Thandie Newton’s 10 Best Movies According To Rotten Tomatoes

Thandie Newton is one of the most radiant and talented screen beauties of recent memory. Ever since making her feature film debut in 1992, Newton has gone on to enjoy a highly decorated career on both the big and small screen. She can handle serious period-dramas just as facilely as she can big-budget blockbusters, which is why she is such a perfect fit for the cerebral Westworld, a show that mixes high-concept sci-fi with tonal gravity and period set-pieces.

As a result, Thandie has won a Primetime Emmy and been nominated for two Golden Globes for her work as Maeve Millay in Westworld. While it may be the role of her lifetime, let’s check out Thandie Newton’s 1o best movies, according to Rotten Tomatoes!

10 Shade (2003) 67%

One of Newton’s lesser-known films is the underrated Shade, a box-office flop of a gambling flick costarring Sly Stallone, Gabriel Byrne, Jamie Foxx, Melanie Griffith and many more!

Centered on a gaggle of degenerate L.A. poker hustlers, the film takes a dramatic turn when top cardsharp The Dean (Stallone) is bilked out of a fortune, setting up a ruthless revenge plot in the process. The film cost roughly $10 million to produce and earned less than $500,000 in worldwide grosses. Newton plays Tiffany, a sexy femme fatale of sorts!

9 The Pursuit Of Happyness (2006) 67%

Despite the domestic strife the story necessitates, Newton paired well with Will Smith in the heartrending drama The Pursuit of Happyness. One might argue she’s the true heart and soul of the film!

The true story tracks Chris Gardner, a stubborn wannabe entrepreneur who invests his life savings in bone density scanners in the belief they are superior to X-ray machines. This leaves his estranged wife, Linda (Newton), to fend for herself, working double shifts to get by on her own while Chris wanders the streets with his son.

8 The Leading Man (1996) 69%

Newton has rarely been more ravishing than in The Leading Man, a sultry tale of triangulated love set in the world of dramatic theater. The chief reason why? Let’s just say she was living on a prayer!

Yup, Jon Bon Jovi costarred alongside Newton in the rarely-mentioned John Duigan film. The plot concerns Felix Webb (Lambert Wilson), a titanic playwright who becomes romantically infatuated with the stunning new actress Hilary Rule (Newton). While Felix pursues an affair with Hilary, leading man Robin (Bon Jovi) causes a diversion by courting Felix’s wife.

7 Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) 70%

Newton’s cinematic stock has soared since shining on Westworld. As a result, she’s added her name to the much-ballyhooed Star Wars saga. In other words, she’s officially made it to the top!

In Solo, the origin of the young Han (Alden Ehrenreich) is chronicled in harrowing detail. As a young flight cadet, Han vows to rescue his childhood pal Qi-ra (Emilia Clarke) from Imperial hostage. To do so, Han must defeat several criminal foes through the guidance of mentor Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson) and his wife, Val (Newton).

6 Crash (2004) 74%

Long before the Me Too Movement, Newton gave one of the most disturbingly authentic depictions of sexual harassment in the racially-charged conversation starter, Crash.

The Best Picture Winner of 2005 is a multi-narrative that weaves several personal tales into one larger mosaic. As the lives of several racially discriminated people in Los Angeles deal with hatred and intolerance at every turn, some find redemption, while others do not. The movie won three Oscars, most controversially beating out Brokeback Mountain for the top prize of the year!

5 Besieged (1998) 75%

Newton gives one of her absolute best leading performances in Bernardo Bertolucci’s Besieged, a tale of profound heartache and loving devotion not many people know about.

Newton plays Shandurai, an African woman put into exile in Italy following the imprisonment of her husband. Persistently courted by the odd Englishman Mr. Kinsky (David Thewlis), whose house she keeps in exchange for room and board, Shandurai desperately denies his advances. While advocating her husband’s release, Shandurai is left with an impossible choice.

4 Beloved (1998) 78%

If Besieged features one of her best turns to date, then Beloved boasts arguably Newton’s all-time greatest performance as the titular apparition.

In the adaptation of Toni Morrison’s celebrated tome, African-American slave Paul D. (Danny Glover) settles in with old friend Sethe (Oprah) and her daughter, Denver (Kimberly Elise). Soon, Sethe is visited by the mysterious spirit of a girl named Beloved (Newton). As they take Beloved into their home, a skein of supernatural phenomena occurs.

3 The Prophet (2011) 80%

Newton lends her soothing English accent to the 2011 documentary The Prophet, Gary Tarn’s film about the life teachings of Lebanese-American artist and philosopher Kahlil Gibran.

The film employs the writings of Gibran’s 1923 publication The Prophet to elucidate his philosophies on life, love, death, grief, crime, marriage, beauty, and other weighty themes of humanity. Despite the critical approval, the movie grossed a paltry $1,180 worldwide. Ironic for a movie homonymous with making money!

2 Gridlock’d (1997) 88%

As she often does, Newton stoles scenes from Tupac and Tim Roth in Gridlock’d, the buddy-crime flick about two heroin-addicted pals who look to walk the straight and narrow following a friend’s overdose.

Set in Detroit, Spoon (Tupac) and Stretch (Roth) are in a spoken-word group called Eight Mile Road. The third member is Cookie (Newton), a fellow addict who spits hotter rhymes than Godzilla. When Cookie ODs, Spoon and Stretch endure the worst day of their lives as they evade cops, drug dealers, debt collectors and the like.

1 Flirting (1991) 96%

Believe it or not, Newton’s very first feature film still ranks as her absolute best, according to RT. Talk about coming in hot!

Flirting follows the daring romantic exploits of free-wheeling boarding school students Danny (Noah Taylor) and Thandiwe (Newton), two lovelorn teens from opposite sides of the tracks. As Danny deals with violent bullying at school, he falls head over heels in love with Thandiwe, an African girl who attends a nearby private school. As the locals work to keep the two apart, Flirting turns into much more than either could have hoped for!