Throughout years of continuing prominence, the now-31-year-old has appeared in high-profile films across plenty of genres. In fact, Lawrence just garnered her fifth Golden Globe nod for her new starring turn in Adam McKay’s dark comedy Don’t Look Up. Playing a Michigan State astronomy student who embarks on a media tour after discovering a meteor is on course to destroy Earth, J-Law spearheads an astounding ensemble cast that also includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill and Meryl Streep. To celebrate the release of McKay’s end-0f-the-world farce—as well as one of the finest, most respected actresses of a generation—we’ve ranked every Jennifer Lawerence movie, from least memorable to absolute greatest.
Jennifer Lawrence movies ranked
22. Dark Phoenix (2019)
Spoiler alert for those lucky to have avoided the critically derided, anticlimactic finale of the nearly-two-decades-spanning, often brilliant X-Men series: Mystique (Lawrence) dies in the first reel. Frankly, it feels like the esteemed actress dodged a bullet here, emerging unscathed from a very, very bad movie. This was another swing and miss for the saga of the Phoenix on the big screen. Downbeat and self-serious yet insubstantial, Dark Phoenix feels at least twice its 114-minute length, and there is virtually no humor. A bummer when you have talented performers who are great with humor. What a buzzkill this was.
21. The House at the End of the Street (2012)
Decades of evidence suggests there’s an unwritten rule in Hollywood that every major starlet on the rise must appear in one dreadfully dull horror movie during her ascent. Enter The House at the End of the Street, a movie you’ve probably totally forgotten about. Lawrence and the always reliable Elisabeth Shue do what they can with a vanilla ice cream cone of a script, but this is ultimately the kind of movie that evaporates while you’re watching it, lifeless.
20. Passengers (2016)
There are two really good things about big-budget sci-fi Passengers: a darkly tantalizing premise that the trailers famously lied about—and Lawrence, firing on all cylinders as a movie star. Ultimately, the visually indistinct, dispassionately safe movie blows it; the excellent premise becomes Gravity-lite with an ending so weak it’s laughable. Lawrence deserved much better material. So did the audience.
19. The Burning Plain (2008)
Years before achieving stardom, Lawrence appeared opposite Oscar winners Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger in a non-linear, heavy-handed slog intertwining three female-led stories. Fine performances from three top-notch actresses only go so far to redeem a wan, lame snoozefest. The Burning Plain debuted on the festival circuit in a shot at awards attention, but failed to catch fire (pun intended).
18. Serena (2014)
Much has been said of the oft-seen chemistry between Lawrence and Bradley Cooper. The weakest vehicle to provide them a collaboration is undeniably this turgid romantic drama, set amidst the backdrop of the 1930s lumber industry; it’s just as exciting as it sounds.
17. X-Men Apocalypse (2016)
Immediate predecessor Days of Future Past was a leap forward for the X-Men on film and the superhero genre; unfortunately, Apocalypse took at least a few steps back. The tone is a shambles; at times, Apocalypse is either deadly serious, or just taking itself too seriously. On the other end of the spectrum, there are fleeting attempts to wink and be meta, and some of the costumes make characters look like strippers. In Days, increasingly famous Lawrence’s expanded role fit the project and felt organic. Fully transforming Mystique into the leader of the X-Men feels forced here. All this said, in a stuff-blows-up, check-your-brain-at-the-door kind of way, X-Men: Apocalypse is pretty watchable.
16. The Beaver (2011)
Jodie Foster directed Mel Gibson alongside herself, Anton Yelchin and Lawrence (one year before she rose to the top of the A-list) in a somber dramedy about a depressed, failed exec who communicates with a puppet after hitting rock bottom. Great acting and confident direction go a long way to bringing credibility to a plot that’s fundamentally absurd.
15. Joy (2015)
After two knockout, awards-showered collaborations with David O. Russell, this comic biopic of self-made millionaire Joy Mangano was undeniably a disappointment. Lawrence brings humor and grit to the role (this is an actress who can make pretty much anything work), and it’s unclear if she was too young for the part, or if this was bound to never fully work, due to unremarkable writing and hardly impressive pacing. Still, Lawrence nabbed her fourth Oscar nod for Joy.
14. The Poker House (2008)
Lori Petty’s semi-autobiographical indie drama starred Lawrence—opposite Selma Blair and Chloë Grace Moretz—as a young woman struggling to raise two younger sisters in their mother’s brothel. The takeaway was indeed Lawrence, who garnered outstanding critical notices and an Outstanding Performance Award from the Los Angeles Film Festival. This likely was a factor in her career-changing Winter’s Bone casting.
13. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (2015)
Plain and simple, the final Hunger Games book didn’t need to be split into to two big-screen chapters. The once-edgy, even zeitgeist-ruling series never falls flat on its face, but it’s anticlimactic in the home stretch for sure. The weakest of the four HungerGames films has fine acting, a plot that’s often gripping, and some decent if scarce action—but it simply lacks impetus. It’s less the calm before the storm, more treading water.
12. Don’t Look Up (2021)
McKay’s ensemble satire has ambition, fine performances across the board and some big laughs. Still, it’s hard not to see it as underwhelming, given the astronomical talent involved. It’s dark and dour to a fault—clumsily strung together at times, even. Dark comedy has so much potential when it’s handled right, but it’s hard to fully defend an often downright unpleasant, shrill viewing experience in this genre. Lawrence is characteristically brilliant and sympathetic as a pariah no one believes, but it’s an oddly muted role (DiCaprio’s is the meatiest) for an actress whose abilities appear unlimited. Many will say seeing the A-list talent riffing off each other in this flick is worth the price of admission. But with such a stellar cast, Don’t Look Up should have been one for the ages.
11. Like Crazy (2011)
Drake Dormus’ romance stars Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin as students in a long-distance relationship. Like Crazy received mostly positive reviews, with critics particularly praising the acting (Lawrence appears in a supporting role) but criticizing an occasionally convoluted plot. Like Crazy was largely improvised by the performers, who worked with only about 50 pages of script.
10. X-Men: First Class (2011)
Rebecca Romijn was an underrated asset of the earliest X-Men films, but Lawrence (just as she was on the brink of superstardom) truly made the role of Raven her own in Matthew Vaughn’s stylish shot in the arm the series needed after the coarse, clunky, dumb X-Men: The Last Stand. Some of the CGI effects of First Class look terrible now, and there’s a lot of leery, casually excessive underwear shots of female leads and extras that make itfeel more ’60s than it needs to. It’s undeniably an overall well-crafted, sometimes exciting superhero picture, though.
9. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (2015)
The final Hunger Games film was released after audience enthusiasm had already waned thanks to the relatively limp third film. It opened on the soft side of box-office analyst’s expectations, then fell off the map entirely a few weeks later as Star Wars: The Force Awakens shattered holiday-season records. Still, it was definitely a hit, with a net profit of $134 million, reflecting well upon its star’s bankability. The film is a satisfying enough conclusion to the franchise, but granted the highs of the first two films, it should have been better, more thrilling.
8. mother! (2017)
DarrenAronofsky‘s slow-burn freakout features Lawrence walking around in a big farmhouse for two hours, and it’s a metaphor for Mother Earth and the Book of Genesis. It was also a box office bomb and arguably the most divisive movie of 2017, which is saying something: mother! received mostly positive reviews, with some critics calling it a masterpiece, while others hated it. Mostly everyone agreed that it’s deeply disturbing, but A.O. Scott of The New York Times called it “a hoot!” mother! is not as profound as it thinks it is, but Aronofsky can stage escalating set pieces better than just about anyone working today, and you simply must hand it to him: Few contemporary auteurs, if any, can get that kind of all-over-the-map public response from a single flick. The stagey, ostensibly one-take, POV style choice does the actors—especially Lawrence—no favors, but she draws us in despite the gimmick like probably no other young actor could.
7. Red Sparrow (2018)
Curiously underrated upon release (and probably the most under-appreciated movie on this list), this undeniably flawed but often extremely entertaining espionage thriller explored thematically lurid territory with aplomb. Graphically, arguably sadistically violent, it’s a polished exploitation film elevated by a movie star in the classic sense who knows exactly what she’s doing. A vehicle like this would only work with a star in full control. Red Sparrow works.
6. The Hunger Games (2012)
Following a standout turn in X-Men: First Class, the most highly publicized casting search in many moons ended when the 21-year-old from Kentucky claimed the role of Katniss Everdeen. Admirably scrappy, disturbingly violent—and something of a cautionary tale re: the dangers of a shaky-cam approach to action—2012’s The Hunger Games broke spring box office records and launched a franchise. It was a mistake to split the already-downbeat and low-on-action final installment of Suzanne Collins‘ trilogy into two films, and The Hunger Games ended with a relative whimper. None of this reflects on Lawrence, who is tremendous throughout. In the midst of all this, she won an Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook and became the hottest, highest-paid actress on Earth.
5. X-Men Days of Future Past (2012)
The high point of the X-Men series to date. Nothing less than emotionally gripping, often hilarious, densely-plotted yet light on its feet and wildly entertaining, Days of Future Past gets pretty much everything right. Thanks to the added element of time travel, this is the moment fans could bask in the charms of both X-Men casts, with many characters played by two actors. In making Raven/Mystique’s arc the heart of the yarn, the screen story makes proper use of Lawrence‘s formidable talents. This is one of her finest performances, a genre movie that arguably transcends.
4. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
Hunger Games followup Catching Fire is by some margin the best film of the bunch: fully satisfying, heady sci-fi blended with red-blooded action (this time, more fluidly shot) that would make the ’80s proud. This is Lawrence’s highest-grossing film ($865 million worldwide), making her the biggest action heroine ever at the time.
3. American Hustle (2013)
After Silver Linings Playbook was a surprise box-office, critical and awards-season smash, all eyes were on Russell’s semi-fictional, glitzy crime movie where Lawrence and Cooper rounded out a supporting cast opposite Christian Bale and Amy Adams. The movie is killer—hilarious, sprawling and deeply romantic. It’s a modern-day successor to classics like The Lady Eve, sparkling comedies that dared us to see the good in the bad and the bad in the good. Lawrence garnered her third Oscar nod. As with Silver Linings, American Hustle is one of few films in history to be nominated in all four Oscars acting categories.
2. Winter’s Bone (2010)
It’s not getting carried away to call this one of the best, richest American thrillers of the modern era. This is also, in many ways, the one that started it all; after boundless festival praise and glowing reviews from Roger Ebert and others, Lawrence received her first Oscar nod for a powerful turn in Debra Granik’s indie about a headstrong girl searching for her drug dealer father through the Ozarks (the film received three other nods including Best Picture). Lawrence’s nomination led to a brilliant PR move. Though she wasn’t favored to win that year, the newly known actress showed up early to the Oscars red carpet, looking like an angel in a simply timeless, now-iconic Calvin Klein red gown. She was all anyone could talk about for the rest of the night.
1. Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
David O. Russell‘s Philly-set masterpiece, about two hot messes who fall for each other as they heal from significant trauma, is an astounding blend of huge laughs, painful authenticity and a moving love story. Silver Linings Playbook walks a risky tightrope thematically and never sets a foot wrong—much to the delight and pleasure of anyone who watches it. This was the first movie since Warren Beatty‘s Reds 31 years earlier to be nominated for Oscars in all four acting categories (for stars Lawrence, Cooper, Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver). Lawrence is electrifying as layered and consistently surprising Tiffany Maxwell, a sex addict with a broken wing whose comic timing would make Lucille Ball proud. Honestly, there’s never been a character quite like this; it’s the kind of thing you never forget. She won the Oscar. The rest is history. Next, see where Silver Linings Playbook ranks on our list of the 100 best movies of all time.
