Happiest Season: Mackenzie Davis’ 10 Best Movies Ranked By IMDb

Mackenzie Davis has quickly become a rising star in Hollywood as these great performances prove. Hulu’s recent release of Happiest Season marks another entry in the burgeoning career of actress Mackenzie Davis. In just a few short years, she’s made the leap from indie film to mainstream blockbusters in addition to starring on AMC’s hit show Halt & Catch Fire and the classic Black Mirror episode entitled “San Junipero.” Now, audiences are finally noticing this powerhouse actress’s extraordinary talent.

Despite it being early in her career, Mackenzie Davis has starred in a slew of great movies, portraying strong and active characters giving performances that are genuine and true. She lights up the screen, stealing every scene she’s in, and easily allowing audiences to invest in her characters. These diverse performances are only a marker for more amazing work yet to come from this extremely talented actress.

10 The Turning – 3.8

The Turning is an adaptation of the 1898 story The Turn of The Screw by Henry James and concerns a governess played by Davis who begins to believe the children she’s been hired to watch are possessed.

Unfortunately, the film came out the same year as The Haunting of Bly Manor series on Netflix, which is a more successful adaptation of the same material. While Davis gives a truly great performance, the film fails to take the material anywhere new or interesting. Furthermore, the ending is one of the most bizarre and jarring conclusions to a film in recent memory and will leave fans bewildered and unsatisfied when the end credits suddenly appear on-screen.

9 Izzy Gets The F*ck Across Town – 5.5

Izzy Gets The F*ck Across Town is a 2017 indie film produced and starring Davis. She plays Izzy, a struggling musician who finds out her ex-boyfriend has gotten engaged, and the film takes place during her odyssey to get across town to confront him at the engagement party.

Izzy was Davis’ first lead role and she shines in each scene of this charming low-budget indie, proving she’s capable of carrying an entire film.

8 Always Shine – 5.6

Always Shine is a 2016 psychological thriller directed by Sophia Takal and stars Mackenzie Davis as a talented but struggling actress who’s viciously jealous of her best friend’s successful acting career, played by Caitlin Fitzgerald.

The film focuses on a weekend getaway between the two friends where Davis’ character’s behavior toward her friend becomes progressively erratic. Davis is bone-chilling in every one of her increasingly unnerving scenes. Always Shine focuses on the friends’ intense rivalry but also makes a statement about what it takes for women to have success in Hollywood. The first tension-filled hour is nail-biting, but viewers might find the last half-hour’s shift in tone and pace frustrating.

7 That Awkward Moment – 6.1

That Awkward Moment is a 2014 rom-com starring Zac Efron, Miles Teller, and Michael B. Jordan who all make a pact to stay single in the wake of the latter’s divorce.

That Awkward Moment is a bro-comedy and Davis plays the character Daniel’s best friend/wing woman. While Mackenzie Davis gives a very natural performance, her relationship with Daniel doesn’t feel earned and her character just plays second fiddle to the main three men. However, when Davis is able to stretch her comedic acting chops she does, clearly conveying she’s skilled at improv comedy.

6 Terminator: Dark Fate – 6.2

Terminator: Dark Fate was the sixth film in the Terminator franchise and the true sequel to T2. The film was a modest hit among critics but bombed with audiences, possibly due to franchise fatigue.

However, Mackenzie Davis stands out as the best thing about the movie. She proves she’s not only talented with dramatic scenes but action as well. She gives a very earnest performance as a driven, dedicated, and determined former resistance soldier now tasked with protecting the new future savior of humanity.

5 Irresistible – 6.2

Irresistible was the second film written and directed by The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart. It stars Steve Carell and Rose Byrne as warring campaign managers behind a mayoral campaign in a Wisconsin small town.

The film was critically maligned when released but it’s actually a very funny and prescient comedy. Davis is “irresistible” as the daughter of the mayoral candidate Steve Carell’s character is desperate to help win. Davis spends most of the movie in the background but as the movie progressive becomes more and more integral to the film’s story and message, that by the end, audiences realize she was the most important character all along.

4 Happiest Season – 6.8

Happiest Season is the new Hulu Christmas-set rom-com starring Kristen Stewart as a woman who spends Christmas with her girlfriend’s family, played by Davis, whom she discovers has not come out to them yet.

While Happiest Season, at times, succumbs to the genre’s cliches, the conflict between Stewart and Davis is strong and real, with them both giving great performances in what many will find to be a very relatable holiday comedy.

3 Tully – 7.0

Tully is the third collaboration between director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody, and they deliver a powerful comedic drama about the postpartum life of Marlo, played by Charlize Theron, who hires a night nanny, named Tully, played by Davis, to look after Marlo’s baby.

In the process, a close friendship develops and the charming and genuine Tully makes Marlo feel good at a time where she feels alone and neglected. The film is funny, sad, thoughtful, and even has a Sixth Sense level twist. Uniquely original yet criminally overlooked, Tully proves Mackenzie Davis is a force to be reckoned with, delivering another truthful performance hitting audiences’ emotions on every level.

2 The Martian – 8.0

Matt Damon stars in this Ridley Scott-directed sci-fi film and Best Picture nominee. Matt Damon plays an astronaut stranded on Mars and Mackenzie Davis stands out as Mindy Park, a member of the team trying to help bring him home.

Some groups criticized Davis’ casting due to the fact that the source novel described her character as being Korean. However, critics praised her performance for the ability to hold her own among established stars like Jeff Daniels, Kirsten Wiig, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

1 Blade Runner 2049 – 8.0

Blade Runner 2049 was the long-awaited sequel to Ridley Scott’s original sci-fi classic. Mackenzie Davis stars as a replicant named Mariette, who’s a member of a replicant freedom group that assists Ryan Gosling’s Blade Runner character.

It’s a small but memorable role and even sparked controversy with her inclusion in a robot threesome, igniting discussion about the film’s social commentary on woman’s roles in society. The film was a critical hit, with many hailing it as a masterpiece, but, like its predecessor, this thoughtful and slow-paced epic failed to attract at the box-office. However, it was another notable mainstream role for Davis and cemented her as an A-list level talent with big prospects on her horizon.

About The Author