Every Jennifer Lawrence Movie Ranked Worst To Best
For a long stretch in the early 2010s, Jennifer Lawrence was arguably the biggest name in Hollywood. The young starlet, who was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, started making a name for herself as sassy teenager Lauren Pearson on the hit TBS sitcom, "The Bill Engvall Show." That momentum carried her to box office gold when she landed the lead role of Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games" film franchise, based on Suzanne Collins' wildly popular fiction series of the same name.
Over the years, Lawrence's career has seen incredible highs. She won an Academy Award for her performance in 2012's "Silver Linings Playbook," and was even crowned the highest paid actress in Tinseltown from 2015 through 2016. Sadly, all the good vibes seemingly evaporated after a streak of underwhelming films and negative press plagued the actress, ultimately leading to her deciding to take a two-year hiatus from acting in 2019.
Now, however, Jennifer Lawrence is officially back in the limelight. She recently starred in Adam McKay's 2021 satirical comedy, "Don't Look Up," and is slated to play Elizabeth Holmes, the convicted con artist behind the notorious Theranos scandal, in the upcoming biopic "Bad Blood." With a potential career renaissance right around the corner, we revisit every Jennifer Lawrence movie and rank them from worst to best.
House at the End of the Street (2012)
While promoting 2012's "House at the End of the Street," Relativity Media released an interview video featuring the movie's lead, Jennifer Lawrence. "We're constantly telling each other 'Listen to your gut, listen to your instincts,'" Lawrence teases. "What if that instinct is wrong?" If J-Law's gut told her "House at the End of the Street," was going to be a hit, perhaps that is the very instinct she should've been questioning.
At a measly 13%, "House at the End of the Street" marks Jennifer Lawrence's lowest Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. The horror flick follows Elisa (Lawrence) and her mother, Sarah (Elisabeth Shue), as they adapt to life in a new town. As Elisa grows closer to the boy next door, Ryan (Max Thieriot), she learns of a dark secret that puts her in grave danger.
Although Lawrence has demonstrated the ability to elevate inferior projects with her mere presence throughout her career, there's only so much that one performance can do. Everything about "House at the End of the Street," from its shoddy editing to its over dependence on jump scares, simply falls flat. Perhaps the scariest thing about this film was its box office take, pulling in less than $32 million domestically with arguably that year's biggest actress in Hollywood. Yikes, indeed.
Serena (2015)
Pairing Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper together has been an easy way to achieve critical acclaim. The two first teamed up in 2012's "Silver Linings Playbook," which won an Academy Award, and then again in 2013's "American Hustle," which took in over $200 million at the worldwide box office. When the dynamic duo went for a three-peat of box office gold, however, they sadly fell short. Very short.
2015's "Serena," a period piece about a married couple running a timber company in the 1930s, sticks out as a blemish on both Lawrence and Cooper's filmographies. With a 16% Tomatometer score, the film was detested by both critics and audiences alike, mainly due to a poor script, bland characters, and an uncharacteristic lack of chemistry between the two leads. Cooper's attempt at a Boston accent wasn't doing it any favors.
Per BombReport, all major studios passed on the movie, so 2929 Entertainment made the choice to release it on VOD themselves, as well as try a limited run in US theaters. Of the 59 theaters that "Serena" appeared in, it only earned $176,391 in total. Not exactly the result that two Oscar-winning actors were hoping for.
Dark Phoenix (2019)
When speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, British film producer Simon Kinberg opened up about his directorial debut in 2019's "Dark Phoenix," the seventh X-Men film in the series, noting that several members of the franchise's cast vouched for him to take the reins from Bryan Singer after 2016's "X-Men: Apocalypse." In fact, Kinberg went so far as to say that Jennifer Lawrence "said she wouldn't come back for another movie" unless he directed it.
This is a particularly interesting revelation in hindsight, because J-Law's performance, her fourth and final outing as the shapeshifting mutant, Mystique, doesn't reflect that she was happy with the film's directorial choices. In fact, it doesn't seem as though she was happy to be there at all! Of her performance, RogerEbert.com's Brian Tallerico wrote that Lawrence "simply can't be convinced to feign excitement about playing this part one more contractually-mandated time," and IndieWire's Chief Film Critic, David Ehrlich, also noted that she seemed "unapologetically bored" in the movie.
Lawrence's lackluster performance was the only flaw in "Dark Phoenix," but it certainly didn't help. Overall, the film absolutely bombed at the box office, plagued by a slew of negative reviews and expensive reshoots. It currently sits at a 22% Tomatometer score, one of the lowest scores of any movie in the superhero genre. Not exactly the swan song that Lawrence's Mystique deserved.
Passengers (2016)
Before its theatrical release, 2016's "Passengers" was poised to be one of the year's most successful films. Pairing Chris Pratt, fresh off of blockbuster smashes like "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Jurassic World," with Hollywood's favorite leading lady, Jennifer Lawrence, the big budget space bound romance seemed destined for box office gold. However, one majorly controversial plot twist changed everything.
In the film, Pratt stars as Jim Preston, a passenger aboard a spaceship that's transporting humans to a faraway colony planet. When an error with his sleeping pod causes him to awaken 90 years before the ship's arrival, Preston is essentially doomed to live out the remainder of his life alone on the spacecraft. After a year in isolation, the loneliness gets the best of him, and he decides to manually wake up one female passenger, Lawrence's Aurora Lane, imposing his sad fate on her as well.
This creepy plot decision gave "Passengers" one of the most controversial movie endings of all time, and critics tore it to shreds to the tune of a 30% Tomatometer score. In an interview with Vogue, Lawrence reflected on the film's poor critical reception, agreeing that the movie could've been better. "I'm not embarrassed by it by any means. There was just stuff that I wished I'd looked into deeper before jumping on." Still, J-Law took home a whopping $20 million for starring in the sci-fi drama, so that surely helped her get over the negative reviews.
The Burning Plain (2008)
Mexican screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga built up a remarkable reputation for himself in the early 2000's. His script for the Tommy Lee Jones led "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" won Best Screenplay at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, and he earned Oscar nominations for both 2003's "21 Grams," and 2006's "Babel." However, his first feature film as a director, 2008's "The Burning Plain," had quite a different outcome.
The story, portrayed from a nonlinear perspective, follows a variety of characters throughout various periods of their lives. Although it had some big names attached, including Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger, the time-jumping drama was ultimately more confusing than impactful. Legendary film critic Roger Ebert described it as "a labyrinthine tangle of intercut timelines and locations ... a frustrating exercise in self-indulgence," and the critics on Rotten Tomatoes mostly agreed with his analysis, giving "The Burning Plain" a 38% on the Tomatometer.
While the film didn't contribute much to pop culture as a whole, it did mark one of Jennifer Lawrence's very first roles in a feature film. In fact, it was during this movie's theatrical premiere that she had her first ever interview with MTV, a clip in which she, true to form, talks about pranking Mel Gibson with a fart machine. Never change, J-Law.
Red Sparrow (2018)
In 2018's "Red Sparrow," J-Law took a page out of Scarlett Johansson's playbook and tried her hand at becoming a Russian spy. In the dramatic thriller, Lawrence re-teamed with "Hunger Games" director Francis Lawrence to play Dominika Egorova, a renowned ballerina who's recruited into a secret Russian intelligence organization after a career-ending injury. As a Sparrow, Egorova learns the art of sexual manipulation, using her body as a tool for espionage.
While the film wasn't a complete box office bomb (it took in $151 million worldwide on a reported $70 million production budget), it shouldn't be considered one of Lawrence's most memorable movies. NME's Alex Flood calls it "a rare misstep" from the highly-respected actress, a feeling that was relatively mutual amongst the other Rotten Tomatoes critics, as the film was given a 45% score on the Tomatometer. Not terrible, but could've been worse.
Despite its very "meh" reception, the spy thriller at least gave Lawrence a chance to try something new. "I've never done a foreign accent before," she admitted while discussing the film with ET. "It was daunting and scary but I hope we pulled it off." Lawrence's Russian accent wasn't a point of complaint from most critics, so mission accomplished.
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
By her third portrayal of Raven Darkholme AKA Mystique in 2016's "X-Men: Apocalypse," Jennifer Lawrence probably felt pretty at home around the X-Men set. Perhaps this is why she felt no shame in telling Collider that she was most likely the actor that ruined the most takes while shooting. Lawrence even admitted that there was one scene involving James McAvoy's Professor X and Cerebro that she simply couldn't get through without laughing. "I think that I had to sit out for that scene and they had to digitally put me back in. I couldn't do it."
Although "Apocalypse" provided J-Law with some laughs behind the scenes, critics were apparently less amused with the film's final product. RogerEbert.com's Angelica Jade Bastien condemned it "a confused, bloated mess of a film," and Entertainment Weekly's Chris Nashawaty hilariously noted that Oscar Isaac's all-powerful mutant villain, En Sabah Nur, "looks like a cross between 'Watchmen's' Doctor Manhattan and the breakfast-cereal specter Booberry." Still, it wasn't all bad press, as the film inched out a 47% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. Let's face it: as far as X-Men movies go, "Apocalypse" is far from the worst.
Don't Look Up (2021)
After taking a lengthy acting hiatus, J-Law finally returned to the movie biz in 2021's "Don't Look Up," Adam McKay's timely "end of the world" satire. Lawrence starred as Kate Dibiasky, a quirky astronomy grad student who discovers that an Apocalypse-level comet is headed straight towards Earth, putting the planet at risk of extinction. The film follows Dibiasky and her professor, Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio), as they try to plead their case for immediate action to the bureaucracy of the world. Spoiler alert: nobody takes them seriously.
Lawrence wowed her costars with her natural wit. DiCaprio noted to Vanity Fair that her "ability to improvise and be so in the moment at all times was amazing to witness," and three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep, who in the film hilariously channels Donald Trump to play the President of the United States, praised her as "a bold and unselfconscious actress."
The comedy split critics (it currently sits at a 56% score on the Tomatometer), but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone complaining about J-Law's performance. The Independent's chief film critic, Clarisse Loughrey, even wrote that one of Lawrence's scenes in particular made her realize "exactly how much [she'd] missed watching her on screen." Us too, Clarisse, us too!
Joy (2015)
For her third pairing with esteemed director David O. Russell, Lawrence took front and center in 2015's "Joy." Loosely based on real life television entrepreneur Joy Mangano, the film follows the story of an ambitious matriarch who strikes gold when she invents a revolutionary self-wringing mop. The film performed relatively well in the box office, where it brought in over $100 million worldwide, and critics also didn't seem to hate it, giving it a 60% score on the Tomatometer.
J-Law ended up earning an Oscar nomination for her pragmatic performance, making her the youngest actor to receive four Oscar nominations in history, but shooting the movie apparently wasn't all that easy. While promoting the movie on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," Lawrence explained that she contracted a stomach virus while on set in Massachusetts, leading to lots of puking. This understandably became a very unfortunate development while filming one of the film's romantic scenes. "The poor guy, I had to make out with somebody ... I'd start puking and then I'd do mouthwash and be like, 'Are you ready?'" Talk about taking one for the team!
The Beaver (2011)
Perhaps one of the most unique premises of its time, 2011's "The Beaver" featured two-time Academy Award winner Mel Gibson playing a depressed alcoholic who heals himself through the use of a beaver hand puppet. Directed by Jodie Foster, who also plays Gibson's wife in the film, the quirky dark comedy failed to make a big splash at the box office, and split critics on its overall quality (Rotten Tomatoes has it at a 62%).
Along with Gibson and Foster, Jennifer Lawrence also starred in the film as Norah, a classmate of Gibson and Foster's son, Porter (Anton Yelchin). Norah is a high school cheerleader and valedictorian, and, as Lawrence describes her, "the most normal character [she'd] played as a teenager." As Norah and Porter grow closer throughout the movie, Lawrence and Yelchin display great on-screen chemistry, chemistry they get to again show off a few months later in "Like Crazy," wherein Lawrence played Yelchin's assistant/love affair.
The Poker House (2008)
If you're wondering what life was like in rural Iowa during the '70s, 2008's "The Poker House" provides a pretty accurate depiction. Written and directed by "A League of Their Own" standout Lori Petty, the gritty period drama stars Jennifer Lawrence as Agnes, a young girl living with her mother, a strung-out sex worker named Sarah (Selma Blair), in a seedy brothel. Agnes does everything she can to protect her two younger sisters, Bee (Sophi Bairley) and Cammie (Chloë Grace Moretz), from the dangers that accompany their mother's lifestyle.
Petty wrote the movie based on her own true life story, presented through the character of Agnes. In an interview with Collider, Petty was asked what it was like directing Lawrence to play a younger version of herself. "I'm nuts. She played a character. I mean, I had to make her more of a jock and I had to make her poor. But it was a situation that she was in." The director went on to clown Lawrence on her apparently lacking basketball skills, but ultimately had nothing but kind words for the budding star. "You're a fine actress. So I don't care about the basketball."
"The Poker House" provided Lawrence with her first leading role in a feature film, and although the movie only had a limited theatrical release, it earned relatively average reviews from critics, currently sporting a 63% on the Tomatometer.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014)
In 2014's "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1," District 12 hero Katniss Everdeen grows into her expanding role within the Panem revolution, all the while grappling with the weight of becoming a symbolic figure. Her third time hoisting Katniss' bow, Jennifer Lawrence delivers perhaps her most self-indulgent performance of the series, at times both the strong face of a ruthless rebellion and the victim of a confusing teenage love triangle. Katniss may be an ace archer, but when it comes to romance, she's certainly no Cupid!
Although it's the lowest rated entry in the "Hunger Games" franchise, "Mockingjay — Part 1" still holds a pretty acceptable 69% on Rotten Tomatoes. It's perhaps best summed up by Vox Senior Correspondent Emily St. James, who wrote that it "might be the least of the ['Hunger Games'] films so far, but in dissecting the typical blockbuster film, it's staying true to that spirit." Oh, and did we also mention that it grossed over $750 million worldwide?! Not a bad floor for a very high-end series.
Mother! (2017)
In 2017, Jennifer Lawrence teamed up with "Requiem for a Dream" director Darren Aronofsky, to star in the anxiety-inducing horror film, "Mother!" The film featured Lawrence and Javier Bardem as an strange couple living in a secluded house. As the story unfolds, unexpected visitors bring strange happenings to the protagonists, ultimately resulting in some deeply unsettling imagery. As J-Law explained it to Entertainment Weekly, the film was "going to create a conversation. It's going to create a controversy."
Just as the talented actress predicted, the film did indeed create a conversation, especially amongst critics. However, it wasn't exactly a positive one. It originally received a dismal F CinemaScore Grade, but the eerily dark horror flick has since leveled out, currently sitting at a 68% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film's box office pull was far worse than that, bringing in less than $18 million domestically on a reported budget of $30 million. With such star power involved, this movie should've performed much better financially.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015)
Not all franchises have successful endings. In fact, some seemingly get worse with each sequential entry, such as Disney's drowning "Pirates of the Caribbean" universe, or the eye-rolling "Taken" sequels. "The Hunger Games" cinematic universe didn't fall victim to such a fate. 2015's series ending "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2" resonated with critics and audiences alike, earning a solid 70% on Rotten Tomatoes.
For her final outing as Katniss Everdeen, a character she'd played over three years and four films, Jennifer Lawrence made sure to leave it all on the proverbial court, a true bright spot on the film's overall performance. As the New York Times' Manohla Dargis wrote, "What makes the material still feel personal ... is the combination of Katniss and Ms. Lawrence, who have become a perfect fit. Ms. Lawrence now inhabits the role as effortlessly as breathing, partly because, like all great stars, she seems to be playing a version of her 'real' self." It's somewhat comforting that J-Law hit one last bullseye as Katniss before hanging up her bow for good.
Like Crazy (2011)
At the center of this touching romance is Felicity Jones and the late Anton Yelchin, playing young lovers Anna and Jacob. The two fall in love in Los Angeles, but things get a bit complicated when Anna is forced to return to England. This emotional outing resonated with critics and audiences alike, racking up an impressive 72% on the Tomatometer.
While Yelchin and Jones each delivered tremendously heartfelt performances, one could argue that Jennifer Lawrence stole every scene she was in. As Sam, one of Jacob's work colleagues who eventually becomes romantically entangled with him, J-Law treated audiences to the undeniable girl-next-door vibes she had become so well known for. Even Yelchin had nothing but nice things to say about his costar, raving about her while promoting the film back in 2011. "She's badass, from Kentucky, and grew up with a bunch of brothers," he told ONTD. "I love working with Jen."
The Hunger Games (2012)
Although she originally made a name for herself with her work on the "Bill Engvall Show," and then proved that she had serious acting chops with her Oscar-nominated performance in 2010's "Winter's Bone," Jennifer Lawrence's true breakout role was undeniably in 2012's "The Hunger Games." Starring as District 12's skilled and spunky survivor, Lawrence brought Katniss Everdeen to life from the pages of Suzanne Collins' award-winning novel. The film torched box offices to the tune of $694 million worldwide, becoming one of the biggest box office hits of the decade.
In an interview with BBC Radio 1, J-Law joked that she was "the worst part of the whole franchise," but fans of the "Hunger Games" films couldn't disagree more. With an 84%, the book adaptation is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and many critics credit Lawrence's portrayal as one of the key reasons why. For example, The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy swooned over the talented actress's take on such an iconic fiction character, crowning her as "an ideal screen actress" who "can convey a lot by doing little." Over 10 years later, "The Hunger Games" still holds up as one of J-Law's finest films to date.
X-Men: First Class (2011)
Although Fox's X-Men cinematic universe got off to a hot start with two relatively well received first entries, 2000's "X-Men," and 2003's "X2: X-Men United," things quickly starting going south after 2006's "X-Men: The Last Stand" and 2009's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" stunk up theaters — arguably two of the worst "X"-movies in the franchise to date. Enter director Matthew Vaughn, who along with a fresh-faced new cast and entertaining story, redeemed the reputation of on-screen mutants with 2011's "X-Men: First Class."
Instead of adding another adventure for the struggling pre-established continuity, Vaughn and team decided to throw it back to the 1960s, giving fans a satisfying origin to how Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr originally met and assembled the first X-Men team. This ushered in a completely new crew to portray infamous comic book characters, such as James McAvoy as Professor X, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, and Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique.
Vaughn's action flick was exactly the shot in the arm that Fox's series needed to get back on track, garnering high marks from esteemed critics and comic book fanboys alike. It's a Certified Fresh 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. Perhaps one of the most critical contributors to the film's success was how well the cast gelled together. "First Class" suggests that the movie's stars get along behind the scenes, a fact that J-Law confirmed when speaking to IGN. "We all really legitimately like each other, and we all will be friends after this."
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
An extraordinary sequel, "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" proved that Katniss Everdeen and Jennifer Lawrence were both girls on fire: Katniss, the face of a revolution adored by even the population of the people of the Capitol, and J-Law, a certified A-lister in Hollywood who's mere presence could make any movie a massive amount of money. "Catching Fire" set the record for best November debut of all time, pulling in an incredible $161.1 million during its first weekend in theaters. To date, its the highest grossing "Hunger Games" entry, having taken in over $865 million worldwide.
Box office numbers are all well and good, but sometimes can be misleading in terms of how good a movie really is. That is not the case with "Catching Fire," which proudly posits a 90% Tomatometer score, the best rated "Hunger Games" flick in the arsenal and one of the rare sci-fi sequels to actually be better than the original.
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
It's no secret that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the gold standard for comic book movies these days. That being said, there have been several explosive superhero flicks over the years that didn't need Kevin Feige's involvement to be resonate with fans. One of the best Marvel movies not in the MCU is certainly "X-Men: Days of Future Past," which enjoys a 90% score from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
As far as time travel movies go, "Days of Future Past" does a good job of not becoming too convoluted. In order to prevent an apocalyptic threat to both mutant and humankind alike, the X-Men of the distant future send Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back in time to 1973 in order to stop Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from assassinating Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage), an event that kickstarts the creation of the Sentinel program that ultimately destroys the world.
It's a film that's unique in that you get both the older generation of the "X-Men" cast, and their younger on-screen counterparts from the "First Class" generation, which was a real treat for the casual fanboy.
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Although she's been nominated for four Academy Awards to date, the only time that Jennifer Lawrence has taken home the Best Performance Oscar was for her work on 2012's "Silver Linings Playbook," an incredibly well-received drama that featured perhaps the young actor's best performance of her career.
In the David O. Russell directed drama, Bradley Cooper plays Pat, an unstable man who, after being released from a mental institution, has to adapt to life without his ex-wife, who has placed a restraining order against him. Things get especially interesting when he's introduced to Tiffany (Lawrence), a former sex addict who promises to deliver letters to Pat's ex-wife if he agrees to help her win an upcoming dance competition.
"Silver Linings Playbook" is an exceptionally well-crafted story that perfectly combines dark humor and thought provoking introspective. Cooper and Lawrence each deliver masterful performances as their vulnerable characters, and when they are together, they make cinematic fireworks on screen. The 92% Tomatometer score speaks for itself, marking one of the highest rated movies in J-Law's filmography.
American Hustle (2013)
You know a film is a home run when almost all of its leading actors get nominated for Academy Awards, which is exactly what happened with 2013's "American Hustle." The star-studded drama, which RogerEbert.com's Christy Lemire accurately described as a "'70s crime romp that's ridiculously entertaining in all the best ways," was nominated for a whopping 10 Oscars at the 2014 Academy Awards, including best performances for Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.
The film, loosely based on the infamous Abscam sting operation of the late 1970s, stars Bale as Irving Rosenfeld, a clever conman forced to work with an ambitious FBI Agent (Cooper) to take down Camden, New Jersey's charismatic mayor, Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner). Things get especially interesting when Irv's romantic life gets involved, a tricky love triangle between his partner in crime, Sydney Prosser (Adams), and his dramatically clingy wife, Rosalyn (Lawrence).
Critics lauded the heist drama with a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. A lot of that praise had to do with Lawrence, who steals every scene that she's in. When speaking to Deadline, Russell discussed his budding relationship with Lawrence, praising her incredible ability to fully embody the characters she plays. "Every grain of what she does reeks of some authentic character that maybe you've never met but you are suddenly sitting with." It's no wonder that when Russell and Lawrence team up, good things tend to happen.
Winter's Bone (2010)
The highest rated film on Jennifer Lawrence's resume to date is the film that put her on the map: 2010's "Winter's Bone." With a sky high 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, the desolate drama stars Lawrence as Mountain Girl Ree Dolly, a young woman thrust into the matriarchal role of her family. When she learns that her drug dealing dad put her family's Ozark home up for bond, Ree takes it upon herself to track him down for the sake of her younger siblings.
The success of "Winter's Bone" is almost entirely reliant on the performance of its leading lady, and the young Kentuckian star delivered in a big way. The Guardian's film critic, Peter Bradshaw, called the film's genre "hillbilly-gangster-realist-noir," noting that "it is all given unironic dignity and power due to the outstanding lead performance from 20-year-old Jennifer Lawrence as Ree." Lawrence's take on Ree earned the actress her first Oscar nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, and although the award ultimately went to Natalie Portman for "Black Swan," J-Law had officially arrived as one of Hollywood's most prominent stars.