5 best Jennifer Lawrence movies, ranked

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Lawrence at the unveiling of Saks Fifth Avenue Holiday Windows (Image via Getty)

Jennifer Lawrence is one of the most versatile actors of this generation. Jennifer Lawrence has demonstrated her acting range in several fantastic films, from her breakthrough tragic portrayal in Winter’s Bone to her most recent role in the raucous comedy No Hard Feelings.

 

Lawrence is among the highest-earning and highest-paid actors in the world. Time and Forbes have included her among the most influential celebrities in the world. She has three Golden Globes, a BAFTA Film Award, and an Academy Award.

One of the youngest actresses to ever win an Academy Award, Jennifer Lawrence can boast some iconic roles. With a filmography spanning 28 films (to date), we look at some of the best films featuring the talented Jennifer Lawrence.

Ranking the 5 Best Jennifer Lawrence Movies

5) Don’t Look Up (2021)

In one of her recent roles, Lawrence performed spectacularly in this dark, politically charged satirical film. Lawrence portrays astronomy doctorate candidate Kate Dibiasky, who enjoys listening to the Wu-Tang Clan music while working despite being conventional enough to have a Carl Sagan figurine on her desk. She and her professor, Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio), discover a comet hurtling toward Earth that is predicted to cause an extinction-level event. They immediately try to tell everyone about the situation. However, it seems like everything else is more important to others than the threat of extinction.

 

4) Causeway (2022)

In the film Causeway, Jennifer Lawrence plays a soldier who suffers a brain injury and is returned home to New Orleans. The story follows Lawrence as she attempts to adjust to civilian life while living with her estranged mother.

In a remarkable supporting role, Brian Tyree Henry plays James, a man who befriends her and is going through similar pain. Causeway is a somber, contemplative work of theater, a critically acclaimed drama about the catastrophic effects of war and a strained mother-daughter relationship.

 

3) Winter’s Bone (2010)

In Winter’s Bone, a young Jennifer Lawrence plays a breakthrough role as the needy adolescent Ree Dolly, who ventures into the remote Missouri Ozarks to find her father, who has vanished and prevented her family from being forced to move. Lawrence received her first Academy Award nomination for her film Winter’s Bone, which was widely praised and received an almost flawless 94% rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.

 

2) The Hunger Games (2012)

Lawrence has graced the role of Katniss Everdeen in all the film adaptations of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games novelsHowever, her debut as Katniss Everdeen in the first installment of the film series is one of her best performances ever.

The eponymous Games, a televised combat to the death between teenage participants from the 12 Districts of Panem, see Katniss replace her sister. Lawrence’s fame skyrocketed due to The Hunger Games‘ rapid cultural success. The first film accurately adapted the text and gave the series a great start.

 

1) Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Lawrence performed one of her finest performances as Tiffany Maxwell in Silver Linings Playbook. She bagged the Best Actress award at the Oscars for this role and became the second-youngest actress ever to do so.

In the film, Bradley Cooper portrays Pat Solitano, Jr., a recent divorcee who connects with Tiffany on a human level. A poignant, humanistic love comedy, Silver Linings Playbook is driven by the outstanding performances of Lawrence and Cooper. It approaches weighty topics like mental health and mortality in a surprisingly approachable manner.