favourites like Patrick Dempsey and Taylor Lautner. Even Bradley Cooper appears.

New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day are about as close as you can get to movie critic kryptonite (not one has a score higher than 17% on Rotten Tomatoes), but Valentine’s is easily the best of the bunch. 

About Time (2013)

A more recent movie to succeed with the classic mix of British man (though played here by an Irish one) and American woman is About Time. This is a movie for any fan of Love Actually who likes the idea of blending a little science fiction and fantasy into the mix—think movies like The Time Traveller’s Wife.

The story follows Tim Lake (Gleeson), who has inherited the ability to travel through time and uses it to pursue his love interest—and yes, some aspects of that have not aged the best. Luckily, the movie is mostly very charming and, best of all, it features the great Rachel McAdams—so if you are a fan of The Notebook, it’s one you’ll want to see. 

Crazy Stupid Love (2011)

Crazy Stupid Love is another of the more recent entries on this list and the least British-inflected so far. Fans of Love Actually’s humour will definitely enjoy it, but it’s probably a little more on the mature audience side of things. Depending on the viewer, it’s perhaps not the first thing to throw on as the aunties and uncles are sitting around digesting their turkey and stuffing…

What it does have is chemistry to beat the band, especially between celeb BFFs Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. If you liked what the two of them got up to five years later in La La Land, you’ll want to see their first time together on screen.

Mamma Mia! (2008)

If you liked the iconic musical moments in Love Actually or are in any way a fan of ABBA or Meryl Streep, you’ll adore Mamma Mia! and even its sequel, Here We Go Again. The movie doesn’t feature a love triangle, like in Bridget Jones, but a love square: with Meryl being wooed by Actually alumni Colin Firth as well as fan favourites Pierce Brosnan and Stellan Skarsgård—three old flames looking to rekindle.

All give lovely performances, even if none of the lads can quite match Streep and—playing her, and possibly one of their daughters—Amanda Seyfried’s voice. But hey, good on them for trying. 

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

Whether or not this list inspired you to watch the similarly Aegean-sea-centric Mamma Mia!, if you’re a fan of Love Actually’s ensemble fun, you’ll love My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Despite featuring John Corbett (you might know him as Aidan, Carrie’s golden retriever boyfriend in Sex and the City), MBFGW can’t boast a roll call of familiar faces, but there are plenty of new ones to meet and fall in love with.

As for the plot… Well, it’s exactly what it says on the tin!

The Family Stone (2005)

The Family Stone rounds out our list as another festive favourite that, like Love Actually, was under-appreciated upon release. Starring Jennifer Aniston as a buttoned-up fiancée who must learn to adapt to her partner’s more free-spirited clan, it’s a holiday movie that delivers all the reliable tropes: love, family, and our ability to change our entire personality over the course of 48 hours… Alas, if only. 

This is one for fans of Love Actually’s slightly gooey but ultimately undeniable appreciation for our tendency to all get a bit loved up around Christmas.

The original version of this article was written by Jess Bacon and published on 29 March 2024.

Amy Winehouse is an artist who needs no introduction. From the early ‘00s to her tragic death in 2011, the British singer-songwriter captivated audiences with her rich, soulful ballads. Naturally, for an artist who died at such a young age, her passing was met with a flurry of documentaries about the weight of fame and the price of stardom, including Asif Kapadia’s Amy, which went on to win Best Documentary at the 2016 Academy Awards.

London-born and bred, Winehouse had a once-in-a-generation voice and topped the charts with songs such as Rehab, Tears Dry on Their Own, Back to Black and Valerie. Her second album, Back to Black, became one of the best-selling albums in UK history. With such a distinctive legacy, it’s no surprise that her life and tragic death have been covered extensively in documentaries and films, including the recent big-budget biopic Back to Black. Read on to discover more about them and use the guide below to find them on platforms like AppleTV, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere.

Amy (2015)

Four years after her shocking death from alcohol poisoning, Asif Kapadia directed a documentary, titled Amy, that detailed the singer’s younger years, her rise to fame, her struggles with substance abuse, and her endless war with the merciless British tabloids. Kapadia made the film very much in his signature style (with no interviews or narration), so if you’re a fan of his other biographical docs (either Senna or Diego Maradona), you’ll definitely appreciate it. 

After its emotional premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, it went on to win both the BAFTA and Academy Award for Best Documentary and a Grammy for Best Music Film. 

Amy Winehouse – A Last Goodbye (2011)

In the years after her death, a succession of documentaries emerged to explore the young singer’s life, her stardom and the events that led to her death. One of the earliest was Amy Winehouse: The Last Goodbye, an intimate doc told in a more conventional style than Kapadia’s. If you generally prefer docs that feature narration, this might be the one for you. 

The movie was released in October 2011, just months after the singer’s passing, so if that feels a little bit “too soon”, you might want to try something on this list with a little more historical distance.

Classic Albums: Amy Winehouse (2018)

If you’re into shows that take a deep dive into famous albums (like the podcast Song Exploder), Amy Winehouse: Back to Black might be the doc for you. The hour-long episode was released as part of the BBC’s Classic Albums series, a show that has also looked into Nirvana’s Nevermind and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours.

Released in 2018, the show includes new interviews with her collaborator Mark Ronson and producer Salaam Remi and features previously unseen archive footage of the artist during the recording of her most famous album—the one that famously earned her six Grammys in a single evening. 

27: Gone Too Soon (2018)

27: Gone Too Soon explores not just Winehouse’s untimely passing but the phenomenon of the “27 Club”: a group of legendary musicians who all died at the same age, so if you’re a fan of Amy Winehouse but also of artists like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain, you’ll want to check this one out.

Released in 2018 by director Simon Napier-Bell, it’s probably fair to say that this one is not the most widely known or highly rated Amy doc.

The Last 24 Hours: Amy Winehouse (2019)

In 2019, Jordan Hill directed a TV movie that detailed the final hours of Amy’s life and explored her public battle with addiction. The documentary was titled The Last 24 Hours: Amy Winehouse and is one of the more in-depth explorations into the tragic events that led to her shocking death. This might be the one for you if you feel like delving a bit deeper into the story.

A film that explores a similar event is Gus Van Sant’s Last Days—however, that 2007 movie is a dramatised version of the events, with Michael Pitt playing a character only loosely based on Kurt Cobain.

Amy Winehouse: The Price of Fame (2020)

In more recent years, there have been additional documentaries that have arguably jumped on the bandwagon to explore the struggles that came with Amy’s skyrocket to fame. One of these was Amy Winehouse: The Price of Fame—an hour-long doc featuring much of the same content as the movies we’ve mentioned above. 

If you’ve seen everything we’ve discussed and still want some more, you might want to check it out. 

Reclaiming Amy (2021)

In 2021, the BBC released a new documentary aimed at changing the narrative around Winehouse. Titled Reclaiming Amy, it featured rare family archive footage of the singer when she was younger. 

This is a movie for anyone who’s grown tired of the usual judgmental tone that comes with docs on the singer. If you appreciated the revisionist history of the 2021 New York Times documentary Framing Britney Spears, this is one you might want to see. 

Amy Winehouse & Me – Dionne’s Story (2021)

On the tenth anniversary of her passing, Amy’s god-daughter Dionne Bromfield opened up about her heartbreaking death in the 2021 TV special, Amy Winehouse & Me: Dionne’s Story. This is a deeply personal and moving account from somebody very close to the singer, so just be warned, it’s even more of a tearjerker than the others. If you like docs like A Hidden Star, it might be one for you, though.

The movie was released on MTV in 2021, and though the archival footage was familiar to most fans, it was met with generally favourable reviews. 

Fatal Addiction: Amy Winehouse (2023)

As the title might suggest, Fatal Addiction: Amy Winehouse is one of the more sensational additions to the canon of documentaries on the singer, so if you’re a little tired of all that, you might want to give it a miss. 

At 60 minutes, however, it is a finely produced and concise account. It’s also directed by Remone Jones, the filmmaker behind Princess Margaret: A Fine Romance and Diddy: Monster’s Fall. If you like your celebrity docs with a true crime approach, this might be the one for you. 

Back to Black (2024)

Thirteen years after she passed away, Amy’s life and career was commemorated in Back to Black—a dramatised musical biopic that fans of movies like Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman will surely enjoy.

Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, Back to Black saw the London-born singer played by Marisa Abela with Jack O’Connell, Eddie Marsan and Lesley Manville rounding out a strong British cast. A breakout star of the excellent HBO series Industry, Abela went on to receive strong reviews for the performance—even if those for the movie itself were a little lukewarm. 

There are still some months to go before the final season of Outlander—the long-running, time-travelling, period-romancing epic that many fans and critics agree has enjoyed a return to form in recent years —but as Jamie likes to say, “dinna fash, Sassenach.” If you’re looking for something to help wile away the hours until then—or, at least, to make you consider what hours mean, or what might have been if you’d done something differently, or if that would even affect your timeline…

… Anyway! For fans patiently waiting to see the conclusion to Outlander’s eight-season run, we’ve rounded up ten shows that explored time travel in similarly interesting ways—or at least had the most fun trying. Use the JustWatch guide below to find out where to watch them on streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere.

Dark (2017)

The paradox, quite literally, with time travel shows is that they always end up tripping over themselves. One exception to the rule is Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese’s Dark. A series that follows multiple timelines over more than a century in a rural German town, it’s beautifully shot, dramatically scored, perfectly cast and wildly ambitious. If you like the way Outlander explores dark moments in history while getting into the knotty threads of family lineages, you’ll probably get hooked on it immediately.

It’s the kind of show where the protagonist, Jonas, wears a yellow raincoat and walks around with a torch that looks like a FADO lamp, and where one character’s son turns out to be another character’s dad. Dark is twisty and convoluted, and even if it gets a bit self-serious by Season 3, it all eventually makes some kind of sense. Impressive!

Quantum Leap (1989)

The show that continually answered the age-old question: “Why haven’t I leapt yet?” Quantum Leap concerns a physicist, Sam (Scott Bakula), who discovers time travel, only to get stuck leaping between various bodies at different points in time. Again, if you like the blend of historical fact and science fiction in Outlander, you’ll have plenty of fun with this one.

To leap to the next body—which he hopes will one day be his own—Sam has to help resolve an issue in that person’s life. This leads to situations that are usually funny, occasionally historical and sometimes quite moving—it’s essentially a show about empathy, after all.

It also has Dean Stockwell in a shiny jacket, which, let’s be honest, is the real USP. 

The Umbrella Academy (2019)

By the end of Season 3, The Umbrella Academy had succumbed to the fate of most superhero shows—becoming a little too bloated for comfort. Not that it took away from all the things that made it great: fun, inclusive and willing to tackle some quite delicate topics (including a narrative arc to reflect the real-world transition of one of the show’s stars, Elliot Page).

Outlander fans will find much to appreciate in the show’s adventurous use of time travel. This arc is centred around a character named Five: a boy who travels into the future and returns as a 60-year-old man, though still in his teenage body. In the second season, the action moves to ‘60s Dallas—a recurring theme in several shows on this list, but one that never fails to fascinate. 

Continuum (2012)

Released in 2012, Simon Barry’s Continuum follows the arc of many shows on this list: a promising start and a great second season before things started to get a bit loopy—but if you like when time travel shows really make the effort to tie up their loose ends, you’ll appreciate this one.

Beginning in 2077, the show follows a group of freedom fighters who effectively do a reverse Terminator: travelling back in time to 2012 to prevent the world from slipping into the corporate dystopia of their own time. It might get a little loopy by the final season, but credit to Barry for sticking the landing.

11.22.63 (2016) 

If you like the clash of time travel and history in Outlander, 11.22.63 will be up your alley. Adapted from the Stephen King novel, it’s one of many shows mentioned here that time-travel back to a fateful day in Dallas (the date is also depicted in a famous double episode of Quantum Leap). 

11.22.63 stars a pre-cancellation James Franco as an English teacher who travels back in time with the mission of stopping President Kennedy’s assassination—only to find he quite likes the idea of staying there. Fans who enjoy Outlander’s approach to historical fiction will find much to enjoy in the show’s skewed recreation of that fateful day. 

Lost (2004)

While I wouldn’t be so bold as to say that the time-travelling bits are everyone’s favourite part of Lost (if anything, the opposite is true), I feel it would be wrong not to mention the iconic ‘00s show in which a group of strangers is stranded on a mysterious island after a plane crash. If you haven’t seen it, or at least haven’t seen it in a while, it’s never a bad time to start (re)watching—and either way, those later seasons, while much criticised on release, have aged like fine wine. 

Even the time-hopping bits, which are a little messy at first, eventually leave the show in a pleasant groove—with multiple timelines that lead to emotional and dramatic payoffs. And even without the time-travel, fans of Outlander will appreciate the show’s exploration of themes like destiny and free will.

Fringe (2008)

This 2008 J.J. Abrams joint follows a team of secret governmental agents tasked with investigating pattern events. These include parallel universes, which feature heavily in Season 2. They also include time travel, most notably in the shifting timelines of Season 3 and the arrival of The Observers: future beings with the ability to move through eras and alter human history. 

Released around the same time as both the final seasons of Lost and Star Trek, Abrams’ move into filmmaking, it’s probably safe to say that Fringe is not the best remembered of the director’s projects from that time. It is, however, an enjoyably daft combination of temporal tampering and compelling conspiracies that fans of Outlander will easily appreciate. 

Russian Doll (2019)

While Russian Doll is more in the lineage of reset-button movies like Groundhog Day and Palm Springs, it’s an absolute blast of a show, and one that I think Outlander fans will easily warm to—even without the period trappings.

The smartly constructed plot follows a video game developer (played by the great Natasha Lyonne) who repeatedly dies and wakes up again on the day of her 36th birthday. After going through the motions many times, she begins to question the reasons why, leading to light meditations on ticky topics: such as philosophy, physics, and trauma. 

La Brea (2021)

In David Appelbaum’s La Brea, a group of people travel back in time to 10,000 B.C. after slipping into a sinkhole in the titular L.A. tar pits—now that’s what I call an elevator pitch! 

Outlander fans with a taste for the show’s wilder swings will find plenty of things to enjoy in La Brea, a show that doesn’t let its slightly mad premise get in the way of a gripping storyline. The story is split into two timelines, one set at the time when dinosaurs roamed the planet and the other in the present day, where a former pilot starts seeing visions of where the group ended up. 

Loki (2021)

We still don’t know what will happen to Loki in the post-Jonathan Majors MCU, but something tells me Kevin Feige will find a way to bring the God of Mischief into play once again. Tom Hiddleston has been this character since 2011, but only really got to explore his softer side during Loki.

When Michael Waldron’s offbeat, finely cast, and retro-leaning series allowed Hiddleston to be truly benevolent as a consultant in the TVA, the results were often charming. In terms of time travel, the show probably has the least connective tissue to reality of anything on this list (so if you’re after some kind of plausibility, it might not be for you), but that doesn’t mean there’s not plenty of fun to be had with it. 

You don’t need to have worked in the service industry to know that kitchens are chaotic workplaces at the best of times. Many showrunners and filmmakers over the years have tried to capture that mood: the simmering frustrations, the unorthodox family bond, the way it pulls people apart and brings them together. Every now and then, those people also make things that are nice to eat. 

No show has done more to pull away the curtain of this business while simultaneously romanticising it than The Bear, a COVID-era sensation that has now spawned four seasons and made a cast of relatively unknown actors into megastars. So, what better time to tuck back into the world of food on screen? 

The list we have prepared below is not necessarily all of the best foodie movies you can stream right now; more of the ones that capture the show’s spirit, and how a unique kind of beauty can be found in the most disorderly places.

The Menu (2022)

If you appreciate the way that The Bear looks down on arrogant showmanship and celebrates honesty and simplicity in cooking, The Menu might be the movie for you. 

Upon release in ‘22, it seemed like the movie was following in The Bear’s footsteps, but it was actually in production at roughly the same time. Mark Mylod, then deep in the weeds with the final season of Succession, took a break to direct The Menu, a pressure-cooker movie about an uber-chic restaurant (run by a deliciously nasty Ralph Fiennes) where the hors d’oeuvres are served with a side of violence. 

Best dish: that cheeseburger at the end is to die for.

Boiling Point (2021)

Those with a taste for Carmy’s more unhinged moments in the show will appreciate Boiling Point’s (and the subsequent miniseries’) intensity, especially Stephen Graham’s performance; as will fans of Adolescence, the acclaimed show that reunited director Philip Barantini and Graham four years later.

Whether it was to do with the relative ease of shooting something in a more easily contained setting or the way audiences had started to crave the experience of eating out, culinary-focused stories were all the rage in the early years of COVID. None felt quite as ragey as Boiling Point, a single-shot wonder starring Stephen Graham as a head chef on the verge of a nervous breakdown. 

Best dish: for all the cooking, the movie and show rarely focus on a particular dish, but I’d easily eat five of those little cod plates from Episode 1 of the TV show. 

Ratatouille (2007)

A great deal of the democratisation of high-end dining can be traced back to Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain’s iconic memoir, and one of the many fine things to come out of those newly relaxed attitudes was Brad Bird’s Ratatouille. It’s a gorgeous movie that remains a high watermark for Pixar, even among the studio’s peerless early run of work. 

Carmy’s love of honest cooking and his refusal to gatekeep (especially with the trust he shows when elevating his staff to more senior roles) is basically the whole message of this Pixar classic. The essential spirit of the movie can be boiled down to Chef Gusteau’s assertion that “anyone can cook,” so if you vibe with that sentiment, you’ll probably love everything about it.

Best dish: it’s all in the name.

Chef (2014)

The story behind this movie is about as comforting as the food it so lovingly depicts. Jon Favreau went back and forth through the Hollywood wringer a few times before rediscovering his love for filmmaking with movies like Elf, Iron Man and Iron Man 2. In 2013, he decided to go back to basics with Chef, a movie that echoes his own journey—and for fans of The Bear, also echoes Carmy’s journey from the harsh world of fine dining to rediscovering his roots in Chicago.

This passion project—for which Favreau called in a few favours, including casting MCU big hitters Scarlet Johansson and Robert Downey Jr.—follows a celebrated chef (played by Favreau) who is cast out of the fine dining world only to rediscover his love for cooking in the process. 

Best dish: the perfect grilled cheese.

The Taste of Things (2023)

It’s no coincidence that the best movie about cooking in recent years is also one of the most detailed. Tran Anh Hung’s The Taste of Things takes place in 1889 and follows the culinary and romantic relationship shared between a gourmet (the great Benoît Magimel) and his long-serving cook (the even greater Juliet Binoche).

Much of the action takes place in the kitchen, where very few words are exchanged above the marvellous dance of boiling, simmering, stirring and frying that Húng exquisitely captures. No other movie on this list allows the food to be its star to this degree. I think Carmy would probably like it—and if you appreciate whenever The Bear focuses purely on the cooking, you’ll probably like it too. 

Best dish: the movie is so good it even makes ortolan look tempting—which is more than you can say for Greg and Tom.

Julie & Julia (2009)

You won’t find any of The Bear’s anxiety-attack-inducing tension in Julie & Julia, a high-calorie slice of culinary escapism from comfort food queen Nora Ephron—but if you like the idea of a more chill cooking movie, it might be the pick for you. What you will find here is everyone’s favourite movie foodie (Stanley Tucci) and everyone’s favourite Meryl (erm, Streep) playing lightly exaggerated versions of Paul and Julia Child. 

Ephron’s movie was inspired by Julie Powell’s best-selling novel, Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously, in which the early food blogger (played here by Amy Adams) attempted to cook every recipe in Child’s iconic book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, in 365 days. Needless to say, it’s a cosy watch.

Best dish: has to be the boeuf bourguignon.

Nonnas (2025)

We can definitely add this recent Vince Vaughan delicacy to the cosy, Julie & Julia section of our menu—so again, if you’re looking for comfort, look no further. Directed by Stephen Chbosky, Nonnas tells the real-life story of Joe Scaravella, an MTA worker in New York City who, after the death of multiple family members, including his grandmother, opens a restaurant in her honour—the twist being that Scaravella only hires grandmothers as chefs. 

Similar to J&J, the movie isn’t looking to get the adrenaline pumping; it’s a moving ode to the women who have always inspired the world’s great cuisines. 

Best dish: definitely the pasta and Sunday gravy.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)

I didn’t plan to add non-fiction movies to this list, but David Gelb’s Jiro Dreams of Sushi feels too influential to leave out—and if you’re interested in seeing an originator of what we now call “food porn”, I highly recommend it. Gelb originally planned his movie as a food doc inspired by David Attenborough, but got a lot more than he bargained for, uncovering a tale of inheritance and intergenerational disconnection in the process. 

This is not to say that the movie doesn’t deliver on both counts: the images of the 84-year-old master sushi-maker at work (now 99, the curmudgeony genius is still with us), set to music by Max Richter and Philip Glass, inspired a whole generation of foodie docs.

Best dish: It’s impossible to choose from the nigiri. I would devour every one of them.

Sideways (2004)

Alexander Payne’s Sideways is kind of a modern foodie classic. It also deserves a place on this list, even if its palate is more trained to the grape than the grain—and if you appreciate the way The Bear uses food to express wider, emotional themes, this movie is one worth savouring.

The story follows a wine aficionado (an excellent Paul Giamatti) and his best friend (Thomas Haden Church) on a tasting trip through the Napa Valley. The duo are celebrating the latter’s bachelor party, which of course goes awry, but the movie’s themes are more to do with the former’s midlife crisis and how wine can provide a moving metaphor for that period of life. 

Best dish: we’ll take the burger, some fries, and a 1961 Château Cheval Blanc from a styrofoam cup, please.

Big Night (1996)

It makes sense that Stanley Tucci would feature twice on this list. The beloved actor has been charming the world with his love for Italian delicacies ever since lockdown. Tucci’s first great food movie, however, came a long time before all that—so if you’re interested in seeing how much depictions of the industry have changed in the last 30 years, it’s a fascinating watch.

It’s also just a really entertaining movie. Released in 1996, Big Night, which was also Tucci’s directorial debut, tells the story of two struggling New Jersey restaurateurs who catch a break when Louis Prima decides to drop by for a meal. 

Best dish: the Timpano looks excessive, but I would probably eat the whole damn thing.

Since Tony Gilroy’s Andor finished its incredible two-season run on Disney+, fans have been returning in droves to watch Rogue One: A Star Wars Story—the movie that first introduced us to Diego Luna’s conflicted antihero. Much has come to light over the years about the movie’s troubled production process (Gilroy was even brought in for some 11th-hour re-shoots), but it went on to receive some of the best reviews of any Star Wars movie and plunder over a billion dollars at the worldwide box office.

After 24 episodes of richly constructed backstory, we are surely not alone in saying that Gareth Edwards’ film just hits different when seen today. What better time to look at where the Rogue One cast ended up?

For a selection of some of their best projects, JustWatch has you covered in the list below—with details on where to find them on services like Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime.

Felicity Jones (Jyn Erso)

With an Academy Award nomination for The Theory of Everything and a blockbuster debut in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, both coming in 2014, Rogue One looked like another stepping stone on Felicity Jones’ steady rise to the Hollywood big leagues—but weirdly enough, the actor’s output since then has been a bit of a mixed bag.

Her performance as Ruth Bader Ginsberg in On the Basis of Sex is probably the high point in a string of period pieces that separate her starring turn as Jyn Erso and a career comeback in The Brutalist in 2024. Not everyone appreciated her Hungarian accent in Brady Corbet’s film, but it didn’t stop her from landing a second nomination at the Oscars—and if you’re hoping to find traces of Erso’s formidable spirit in another movie, that might be the one to watch.

Diego Luna (Cassian Andor)

Despite some brief talk of a Scarface remake with Antoine Fuqua, Diego Luna’s performances between Rogue One and Andor have mostly arrived on the small screen. He starred in two seasons of Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico as the cartel kingpin Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo and provided the voice of Krel in Guillermo del Toro’s Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia TV show for DreamWorks Animation.

Amid all that, Luna found time for a selection of more indie-minded projects, including Barry Jenkins’ James Baldwin adaptation, If Beale Street Could Talk, and Woody Allen’s A Rainy Day in New York—but if you’re looking for another Luna character with anything like Andor’s focused intensity, Narcos is probably your best bet!

Forest Whitaker (Saw Gerrera)

In 2007, Forest Whitaker capped two decades of highly lauded work by winning an Oscar for his dominant performance as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. The actor’s career then took an unusual dip before a memorable return in 2016. In that year, his first appearance was as Rogue One’s Saw Gerrera and a role in Boots Riley’s exceptionally weird Sorry to Bother You (which he also produced).

Since then, Whitaker has eased into a groove of playing elder statesmen in projects like Respect, in which he appeared as Aretha Franklin’s father, C.L., and as the shaman, Zuri, in Black Panther. That character and Whitaker’s performance, I believe, had some of Saw’s DNA—so fans of the HH-huffing wild man should probably head straight for Ryan Coogler’s MCU epic, if there is anyone out there who hasn’t seen it before!

Donnie Yen (Chirrut Îmwe)

Donnie Yen’s place in the pantheon of martial arts cinema was already cemented before he took on the role of the blind warrior, Chirrut Îmwe, in Rogue One, becoming an instant fan favourite. Despite appearing in xXx: Return of Xander Cage in 2017, Yen has mostly continued to work in Hong Kong since then. 

He went back to his signature role as Ip Man for two further instalments before eventually returning to Hollywood in the live-action Mulan and, most memorably, as another blind killer, Caine, in John Wick: Chapter 4. At the time of writing, the character’s standalone film is in the works with Yen on board as both director and star. If you’re a fan of Chirrut Îmwe’s eccentric style, you’re probably already counting down the days.

Ben Mendelsohn (Orson Krennic)

Since his first appearance as Orson Krennic, the great Ben Mendelsohn has only gone from strength to strength—entering the MCU as the alien Talos in Captain Marvel while continuing to be one of the most sought-after villain actors in all of Hollywood.

Alongside playing slimy antagonists for the likes of Steven Spielberg (Ready Player One) and Joe Wright (in Cyrano, alongside fellow Andor villain Joshua James), the Australian has lent his talents to more low-budget fare, such as Shannon Murphy’s indie darling Babyteeth in 2019. Fans looking for a bit more of his villainous Krennic energy will probably be best served with Spielberg’s underrated sci-fi movie.

Riz Ahmed (Bodhi Rook)

2016 was a banner year for Riz Ahmed: the polymath actor won an Emmy for his remarkable performance in The Night Of and scored positive reviews for his hip hop album, Cashmere, while breaking through in Hollywood with roles in both Rogue One and Jason Bourne.

The prolific artist has been on a roll ever since, moving into screenwriting with his deeply personal Mogul Mowgli and receiving an Oscar nomination for his wonderful performance as a drummer losing his hearing in Darius Marder’s Sound of Metal. Ahmed was most recently on screen in Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme —but for fans of the actor, Sound of Metal is the essential Ahmed flick.

Mads Mikkelsen (Galen Erso)

Coming ten years after his breakout role as Le Chiffre in Casino Royale, and hot on the heels of his three-season run on Hannibal, Mikkelsen was already everyone’s favourite Dane by the time he appeared as Galen Erso in Rogue One.

He entered the MCU as Kaecilius in Doctor Strange, the same year as Rogue One’s release, and has since been cast as the main villain in both Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (taking over for Johnny Depp) and Indiana Jones: The Dial of Destiny, while giving a career-best turn in Another Round for his fellow Dane, Thomas Vinterberg. If you like the kind of troubled, soul-searching performance that Mikkelsen brought to Rogue One, you’re gonna love his work in Vinterberg’s movie.

Genevieve O’Reilly (Mon Mothma)

It’s wild to think that Genevieve O’Reilly first appeared as Mon Mothma 20 years ago in Revenge of the Sith. With most of her scenes cut from that film, however, the actor had to wait for Andor before really sinking her teeth into the role—that said, if you love O’Reilly’s performance, it’s kind of amazing to revisit that earlier movie now and see where it all began.

Between those two projects, the Irish-born, Australian actor has pretty much been a mainstay on Irish and British TV—appearing in police procedurals like The Secret and The Fall as well as a central role opposite Tim Roth in the Canada-set Tin Star.

Alan Tudyk (K-2SO)

Since playing what we now know to be a once-murderous and now reformed droid, in K-2SO, Alan Tudyk has been plying his trade as a reliable voice actor in a wide range of Disney animations and fan-favourite TV shows, including Moana and Harley Quinn.

His most prominent on-screen part at that time was the title role in Resident Alien, in which the Firefly actor, not for the first time, gave a memorable and endearing performance in an underappreciated sci-fi series—but his performance as Wash in Firefly will always be the essential text for the actor’s many fans.

Jimmy Smits (Senator Bail Organa)

When not reprising his role as Bail Organa, either alongside Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi or more recently in Andor, Jimmy Smits has appeared in popular TV shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, How to Get Away with Murder, and East New York.

Movie-wise, Smits has kept things relatively low-key: His supporting role in John M. Chu’s adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights is the most high-profile of a small group of projects. If you’re looking for a little more Smits, Obi-Wan is probably the best way to go!

After 12 years and 12 seasons, The Big Bang Theory finished its run in 2019, leaving a legacy as one of the most successful and beloved sitcoms in the history of the medium. With its blend of nerdy cultural references, catchphrases and awkward humour, the show has been entertaining audiences since as far back as the Bush presidency—and those 279 episodes that Jim Parsons and his gang of misfits produced are destined to be rewatched for years to come. 

That kind of bingeability isn’t easy to come by in the streaming landscape, but for fans looking to try something new, JustWatch might have you covered. Use our guide to discover ten great shows that—whether in terms of themes, humour, longevity, or all three—share some DNA with The Big Bang Theory. Some came before it, some have come since, and each has its own charms. Check out the list below to find out where to watch them on streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere.

Young Sheldon (2017-2024)

Young Sheldon is a bit of a no-brainer. Two years before the finale of TBBT, the legendary showrunner and “King of Sitcoms,” Chuck Lorre, teamed up with producer Steven Molaro again to delve into Sheldon Cooper’s time growing up in Texas in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. If you’re done with TBBT but want to step back into that world, this one is basically made for you.

Big Little Lies’ Iain Armitage stars as the young genius, and Jim Parsons returns to provide narration in a classic fish-out-of-water comedy setup—imagine the family dynamic of Malcolm in the Middle mixed with TBBT’s humour and a few splashes of nostalgia and you’ll have some idea of what’s in store.

Friends (1995-2004)

It’s easy: no Friends, no The Big Bang Theory. There were sitcoms before Ross, Rachel, Joey, Chandler, Monica, and Phoebe sat in Central Perk for the first time, but none quite felt the same before or after—and needless to say, if you’re a fan of TBBT and sitcoms that feel like a good hang, it’s pure comfort food.

Now over 30 years since release, and even if some of the story arcs and choices haven’t aged as well as others (including a couple that would probably be considered homophobic or body-shaming by today’s standards), Friends still holds up pretty well—mostly thanks to its timeless humour and the chemistry of the six lead actors. Throw in the occasional romantic story arc, A-list cameo, and unforgettable catch phrase, and you’ve got yourself one of the most rewatchable shows ever put to camera. Just remember, they were on a break!

The IT Crowd (2006-2013)

Already missing Sheldon and Co.’s endearingly nerdy idiosyncrasies? The IT Crowd might be just what you’re after. The show, which could be described as TBBT’s weird foreign cousin, concerns a group of disinterested techies who work in the basement of a London office building. 

The IT Crowd only ran for four seasons and a total of 25 episodes, but remains highly influential, not least for introducing Chris O’Dowd to American audiences and alerting the world to the genius of Matt Berry and Richard Ayoade. It’s a crying shame what’s happened to the show’s creator in recent years (and it’s understandable if you’d rather avoid it as a result), but the show itself remains one of the funniest Irish-British sitcoms of the 21st century. 

How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014)

Like Friends and so many great sitcoms before it, How I Met Your Mother is pure TV comfort food. If you need a new long-running show to fill the gap left by TBBT, it’s well up to the task. There are 208 episodes, each one is 20-odd minutes long, and they are perfectly suited for either a quick lunchtime watch or as a multi-episode binge while curled up on the couch in the evening. 

The cast, which featured already established actors like Alyson Hannigan, Jason Segel, and Neil Patrick Harris, is up there with the best long-running sitcoms, even if perhaps not quite enough time has passed for it to hit that ideal, nostalgic sweet spot. Still, fans of TBBT will recognise its humour immediately and be suiting up in no time.

Silicon Valley (2014-2019)

Arriving on HBO in the mid-2010s, just around the time when the public view of the tech industry began to sour, Silicon Valley comes with a bit more of a satirical bite than some of the other shows on this list. It’s also one of the smartest and funniest. If you’re finished with TBBT and looking for something a little bit meaner, it’s the ideal follow-up. 

A lot of this is thanks to Mike Judge, a showrunner who has had his sceptical finger on the pulse of popular culture for over 30 years with shows like Beavis and Butt-Head and King of the Hill, and movies like Idiocracy. Fans of TBBT looking to dip a toe into the more worrying side of techdom will find much to enjoy.

The Good Place (2016-2020)

Before The Good Place aired in 2016, people like you and I would have had a hard time convincing a room of television executives to greenlight a show that was set in heaven (perhaps) and in which weekly sermons on philosophy and ethics went toe to toe with laugh-a-minute gags. But then you and I are not Michael Schur, producer of The Office (US) and co-creator of Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. 

If for some reason you’ve not yet seen those shows, they are, of course, all worthy of your time—but fans of TBBT might feel most at home in The Good Place’s heavenly (perhaps) blend of silly and smart.

30 Rock (2006-2013)

We can just go ahead and put 30 Rock in the pantheon of endlessly rewatchable 20-odd minute-long TV shows. If you were to argue for Tina Fey’s joke-a-second send-up of her time as a producer on Saturday Night Live as the funniest TV show ever made, I reckon few people under the age of 45 would disagree with you. So if you need a laugh after finishing TBBT, look no further. 

The show bombards you with gags that range from totally on-point to totally stupid, and in Liz Lemon (Fey), Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) and Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), 30 Rock boasts some of the most hilarious characters to grace the small screen. 

Love (2016-2018)

If you like the idea of blending TBBT’s goofy sweetness with a little bittersweet romance, it’s well worth checking out Love. The show’s real LA settings might also feel like a breath of fresh air after 12 seasons in those beloved studio sets.

Much like one of TBBT’s central relationships, Love follows a lovable dork (played by lovable dork Paul Rust) who meets a cool girl (played by cool Gillian Jacobs) and maybe falls in love—what more could you ask for? This Judd Apatow-produced show, co-written by Rust and released on Netflix in 2016, was underappreciated at the time but deserves a second (or maybe first) look. 

WeCrashed (2022)

It was tempting to put The Dropout in here, too, another dramatised account of a tech world rise and fall, but WeCrashed is just a lot more fun and accessible. It could work nicely as a quick, eight-episode, post-TBBT decompression session—especially if you want a show that’s based in the tech scene. 

We should place a trigger warning as the recently embroiled Jared Leto stars, but the 30 Seconds to Mars singer has never been more hammy in a role. (In a way, it’s like you’re laughing at him, too.) Charting WeWork’s hubristic climb to becoming one of the biggest property owners on Earth on a business model of “free” coffee and neon-sign motivational quotes, the show is occasionally depressing. For the rest of the time, the only thing to do is laugh. 

Our Flag Means Death (2022-2023)

Even without the unmistakable presence of Taika Waititi (as both actor, director, and producer) and his old pal Rhys Darby (in the lead role), there would be more than a whiff of What We Do in the Shadows to Our Flag Means Death, David Jenkin’s hilarious satire about the lives of some of the most (and least) feared pirates on the Seven Seas. 

Fans of TBBT should immediately warm to the show’s offbeat humour, and are sure to stay for the band of delightful shipmates and Jenkin’s refreshingly candid acknowledgement of some lesser-known characters in queer history. Now let’s get that third season! Yarr.

Three years on from a wildly successful screen debut, everyone’s favourite robot doll returned in summer 2025 in M3GAN 2.0, a movie that successfully (don’t mind the reviews) traded the horror elements of its predecessor for the kind of fun and action you usually get in an MCU movie—and with better jokes. 

It’s true, Akela Cooper and Gerard Johnstone’s creation has gone the unlikely route of Arnie’s Terminator, leaving the killing (mostly) behind to become the franchise’s central antihero. If you’ve seen M3GAN 2.0 and are craving the company of more sadistic hardware, then check out our list, in no particular order, of the best movies featuring homicidal robots. Use the guide below to find out where to watch them all on streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and elsewhere.

Ex Machina (2014)

If you’re a fan of M3GAN’s iconic dance sequence and twisty screenplay, Ex-Machina is the ideal chaser. This is the movie that really cemented Alex Garland’s standing in Hollywood—representing both his first project as director and his first nomination at the Oscars. The story follows a programmer (Domhnall Gleeson) who journeys to the compound of a tech billionaire (Oscar Isaac), where he is tasked with testing if his latest creation, Ava (Alicia Vikander), is sentient.

It also shares some DNA with M3GAN in central conceit, with both films not so subtly positioning their android protagonists‘ self-actualisation as metaphors for female empowerment. Is it too late to suggest a crossover? Whatever the case, it doesn’t end well for the fellas.

Companion (2025)

Even if the protagonist of Companion, who is both an AI girlfriend and a sex-bot, is designed for an older, ickier customer base than M3GAN, Drew Hancock’s film has just as much fun in playing with our anxieties around what AI products will do when they realise that they don’t have to take orders anymore. If that particular strain of M3GAN was to your liking, you’ll have plenty of fun with this one.

Jack Quaid is appropriately sleazy as an all too depressingly human boyfriend, but Sophie Thatcher is the real casting coup here: The Yellowjackets actress would have probably been cast in manic-pixie roles ten years ago, but in Companion, she gets to play against those tropes and take some revenge on the softbois. We can be certain M3GAN would approve.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Created by Stanley Kubrick before he died, A.I. Artificial Intelligence is a dark fairytale about a commercially available, android child that Steven Spielberg spins into a Pinocchio-inflected tragedy—one in which the boy never quite becomes real. M3GAN fans will be familiar with the film’s warnings about bringing such a product into the family home—just don’t expect Haley Joel Osment’s David to start twerking it to Chappell Roan.

A.I. has its scarier moments, but it’s not a horror or comedy— if anything, it will probably make you cry—so if you’re after the former tones, I’d suggest looking elsewhere on this list. As a dive into the ideas that M3GAN is playing with, however, few movies have looked deeper into the soul of the machine.

The Terminator (1984)

Four decades before anyone had even heard of learning models like ChatGPT, The Terminator was already making itself synonymous with the terror of AI. If you want to see an iconic early adopter of M3GAN’s themes, and one that rips along like the very best James Cameron movies, look no further.

If she keeps posting to Letterboxd, we might one day find out what M3GAN thinks of Arnie’s iconic performance as a killer robot sent back in time to murder the unborn leader of a future human revolution. We assume she will approve. A great sequel and a series of gradually diminishing movies followed, but Cameron’s original—a lean, mean, masterpiece—will never be beaten.

RoboCop (1987)

Though accurately considered among the best action movies of the 1980s, Robocop—Paul Verhoeven’s winking takedown of Reagan-era America—is not short on satirical bite, so if you came away from M3GAN wanting more of the movie’s potshots at corporate greed, this might be the movie for you. 

There’s something vaguely fascistic about Verhoeven’s bionic hero, a robotically repurposed policeman who was shot down in the field, but the reward for creepiness has to go to the ED-209. Brought to life with uncanny stop-motion animation by legendary special effects artist Phil Tippett, the 209 is ruthless when it comes to murdering junior executives. Just don’t ask it to take the stairs.

Alien (1979)

The antagonist of Alien—Ridley Scott’s triumphant attempt to take the haunted house movie to outer space—is one of the most efficient killing machines ever put on screen. If you’re looking for fewer gags and more chills after watching M3GAN, it’s always a good time to watch it. That said, like many horror antagonists before it, our robotic friend included, the xenomorph operates on pure survival instinct, so who can really blame it? 

The true monsters are, of course, the humans, not that we see the worst of them on screen. The Weyland-Yutani Corporation’s most loyal representative on the Nostromo is Ash, an android shipmate who takes his job and primary objective a bit too seriously. Played by Ian Holm, we don’t get to see if he can compete with M3GAN’s moves, but he’s just as prone to bouts of insolence and mutiny.   

Blade Runner (1982)

Three years after Alien, Ridley Scott completed one of the best non-sequential double features in history. An adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Blade Runner is a story about how it’s so confusing sometimes to be a replicant. If you liked the sci-fi elements of M3GAN and are looking for more philosophical musings on the ghost in the machine, I can’t recommend it highly enough.

The story centres on a character who may or may not be a replicant, but there’s no confusion about the movie’s legendary antihero, Roy Batty, who has exactly the kind of brooding aura and phenomenal drip that M3GAN would appreciate.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Kubrick’s second mention on this list comes courtesy of 2001: A Space Odyssey and the most memorable red light in all of cinema. The Heuristically Programmed Algorithmic Computer, better known as HAL 3000, is a cold, calculating AI that walked (metaphorically) so that M3GAN could run. If you’re interested in seeing a true originator of M3GAN’s cold, calculated, and sometimes murderous decision-making, look no further.

Voiced by Douglas Rain, the movie‘s supercomputer antagonist is now basically a byword for artificial intelligence’s presumed capacity for dead-eyed cruelty. I mean sure, HAL doesn’t always open the pod bay doors—he also can’t let you do that, Dave—but like M3GAN, he at least knows his way around a tune.

Ghost in the Shell (1995)

Don’t worry too much about Scarlett Johansson’s harshly maligned live-action remake; Mamoru Oshii’s 1995 anime is the essential screen adaptation of Ghost in the Shell, and a classic of the genre.

MEGAN heads looking for a deeply considered view of where our relationship with AI is headed will find much to ponder over in it, but that doesn’t mean that Oshii’s movie is short on kills or action: The movie offers a deeply philosophical vision of the future, centred on a counter terrorism cyborg called Major Motoko, who, much like M3GAN, is awfully nifty in a fight.

Saturn 3 (1980)

Despite being directed by Stanley Donen (Singin’ in the Rain), written by Martin Amis (The Zone of Interest), and developed by the legendary production designer John Barry (Star Wars)—I suddenly want M3GAN reviews of all those movies—Saturn 3 is widely considered one of the most notoriously bad sci-fi films of the 1980s. Still, if you enjoy the camp streak in the M3GAN universe, you’ll appreciate the movie’s bad taste.

Saturn 3 is a movie that Roger Ebert described as having a “shockingly low” level of intelligence—so naturally, it’s garnered a cult following over the years. Not least for its robot antagonist, named Hector, who is partially developed using the brain tissue of human fetuses. What could possibly go wrong?

Scarlett Johansson returned to blockbuster cinema over the summer with top billing in Gareth Edwards’ Jurassic World Rebirth, one of the most high-profile roles of her already hugely lucrative career. The Black Widow star has graced no shortage of mega-budget movies in her time, but never before with the weight of relaunching an entire franchise on her shoulders. Another thing she has done, time and time again, is show an ability to convince audiences of even the most far-fetched sci-fi ideas – from giant arachnids to dateable AI to a being from outer space who lures Scottish men into a pile of goo. 

With Jurassic World now reborn (don’t mind those sniffy reviews, it’s a banger), use our guide below to discover Johansson’s ten best sci-fi movies and where they’re available for streaming from services like Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere. We have ranked them not by the quality of each movie, exactly—though that occasionally coincides—but by some combination of Johansson’s performance and her character’s significance, from the least to most notable.

10. The Prestige (2006)

Closer to Tenet and Inception than Oppenheimer, The Prestige is a wonderful movie, especially if you’re into Nolan’s trickier work. It’s also a tricky one to rank here. Some people, myself included on certain days, would say that The Prestige, a Victorian-era story of rival magicians, is Nolan’s most underappreciated movie. But then, even with all the David Bowie teleportation stuff, you wouldn’t exactly call it science fiction. 

Either way, Johansson’s performance as Angier’s (played by Hugh Jackman) loyal assistant is charming—just be warned, Nolan hadn’t quite started to flesh out female characters by 2006, and, if anything, she is probably the fourth (or fifth—wink wink) lead. The movie itself is probably better than most films on this list, but in terms of Johansson’s sci-fi-specific roles, it’s hard to make a case for placing it higher. 

9. Eight Legged Freaks (2002)

It’s hard to decide which of these two things is more 2000s-coded: That Eight Legged Freaks —a solid bit of early ‘00s exploitation that fans of movies like Mars Attacks will love—had to change its title from ‘Arac Attack’ (rumoured to be due to the uncomfortable post-9/11 similarities to ‘Iraq attack’) or the scene in which a bath-towel wearing Scarlett Johansson (16 at the time of filming) gets pinned to the wall by a giant spider and covered in sticky white goo. 

But hey, you can’t spell exploitation cinema without ‘exploit,’ I guess? A fun and curious relic of early digital cinema, Eight Legged Freaks would be higher on this list had Johansson’s role (playing the daughter of David Arquette’s mine owner) not been so peripheral.

8. The Island (2005)

Was The Island the true birth of Bayhem? Regardless, if you’re a fan of Michael Bay at his most chaotic, you’ll probably have lots of fun with it. Pearl Harbour, and Bad Boys II had come and gone by the time DreamWorks approached Michael Bay to direct The Island, but it feels like a tipping point—a kind of gateway drug to the decade of Transformers movies that came next. 

The movie is a chillingly feasible story about a shady corporation producing clones for organ harvesting—albeit one that might have worked better in the hands of a less excitable director. Either way, Johansson steals the show as Jordan Delta Two in what is essentially her first blockbuster—and I presume one of the reasons she was cast as Black Widow a few years later.

7. Ghost in the Shell (2017)

Rupert Sanders’s remake of Mamoru Oshii’s anime classic, Ghost in the Shell, was a victim of unlucky timing. Still, if you’re willing to give it a shot, it’s largely faithful to the original and has some of the same energy as Blade Runner 2049. Released in the stormy early days of Hollywood’s #MeToo reckonings, it became synonymous with whitewashing in the industry—so if that’s something you’re triggered by, maybe read a little more on this one before jumping in. 

Conversely, most viewers in Japan (even Oshii himself) were largely unbothered by Scarlett Johansson’s decision to take the role. It’s unlucky it has that reputation, because Sander’s film has a neon-lit, neo-noirish quality that pairs perfectly with Johansson’s ethereal performance—even if she’s arguably rehashing one of her own great performances from a few years earlier. More on that one in a moment.

6. Isle of Dogs (2018) / Asteroid City (2023)

Given Johansson’s clear interest in working with auteur filmmakers, it’s a bit surprising it took Wes Anderson so long to find her a role. The Texan has made up for lost time by casting her in his last three features, the first two of which, Isle of Dogs and Asteroid City, each contain enough sci-fi elements for joint inclusion here. Naturally, if you’re a fan of Wes’s most decorative later movie, you want to check both out immediately. 

In Isle of Dogs, she voices Nutmeg, an ex-show dog and potential love interest of Bryan Cranston’s Chief (and if you think voice roles don’t warrant inclusion, there is more where that came from). For Asteroid City, a Roswell-adjacent-‘50s-set UFO caper, Anderson put her fully on screen as Midge Campbell, a disillusioned actress who provides the emotional fulcrum of the movie. Or is it the play within the movie? Or the play within the teleplay within? Ah, work it out for yourself. 

5. Jurassic World Rebirth (2025)

It might say more about the standing of Chris Pratt’s trilogy than anything else, but Jurassic World Rebirth already looks certain to go down as at least the fourth-best movie in the franchise. If you love all things Jurassic or are a fan of director Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story or The Creator, be sure to give it a watch. 

With Edwards’ stunning images, shot on 35mm by John Mathieson in a way that gives the film a lived-in texture, and Alexandre Desplat’s score, which pays beautiful homage to John Williams’ original, the movie just about achieves a sense of wonder that reminds you how these movies used to feel back in the Spielberg days. 

None of which would work without such a charismatic group of actors: Mahershala Ali, Rupert Friend, and Jonathan Bailey all do fine work, as do the young actors, but it’s Johansson’s formidable A-list gravitas that makes the movie feel like a true event. 

4. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Avengers: Endgame was the most successful film of all time for a few weeks, so you probably don’t need convincing to see it. Just in case you do, however, we highly recommend it—for emotional stakes and a decade’s worth of payoff, it absolutely delivers.

A long-overdue Black Widow movie would be released a couple of years later, but Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff is so central to the emotional arc of Avengers: Endgame that it can feel a bit like her film at times. Whether she’s munching on a peanut butter sandwich, holding back tears, or sacrificing herself for the lives of half the known universe, she basically carries the first half of the movie. Some of those line readings—“I used to have nothing, and then I got this”—still hit every time.

It’s Johansson’s best performance as the character for whom she will always be remembered.

3. Lucy (2014)

If you enjoyed watching Bradley Cooper unlock some additional corners of his brain in Limitless, Johansson does it even more convincingly in Besson’s Lucy, a stylish revenge movie that has kind of gone down as The Fifth Element director’s last significant American project. It’s one of the least remembered of the actress’s big roles, but it’s well worth revisiting or, even better, seeing for the first time!

It’s wild that the top three films on this list were released within 12 months of each other. What, you have to wonder, was in the water? 

2. Her (2013)

Her is a movie in which Johansson did all the talking (sort of), so if you liked her voice work in Isle of Dogs, or enjoy melancholy, sci-fi love stories like Arrival and About Time, get ready to curl up on the couch for this one. 

Seen today, Spike Jonze’s futuristic love story is a little guilty of using the male gaze (the story was inspired by Jonze and Sofia Coppola’s divorce—and she’s played in the movie by Rooney Mara), but its ideas about how our relationship to technology would evolve have proven eerily prescient. In Her, Jonze’s lovesick stand-in (played by Joaquin Phoenix in famously high-waisted pants) finds comfort in the company of a new OS whom we basically only experience through audio. The director needed a voice you could imagine falling in love with, and he got it with Johansson, who delivers one of her best performances without ever appearing on screen. 

1. Under the Skin (2013)

Under the Skin is an incomparable movie, but if you want some idea of its influence, just try looking at The Upside Down in Stranger Things or the Sunken Place in Get Out after watching it. If you’re a fan of director Jonathan Glazer, dark, thought-provoking sci-fi, or Johansson’s more challenging roles, it’s one you’ll return to again and again.

When reports began to surface that the actress had been spotted filming guerrilla-style scenes on the streets of Edinburgh in a black wig, nobody really knew what to expect. The anticipation around Glazer’s first movie in a decade could not have been higher, yet somehow he surpassed it. Even without its endlessly influential visuals and Mica Levi’s score (itself, a modern classic), Under the Skin would surely still have inspired countless university dissertations on the nature of performance and celebrity for the scenes in which Johansson politely seduced real people from the driving seat of a Ford Transit van. 

Her scene with Adam Pearson (who impressed again recently in A Different Man) is perhaps the best of the movie’s many unforgettable sequences. For my money, it’s still the best she’s ever been.

It says a lot about the Fantastic Four movies that John Krasinski’s minute-or-so of screen time as Reed Richards in the recent Dr Strange and The Multiverse of Madness was, until the summer of ‘25, probably most fans’ favourite big-screen incarnation of the character. It’s true, few would argue that it’s been a smooth ride to Fantastic Four: First Steps, Matt Shakman’s excellent newer take, but some of those earlier efforts did have their moments—at least enough to warrant a quick look back.

For our ranking of every Fantastic Four movie to date below, we’ve focused on the standalone movies. So, don’t expect Dr Strange to feature. Same goes for that Thunderbolts* teaser—as things stand, we still can’t even be sure who’s on that rocket…. 

Honourable Mention: Fantastic Four (1994)

Roger Corman really did do everything. The legendary filmmaker had 490 producer credits to his name on IMDb when he passed away at the ripe age of 98. One that’s still there, despite never being officially released, is his mythical 1994 take on Marvel’s first family. If you can get your hands on it, and you like the fun and pastiche of stuff like Adam West’s Batman, or are just interested in the production story, it’s well worth a look. 

The story goes that German producer Bernd Eichinger hired Corman to make a movie for $1M so as not to lose the rights to the FF IP—think of it as a kind of precursor to what Sony is speculated to be doing with movies like Madame Web. Despite the cast being told it was real, even going so far as to attend comic book conventions, there was never any plan for Fantastic Four (1994) to see the light of day. 

This hasn’t stopped the movie from gaining a cult following (most fans seem to appreciate the movie’s fateful take on the characters) or stopped bootlegged versions from appearing online. Just keep your eyes peeled: word has it that the stars all have cameos in Shakman’s First Steps. 

Fantastic Four (2015)

Let’s be honest, every Fantastic Four movie before First Steps had problems. The originals are guilty of an over-reliance on digital effects, but the 2015 reboot was its own kind of dumpster fire.

Before the shoot, it all seemed to be falling into place quite nicely. Despite some awful online trolling of Michael B. Jordan, the casting looked fresh, and Trank was coming in hot off the success of Chronicle, his found footage superhero movie. It felt like we might be getting a younger, X-Men First Class-style reboot, but then 20th Century Fox lost their nerve. Trank’s ending was rewritten during production, and the studio was soon calling for reshoots. 

The patched-together final product—in which the foursome travel to another dimension and come back with their powers—went on to receive the worst reviews of basically any Marvel movie and left theatres without turning a profit. Yet, as a pure demented curiosity, it’s kind of worth a look (especially if you’re a big fan of Chronicle), if only to see how bad things can go. Flame very much off.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)

There isn’t really much of a story to this one. Rise of the Silver Surfer is, for better and worse, probably the least well remembered of any Fantastic Four feature—but if you’re a fan of the 2005 original and that Alba/Evans generation, you’ll probably get into it. 

There are two things people usually recall about it: the Silver Surfer looked pretty good for the time, in that liquidy, T1000 kinda way; and that Galactus looked like a big cloud. The movie—which brings back Von Doom as the Surfer heralding the end of the Earth—hasn’t aged too badly; it just happened to land a year before The Dark Knight and Iron Man came along to blow everything else out of the water. 

Fantastic Four (2005)

From a difficult time for superhero movies, Tim Story’s likably earnest Fantastic Four—an unadventurous retelling of the origin story, set in the present day, but one that has retained the kind of nostalgic energy that fans of Fox’s early X-Men movies will appreciate—stands out as the best of a bad bunch. This is especially true if you, like me, admire mid-00s Chris Evans—rocking that smarmy, pre-Cap energy and those boot cut jeans. Hey, even the CGI holds up pretty well!

The first wave of modern superhero movies really peaked at the start of the ‘00s with the release of Blade II, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies and Bryan Singer’s X2. The drop in quality that followed probably had as much to do with a drop in standards as it did with the paradigm-shifting arrival of Cristopher Nolan’s Batman movies, but Story’s movie won’t be forgotten.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)

Two decades after Tim Story, and one since Josh Trank, Marvel finally got it right with Fantastic Four: First Steps—a movie worthy of its title and capable of rekindling some of the magic of the MCU. You could say that Matt Shakman’s First Steps owes a lot to The Incredibles (and if you’re a fan of those movies, you’ll probably love it), but that’s a bit like saying that Casino Royale owed something to Bourne—say what you want about Brad Bird’s retro-futurism, Jack Kirby got there first.

It’s telling how much Shakman has talked about Kirby’s influence in interviews in the lead-up. His film not only brings back the originals’ ‘60s style, but also some of that era’s hopes and anxieties. None of which would be possible without the movie’s remarkable cast and gorgeous production design. To quote Anthony Lane’s Incredibles 2 review (not that part), the movie lets us “imagine, for a couple of hours, what it would feel like to live inside an Alexander Calder mobile.” Damn true.

In terms of awe-inspiring star power, it seems unlikely that any movie will ever beat the 60+ Hollywood cameos that Robert Altman managed to squeeze into his 1992 classic The Player, but Happy Gilmore 2 certainly has the numbers for a podium finish. 

Before I start getting into all that and mixing up my sports metaphors, I should say that the film, aside from being a comedy, is much more of a golf movie than its predecessor. It’s also, in some ways, a movie about Sandler’s life and career. In my recommendation for JustWatch, I described it as a “heartfelt victory lap”—another non-golf sports metaphor, but a fitting one just the same.

Ranked from least to most surprising, let’s race through Happy Gilmore 2’s bulging Rolodex (which is a thing people still used when the original movie came out) of stars, assess what they add to the movie, and which other films and TV shows you'll know them from.

All The Men’s Golfers

If you’re a fan of podcasts, I’d recommend listening to the Happy Gilmore Rewatchables episode before diving into the new one. Not only is Benny Safdie one of the hosts (there to promote the Sandler-starring Uncut Gems, long before being cast as the villain in Happy Gilmore 2), but there is also a small list of critiques, which are all pretty much addressed in the sequel. One of these is that the first movie needed—with all due respect to Mark Lye and Lee Travino—more golfers.

Happy Gilmore 2 more than makes up for it with a whopping 22 real players appearing in the sequel—in a way that kind of validates Gilmore’s place (and the original movie’s place) in the golf world. Leading the men’s side of the golfing cameo draw are the four greats who Happy joins in the Maxi tournament: Rory McIlroy (charming if a little wooden), Scottie Scheffler (kinda hilarious), Brooks Koepka (and his wife Jena Sins), and Bryson DeChambeau. 

Next up is a role for Will Zalatoris, who simultaneously plays himself and a grown-up version of Happy’s original caddy from Part One—one of many links to the previous movie. John Daly also gets a big role as a man who, for some unexplained reason, lives in Happy’s garage. Justin Thomas also comes off well as the first pro Happy plays against.

In addition, there’s a clubhouse scene featuring the legends Fred Couples (who does a good comedic bit involving dessert), Nick Faldo, 85-year-old Jack Nicklaus, Corey Pavin, and a returning Travino alongside current stars Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele (who keeps making “that’s what she said” jokes), Rickie Fowler, Keegan Bradley, and Collin Morikawa. Bubba Watson pops up for a few seconds, and Hunter Mahan also appears, but only as Sandler’s stunt/golf double.

All The Women’s Golfers

On the women's side of the golfing cameos draw, Nelly Korda (the current LPGA #1) and Nancy Lopez appear on the parole board of the mental hospital where Shooter McGavin is being held, and, later on, can be seen watching the Maxi tournament on TV. Paige Spiranic, a golf influencer, also appears as an employee in a sports shop where Happy goes to buy new gear, offering another little moment of comic relief. 

Perhaps the funniest of them all is British player Charley Hull, who pops up for a few seconds as the owner of the miniature golf course where Chubb Peterson’s son, Slim (played by Sandler regular Lavell Crawford in yet another cameo), is working—until she calls him a “big pork chop” and fires him.

All The Other Sports Stars, From American Football to the WWE

Filling out the other sports roles in Happy Gilmore 2—and adding to the movie’s sense of chaos—are the retired American Football star Reggie Bush and professional wrestlers Rebecca Quin, aka Becky Lynch (who gets to twist her fellow countryman Rory McIlroy’s nipples), and Nikki Garcia, aka Bella— who all appear on the the opposing side in the Maxi tournament. Another WWE star, Maxwell Jacob Friedman, has fun playing the bulkiest of Sandler’s four sons. 

Elsewhere, Taylor Swift’s boyfriend and Kansas City Chief Travis Kelce shows he has some acting chops, playing a bossy shift manager at the country club (where his dad, Ed, can also be seen). WNBA star Kelsey Plum pops up as a course manager while 224cm Serbian basketball giant Boban Marjanović plays the son of Happy’s former boss, Mr Larson, who Richard “Jaws” Kiel memorably played in the first film—another callback that fans will appreciate.

Sportscasters Verne Lundquist, Jim Grey & Dan Patrick

Another one for fans of the original film is real-life former sportscaster Verne Lundquist, who delightfully returns (and delightfully is still alive at 85 years old) alongside Jack Giarraputo (more on him in a moment) in the commentary box. He even gets to don an eccentrically colourful shirt for the Maxi tournament. Dan Patrick, another real sportscaster who fans of Sandler movies will recognise, also pops up later on riding an exercise bike, as does another veteran, Jim Grey.

Tim Herlihy

Another returning cameo that Sandler fans will love is the movie’s co-writer, Tim Herlihy (and yes, that’s SNL comedian Martin’s dad), who has worked with Sandler on a wide range of movies going back to Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy, and Little Nicky. In Happy Gilmore 2, he plays the third member of the parole board at Shooter’s hospital. 

Dennis Dugan & Jack Giarraputo

The two other longtime collaborators from Sandler’s Happy Madison production company who appear are director Dennis Dugan, who reprises his role from the first movie as the league’s commissioner, and producer Jack Giarraputo, also reprising his role as a sportscaster from Happy Gilmore—these two don’t add much to the plot, but it’s nice to see so many of Sandler’s behind-the-camera collaborators getting in on the action.

Rob Schneider

Incredibly, Happy Gilmore was one of Sandler’s only Happy Madison movies in which Rob Schneider didn’t appear, so if you’re a fan of Schneider’s many cameos, you’ll appreciate the corrective. Sandler makes up for it here by adding a Schneider appearance in the “Happy Place” to say his immortal four-word catchphrase (you know the one) in a wisely recast role.

Steve Buscemi

Another actor who has been popping up in Sandler movies since Airheads and Billy Madison—and who we really don’t see enough of these days—is the legend, Steve Buscemi. If you’re a fan of the actor, it’s a real nostalgic hit to see him pop up in a Sandler movie again. 

In Happy Gilmore 2, playing Happy’s slightly unhinged neighbour, he gets to imitate Sunny’s dance moves, pee in a postbox, and fight John Daly on a couch. Give the man an Oscar already!

Blake Clark

Another Sandler regular, Blake Clark (whose long career of bit parts includes voicing Slinky the Dog in Toy Story 3 and 4), appears in a role not dissimilar to his Farmer Fran from The Waterboy. This is one that only the most dedicated Sandler followers will notice.

Jon Lovitz

Yet another Happy Madison regular that Sandler fans will be happy to see is the great Jon Lovitz. The actor appears as the snooty golfer at the driving range who foolishly attempts to mimic Happy’s signature swing. 

Jonathan Loughran

And finally, the last of the Happy Madison crew to appear is Jonathan Loughran, who again, only Sandler megafans will probably notice. Loughran is best known for playing Lyle Robideaux, Sandler’s crosseyed teammate in The Waterboy. In Happy Gilmore 2, Loughran reprises his role as a character who is officially called the “Crazy Eyed Orderly” in Part One. 

All The Sandlers

For all the arguably mid-tier comedies that Sandler has made with Netflix over the years, it’s endearing how often he’s found ways to get his family involved—it’s actually something I’ve always liked about his approach to work and stardom.

These include shooting films in locations that the whole family wanted to visit together and even casting his daughters, Sunny and Sadie Sandler, in the recent You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah. Both appear again here: Sunny as Happy’s daughter, who is hoping to get into dance school in Paris (basically the catalyst for the whole movie), and Sadie as Cudi’s partner in the FBI. Sandler’s wife, Jackie, plays Sunny’s dance instructor while his mother, his brother-in-law, and mother-in-law, Judy, Cristopher, and Lila, all pop up in tiny roles. It’s a family affair!

Cameron Boyce

The most touching addition to the film's cameo brigade is the late Cameron Boyce, a child star who played Sandler’s son in Grown Ups and Grown Ups 2. The young actor, who passed away tragically in 2019, can be seen on the television screen in Wyatt and Plum’s golf shack. 

All The Music Stars, From Bad Bunny to Eminem

One of the most significant of all the Happy Gilmore 2 cameos is Bad Bunny, who has more than enough screen time to warrant exclusion from this list, but it would be strange not to mention him all the same. As Oscar, he begins as Kelce’s unlucky employee in the country club but ends up as Happy’s loyal caddy—a callback to the vagrant Happy hires in the first movie.

Elsewhere, some cameos rarely last for more than a few seconds. Post Malone appears as the hilariously-named sports commentator DJ Omar Gosh. Kid Cudi plays an FBI agent. Singer-songwriter Andrew Wyatt appears opposite Plum at the golf course and, most deceptively of all, Eminem shows up under a fake beard and wig to play the son of Joe Flaherty’s character in part one—you know, the guy who tries to run Happy over and unsuccessfully invites Shooter to join him at the local Red Lobster. 

Marcello Hernandez

The comedian and current SNL cast member Marcello Hernandez appears as the brother of Oscar (Bad Bunny). At first, he is mistakenly hired to be Oscar’s caddy and later offers to be a moving target for Sandler’s training session with his team. It’s one of the smaller cameos, but all of his bits land.

All The Podcasters, YouTube Stars & TV Hosts

Any movie looking to show that its characters’ actions are reverberating in the real world now looks to the stars of the smallest screen. The role once played by late-night legends like David Letterman and Conan O’Brein is now increasingly the realm of podcasters and YouTube stars, but Happy Gilmore 2 finds space for both the new and the old—and each of these helps to bring Happy’s story into the real world. 

We get Sean Evans from Hot Ones, influencer Alix Earle, sports analyst Stephen A. Smith, ESPN host Chris Berman, Check Out That Stat host Treasure Wilson, Bad Friends hosts Bobby Lee and Andrew Santino, the rapper Cam’ron, and his Talk With Flee crew, and Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings.

Guy Fieri

The peroxide blonde patron saint of greasy food appears in an aptly cast cameo as the main announcer of the trashy Maxi tournament. He is unmistakable, even though this one is almost a blink and you miss it.

Eric André, Margaret Qualley & Martin Herlihy

Three of the most prominent cameos come from this unlikely trio of comedian, actress, and SNL star. André, Qualley and Herlihy are the first players Happy goes up against on his golf comeback, appearing on the course where Wyatt and Plum work and proceeding to get into all kinds of funny shenanigans together. These include Qualley dancing to 'Get Low' in a bunker and André crashing a golf cart in a moment that could easily have appeared in Jackass Forever. If you’re a fan of those movies, you’ll know what I mean. 

Fourteen years after its last outing, the Final Destination franchise makes a long-overdue return to the big screen with Final Destination Bloodlines: a film to remind us that death works in mysterious ways and that there are far worse things to inherit than a receding hairline.

Final Destination and Final Destination 2 boast some of the series’ most iconic kills, but the signature, playful groove only really arrived in later sequels. Thankfully, Bloodlines is very much in tune with the irreverent brand of horror of those later instalments, offering a reminder of how reliable ($300M box office and counting) this franchise can be. I would happily pay to see a new one every summer. 

As we wait patiently and hopefully for all that, here are ten more movies to watch after Bloodlines that might scratch the itch.

Final Destination 2 (2003)

In all honesty, you could watch any one of the five original films after seeing Bloodlines, but if you can only do one, I’d have to suggest Final Destination 2. The franchise is nothing if not uneven, but that also means that each film has its own distinct flavour. None, however, is referenced more in Bloodlines than Final Destination 2.

Released in the colour-washed years of the early ‘00s, David R. Ellis’ Final Destination 2 is the most brooding, self-serious and scariest instalment in the series, and Bloodlines contains multiple callbacks for fans of it to pick up on. None more obvious than a recurring wink to the iconic opening highway sequence from Ellis’ film: A kill so gruesome it changed the way an entire generation thought about log trucks.

Saw X (2023)

Four years after the first Final Destination was released, James Wan seemed to rejig the film’s formula with 2004’s Saw—and if you come to Final Destination for its inventive kills, I’d highly recommend diving into this long-running franchise.

Exchanging death’s traps for Jigsaw’s man-made contraptions, and offering the victims not just a worrying description of what awaited them but the option of a grizzly way out, the original Saw spawned one of the most prolific and horrific series of all time. 

That said, the creators seemed to be running out of ideas before Saw X, a movie that breathes fresh life into the series in 2023, much like Bloodlines has for Final Destination. Come for the kills, stick around for a surprisingly touching meditation on death.

Cube (1997)

While we’re on the subject of deadly traps, if you’re a fan of the intricate kills in movies like Final Destination and Saw, I’d recommend going back to Cube, Vincenzo Natali’s 1998 cult horror about a group of people who wake up in a maze of booby-trapped rooms and have to band together to find a way out—or, you know, die. 

The series faded away after some middling straight-to-DVD sequels in the early 2000s, but a proposed project at Lionsgate in 2015 and a recent Japanese remake suggest the IP is still in circulation. Whatever the case, we’ll always have Natali’s inventive original. 

The Monkey (2024)

The Final Destination series has inspired many imitators, most recently Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey, so this recommendation is basically a no-brainer. In Osgood’s movie, Theo James plays Hal and Bill Shelburn, twin brothers who rediscover their old toy monkey only to find that it might have been the cause of a series of random, improbable, hilarious, and increasingly gruesome accidents 25 years ago. Sound familiar?

The kind of movie that seems to take pleasure in dreaming up creative ways to decapitate and disembowel, not to mention a Stephen King adaptation directed by the son of Psycho’s Anthony Perkins—I mean, talk about Bloodlines… 

The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

It took a little bit of time before the Final Destination movies decided to drop the lore and focus on delivering what the audience really wanted. That self-awareness is commonplace in a lot of horror movies these days, but few have approached it in as fun and interesting ways as The Cabin in The Woods did in 2011. If you like horror movies where everyone seems to know they’re in a horror movie (think Scream or Wes Craven’s New Nightmare), this is the one for you.

The brainchild of Buffy the Vampire Slayer collaborators Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard, The Cabin in the Woods crams about as many horror tropes as humanly possible into a 95-minute runtime, then proceeds to pick them apart. It’s a film that works as both a nightmare vision of a choose-your-own-adventure story and a wonderful satire on the satanic possibilities of reality TV.  

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

Speaking of Craven, barring the 1984 original and New Nightmare, the director’s name was absent from the credits of every film in the Freddy Krueger franchise aside from A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, a wildly creative cult classic from 1987—and a movie in which fans of Final Destination’s most creative kills will find plenty of demented stuff to enjoy.

Dream Warriors is the first movie in the Elm Street franchise in which Freddy’s victims took back some control in the dream world. Among the kills, Phillip getting strung up by a giant Freddy puppet is probably the most inventive and Taryn’s death by syringe glove the most harrowing, but who can forget the bionic arms protruding from the television set to grab poor Jennifer? Welcome to primetime indeed.

Insidious: The Red Door (2023)

Noisy and magnetic, solitary and claustrophobic—when you think about it, it’s surprising how few horror films have weaponised the MRI machine. Final Destination Bloodlines now boasts the most outrageous kill to feature one (oh, that Prince Albert…)—but if you’re looking for a more chilling take on all the awful things that might happen in that compact tube, try Patrick Wilson’s Insidious: The Red Door from 2023. 

The most recent film in the popular Blumhouse franchise was not the strongest in the series by any means, but the scene in which Wilson’s Josh Lambert discovers he’s not alone in an MRI’s darkened passage will make you think twice before getting your next scan.

It Follows (2014)

Released by A24, David Robert Mitchel’s It Follows is one of the great modern gems of indie horror—and one I’d recommend to any horror fan, especially if you like the woozy ‘80s vibes of John Carpenter movies. 

It Follows‘s pace and mood might be a far cry from that of Bloodlines, but if you like the idea (similar to Final Destination) of a sinister, voiceless force moving through brutal kills in a specific, unflinching order, it is definitely one to seek out. 

Maika Monroe stars as a college student pursued by an uncannily slow-moving and shape-shifting entity—a curse that can only be passed on to someone else by sleeping with them. There are things being said here about the hormonal urges of young people and their anxieties about having sex, but never to the point of interfering with the movie’s capacity to terrify. The rotating, 360-degree panning shot, in which the titular follower is only gradually revealed, is just one of this film’s brilliant inventions.

Candyman (1992)

One surprisingly poignant moment in Bloodlines is Tony Todd’s last appearance as William Bludworth, the mysterious mortician who knows an awful lot about death. So, if you’re a fan of Todd’s presence in these movies, be sure to check out the original Candyman. It’s more of an old-school slasher than the FD movies, but if you’re looking to brush up on the horror canon, there are worse places to start! The classic 1992 horror also helped Todd make his name in the industry—just don’t say it too many times.

Bludworth is the FD franchise’s one true recurring character (he featured in all but 2009’s The Final Destination), and actually became Todd’s last performance. Filling happened while he was already fighting a battle with cancer—it was shot last Spring, just months before he passed—making his reportedly unscripted monologue about enjoying the life you have left all the more moving. 

Back to the Future (1985)

Wait, hear us out! Watching a head get crushed in a trash compactor might not exactly scream Bob Zemeckis, but anyone who comes to the Final Destination movies for their demented spins on Rube Goldberg machines will feel right at home in the opening minutes of Back to the Future. 

It was tempting to mention the Wallace and Gromit movies here, but Zemeckis beat Aardman to the punch with this unbroken shot of a machine that turned on the TV, made some toast, and fed the dog. The contraption completes these tasks to varying degrees of success, but hey, at least no one dies.

Twelve years on from the final episode of The US Office, Greg Daniels and NBC have given fans a chance to return to the world of Dunder Mifflin with The Paper: a brand new comedy series that not only takes place in a similar setting—the offices of the Toledo Truth Teller, a local paper that was bought up by the same company that bought D.M.—but also features some familiar faces (including Oscar Nuñez among the main cast). 

Starring Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore (from White Lotus Season 2), The Paper is another high point in a long line of sitcom mockumentaries: a now formidable comedy genre that came to prominence in the 1980s after being adopted by directors like Albert Brooks and, most significantly, Christopher Guest. It continues to hold sway on the big screen, with Spinal Tap: The End Continues currently in cinemas.  

With The Paper’s first season already winning fans and warm reviews, and a second season already on the way, what better time to round up the most hilarious mockumentaries in TV and movie history? Read on to discover more and use the guide below to watch each one on platforms like AppleTV, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere. 

The Office (2005 - 2013)

Ricky Gervais wouldn’t claim to have invented the format, but nothing has done more to popularise the mockumentary (especially in sitcom format) than the UK Office and, perhaps even more so, Greg Daniels’ American remake. If you’ve yet to see either one, you’re in for a treat—especially if you’ve just watched The Paper or other recent shows on this list, like Abbott Elementary. 

We’re going to point out the US version here, as it has a whopping 201 episodes compared to the UK version’s 14—but of course, they are both essential viewing. 

Parks and Recreation (2009 - 2015)

Similar in so many ways to The Office (Greg Daniels is again at the helm here), no list of sitcom mockumentaries will ever be complete without Amy Poehler’s Parks and Recreation, which is a delightfully good-spirited and genuinely laugh-out-loud show that even found things to say about local representation. This is a show I could recommend to anyone, but especially fans of Abbott Elementary (for its municipal themes) or shows like The Good Place. 

This is also the show that made stars of Aubrey Plaza, Nick Offerman and, for better and worse, Chris Pratt. If you’re a fan of any one of them, it’s another reason to check it out. 

(Just FYI: similar to the US Office, Parks only really finds its footing in Season 2, but the first run of eps is still worth a watch.)

Trailer Park Boys (2001 - 2017)

One of the earliest TV adopters of the mockumentary format comes via the hard-drinking, hard-swearing, delightfully Canadian world of Trailer Park Boys—a show that is, in my opinion, one of the funniest ever made. This is one you might like if you appreciate the puerile humour of stuff like Jackass and South Park; similar to those shows, it’s one of those things that turns stupidity into a kind of art form. 

We should also say that, unlike the titles we’ve mentioned so far on this list, this is a show that’s a bit rough around the edges. Maybe take a look on your own before deciding who you’ll be watching it with. 

What We Do in the Shadows (2019 - 2024)

After the great success of Flight of the Conchords, and long before directing Thor: Ragnarok, Taika Waititi brought his unique brand of humour to What We Do in the Shadows, a hilarious mockumentary movie from 2015 about vampires sharing a house in Wellington, New Zealand. Waititi then managed to do the unlikely: adapting the story to a sitcom, recasting it flawlessly, and moving the action to Staten Island in New York.

The show ran for six fantastic seasons, ending in December 2024. The regular cast (which includes the great Matt Berry alongside Kayvan Novak and Natasia Demetriou) is impeccable, but keep an eye out for the ridiculously cool cameos, including Alexander Skarsgard, appearing as his character from True Blood, Jim Jarmusch, Sofia Coppola and even Tilda Swinton.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)

It was tough to pick between the two Borat movies here. The first one was unbelievably successful, earning 200 times its budget at the box office (making it the most successful big-screen mockumentary ever) and a nomination for best screenplay at the Oscars; but 20 years is a long time in political comedy, and some of the movie’s jokes understandably haven’t aged that well. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, however, came out in 2016 (basically Trump’s America) and still feels as relevant as ever. 

This is one for a slightly older audience, particularly fans of Sacha Baron Cohen’s work (especially Da Ali G Show), and theatrical political satire, like the great Team America: World Police.

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)

Akiva Schaffer recently brought Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers and The Naked Gun back to the big screen, and if you like of either of those excellent comedies, we highly recommend going back and checking out Schaffer’s Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, a hilarious Andy Samberg movie from 2016.

Thanks to the huge influence of behind-the-scenes docs and shows like VH1 Behind The Music, the mockumentary format has long been used as a tool to satirise the music business. Samberg and Schaffer’s movie, which roasts the world of pop rap artists, is one of the funniest to do so.

This is Spinal Tap (1984)

And speaking of mockumentaries that satirise the music business, no mockumentary list would be complete without the legendary This Is Spinal Tap—a movie so beloved that it managed to release a sequel (currently in cinemas) a whopping 41 years after its initial run.

This is a mockumentary for fans of ‘80s hair metal and dad rock, but also just for comedy fans in general. You’ll be reminded of the timeless humour of classic Simpsons episodes here, and not just for the presence of Harry Shearer. Indeed, there’s a reason why it’s considered one of the best comedies ever made. 

Theatre Camp (2023)

Written and directed by Molly Gordon (who you’ll probably know from The Bear) and Nick Lieberman, two old friends who also play the lead roles, Theatre Camp is an offbeat and funny indie mockumentary set in a theatre-focused summer camp in upstate New York.

With its theatre kid energy, this one might appeal to fans of Greta Gerwig, especially her Francis Ha and Lady Bird. It’s also inspired by Gordon and Lieberman’s memories of growing up together, so there’s a nice personal vibe to go along with the laugh-out-loud humour—and hey, even the tunes are pretty good!

Arrested Development (2003 - 2019)

Similar to Parks and Recs, Arrested Development is not only one of the funniest mockumentaries ever made but also just one of those shows where almost everyone involved when on to have an incredible career. Fans of Jason Bateman (Ozark), Michael Cera (Superbad), Alia Shawkat (Search Party) or Will Arnett (BoJack Horseman), to mention a few, are going to love it.

This one doesn’t have the interviews direct-to-camera that provide the narrative backbone to a lot of the titles on this list, but Ron Howard’s iconic narration is just as good and provides many of the best punch lines. 

Abbott Elementary (2021- )

We end our list with a show that’s still on the air. Abbott Elementary has, for four seasons now, been receiving rave reviews and bags of awards for taking the comedy mockumentary format to the delightful setting of a public school in Philadelphia. The story focuses on a ragtag gang of teachers doing their best to make things work in spite of varying outside forces and budgetary constraints. 

This is definitely on for the Parks and Recs fans out there, but also one that I think even younger viewers will warm to—just be warned, this also means it can be a little too cute. The themes that the show explores can also sometimes be a little North American-centric, but the humour is basically universal. 

If I count every music video, TV show, and movie that Aussie megastar Nicole Kidman has made in her career, we would be approaching somewhere in the region of 100 credits. It’s a formidable body of work, and one that now spans over four decades—not that anyone could tell. Kidman is, in many ways and to many people, justifiably the reigning queen of cinema—when she says that “heartbreak feels good in a place like this,” we listen.

With five new projects scheduled for release in 2026, there’s no sign of the actress slowing down—but for now, we can attempt to whittle down her extensive back catalogue to her very best roles. 

Here are my ten picks for Nicole Kidman’s greatest movies to date, ranked in ascending order, and taking into account both the movies themselves, Kidman’s performance in them, and their significance to her wider career. To find out where to watch them, head to the list below—as always, JustWatch has you covered.

10. The Hours (2002)

With its Pulitzer Prize-winning source material, literary themes, Miramax backing, and relentless Philip Glass score, an argument could be made that The Hours is the most egregious example of Oscar bait this side of the Millennium. If that’s not your cup of tea, you might want to approach with caution. If you like a well-acted, literary, prestige-y biopic, like Shakespeare in Love or A Quiet Passion, though, you might really get into it!

The movie focuses on three different women (Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore round out a legendary cast) in three different eras, with Kidman’s performance as Virginia Woolf providing the foundation, despite the hilariously unnecessary prosthetic nose the actress had to wear. Oddly enough, despite some stronger nominations over the years, it remains Kidman’s only win at the Academy Awards. 

9. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

The Killing of a Sacred Deer marked a high point among the more daring roles Kidman started to take on in the second half of the 2010s—and if you like director Yorgos Lanthimos at his most well-behaved (think Poor Things and The Favourite), you really need to see him at his meanest.

As I mentioned, after a bold turn in Park Chan-wook’s Stoker in 2013, Kidman spent a few years making middlebrow fare before a string of interesting choices. This began in 2017, a year in which the actor appeared in Jane Campion’s Top of The Lake and Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled. The best of the lot was her incredible turn in The Killing of a Sacred Deer, acting opposite a young Barry Keoghan—including one hair-raising sequence in which she kisses the young actor’s feet. As Anna, the increasingly desperate matriarch of a family terrorised by Keoghan’s possibly telekinetic sociopath, Kidman daringly commits. 

8. Margot at the Wedding (2007)

The late ‘00s were not a golden era for Nicole Kidman, with extravagant productions like Nine, Australia and The Golden Compass failing to connect with audiences. One movie that stands out from that unusual period is Margot at the Wedding, an early Noah Baumbach film that fans of the indie darling’s more recent movies (Marriage Story, Frances Ha) will find fascinating.

Kidman plays the title role: a writer returning home for her sister’s nuptials who is self-involved to the point of being cruel. It’s a wonderfully against-type performance from Kidman, who treats her character like a human being and just about succeeds in making her empathetic. The movie was Baumbach’s follow-up to The Squid and the Whale and is probably still his most challenging film, but it’s a challenge that Kidman accepts.

7. The Paperboy (2012)

Say what you want about Keoghan’s feet or Harris Dickinson’s glass of milk, The Paperboy still feels like Kidman’s most notorious role. If you’re in the mood for something sexy and silly (with the Southern thriller vibes of movies like Joe and Mud), I suggest giving it a watch. 

The plot follows a reporter (Matthew McConaughey) covering a story about an alligator hunter who finds himself on death row for killing a corrupt cop—what a mouthful! Kidman plays a woman who is looking to marry the doomed man once he’s been exonerated—but along the way, she catches the eye of the reporter’s brother, played by Zac Efron. Steaminess ensues.

The film has attained cult status, but audiences at the time didn’t quite know what to make of the age gap between Kidman and Efron, not least for the moment when Kidman urinates on his jellyfish sting… Were it released today, the memes would be incredible.

6. The Others (2001)

The Others is a mid-century gothic horror, somewhere in the lineage of Guilermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak (and if you’re a fan of that kind of atmospheric horror, you’ll want to check it out), and a great example of a particular theme in Kidman’s career: that admirable sense of adventure she’s shown in working not only in a wide variety of genres but also with a wonderful range of filmmakers. It’s especially endearing how often she’s lent that star power to international directors looking to make the jump to English-language movies. 

We’ve already mentioned Lanthimos and Chan-wook on this list, but Alejandro Amenábar gives Kidman the lead role and lets her run with it in The Others. In the movie, Kidman plays a mother of two photosensitive kids who start to believe their house is haunted. The actress’s committed performance in the role would earn her one of two Golden Globe nominations the following year. More on the other one very shortly.

5. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Eyes Wide Shut was Stanley Kubrick’s final movie (he died just a few weeks before the premier) so if you like his most unnerving stuff (like Clockwork Orange and The Shining) or other twisty plots involving rich people getting freaky (like The Ninth Gate or Rosemary’s Baby), it’s kind of a classic of both genres. The movie took a record 100 days to film, a detail that makes Kidman and Cruise’s weird line readings all the more interesting. 

Even without the knowledge of their highly publicised divorce, there would still be so much to unpack about the actress’s wonderfully strange performance. As the wife of Cruise’s libidinally entranced New York doctor, Kidman doesn’t have an enormous amount of screen time, but when she does, she’s at her most alluring and elusive. The sequence in which Kidman dances to “Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing” in front of a mirror remains one of her most iconic.

4. Moulin Rouge! (2001)

Newly single and sitting atop the UK charts for a duet with Robbie Williams, Kidman ended 2001 on a song—but the best was still to come. A few months earlier, she enjoyed her first of many red carpet premieres at the Cannes Film Festival as the star of Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge!, in which she dazzled as Satine, a singer at the famous Parisian nightclub who catches the eye of Ewan McGregor’s broke poet—a perfect movie for fans of glitzy musicals, like Cabaret and Chicago, or Luhrman’s excessive style, like in Romeo + Juliet.

The role earned Kidman her first nomination for Best Actress at the 2002 Academy Awards, where she lost to Halle Berry. Monster’s Ball might have won that battle, but Luhrmann’s musical undoubtedly won the war.

3. To Die For (1995)

How’s this for a Sliding Doors moment: To Die For—the first great movie in the Kidman-verse and a must-watch for any fan—was originally offered to Meg Ryan, but, for some reason, the When Harry Met Sally actor turned it down. What luck. 

By 1995, Kidman had achieved fame with roles in Days of Thunder and Far and Away alongside her future husband, Tom Cruise, but it was Gus Van Sant’s To Die For that took her career to the next level. Working on a script from Hollywood heavyweight Buck Henry, who had been inspired by the then-budding concept of televised courtroom trials, Kidman steals the show as Suzanne Stone, a weather reporter who dreams of becoming a Network newscaster and is willing to do whatever it takes to get there—up to and including having her husband killed.

2. Dogville (2003)

Few actors have enjoyed the kind of run that Nicole Kidman went on at the beginning of the Millennium. Two years on from the success of Moulin Rouge!, and just months after winning Best Actress at the Oscars, Kidman returned to Cannes, in competition for the first time, with Lars von Trier’s Dogville—an incredible watch for fans of provocative, independent cinema. Don’t be put off by the Spartan setup; if you liked Kidman in Sacred Dear or are a fan of Von Trier’s Melancholia, this will be right up your alley.

For the Brechtian production, Von Trier uses practically no sets, just a spattering of props, weather effects and doors, leaving the actors to run the show. The cast contains Lauren Bacall, James Caan, Stellan Skarsgård, Ben Gazzara, and Patricia Clarkson, but Kidman more than holds her own. For further confirmation of her 2003 aura, check out the footage of her sparking up a cig with Skarsgård during the film’s press conference in Cannes, a moment of pure, messy ‘00s swag.

1. Birth (2004)

It feels kind of strange putting Birth on the top of this list given how much it borrows from Eyes Wide Shut, but then again, so much of Jonathan Glazer’s early work owes a debt to Stanley Kubrick—and if you are a fan of either of their movies (especially Eyes Wide and Under The Skin), I can’t recommend this criminally underseen movie enough. Regardless, more than 20 years since its release, Birth remains a uniquely beguiling film. 

Kidman plays a wealthy New York widow who, on her birthday, is visited by a 10-year-old boy claiming to be her dead husband. (Can you imagine how jealous M. Night Shyamalan must have been of that idea?) Kidman, resplendent in a pixie cut, carries the film’s provocative sense of wonder in her fleeting expressions. 

The slow zoom shot at the opera, during which the actor’s face does an agonised dance between fear, panic, and finally, ecstatic acceptance, is for me, the best single moment in her storied career so far.

Maybe you’ve spotted a rogue fin moving menacingly in the distance, or noticed a whiff of blood in the water, or even heard the reliable DA-DUM of John Williams’ score—either way, Jaws is back to remind moviegoers why everyone was so afraid to go into the water 50 years ago. 

The movie that practically invented the summer blockbuster is currently on re-release in a dazzling, 4K Ultra HD remastered edition, and has already added an extra $10 million to its once peerless box office haul. So, with Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece floating around the cultural conversation again, what better time to round up ten of the best selachimorpha-themed movies to sink your denticles into? 

Our list includes family favourites, nail-biting thrillers, and one new release that deserves to be on your ship’s radar. All are available to stream on services like Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere, so let’s dive in!

Dangerous Animals (2025)

If you like the scarier elements of Jaws and are interested in seeing a shark movie with a new approach, Dangerous Animalsis one you won’t want to miss. Speaking to JustWatch recently, director Sean Byrne described it as a slasher movie: “The sharks are Captain Tucker’s weapon in the same way that the knife is Michael Myers’,” Byrne explained, “or the razor gloves that Freddy uses.” 

Dangerous Animals stars Hassie Harrison as Zephyr, a surfer who gets kidnapped by Jai Courtney’s sadistic Captain Tucker and must find a way to escape before getting turned into shark chum. The movie has been delighting film festival audiences since its midnight screening in Cannes. It comes to MGM+ this weekend—be sure to seek it out. 

Deep Blue Sea (1999)

One of the many legacies left by Jurassic Park was the late ‘90s scramble in Hollywood to find the next BIG thing to put on screen. Emboldened by the possibilities of CGI, studios were soon treating audiences to Anaconda (giant snakes), Lake Placid (giant alligators), Eight-Legged Freaks (giant spiders) and, best of all, Deep Blue Sea (giant sharks).

Of all the wacky ideas in those movies, Deep Blue Sea’s might be the best. The story follows a group of scientists who discover a cure for Alzheimer's in the brains of mako sharks, which leads to the hilarious decision to genetically engineer a bunch of sharks to have extra-large brains. We can also give some bonus Jurassic Park points here for casting Samuel L. Jackson, who gets arguably one of the most iconic send-offs in the history of the art form. 

Jaws 2 (1978)

Jaws 2 suffers a bit from the Godfather 3 paradox—it’s much better than it was originally given credit for, but it also, unluckily, will never live up to the movie(s) that came before it. That said, if you watched Jaws and would like to dive back into that world, Jaws 2 is well worth checking out—not least for Roy Scheider reprising his role as Chief Brody and John Williams coming back on board for the score.

Spielberg chose not to get involved after the difficulties of making the first movie, but that shouldn’t stop you from giving this under-appreciated sequel a go!

Open Water (2003)

I can’t think of a more terrifying situation than the one in Open Water, a shark movie that feels more like found footage horror—think Jaws meets The Blair Witch Project, and you might have some idea. 

Set in the Great Barrier Reef, lasting just 80 nail-biting minutes, and based loosely on actual events, Open Water follows a group of scuba divers who surface only to discover that their ship has left them behind. Of course, they’re not alone… 

The Shallows (2016)

“In the shala-shalalos… in the shalalalalalaloesss,” or so Lady Gaga did not sing for this wonderfully gripping, high-concept movie from 2016. The Shallows is more or less a single-performance, single-location thriller: so if you like movies like Phone Booth or Buriedbut felt they needed more sharks, this is one you’ll be into—also shout out to the aforementioned Open Water, the movie that walked so this one could run.

The Shallows stars Blake Lively as a surfer who travels to a secluded beach, only to get injured and stranded on a rock offshore. Her only companion? You guessed it! 

Sharknado (2013)

No shark movie list would be complete without at least a mention of Sharknado, a six-film phenomenon that revived an entire B-movie industry. If you believe that a shark movie’s quality is directly linked to how many sharks there are and how ridiculous they behave, this is definitely the one for you—for some idea of the tone, think movies like Piranha and Snakes on a Plane.

Sharknado focuses on, well, a tornado made of sharks. Need we say more?

Finding Nemo (2003)

If you only know more recent Pixar movies like Inside Out and Coco, it’s well worth going back for Finding Nemo—truly one of the best things the studio ever released. It’s also a movie for shark fans who need something that even the youngest members of the family can enjoy.

Now, Finding Nemo is a story about a clown fish named Marlin, but Barry Humphries’s Bruce—a reformed shark who holds a kind of AA meeting with his fellow sea-based carnivores—steals every moment that he’s on screen. Simply put, it’s some of the best shark representation in cinema. 

The Reef (2010)

The Reef is another single-location shark movie in the lineage of Open Water and The Shallows—so if you liked those two movies, it’s one you’ll want to check out. The plot follows a group travelling by yacht to Indonesia who must find a way to survive after capsizing in shark-infested waters.

Based on the true story of Ray Boundy, who survived a similar incident in the early ‘80s, The Reef is a nail-biting survival movie that delights in finding interesting things to do within its own self-imposed narrative limitations. 

Shark Tale (2004)

Here’s a pitch for a movie. It’s an animated thing about sharks, but it’s also kind of about the mafia. Robert DeNiro and Martin Scorsese will provide the voices, but also some members of The Sopranos. Will Smith will voice the hero, and Jack Black will be his sidekick. Detective Columbo will voice a different family boss, and Bob Marley’s son will voice a Jamaican jellyfish. Hans Zimmer will do the score, and Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliot will appear as sharks for the closing credits number. 

Oh, wait, that movie exists, and it’s called Shark Tale. Suffice to say, this one can be filed alongside Nemo as one for the whole family. 

The Meg (2018)

In the end, there are movies and there are movies: some teach us about life; some make us laugh; some help us fall in love or offer comfort when love ends; and then there’s the kind where an actor like Jason Statham faces off against something gigantic like, say, a shark. That’s cinema, baby. 

If, like us, you enjoy the less seriously-minded entries on this list, think Deep Blue Sea and Sharknado, The Meg is a movie you simply have to try—especially if you’re a fan of Jason Statham’s most Stathamy work, like The Beekeeper and Working Man.

GET OVER HERE! Don’t let the box office numbers deceive you. The Mortal Kombat franchise secured its future (and avoided fatality) when it became the most-streamed of HBO’s simultaneous releases, prompting New Line Cinema to immediately go into production on Mortal Kombat II. The movie, which reportedly finished shooting early last year but is set to be released this October, now has a brutal new trailer.

The good news is that New Line has doubled down, bringing in some familiar faces to lead the action (and apparently the comedy) alongside returning cast members from the first instalment. Simon McQuoid also returns as director, but this time with a story by Moon Knight head scribe Jeremy Slater to work from. Check out the full list below and use our guide to find out where to watch them.

Karl Urban as Johnny Cage

“Oi! Euwy!.” Yes, Karl “man of many accents” Urban has been cast to play Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat II. This choice makes all kinds of sense: Cage, an action movie star turned martial artist who is all cockiness on the surface and reluctant hero underneath—qualities that the New Zealander has become synonymous with over his 20+ year career.

Cage can now be added to Urban’s incredible roster of fan-favourite characters. These include Billy Butcher in Prime Video’s ongoing superhero satire The Boys, Éomer in The Lord of the Rings, Judge Dredd in Dredd and Leonard “Bones” McCoy in the most recent trilogy of Star Trek movies. Along with those heroes, Urban has always shown an appreciation for playing the villain, appearing in The Bourne Supremacy (as a rival assassin), in Thor: Ragnarok (as Skurge the Executioner), and even playing a stormtrooper in The Rise of Skywalker—if only as a cameo.

Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero

Following his performance in the first film, Joe Taslim will return to play Sub-Zero in Mortal Kombat II. Taslim started out working as a model and professional judo fighter before retiring from the sport in 2009. He then almost immediately got his break in the industry with a leading role in The Raid, Gareth Edwards’s ruthlessly entertaining and hugely influential shoot-em-up. You can currently watch that for free (with ads) on ITVX.

If Indonesian action movies aren’t quite your thing (or at least not yet!), you probably know Taslim for the antagonists he’s played in movies like Fast & Furious 6 (as Jah) and Star Trek Beyond (as Manas). The latter, of course, featured Urban’s Dr. McCoy, but sadly, the two never appeared together on screen.

Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion

Following the success of Mortal Kombat’s combined streaming and theatrical release, Hiroyuki Sanada was quickly signed up to reprise his role as the iconic fire-chain-snake slinger, Scorpion, in Mortal Kombat II. 

Little did New Line know that the veteran Japanese actor was about to go on one of the most successful streaks of his career, appearing in Bullet Train and John Wick 4 before picking up a well-deserved Emmy for best actor for his incredible work in Shōgun last year, which you can binge the first season of on Disney+ right now. Sanada’s stock has never been higher, and Mortal Kombat II is lucky to have him.

Sanada has been a mainstay of cinema and television for decades. Most viewers will recognise him for his work opposite Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai, for playing Dogen in Season 6 of cult 'mystery box' show Lost, which is available on multiple streaming services, including for free via ITVX, and (much as I’d rather forget) the lead in the original Ring movies.

Tadonobu Asano as Lord Raiden

Similar to Sanada, Tadonobu Asano has seen his star rise in the last year following his incredible performance as the slightly sadistic schemer, Kashigi Yabushige, in Shōgun. 

Japanese audiences have been aware of the actor’s abilities for years, but even some Western audiences will be familiar with Asano’s iconic portrayal of the psychotic Yakuza in Takeshi Miike’s Ichi The Killer and his more recent appearance in Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s wonderful Drive My Car, which is widely available for streaming right now, including with a free trial of Channel 4+. 

If you’re not yet familiar with either of those, you probably recognise him for his work in the MCU, where he appeared as Hogun in the first three Thormovies.

Lewis Tan as Cole Young

Lewis Tan’s beginnings in the industry make for an interesting read. He was born in Salford but moved to L.A. when he was just one year old after his father got a job as a stunt coordinator on Tim Burton’s Batman. 

As well as training his son in martial arts, Tan’s father also taught him the stunt trade. This led to Tan’s first jobs in the movie business: as a stunt actor on The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Driftand Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. 

Along with his breakout role as Cole Young in Mortal Kombat, Tan is best known for appearing as Rusty Shatterstar in the ubiquitously streamable superhero meta-comedies, Deadpool 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine, and for his recurring role in Season 6 of Cobra Kai, which is a Netflix exclusive.  

Mehcad Brooks as Jackson “Jax” Briggs

Before donning the cybernetic arms to play Jax, Mehcad Brooks was probably best known for his roles on the small screen. Fans of campy drama Desperate Housewives, the full box set of which is on Apple TV+, will be familiar with Brooks for his breakout role as Betty Applewhite’s son Matthew, a pivotal character in the second season. 

He was also Benedict Talley in the early seasons of the more widely streamable HBO Southern vampire soap opera True Blood, but is probably best known for playing Jimmy Olsen over six seasons of Supergirl, another freebie on ITVX.

Adeline Rudolph as Kitana

Another fan favourite Mortal Kombat character who features notably in the sequel’s trailer is Kitana. The character originally appeared as the daughter of Big Bad Shao Kahn, only to later be revealed as the daughter of the benevolent King Jerrod. This lethal, steel-fan-wielding fighter will be played by Adeline Rudolph, who is best known for playing Agatha in Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. 

The actress has also appeared as Minerva Marble in the genre-bending Riverdale, another Netflix one for UK audiences, and Billie Wesker in the (so far) single season of the Resident EvilTV show.

Tati Gabrielle as Jade

Another new recruit to the Mortal Kombat franchise is Tati Gabrielle, Rudolph’s co-star in Sabrina. This is certainly fitting, as the Californian actress is set to play Jade, princess Kitana’s staff-wielding childhood friend. 

Gabrielle will also be familiar to fans of cult YA dystopia The 100, readily available in full on Apple TV+ and Prime Video. She appeared in the later seasons as Gaia. More recently, she acted opposite Tom Holland (playing Jo Braddock) in the Uncharted movie, which you can easily watch for free with a week’s free trial of 4+, and played Nora, the unlucky medic who feels Ellie’s wrath, in The Last of Us Season 2. 

Damon Herriman as Quan Chi

The Australian actor Damon Herriman has taken an interesting career path en route to his upcoming role as the necromancer Quan Chi in Mortal Kombat II. He’s probably still best known for playing Charles Manson twice: once in David Fincher’s Netflix series Mindhunterand then, remarkably, again for Quentin Tarantino in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood… 

Herriman might also be familiar for playing the antagonist, Ruse, in Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale and for his performance as Take That manager/sleazeball Nigel Martin Smith in the wildly underappreciated Better Man, which is worth a free trial of Amazon Prime to watch, if you’re not already a subscriber.

Martyn Ford as Shao Kahn & CJ Bloomfield as Baraka

Two actors set to make their Mortal Kombat debuts – under presumably heavy amounts of effects and prosthetics – are Martyn Ford and CJ Bloomfield. Ford is set to appear as Shao Kahn, emperor of the Outworld and the game’s chief antagonist, while Bloomfield is set to play Baraka, the slimy, toothy villain who features heavily in the trailer. 

When not working as a bodybuilder, the towering 6’6” Ford has been picking up roles in film and TV. His credits include Goliath in the Biblical epic House of David and Lieutenant Sue in F9. Bloomfield’s biggest role to date has been Big Jilly, a motorbike rider in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, one of the films you’ll get as part of a handy Sky/Netflix bundle.

Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade

Before playing Sonya in the first movie, Jessica McNamee started, like many of her fellow countrymen and women, by appearing on the long-running Aussie soap opera Home and Away. 

Viewers from other parts of the world will probably know her more from her early role in the 2012 Channing Tatum rom-com The Vow, and for playing the ex-wife of Jason Statham’s shark hunter in undersea silliness The Meg. You can quickly dive into that film with a free Prime trial.

Guess what? The MCU has found its groove again! Hot on the tail of Thunderbolts* , The Fantastic Four: First Stepshas massive implications for the next phase of this superhero franchise. In fact, it might just be one of the most important Marvel movies post-Thanos.

Marvel’s First Family are going to be key players in the Avengers: Doomsday cast, and after seeing them take on Galactus, we’re sure Victor Von Doom is quaking in his Latverian boots. But first, get to know the principal cast of The Fantastic Four: First Steps here, with extra details on how to watch their other movies and TV shows.

Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards

The running joke right now is that Pedro Pascal is in everything, and to be fair, he is a very busy man this year. Dread him, run from him, Pedro Pascal arrives all the same. No, he’s not playing Thanos; Pascal was picked as the man to lead the Fantastic Four as Reed Richards, which is a huge responsibility, as he’ll eventually be running the Avengers, too.

This year alone, you may have seen Pascal in Celine Song’s rom-com Materialists, which was a real diversion from his usual work. Or perhaps you’ve watched Pascal in Ari Aster’s brilliant and provocative Eddington, as well as Season 2 of The Last of Us – which was not as good as the first season, but still a riveting watch all the same. He’s also been in Gladiator II, absolutely stole the show in Game of Thrones, and played the titular hero in The Mandalorian. He may have been wearing a mask most of the time there; however, he still brings an incredible screen presence to the role.

Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm

You can’t have Mr. Fantastic without the Invisible Woman, and in this new movie, Vanessa Kirby plays her perfectly. She balances incredible power with an astounding emotional weight to become the big winner in the battle against Galactus.

You’ve likely seen Kirby holding her own against Tom Cruise, playing a cartoonish villain in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning. Clearly, Kirby loves to challenge the biggest leading men in Hollywood, as she takes on Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, and stars opposite Joaquin Phoenix in Ridley Scott’s epic Napoleon. Kirby’s finest work, though, comes in the Netflix drama movie, Pieces of a Woman, a performance for which she earned an Oscar nomination.

Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm

Much like his co-star, Joseph Quinn is absolutely everywhere these days. It’s been a whirlwind few years for the young actor, who shot to fame in a supporting role in Stranger Things and hasn’t looked back since. Here, he plays Sue’s brother, Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, and is clearly having fun in this movie.

Aside from this huge role in The Fantastic Four: First Steps cast, Quinn was also formidable as one of the main antagonists in Gladiator II, bringing a sinister energy we never knew he had. In complete contrast, Quinn offered up an emotional and tender performance in A Quiet Place: Day One, and further showed his range as part of that impressive ensemble cast for Alex Garland’s Warfare. Talk about being on fire!

Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm

You may not get to see his face very much in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, but Ebon Moss-Bachrach brings a lot of warmth and charm to the character of Ben Grimm, who gets the undesirable nickname, The Thing. That may be a bit mean, but it does describe his character pretty well.

We think Moss-Bachrach absolutely rocks (sorry), and he’s been grinding hard to make it to the top for a few years now. Bit-part roles in The Punisher and comedy movie No Hard Feelings don’t quite do him justice, but Moss-Bachrach shines in Andor. However, it’s his role in The Bear that you’ll know him for the most, where he is consistently a scene-stealer from the likes of Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri.

Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal

One of the real highlights of The Fantastic Four: First Steps is Shalla-Bal, the Silver Surfer. This is a rather different version of one of the most intriguing characters in the Fantastic Four comics, as her tragic love story with Norrin Radd has been left out, and her complex origins changed – in one comic book story, it’s Reed Richards who turns her into the Silver Surfer!

Moviegoers in 2025 have seen Garner take on leading roles in two horror movies. She played opposite Christopher Abbott in Wolf Man, which was a little bit disappointing, actually, and stars in Weapons, which comes from the twisted mind of Barbarian's Zach Cregger. She previously had really complex roles in the film The Assistant and TV series Inventing Anna. However, her standout performance undoubtedly comes in the Netflix crime thriller series, Ozark, where she screams, shouts, swears, and falls apart in spectacular fashion.

Ralph Ineson as Galactus

He’s one of the most powerful villains in the Marvel annals, and Galactus looked absolutely incredible on the big screen. It’s no mean feat bringing the big fella to life like that, but Ralph Ineson’s gravelly tones and imposing presence did the job. Now, the MCU just has to make sure it brings him back at some point.

Ineson has had quite an unusual career, gaining prominence in the UK version of The Office as the very unlikable Finchy. Since then, he’s played Amycus Carrow in the Harry Potter movies, before diving into the world of A24 fantasy movies. He’s had key roles in the visually stunning, very thought-provoking The Green Knight and in Robert Eggers’ bleak yet beautifully dark folk horror, The Witch.

Paul Walter Hauser as Mole Man

Rounding out The Fantastic Four: First Steps cast is Paul Walter Hauser, who plays Mole Man. Though he’s an adversary of the titular heroes at first, Mole Man isn’t all bad. He redeems himself somewhat by the end of the movie, with Walter Hauser doing a great job of providing a spot of sardonic comedic relief.

You can also see Walter Hauser alongside Liam Neeson in The Naked Gun. He’s a funny guy, as proven by his humorous roles in I, Tonya and Cruella, while he’s also shown his more serious side in Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell. He even won an Emmy for his role in Black Bird, performing opposite the likes of Taron Egerton and Ray Liotta.

Big Mouth finally ended its run on Netflix in 2025 after eight awkward, sticky, and painfully relatable seasons. The show made its name for its inventive, funny, and informative approach to topics that no other mainstream animation had touched before, from shame and anxiety to periods and masturbation. Needless to say, it leaves behind a gap for adult animation in the streaming landscape. 

With no more episodes on the horizon, it seems like a good time to look at some other animated shows that have pushed the boundaries for R-rated television. From originators to provocateurs and stone-cold modern classics, check out our guide to five animated TV shows that are definitely NOT for kids, along with some of their best voice cameos as a bonus.

(As a note, we have chosen not to include anime in this list, as we would probably be here all day!) 

South Park (1997-present)

Having South Park—the best to ever do it, especially if you like sweary, puerile gags mixed with sharply written satire—on a list like this is a bit like having the dictionary on a ranking of best books. The Simpsons was already on autopilot by 1998—about to reach its 200th episode and attracting guest stars like U2—when Trey Parker and Matt Stone threw their deceptively amateurish-looking hand grenade onto Comedy Central and changed TV forever. 

That the show continues to be one of our most essential contemporary satires—ruthlessly skewering Harry and Meghan, the manosphere and Ozempic in its last season and returning to make headlines, and make JD Vance angry, in 2025—only confirms Parker and Stone’s unique genius. Long may it last. 

Most memorable voice cameo: George Clooney as Sparky the dog in the first season set the tone, but it’s got to be Radiohead in the legendary episode, Scott Tenorman Must Die.

BoJack Horseman (2014-2020)

BoJack Horseman is the kind of show that every person who sees it seems to think was written about them, so if you like a program with talking animals that makes you feel seen (Big Mouth is actually a good comparison here), if not always in the most complimentary light, it should be right up your alley. I’d also recommend it if you like The Studio, as the depictions of Hollywood life have a real sense of specificity and insider knowledge. 

All things considered, that’s quite an achievement for a show in which the hero is a toxic, alcoholic, and potentially suicidal talking horse—not to mention that his bete noire is a Labrador named Mr. Peanutbutter. 

Best voice cameo: We are tempted by Paul McCartney’s micro-appearance, but Alan Arkin as J.D. Salinger is too inspired to leave out. 

Invincible (2021-present)

Premiering on Prime Video in March 2021, during arguably the first major crisis of superhero fatigue, Invincible could not have come at a better time—and if you are feeling that same fatigue, or like similarly meta superhero stories like The Boys, handily also a Prime show, I can’t recommend it enough.

Boasting richly sketched characters that can die within a single episode story arc (and in a way that never takes away from the series’ overarching narrative), the show is a breath of fresh air. What’s more, after years of PG-13 MCU, the show’s delirious helpings of blood, guts, and bone-crunching violence are a visceral thrill–though not for the squeamish, even in animation. 

Most memorable voice cameo: It’s lights-out across the board, but Mark Hamill brings so much warmth in his few scenes as Art Rosenbaum, the waistcoated superhero tailor.

Archer (2009-2023)

With its unique visual style and dry sense of humour, nothing looked or sounded like Archer when it released in 2009. Even if you’re only arriving at the show today, you’ll still appreciate the freshness of its approach—especially if you like the cultural references and offbeat humour of shows like Futurama or the unhinged vibe and colourful language of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. 

Arriving five years after Brad Bird’s The Incredibles, we cannot credit showrunner Adam Reed with re-popularising the retro-futurist spy caper, but you won’t find this kind of sex or violence in a Pixar movie. It might have overstayed its welcome in later, genre-bending seasons, but its 14-year run still goes down as one of the greatest of any animated show, TV-MA or not. 

Most memorable voice cameo: There’s no shortage to choose from, but it’s got to be the late, great Anthony Bourdain as Chef Lance Casteau in Live and Let Dine.

Monkey Dust (2003-2005)

Monkey Dust obviously can’t boast the fame and recognition of the other entries on this list, but in terms of provocation, it might be the most daring ever made—so if you are interested in seeing how far TV can push the envelope, or appreciate the humour of shows like Brass Eye, you might be interested in checking it out. Just be warned, this one pokes fun at topics that even the most audacious shows wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole.

Like Nathan Barley and Jam, Dust was one of those early ‘00s shows that seemed to only exist as a DVD boxset, strictly limited to one per friend group, and passed around like a strange and haunted object—as cursed and irresistible as the VHS in The Ring. How a TV show that made jokes about IRA kneecapping, pedophilia, and adolescent Jihadists ever made it past the censors in 2003 remains a mystery. Even seen today, it packs a mightily subversive punch.

Most memorable voice cameo: Too niche for any big stars at the time, but the show featured a young Sharon Horgan in some of her first credited voice roles.

In 1999, The Matrix changed movies forever, and if by some fluke you haven’t seen it, be sure to savour that first watch. For fans of science fiction movies with groundbreaking action and ambitious concepts, there’s really nothing quite like it. If you want some idea, however, you can find its influence in everything from the dream world of Inception to the fight scenes in John Wick.

All that said, even if the movie’s success seems inevitable now, nobody could have imagined how fast it would grow. Just four years after the first movie, the franchise would boast two feature-length sequels, an animated anthology series called The Animatrix, and a narratively expansive computer game. Once the bullets had settled on all that, fans had to wait almost two decades for the next instalment—and even then, not a whole lot of people liked it.

With a fifth, and presumably less bizarre, sequel (from director Drew Goddard) now reportedly in the works, we’ve rounded up every film and animated short from The Matrix universe and arranged them in chronological order. If you’re watching for the first time, I’d recommend sticking to the order of release, but if you’re curious to find out where each episode slots into the Matrix universe, we’ve got you covered.

If you want to stick to release order, here’s a simplified version:

• The Matrix (1999)
• The Animatrix (all shorts) (2003)
• The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
• The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
• The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

The Second Renaissance Part I & 2 - The Animatrix (2003)

If you’re a fan of either the Matrix or basically any style of anime, you’ll want to get your hands on The Animatrix. Released in tandem with The Matrix Reloaded in the summer of 2003, it blew the world of the movies wide open with nine animated shorts, each by a different director and in a different style. 

None did more to deepen the universe’s lore than the two-part The Second Renaissance by the Studio Ghibli-trained director Mahiro Maeda. The reason to start here and not the first movie is that Renaissance 1 & 2 is the earliest point in The Matrix timeline: a historical account of the rise of the machines, going all the way up to humanity’s decision to blot out the sun, and even into some early versions of the Matrix itself.

I’ve always found the mood of these shorts nicely subversive, particularly how they position humanity as its own worst enemy and cast the plight of the machines as a struggle for civil rights. If you appreciate Ghibli’s output (or harder stuff, like Akira), I can’t recommend it enough.

A Detective Story - The Animatrix (2003)

If you’re looking for a Matrix animation with a more expressive visual style, A Detective Story could be the one for you—especially if brooding, hard-boiled, black-and-white noir (think Sin City) is a style you tend to vibe with. It’s set just before the events of the first movie, following a man who tracks down Trinity online—with the help of some references from Lewis Carroll, of course–making it the perfect prequel to her fateful meeting with Neo. 

A Detective Story is directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, the legendary creator of Cowboy Bebop, so if you like that iconic show, you’ll have some idea of what to expect.

The Matrix (1999)

There’s not a whole lot for us to say here except that The Matrix is a sci-fi classic, an action classic, a cinema classic, and a genuine cross-cultural phenomenon—so if you haven’t seen it by now, enjoy! 

Keanu Reeves’ Neo, Laurence Fishburne’s Morpheus, and Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith have been guiding audiences down the rabbit hole for nearly three decades now. Thanks to its prescient ideas, breathless fights, and awesome practical effects, I think the movie holds up perfectly. This is the source code of the Matrix Universe; the moment where it all began—it’s impossible to describe how mind-bending that all felt in 1999, you had to see it for yourself. 

Kid’s Story - The Animatrix (2003)

Watanabe’s second entry in The Animatrix, A Kid’s Story, provides the origin story for Kid: the sweet but slightly annoying fanboy who is freed with Neo’s help in The Matrix, and without the use of a red pill. If you’ve always wanted to know how that happened, here’s your chance!

Played by Clayton Watson in the sequels, Kid might not be everyone’s favourite Matrix character, but Watanabe’s surreal and dreamlike short offers an intriguing introduction to the process of self-substantiation.

Final Flight of the Osiris - The Animatrix (2003)

As the only short in The Animatrix to use CG animation, appearing like a (admittedly very good) early 2000s computer-game cut-scene, Andy Jones’ Final Flight of the Osiris hasn’t aged quite as well as other episodes in the Animatrix series. The story is essentially a prologue to The Matrix Reloaded, the second live-action film in the series, and is useful in establishing the sentinels’ drilling position over Zion.

The retro feel definitely scores some nostalgia points, especially if you were gaming around that time; a fine addition to the canon, even if it’s also one of the least essential.

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

I think The Matrix Reloaded is the best and most ambitious of the Matrix sequels—and one that any self-respecting Matrix fan presumably also enjoys.

The movie basically offers the sugar rush of wish fulfilment, allowing audiences to finally see just what Neo, as The One, is capable of. The opening scene and the highway chase rank among the best sequences in the entire series—the latter of which seemed to throw a gauntlet down for action filmmakers, inspiring everything from the vault heist in Fast Five to the motorbike chase in Mission: Impossible - Fallout. And thanks to The Architect, the Twins, and Monica Bellucci’s Persephone, the movie also boasts a whole new roster of memorable characters to round out the universe.

Beyond - The Animatrix (2003)

Beyond is a gorgeous children’s story set in some kind of Neo Tokyo-type city. The plot follows a girl named Yoko who stumbles upon a haunted house while trying to find her cat, which is exactly the kind of setup we might consider Miyazaki-like these days. So, if you’re a fan of that master, I’d recommend it.

It’s an interesting short to watch at this point in the chronology because we know that the unusual occurrences in the building (including broken objects that reassemble themselves and areas without gravity) are glitches in the Matrix, and so await the usual things to happen. But director Kōji Morimoto (who really did work on Akira) isn’t so interested in that, framing Yoko’s journey as an effective tale of lost innocence, instead.

World Record - The Animatrix (2003)

Takeshi Koike’s World Record, telling the story of a 100m sprinter at the summer Olympics, is a difficult one to place in the Matrix chronology. It almost works as a standalone idea—a suggestion of one of the many ways that a human being might wake up from The Matrix. As such, it’s the second Animatrix short to explore self-substantiation and, IMO, is one of the best entries in the franchise.

As a Matrix fan, it’s fascinating to watch him begin to realise, while running a record time, that reality might not be all it seems. There’s a sports angle here that fans of those kinds of movies will latch onto, too. The image of three agents failing to keep up with him is such a good metaphor for the possibilities of self-belief in sport; it’s amazing that the ad guys at Nike didn’t get there first. 

Program - The Animatrix (2003)

Set almost entirely in a training exercise, Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s Program is one of the most stylish additions to the Animatrix—and one that fans of the recent Predator: Killer of Killers (especially the second chapter) will definitely vibe with. With very little connection to the franchise’s wider narrative or other characters, it’s a similarly tricky one to place in the timeline, but most fans seem to believe it’s somewhere between the second and third movies. 

The story focuses on Cis, a mysterious character who battles a samurai named Duo across the tiled rooftops of buildings in a beautifully drawn feudal Japan. In terms of story, it’s one of the lighter episodes of The Animatrix, and perhaps one of the least essential, but Kawajiri more than makes up for it with the sheer propulsive energy of his images.

The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

Before the recent movie, pretty much everyone agreed that The Matrix Revolutions was a low point in the franchise—but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth seeing. One easy way to check the quality of a Matrix movie is to ask how much time the characters spend in the “real world”—and in the case of this movie, the answer is sadly A LOT.

Released just six months after Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions mainly focuses on the battle for Zion and Neo’s death match with a now all-powerful Smith. Revolutions has its moments (who will ever forget those moments when Trinity peaked above the clouds), but it’s weirdly low on the innovative stuff that made fans fall in love with the series in the first place. Still, it closes out the original film series serviceably enough, with an epic battle generating great losses on both sides, and a monologue from the Architect that ties a bow around the Neo timeline—at least for the time being.

Matriculated - The Animatrix (2003)

Æon Flux creator Peter Chung is the mind behind Matriculated, a story of robot rehabilitation—and if you’re a fan of his work, it’s definitely one to check out. Seemingly playing out in the aftermath of Revolutions, the short follows a group of remaining rebels who are trying to reprogram machines to see if they have the capacity to relate to the human way of thinking. In order to do so, they plug them in and have them experience human emotions, all in the hope of sparking some kind of machine-learned empathy. 

The story works with a neat science fiction idea and, better still, it’s told through Chung’s unique visual language.

The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

As a fan of the Wachowskis, I like to think The Matrix Resurrections has more juice than a lot of critics and fans gave it credit for—so if you’re willing to see it as a very personal and very meta statement on the franchise, there are some interesting things to recommend in it. The story takes place 60 years after the events of Revolutions, returning to Neo, who is now plugged back in, working in a gaming company, but starting to notice some imperfections in his reality. 

Released 18 years after Revolutions, Lana Wachowski, in many ways, went out on her own with the film, which ended up being more of a multimillion-dollar trolling session against sequel-hungry studio bosses than a true addition to the saga—and more power to her. High on concept but unusually uninspired in its action sequences, this is one I would recommend only to the completists and the curious. 

With three blood-soaked movies (and a couple of non-canonical shorts) already on heavy horror rotation, Terrifier is already one of the most reliable horror franchises to come on the scene in years–especially for those who like their kills served with plenty of sadism.

Much of their success is down to writer-director Damien Leone’s boldness, creativity, and grasp of tone: the movies walk a razor-sharp line between silly and sadistic, but just about find the sweet spot—at least more often than not. I think this is thanks to Art the Clown, a character who takes all kinds of pleasure in torturing men, women and children, but does it with the eager flair of a showman—jazz hands and all. At the end of the day, he just wants you to be entertained!

With that in mind, we should also say that these movies are not for the faint of heart, so some degree of caution is probably advisable—and I say that as someone who doesn’t get squeamish very often. As we await details on the fourth instalment, use our guide below to find out where to watch all Terrifier movies so far, along with the worst (best?) kills to look out for in each entry. 

All Hallows’ Eve (2013)

Though not a canonical chapter in the Terrifier series, Damien Leone’s anthology movie All Hallows’ Eve is definitely worth a watch for all the sickos out there who can’t get enough of this franchise. 

All Hallows’ Eve takes footage from two of Leone’s earlier shorts—The 9th Circle (2008) and Terrifier (2011)—and combines them into a story of kids trick-or-treating on Halloween who discover an old VHS tape in their candy bag. It’s especially important viewing for Terrifier fans as it contains Art’s first appearance on screen, albeit played by Mike Giannelli, as David Howard Thornton only later took ownership of the role.

Worst kill: The ending is deeply unsettling, but, in the interests of pure sadism, we’re gonna give it to the good Samaritan in the car.

Terrifier (2016)

With Art’s first outing as the lead character, Terrifier sets the tone for the series as a must-watch for any horror fan who likes their kills especially gruesome. The events again take place on Halloween night, following two friends, Tara and Dawn, who encounter Art on the way home from a party.

The movie quickly became a hit on the horror festival circuit in 2016, where it shocked audiences, gained a cult following, and eventually returned ten times its $40K budget at the box office. This first instalment was too low-budget to think of sequels (none of Art’s victims return in Part 2), so don’t go in expecting much in terms of plot. Instead, Leone uses the movie to showcase Art’s demented glee as well as his own proficiency with grizzly practical effects.

Worst kill: Dawn. No competition. Just horrific. It will ruin your week.

Terrifier 2 (2022)

Terrifier 2 is the point when the franchise slightly crosses over into the horror mainstream, so it’s maybe a better starting point for fans who like a little more plot and character. You can always go back to the earlier stuff if you really like it!

As I mentioned, the first film was a huge success, but Leone knew he had to find a way to make the movies slightly less snuff-coded and more approachable. I think he achieves this by making Terrifier 2 look a little glossier (the aesthetic is not unlike the mood of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, so if you’re into those classics, it might also be up your alley) while removing none of the creative violence that made the previous movie such a hit. 

Terrifier 2 also introduces Sienna Shaw, another teenage girl on Halloween night who crosses Art’s path, as the series’ final girl.

Worst kill: Allie. There’s a reason why it’s infamous.

Terrifier 3 (2024)

Terrifier 3 is, for me, the best of the series so far. If you liked the previous two instalments of Leone’s slightly lopsided franchise, you’ll enjoy seeing how the director weaves it all together here. 

Reintroducing Victoria, the sole survivor of Part One, as well as Sienna, our final girl from Part 2, Terrifier 3 ties things up like the bow on a Christmas present—which is fitting, as Leone sadistically sets Part Three during the most wonderful time of the year. This, of course, allows for a scene in which Art poses as Santa, delivering one of the series’ most provocative kills.

The movie grossed an astonishing $90M on a $2M budget, making the franchise a full-blown sensation—and just in case you’re wondering, a bigger budget does not mean a softer touch.

Worst kill: This one has to go to poor Aunt Jessica. 

Terrifier 4 (TBA)

Worst kill: we can only imagine…