Tilda Swinton’s 10 Best Movies, Ranked By IMDb

Hailed as one of the most versatile actors of her generation, Tilda Swinton continues to be a force on the big screen. Whether working with some of the best filmmakers around, including Wes Anderon, Guillermo Del Toro, Charlie Kaufman, David Fincher, the Coen brothers, and many more, the Oscar-winning Swinton always delivers a highly convincing performance.

With a handful of projects in various stages of production, including George Miller’s upcoming Three Thousand Years of Longing, it’s worth highlighting the best of Swinton’s filmography as seen through the IMDb lens.

10 The Souvenir Part II – 7.4

Sequels don’t often surpass the original. However, The Souvenir Part II proves to be an exception, garnering a rating one full IMDb point higher than its predecessor. Swinton reprises her role as Rosalind in the Joanna Hoag romantic drama, in which Julie continues to hash out her feelings for Anthony.

Having known Hoag since childhood, Swinton has a unique insight into the director’s crushing autobiographical story and gives a nuanced performance that reflects such. More profound yet, Swinton’s daughter Honor Swinton Byrne plays the lead role, adding extra verisimilitude.

9 Uncut Gems – 7.4

While she bears a very distinct voice, many fans may not realize that Swinton played an uncredited voice role in Uncut Gems. She plays Ann, Adley’s auction manager for the Boston Celtics who is often heard talking on the phone. The other female voice at the auction house is that of Natasha Lyonne.

Uncut Gems follows Howard (Adam Sandler in one of his best dramas), a seedy New York jeweler looking for one big score when bets his life savings on a key Celtics game. A character-driven crime film, IMBd users are far more polarized than critics, who heaped unanimous praise on the film upon release.

8 We Need To Talk About Kevin – 7.5

A deeply unnerving psychological thriller, We Need To Talk About Kevin attempts to get into the mind of a troubled teen school shooter and how his mother Eva (Swinton) does everything in her power to prevent him from causing more harm from adolescence to teenhood.

Told in flashback, Eva reflects on the love she has for her child and the mutual abuse they treated each other with, leading to a harrowing confrontation that tests the limits of her love. Swinton earned BAFTA and SAG nods for Best Leading Actress for her stunning performance, with many IMDb fans warning of the difficult yet necessary subject matter.

7 Doctor Strange – 7.5

As The Ancient One in Doctor Strange, Swinton lends a zenlike spiritual vibration that gets to the heart of the movie’s philosophical themes. As such, it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role, which makes her credited absence in the upcoming Sam Raimi sequel so disappointing.

The origin story of Stephen Strange is a terrific action spectacle because it uses germane visual effects to genuinely advance the story rather than boast random unconnected explosions for the sake of fan service. IMDb users slightly favor the film over critics (72 Metascore), indicating the movie’s crowd-pleasing broad appeal. For the uninitiated, do wise and learn things never known about The Ancient One.

6 Adaptation. – 7.7

Bolstering a stellar supporting cast, Swinton plays Valerie Thomas in one of Spike Jonze’s best movies, Adaptation, a producer who springboards the plot by hiring Charlie Kaufman to adapt The Orchid Thief to the screen. The absurdist meta-comedy becomes a hilarious story within a story that is hard to resist.

While her part is minor in the movie, it couldn’t be more integral to the plot, which finds Kaufman working up the courage to speak to The Orchid Thief author Susan Orlean and advance the screen adaptation. Quirky and wildly imaginative, it’s funny to see Swinton play one of her most subdued roles in one of her weirdest movies.

5 Isle Of Dogs – 7.8

Released in 2018, Isle of Dogs marks the third time Swinton worked with Wes Anderson. Sort of like The Ancient One, Swinton uses her worldly gravitas to voice Oracle, a sage pug that turns out to not possess the ability to see the future as previously thought. Instead, Oracle can simply understand the TV.

Set in Japan, the movie traces a young boy who teams up with five dogs to help find his missing pet pooch. Part buddy comedy, part coming-of-age tale, and part road movie, most IMDb users agree the movie is an affectionate homage to both childhood and the country of Japan.

4 Moonrise Kingdom – 7.8

With over twice as many votes as Isle of Dogs, Moonrise Kingdom marks the first Swinton-Anderson collaboration. The film about two preteen runaways pursuing a romantic bond is extremely endearing thanks to its young stars and eccentric supporting cast.

Hilariously cold and impersonal, Swinton plays a cruel character called Social Services, an existential threat to the missing children and their parents desperate to find them. Swinton can play a villain with the best of them, and here she sets the consequential stakes for the kids should they fail to return safely.

3 The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button – 7.8

With over 300,000 votes more than Moonrise Kingdom, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a top-three Tilda Swinton movie, per IMDb. Directed by David Fincher from the F. Scott Fitzgerald story, the timeless classic is fantastically imaginative and impeccably crafted.

Swinton plays Elizabeth Abbott in the film, a British trade minister with whom Benjamin has an affair in 1941 Murmansk. Swinton and Brad Pitt have electric chemistry in their scenes, making Benjamin’s heartbreak upon their split even more painful. Oddly enough, with a 70 Metascore, it’s one of Swinton’s movies favored more by IMDb users than critics.

2 The Grand Budapest Hotel – 8.1

In the second of four Wes Anderson collaborations to date, Swinton stood out quite a bit in the superb oddball comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel as the ultra-eccentric and affluent Madame D., the secret octogenarian owner of the hotel. When she dies and her two-decade affair with the concierge is revealed, a battle for her last will and testament ensues. The film currently ranks #189 on IMDb’s Top 250.

Played with dead-pan humor, Swinton is almost unrecognizable in her role, a chameleonic trait the sublime actress has become synonymous with over the past 30 years. Old, young, male, female, good, or bad, Swinton can do it all.

1 Avengers: Endgame – 8.4

Since the MCU rules the multiplex these days, it comes as no surprise to see Avengers: Endgame top the list of Swinton’s highest-rated movies to date. The massive conclusion to the even bigger story arc depicts how the Avengers clap back at Thanos and destroy the infinity stones, leading to major changes in the superhero clan.