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22 Best Jennifer Lawrence Movies Ranked
If there ever was a life-or-death need to pick a Hollywood it-girl to define the 2010s, Jennifer Lawrence would surely be the one chosen to save our hides. She started the decade with the star-making Winter’s Bone, the rural mystery that marked only her third feature film appearance, nabbing a Best Actress Oscar nomination in the process. 2011 and 2012 came and it felt like Lawrence was everywhere, across blockbusters like X-Men: First Class and The Hunger Games, along with Silver Linings Playbook, for which she finally (“finally” meaning five years into a film acting career) won the Academy Award.
Sequels and franchising were the name of the game in the 2010s, so of course she stuck around as Mystique in every X-Men sequel, all the way to the bitter end with Dark Phoenix. Likewise, Hunger Games completed its dystopic story with Lawrence in the lead. In-between, she collaborated twice more Playbook director David O. Russell (Joy, American Hustle), worked with 2010s it-dude Chris Pratt (Passengers), and released against-type material like mother! and Red Sparrow.
Recently, Lawrence was in the comedy No Hard Feelings. See where all her films land as we’re looking back on all Jennifer Lawrence movies ranked by Tomatometer! —Alex Vo
#1
Adjusted Score: 100903%
Critics Consensus: Bleak, haunting, and yet still somehow hopeful, Winter's Bone is writer-director Debra Granik's best work yet -- and it boasts an incredible, starmaking performance from Jennifer Lawrence.
Synopsis: Faced with an unresponsive mother and a criminal father, Ozark teenager Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) does what she can to...
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#2
Adjusted Score: 105860%
Critics Consensus: Riotously funny and impeccably cast, American Hustle compensates for its flaws with unbridled energy and some of David O. Russell's most irrepressibly vibrant direction.
Synopsis: Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) dabbles in forgery and loan-sharking, but when he falls for fellow grifter Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams),...
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#3
Adjusted Score: 104455%
Critics Consensus: Silver Linings Playbook walks a tricky thematic tightrope, but David O. Russell's sensitive direction and some sharp work from a talented cast gives it true balance.
Synopsis: After losing his job and wife, and spending time in a mental institution, Pat Solatano (Bradley Cooper) winds up living...
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#4
Adjusted Score: 106052%
Critics Consensus: X-Men: Days of Future Past combines the best elements of the series to produce a satisfyingly fast-paced outing that ranks among the franchise's finest installments.
Synopsis: Convinced that mutants pose a threat to humanity, Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) develops the Sentinels, enormous robotic weapons that...
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#5
Adjusted Score: 103760%
Critics Consensus: Smart, smoothly directed, and enriched with a deeper exploration of the franchise's thought-provoking themes, Catching Fire proves a thoroughly compelling second installment in the Hunger Games series.
Synopsis: After arriving safely home from their unprecedented victory in the 74th Annual Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta...
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#6
Adjusted Score: 98168%
Critics Consensus: With a strong script, stylish direction, and powerful performances from its well-rounded cast, X-Men: First Class is a welcome return to form for the franchise.
Synopsis: In the early 1960s, during the height of the Cold War, a mutant named Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) meets a...
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#7
Adjusted Score: 99269%
Critics Consensus: Thrilling and superbly acted, The Hunger Games captures the dramatic violence, raw emotion, and ambitious scope of its source novel.
Synopsis: In what was once North America, the Capitol of Panem maintains its hold on its 12 districts by forcing them...
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#8
Adjusted Score: 76782%
Critics Consensus: It has the schmaltzy trappings of my romantic films, but Like Crazy allows its characters to express themselves beyond dialogue, crafting a true, intimate study.
Synopsis: While attending college in Los Angeles, Jacob (Anton Yelchin), an American, and Anna (Felicity Jones), who hails from London, fall...
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#9
Adjusted Score: 84473%
Critics Consensus: This raunchy comedy often plays it disappointingly safe, but Jennifer Lawrence's comedic and dramatic chops ensure that the end result prompts No Hard Feelings.
Synopsis:
On the brink of losing her childhood home, Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence) discovers an intriguing job listing: wealthy helicopter parents looking...
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#10
Adjusted Score: 84208%
Critics Consensus: With the unflinchingly grim Mockingjay Part 2, The Hunger Games comes to an exciting, poignant, and overall satisfying conclusion.
Synopsis: Realizing the stakes are no longer just for survival, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) teams up with her closest friends, including...
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#11
Adjusted Score: 84622%
Critics Consensus: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 sets up the franchise finale with a penultimate chapter loaded with solid performances and smart political subtext, though it comes up short on the action front.
Synopsis: Following her rescue from the devastating Quarter Quell, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) awakes in the complex beneath the supposedly destroyed District...
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#12
Adjusted Score: 89923%
Critics Consensus: There's no denying that mother! is the thought-provoking product of a singularly ambitious artistic vision, though it may be too unwieldy for mainstream tastes.
Synopsis: A young woman spends her days renovating the Victorian mansion that she lives in with her husband in the countryside....
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#13
Adjusted Score: 22598%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Agnes and her two sisters struggle through the day in a home overrun by gamblers, thieves, and johns....
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#14
Adjusted Score: 70235%
Critics Consensus: Jodie Foster's visual instincts and Mel Gibson's all-in performance sell this earnest, straightforward movie.
Synopsis: Walter Black (Mel Gibson), the head of a failing toy company, is deeply depressed. His marriage to Meredith (Jodie Foster)...
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#15
Adjusted Score: 73170%
Critics Consensus: Joy is anchored by a strong performance from Jennifer Lawrence, although director David O. Russell's uncertain approach to its fascinating fact-based tale only sporadically sparks bursts of the titular emotion.
Synopsis: A story of a family across four generations, centered on the girl who becomes the woman (Jennifer Lawrence) who founds...
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#16
Adjusted Score: 70201%
Critics Consensus: Don't Look Up aims too high for its scattershot barbs to consistently land, but Adam McKay's star-studded satire hits its target of collective denial square on.
Synopsis: Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) make an astounding discovery...
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#17
Adjusted Score: 63764%
Critics Consensus: Overloaded action and a cliched villain take the focus away from otherwise strong performers and resonant themes, making X-Men: Apocalypse a middling chapter of the venerable superhero franchise.
Synopsis: Worshiped as a god since the dawn of civilization, the immortal Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) becomes the first and most powerful...
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#18
Adjusted Score: 60717%
Critics Consensus: Red Sparrow aims for smart, sexy spy thriller territory, but Jennifer Lawrence's committed performance isn't enough to compensate for thin characters and a convoluted story.
Synopsis: Prima ballerina Dominika Egorova faces a bleak and uncertain future after she suffers an injury that ends her career. She...
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#19
Adjusted Score: 40586%
Critics Consensus: This heavily symbolic, melodramatic multi-narrative drama lacks emotional resonance.
Synopsis: In the present, Sylvia (Charlize Theron) appears to lead a confident life as a restaurant manager but she cleverly hides...
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#20
Adjusted Score: 43659%
Critics Consensus: Passengers proves Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence work well together -- and that even their chemistry isn't enough to overcome a fatally flawed story.
Synopsis: On a routine journey through space to a new home, two passengers, sleeping in suspended animation, are awakened 90 years...
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#21
Adjusted Score: 42524%
Critics Consensus: Dark Phoenix ends an era of the X-Men franchise by taking a second stab at adapting a classic comics arc -- with deeply disappointing results.
Synopsis: The X-Men face their most formidable and powerful foe when one of their own, Jean Grey, starts to spiral out...
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#22
Adjusted Score: 14530%
Critics Consensus: Poorly conceived, clumsily executed, and almost completely bereft of scares, House at the End of the Street strands its talented star in a film as bland as its title.
Synopsis: In search of a fresh start, divorcee Sarah (Elisabeth Shue) and her daughter, Elissa (Max Thieriot), find their dream house...
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