Recently seen in the film directed by Olivia Wilde, Don’t Worry Darling, Florence Pugh boasts a respectable filmography. Here are the 8 best films of her.
From the touching A downed family to the deeply disturbing Midsummar, Florence Pugh has starred in a wide variety of great films. Pugh made her acting debut opposite Maisie Williams in The Falling of 2014 and quickly became one of the most prolific and respected actresses of her generation. Her role in the limited series The Little Drummer Girl earned her a nomination for the BAFTA Rising Star Award. She first came to prominence with the lead role in Lady Macbethwhich earned her a British Independent Film Award and, since then, she has appeared in a variety of films of very different genres and styles.
Pugh was nominated for an Academy Award and two BAFTA Film Awards and received the Trophée Chopard at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. From martial artist Yelena Belova in Marvel’s action-packed film, Black Widowto aspiring artist Amy March in Little Women, Pugh has played all kinds of characters on the big screen. Refusing to be pigeonholed into an anticipated role, Pugh has one of the most diverse resumes in Hollywood. You have worked on films that are fun for the whole family, such as Puss in Boots 2 – The Last Wishand dark, intense, terrifying films that are only for mature audiences, like Midsummar. Here are Florence Pugh’s top 8 films!
1. Midsummar is one of Florence Pugh’s best films
Florence Pugh earned her place in the “scream queen” canon with her role as Dani Ardor in Ari Aster’s deeply disturbing popular horror epic Midsummar. In the wake of The Wicker Man, Midsummar follows a group of students who spend their summer holidays in a remote Swedish commune that turns out to be run by a sadistic and murderous cult. Despite its horror clichés, Midsummar it is a breaking film in spirit. The uncompromising brutality of Aster’s vision alienated some critics, but its Rotten Tomatoes score of 83% and IMDb score of 7.1 suggest that the atmosphere and performances were strong enough to win over the majority of audiences.
Midsummar has the same blend of haunting visuals and Oscar-winning acting that made Aster’s previous film, Hereditary, so great. Pugh’s captivating performance as Dani is a heartbreaking portrayal of grief. As the film opens, he loses his entire family to a murder-suicide, and spends the rest of the time in the throes of that unspeakable tragedy, drawing viewers into his traumatized mindset. Midsummar is full of gruesome details to be caught in repeated viewings and gradually builds into an iconic ending that is deep, terrifying, and surprisingly gratifying at the same time.
Read also Midsommar – The village of the damned: review of the film by Ari Aster
2. Little Women is one of Florence Pugh’s best films
Greta Gerwig, following her directorial debut of a deeply personal solo feature film, Lady Birdput his imprint on the work of another writer. Little Women it had been made into a film six times before Gerwig tried it, but hers is by far the most accessible adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic. Gerwig’s naturalistic approach to dialogue and scene direction managed to avoid the usual dryness of period dramas. The near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 95% indicates universal critical acclaim, and its IMDb rating of 7.8 reflects an equally warm response from audiences.
Little Women follows the coming of age experiences of Jo March and her sisters, a group of fiercely independent young women determined to carve their own path in an oppressive patriarchal society that wants to control its own future. Gerwig’s adaptation is led by a star-studded cast bringing the March sisters to life, including an Oscar-nominated Florence Pugh as Amy. The character had previously been played by Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor and Kirsten Dunst, but Florence Pugh has given a twist to the role. Her lively yet nuanced portrayal of her character stole the show and made Amy as much a heroine of the story as Jo.
Read also Little Women: review of the film by Greta Gerwig
3. Don’t Worry Darling
Don’t Worry Darling is a 2022 film directed by Olivia Wilde and starring Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine and others. The plot takes place in the 1950s and follows a young wife who begins to suspect her husband is hiding something sinister. The film was well received by critics and audiences. Florence Pugh has received praise for her portrayal of the titular character, with many critics lauding her versatility as an actress. The film was also praised for its direction, cinematography, production design and soundtrack. Furthermore, the film deals with important issues such as patriarchy, misogyny and control, offering a reflection on the society of the time and on issues that are still very current.
Read also Venice 79 – Don’t Worry Darling: review of the film by Olivia Wilde
4. A downed family is one of Florence Pugh’s best films
Based on the life story of professional wrestler Paige, A downed family chronicles his journey to WWE. Florence Pugh plays Paige alongside Lena Headey and Nick Frost as her parents and Jack Lowden as her brother. The film marked the feature film directorial debut of the co-creator of The Office Stephen Merchant, and strikes the same balance between laughter and humor and touching emotional beats. The dramatic crux of the film is that Paige’s brother is more into wrestling than she is, but she gets the opportunity to go to WWE while he stays at home, which drives a wedge between them.
With an impressive 93% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an admirable IMDb score of 7.1, A downed family it’s a quintessential sports film. It tells a universally recognizable story about family dynamics that appeals to wrestling fans and non-wrestlers alike. Just as in the cases of Rocky And A League of Their Own, viewers don’t have to enjoy the featured sport to be swept up in the characters and their stories. Everyone, wrestler or otherwise, can relate to Paige’s imposter syndrome, her struggle to fit in, and his attempts to bond with her brother.
5. The prodigy
The prodigy is an immersive and atmospheric psychological drama directed by Sebastián Lelio and distributed by Netflix. Based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Emma Donoghue, who co-wrote the screenplay, The prodigy stars Florence Pugh, as Elizabeth “Lib” Wright, an English nurse sent to a rural Irish village in 1862 to investigate a young woman who can miraculously survive without eating. The film’s stunning production design immerses viewers in its Victorian-era setting, allowing them to be swept up in the mysterious storyline. Pugh’s incredible performance salvages a script that is not fully underdeveloped.
Read also The Prodigy: review of the Netflix film with Florence Pugh
6. Lady Macbeth is one of Florence Pugh’s best films
Florence Pugh’s widely praised performance in Lady Macbeth it thrust her into the spotlight and launched her movie star career. Adapted from the novel Lady Macbeth of the Mcensk District by Nikolai Leskov, the film offers a poignant character study of a young woman trapped in a loveless marriage to an older man. With an impressive 88% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and an admirable IMDb score of 6.8, Lady Macbeth it deviates from the end of its source material, but provides equally compelling insights into the psychology of its central character.
Read also TFF34 – Lady Macbeth: film review by William Oldroyd
7. Black Widow
Florence Pugh made her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Black Widow. Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff’s long-awaited standalone film has passed the baton to Pugh’s Yelena Belova, the lead’s surrogate sister. Black Widow sets itself apart from other Marvel films with its gritty, grounded, styled spy action Bourne identity. It also deals with much darker themes than the average MCU adventure. Black Widow is anchored by a cast of world-renowned actors — Pugh, Johansson, and aging David Harbor and Rachel Weisz — who play a dysfunctional surrogate family of former Soviet spies who had been planted in American suburbia during the Cold War.
Also read Black Widow: Marvel movie review with Scarlett Johansson
8. Puss in Boots 2 – The Last Wish is one of Florence Pugh’s best films
Boasting a very high 95% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, this beautifully animated sequel has the aesthetics of fairy tale illustrations and the story and themes of a spaghetti western. Along with Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek and Olivia Colman, Pugh is one of many A-list actresses to lend their voice to the sequel to the Puss in Boots. Pugh plays Goldilocks, the formidable boss of the Three Bears crime family, with the sympathetic motivation of bringing his family back.
Read also Puss in Boots 2 – The last wish: review of the sequel starring the swordsman cat