The Jennifer Lawrence Cinematic Universe
I watched her full filmography, naturally I have to make it everybody's business now.
Last year I drafted a newsletter where I ranked every single Jennifer Lawrence performance in film, similarly to how I had previously ranked every Meryl Streep Oscar nomination. Causeway had just come out, I had seen almost all of her movies, it was my time to shine… but then I didn’t finish writing it. Looking back, my problem was that I had not revisited these films in years, and I also hadn’t seen quite everything yet. I was not prepared for the task! One year later, No Hard Feelings, an R-rated sex comedy starring Jennifer herself, has just released in theaters this past month. I’ve now seen it twice. After spending 10 days straight binging her entire filmography from start to finish, I can safely say I’m a researched Jlawyer! Now is my time!
My first disclaimer has to be that I know some people hate Jennifer Lawrence. She has been consistently problematic, as the kids say. I have nothing else to say about that. If you want to drag me for supporting or promoting Jennifer Lawrence, someone who even if she never left her house again would be mind-numbingly rich for the rest of her life, you are well within your right. I just will not engage with you any further. We have to just accept it and move forward, because I sure can’t un-watch her entire filmography now!
It’s hard to oversell how much Jennifer Lawrence accomplished throughout the 2010s particularly. You couldn’t really miss her. She has the critical acclaim, she has the accolades, but also, to this day, has the box office draw. She is arguably the last of her kind when you really sit back and look at her career. It’s hard to imagine somebody else really following in those footsteps with the new media, particularly streaming, landscape. As someone who has come of age with her career, naturally I latched onto her. She became a favorite actress of mine. This ranking is largely going to be based on performance itself, but I don’t deny my biases. If I like a film more, I am more inclined to be engaged by her performance, though at the same time I’m less inclined to dislike a performance of hers, as I am biased towards her. I have to freely admit that going in. I asked my timeline what their favorite Jlaw performances were, and I got a decent range of answers. I think that goes to show what a hold she has over my generation.
My last disclaimer is, I made very few cuts from this marathon. I cut out her TV roles, which were mostly limited to pre-fame guest spots on shows such as Medium, but she also had a leading role on The Bill Engvall Show… if anybody watched that, I see you! But I’m not one of you. However, I also made some minor cuts in her filmography, particularly when I felt as though they simply didn’t count. Despite being a completionist and a Rosamund Pike enthusiast, all signs point to The Devil You Know, not featuring much Jen. My one mutual who has it logged on Letterboxd is giving her “no lines” allegations! The only other cut was Garden Party. I made no other exemptions, though, so I carefully consider myself to be a Jennifer Lawrence connoisseur!
I will occasionally try to give some context, but I’m much more concerned with discussing my opinions of both the films and her role in the films. I’m not a Wikipedia page, so I’m not one to recap the actual film themselves, I fear. This ranking will be based on performance alone, not ranking the films themselves, but as I said… my biases are present, which I will elaborate further upon below!
18. Serena (2014), Jennifer as Serena Pemberton
Before I started rewatching all of these movies, I drafted up a rough draft ranking of the ones I had already seen, this being ranked dead last! … and, well, yes! That did not change. This is just a bizarre culmination of nothing working. I believe there are details of its production and how it was released that factor into it. I know it was filmed before The Hunger Games was released, the same year as Silver Linings Playbook as well, so practically right before she became a household name, plus it was released sort of at a peak of both her and Bradley’s careers. I don’t know the details of its productions, outside of a review on Letterboxd that applied some context, but… as this is a ranking… I do have to just judge it for what it is. Would I say Jennifer Lawrence is bad in this? Not really. I do chop up a lot of the disconnect due to direction, editing, the general production. She made it work a lot of the time, though some deliveries are… odd. It was just an odd movie overall, though. She had her standout star moments, particularly in the second half of the movie. The disjointed tone of everything just poorly stands out in her catalog.
17. House at the End of the Street (2012), Jennifer as Elissa Cassidy
This is a really funny movie to me. I love that she has a trashy horror film on her résumé, even better that it came out right after The Hunger Games was released and months before her Oscar-winning performance in Silver Linings Playbook hit theaters, marking an early peak in her career. I remember getting advertisements what felt like every five seconds while watching Friends re-runs on Nick@Nite.
Then I remember renting it as soon as it became available on demand, I was a little too scared to see it in theaters I fear, but nevertheless this was actually quite the event in my household!!! Anyways, I’m sure you could guess, it isn’t great. Still, it is a movie I’ve probably seen at least four times throughout the past decade. This is the closest thing she has to a musical (she has a little guitar and sings, like, three times) which I always love! She looks gorg, and the horror genre does suit her. Unfortunately, this just isn’t a role that gives her much to work with. The dialogue throughout the entire first half is just blatant exposition, the plot and horror elements are both flat, so as skilled as Jennifer may be, it isn’t an interesting part in any capacity.
16. The Beaver (2011), Jennifer as Norah
This was the one movie I was actively dreading having to watch, but I couldn’t not include. It wasn’t as miserable as I had once thought it would be, but I can’t say I enjoyed it either! This is her second movie in which she co-starred with Anton Yelchin, and they were by and large the best part of the film for me, they worked wonderfully together. Jodie Foster is also brilliant in this, but I really don’t like anything about the actual beaver side of this one. Is that bias against Mel Gibson? Well, perhaps! But I just couldn’t really get past his performance, as he was… well, the lead! He was The Beaver in question! Is that unfair judgment on my part? Doesn’t matter, this is about my thoughts! Conceptually it was decent, and Jodie Foster’s vision certainly gave it something worthwhile, but there’s just a disconnect for me in the end. I can’t recommend it!
If you haven’t gathered, Jennifer was not a lead here, but she did get her own little arc that helped the overall theme of the film work. I’d say her arc was one of the more interesting points in the film, though I do admit that comes with my clear bias towards her. It’s ultimately ranked here because it didn’t allow Jennifer a lot of huge acting moments. However, as time passes, her material will be the part of the film that I reflect upon positively.
15. Like Crazy (2011), Jennifer as Samantha
This is the other movie I include in which Jennifer was not a real leading role… well besides American Hustle, but that’s different. She has a decent supporting role here, though. She did factor into the plot, at least. I have had this movie on my watchlist for the longest time, which may be part of the reason why I decided to follow through with going full completionist on Jennifer’s filmography rather than settling for her “leading” roles. I knew this movie was very much my thing. I love a bittersweet romantic drama. It has always been compared to other movies I love. I quite like both Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin. I’ve had an interest since long before I even considered doing a Jennifer Lawrence newsletter, before I even had a newsletter, but it was nice to finally give myself incentive to check it off my watchlist. I loved it, by the way. I actually did a personal ranking of how much I enjoy each film, and this landed amongst the top of my ranking pretty safely! I was so invested in their romance, their struggles, whether they’d end up together or not, the ending. Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin were so great together, portraying their romance but also the strains, convincing me of both sides of their relationship. This is not a review, but I do want to state that I recommend this!
Again, Jennifer’s role was that of a supporting character with more limited material than you tend to see her in, but she certainly made an impact. She forced a real presence upon us, and when she was on screen I, for one, couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Partly because she’s stunning in the role, but also because her performance was just surprisingly captivating for being so limited. She had maybe 5 minutes of airtime in this, and still managed to be a memorable point in the film.
14. Passengers (2016), Jennifer as Aurora Lane
This was a movie I really did not have to watch ever again in my entire life. A thankless script. I remember back before it was released there were discussions about it being the best script people have ever read, and wow, unless the final product was sharing no similarities to the original draft, that sure is debatable! Jennifer’s character, Aurora Lane (....lol) was… well, nothing. If you were online back in 2016-2018, I’m sure you’ve heard the criticisms 12 times over. Specifically, how the movie should’ve been told through her perspective, so there would be more of a thriller-twist element to it and… you know, I’m sure that would be an improvement but in seriousness… this movie just did not have the range to ever be good, I’m afraid. Perhaps a psychological space romantic thriller could’ve worked, or even just committing to being Titanic In Space! would’ve been better, but I really just can’t believe this was a thing that happened. It failed as a rom, it failed as a com, it failed as a sci, it failed as a fi. I feel as though just scrapping it entirely would’ve been the best choice!
Jennifer, of course, was not the problem. She had a cute bob! I love a bob.
Her character was pretty poorly handled and written. She has Female Romantic Lead Syndrome, just very bland, meant to be idealized, she’s a writer (self-drag?) not much to her besides being the girl that Chris Pratt ruins the life of, and then when she finds out what He’s Done she’s promptly gaslit for the remainder of the movie so she can forgive him easily. I will say, though, she did quite strong work for a script that does not do her any favors. Her reactions when she finds out he woke her up were by far the most effective deliveries of the entire movie and deserve praise. She tried with everything she could to keep this thing afloat.
13. X-Men universe (2011-2019), Jennifer as Raven/Mystique
There’s a real argument against me generalizing her performances rather than listing each film in a franchise individually. Everything about the X-Men franchise vary greatly between each film, it’s not a consistent viewing experience by any stretch. The quality of both her performance, and the films themselves, vary in a way a saga like The Hunger Games doesn’t. However, I feel as though I can generalize her performances enough just for the sake of not surpassing the Substack character limit.
First Class is probably my favorite superhero movie ever, and Jennifer’s role in it being a factor as to why I attached to it years ago. Days Of Future Past is a mostly great movie, and Jennifer kind of had to carry a lot of it. I’d say DOFP is her strongest work of the franchise, as much as I may be biased to First Class. Apocalypse is bad, Dark Phoenix is rough, and Jennifer basically quit mid-shift. I think you can tell when Jennifer stopped enjoying the entire process of the X-Men movies. By Apocalypse I do believe she checked out of the performance. If that’s true, I don’t blame her. The make-up process seems grueling, and it’s her right to just… not want to do that. I do still have fond memories, though, and I can never fully board the Jennifer Lawrence sucked as Mystique train.
12. American Hustle (2013), Jennifer as Rosalyn Rosenfeld
I have almost nothing positive to say about my viewing experience for American Hustle, I’m sorry!!! This is the first of her three David O. Russell collaborations, so full disclosure: completely separated from Who He Is As A Person (if you know you know, but if you don’t know… you can google it! But trigger warning, it deals with some troubling allegations to say the least, which are much too heavy to bring up in this issue!) I do not enjoy his writing or directing style. This was the worst of it, honestly, which I know is a controversial take. Some people disagree, and I’m sure some of them would say I’m just not separating the art from the artist, but I’m going to be so honest with you, if I were to pretend David O. Russell was not a real person at all, I would still hate this movie. I was going in fully hoping I would be entertained at the very least because I didn’t want to watch this stupid fucking movie for no good reason!!! It was just soooo hard to sit through. I would elaborate onto reasons why, but that’s beside the point entirely. One of my mutuals reviewed it on Letterboxd saying, “This movie somehow managed to be the most and not enough at the same time,” and that’s the most concise way to explain it. Just annoying to watch, and boring when it wasn’t busy being annoying.
Whenever Jennifer was on my screen it was more fun than when she was not on my screen. It wasn’t often! The movie was well over 2 hours, and she was in it for a few cumulative minutes. I can see an argument against her performance in this being made, because I can argue against this movie in all aspects, but I’d call her a true scene stealer with what she could do with her part. I can see why she got nominated for this, especially considering it came at such a peak of her career. It was such an easy campaign on name power alone. It was an early example of her comedic prowess, but I do fear I can’t place it higher. I hated this movie sooo bad!!!!! It BROKE me. I had to pause it an hour and a half in and cry because I was still watching it. It might’ve just been the mood I was in, because I wouldn’t call this the worst movie of the bunch (coughing at you, Serena) but it was by and large the one I struggled getting through the most, which I actually didn’t expect going in. I thought it’d just be perfectly fine.
11. Don’t Look Up (2021), Jennifer as Kate Dibiasky
I was actually excited for this Film back in the day, I really wanted to like it and I truly thought I would! … well, I sure didn’t! Nothing about the script or direction works for me, and that’s perfectly alright! I know some people loved it, and though it didn’t get glowing critical acclaim, it got tons of nominations come award season. However, I don’t think it’d be a hot take to say, the acclaim was not attributed to the character work. I would not say Kate Dibiasky was a particularly well written or complex character, nor would I say she was meant to be. The movie put more stock in its satirical storytelling than trying to create well done character arcs, and that’s…. Fine! But it did limit how much credit I could give to Jennifer’s work here. She displays a great showcase for her comedic timing, she did a perfect amount with what she could do with the character. I just couldn’t rank it amongst her heavy hitters, because… it really just was not that.
10. The Burning Plain (2008), Jennifer as (young) Mariana
I wasn’t sure whether this movie would be another case of a project being re-marketed just using Jennifer’s name after she broke out or if she would actually have a role, but I was pleased to discover upon further research, she actually was the actual co-lead in this! Even better, she’s playing the younger version of Charlize Theron’s character, I love Charlize Theron! The movie itself is mostly just… fine? with some strong performances. This is one of two or three I’m assuming a lot of you, readers, haven’t even heard of, but I also don’t really care to recap the plot to you right now. It is told through multiple timelines, and I don’t think it really hit any mark a lot of the time. Jennifer got a few scenes where she could really shine, particularly in the last 30 or so minutes of the film, and she sold her role as a younger version of Charlize’s character. If you considered watching it, they’d be practically the sole reasons to do so. I’d say the fact this isn’t considered amongst her standout performances just goes to show you how strong she really is as an actress.
9. The Poker House (2008), Jennifer as Agnes
Though not technically her acting debut, from what I can tell this is very much her first real film role. For that reason, I’m actually kind of shocked it hasn’t developed a cult following of sorts, or at least been viewed by more people in my circle. I’ve never even heard of it until I did the research for this newsletter, and I’ve considered myself a real Jlawyer! She even plays the protective older sister of gay icon Chloë Grace Moretz, and their mother is played by Selma Blair!! Where was the news and the media? This did get a few replies when I prompted the timeline for what their favorite performance is, so shout-out to them, I guess!
Anyways, Jennifer Lawrence’s star quality was very present from the start here. She managed to showcase the foundation of what makes her one of the great movie stars of the generation. It’s so clear why within 5 years of this movie release she’d have an Oscar and would continue skyrocketing from there. This was a very compelling, at times heartbreaking, performance. A clear level of expertise at her craft as a teenager was at play, very hard to deny. Would I recommend this movie? Honestly, no. Unless you, like me, just really want to complete Jennifer Lawrence’s entire catalog. If you ask me, it’s only worth watching in reference to her career. Some of it is actually quite triggering and hard to watch. It’s based on a true story, so that isn’t inherently a bad thing, but certainly worth knowing about going in if you did choose to watch this.
8. Red Sparrow (2018), Jennifer as Dominika Egorova
I used to label myself an apologist for this movie, but upon revisit… I don’t think I’m quite that. I always knew it was flawed, but I always ignored a lot of issues because I love a fun spy thriller… the revisit made me realize it was much less “fun” than I had thought, and the disconnect between runtime and storyline is very glaring now. So much time is spent in this universe, yet I don’t think I could even begin to explain what this movie is about to someone who hasn’t seen it. However, Jennifer Lawrence could’ve carried a franchise as this character. She went all into it, full star power. This isn’t quite related, but I also love the styling they had her in for this movie. This was such a project where they could just go all out and make her fab and gorg, I love it for that much.
7. Joy (2015), Jennifer as Joy Mangano
You know, I thought having this ranked even in the top 10 was going to be an unpopular opinion, and the higher I ranked it would be seen as a drag on her filmography, but when I prompted the timeline on their favorite performances, this did get a few responses! I am relatively pleased about that. I’m not a Joy apologist by any stretch. I will never make apologies for anything regarding David O. Russell, as established… However, I’ve always been on the warmer side with this one. More than most, which is quite off-brand for me. I want to hate it more than I do. I would not call it “good” by any stretch. It’s just another example of Jennifer’s pure star quality surpassing the material. It certainly makes me wish she spent more time in the 2010s working with other (better) directors. Seeing how all of her Oscar nominations besides one are from that director really makes me wonder how different her career would look if she spent that time anchoring properties with…actually skilled directors! Against all limitations from the direction, this was a true powerhouse performance, gloriously acted, with true stand-out moments of her entire filmography.
6. No Hard Feelings (2023), Jennifer as Maddie Barker
Unironically, this is an iconic performance. She has had several performances, critically acclaimed, excellent, culturally relevant, throughout the past decade, down to the past 2 years, but this was a formal comeback. Her first wide theatrically released film in four years! A flag being put in the industry, making her presence known, as strong as ever. This is one of the best attempts at recapturing an early 2000s classic Rated-R comedy I’ve seen yet, (this and Joy Ride, see Joy Ride in theaters now!) because this is genuinely hilarious, not a beat missed, and that’s almost solely because of how hard Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman went in their deliveries. I’m so serious when I say they are highlight performances of the year thus far. Do I recommend this film? YES. But only if you were entertained by the trailers. It’s a film where you get what you expect, and I expected a great time, I’d say it even surpassed my expectations in that sense. Some deliveries, both in lines and in physical comedy, will live in my mind for a while. Jennifer Lawrence thrives in comedy, and I hope her having more control over her career and choices proves this to be as a step in the right direction of her leaning more into traditional comedy film in the future. This is so unrelated, but this is just the best Jennifer Lawrence has ever looked, and that alone is worth celebrating, I think. Her star is shining as bright as ever!
5. Winter’s Bone (2010), Jennifer as Ree Dolly
I lead by saying I’m not a huge fan of this as a film, it’s just very much not my thing. I only say that to say, I think there’s a case to be made that this is her best performance to date. When others mention it as being her #1, I do not argue their point! Undeniably her breakthrough role, and a true revelation of a performance. I have mentioned her few performances that came before this as very great, but this was a star-making moment. She got an Oscar nomination for this at 20 years old, and at the time she was the second youngest actress to be nominated for Best Actress (shoutout to Quvenzhané Wallis who since became the youngest actress to ever be nominated for Best Actress in 2012, and Keisha Castle-Hughes who held that very record for 9 years!) It’s hard to oversell how important this role was for her career, and it’s equally hard to oversell just how good she really was in this role. This film demanded so much, required layers of emotional weight and complexity, and she rose to the task with power. Some people go their entire careers without getting a role like this. I may not be the biggest fan of the film itself, but her performance was captivating, and a very early sign that she was, and still is, a force to be reckoned with in the industry.
4. Silver Linings Playbook (2012), Jennifer as Tiffany Maxwell
I have a complicated relationship with this movie. As previously stated, I think most of David O. Russell’s movies are just not good, and I don’t believe him to be as smart as he thinks he is. However, I can’t pretend this wasn’t a very influential movie on me when I was 13. I bought the book back in 2015 because it was just such an important movie to me. I look back at this now and… I get why! It sure appeals to my 13-year-old self. It just has a vibe to it, I can’t explain. Tumblr-core? Comedic romantic drama that “deals with” topics of “mental health”, and I think at 13 I envisioned depth that the material didn’t really have, at least in my opinion. There are still things to love about it, to be sure, but to revisit it in a new, 23-year-old perspective… reality does come crashing in.
Famously, this is Jennifer Lawrence’s Oscar winning performance, and I’m not comfortably going to say I think she had the best performance of 2012, I haven’t seen enough movies to ever suggest that, but what I will say is that she did such insanely impressive things with this role, and I’m going to remain happy she got awarded for it, even if the context isn’t ideal. I watch Jennifer’s performance in this, and I genuinely can’t imagine anybody else doing what she did here, and especially doing it successfully. People say she was miscast because she was much younger than her book counterpart, and obviously younger than Bradley Cooper, but I watch her work here, and I don’t think I would’ve wanted an “accurate” casting over what we got. Jennifer has had so many star-making moments in her career, but this was a movie that was carried by her star-power in a way that a lot of her peers quite simply could not have accomplished. Knowing she was 21 filming this, and I’m 23 now makes me feel so insecure about my entire life!!!
3. The Hunger Games series (2012-2016), Jennifer as Katniss Everdeen
Without much doubt in my mind, I comfortably label her role in this franchise as one of the most iconic protagonists of the 21st century. I’d argue it as her most famous role to date. Mystique might be competition, but I feel as though Katniss is more specific to Jennifer, whereas Mystique has been recognizable since long before she took the mantle. The Hunger Games franchise are films that I’ve actually grown more appreciative of as I’ve grown up. So often, properties that I grew up on just don’t hold up in the light of 23-year-old me’s (albeit lacking) wisdom, but The Hunger Games, by and large, hold up insanely well. The first two movies I would call genuinely great films, Katniss as a protagonist I’ve realized had so much more of an impact (on me, at least) than I’ve estimated. The power she brought to her performance in what probably could’ve been another forgotten YA dystopian franchise in lesser hands is such expert-level work. And though I consider them to be the weaker films, there are moments of her acting in both Mockingjay films where I forget these are just silly little movies… she just brings a weight, a complexity, a star quality… that kind of is just mesmerizing to watch. I feel as though people hear the hype around her performance in these films and assume it’s just nostalgia and people exaggerating, but… no, I disagree! Jennifer’s work as Katniss is just that iconic.
2. Causeway (2022), Jennifer as Lynsey
This is what I actually consider to be her acting comeback. Not because she didn’t do great work in Don’t Look Up, as established I thought her performance in that is one of the sole reasons it wasn’t a complete waste of time. But I consider this to be a step in a direction that I think could redefine who she is as an actress, and her career trajectory entirely. This was just stunning work on her behalf, and above all other titles, this is the one I wish there were more eyes on. If I was in discussion with someone who didn’t believe her to be talented, this would be the film I show them. It shows a side of her that, while we’ve seen hints of throughout her career, never had such a vehicle to showcase. If you haven’t seen it, you will look into it and assume it’s one thing, but it’s so Not That. It’s a special movie, one I have been recommending to people for a year. I feel as though the only way you can Get what she did here is by watching it, so I suppose I will leave you with just a glowing recommendation!
1. mother! (2017), Jennifer as mother
I have a complicated relationship with this movie. I know I already used that as an opener, but it’s equally as true here! I loved this so much when it first came out, like, I was raving about it left, right, and center to anybody that would listen. If you followed me back when I first started Letterboxd, it would be ranked amongst my favorites of all time, actually. I was so serious about it! And then I kind of just… changed my mind? I sort of joined the anti-culture who was bothered by its vapidity and aversion to subtlety, but I never actually rewatched it in full until now. I actually like it! I don’t love it as much as I did when I was 17, but I had fun with this. The script suffers a bit from being too direct in its symbolism, but it encapsulates the anxiety and dread that really puts us in mother’s shoes. All that’s to say, Jennifer Lawrence’s performance in this movie is just flawless, and was robbed of serious awards conversation. This is one of my longest held beliefs, and I am unwavering in my stance. This was a masterclass, an all-timer, honestly. I’m not being hyperbolic. I don’t care what the deniers say!!
Apart of why this is such a cool performance is how much of the movie goes against what you expect from her as an actress. It showcases a range that is both perfect for her yet hadn’t been tapped into before. A softness in the first act that goes against the roles she’s known for, but necessary to put us in the shoes of a character that is by Nature a hard sell. As the movie spirals out of control, much of the weight is put on her shoulders, and she carries it through gracefully. You can tell she put everything she could into it, and added a depth I feel as though could’ve been lost in a lesser performer’s work. She mastered the quiet moments but didn’t stumble as it crescendos. I know many people hate this movie, and I understand why! But I can’t understand not being mesmerized by her work, I can’t understand thinking she did a bad job, it just doesn’t make sense to me.
To close out, I wanted to give a few thoughts on where she’s at in her career now. In just the 2010s decade, she has accomplished so much. An entire lifetime’s worth of a résumé. She’s done so much, yet it still feels as though she has an entire career left ahead of her. I do believe part of that is she’s found more agency. She doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone, and she’s taking matters into her own hands rather than letting expectations or her team influence her. She’s in her Kim Cattrall not wanting to be in a situation where she’s not enjoying herself era, and that’s exciting! It seems as though isn’t as concerned with always working, which is very fair. Maybe my ideas of the future of her career aren’t what she has in mind, nor should they be. I still am very excited about the prospects this era could hold. This very well could be her best moment yet.
excellent article Jess!!! mother was Best Actress nominated at the Lexademy Awards!!! also Causeway top 3? i knew i could trust you!!
I loved & enjoyed every aspect of this