Toni Collette: 10 Best Movies, According To Rotten Tomatoes

Australian actress Toni Collette has been doling out fantastic performances for decades, but she’s become more popular among American audiences in recent years due to her roles in Ari Aster’s Hereditary and Rian Johnson’s Knives Out. A Sydney native, Collette started her career in theatrical productions and transitioned into film. Her breakout role was in the 1994 film Muriel’s Wedding.

Collette is known for her raw, affected performances, and she’s earned numerous awards, nominations, and critical accolades over her extensive career. She isn’t afraid to tackle dark, emotionally evocative scripts, and her ability to immerse herself in her characters makes her one of the most talented actors working today. Here are Collette’s 10 best films according to Rotten Tomatoes.

10 Imperium (2016) – 85%

In this political thriller, Daniel Radcliffe plays a young FBI agent, Nate Foster, investigating terrorist plots. After some radioactive materials are stolen, his colleague Angela Zamparo, played by Collette, recruits him to go undercover to infiltrate the Neo-Nazi group suspected of the theft.

With its socially relevant subject matter, tense tone, and stellar performances, Imperium received positive reviews from critics. Foster delves deep into the vast networks of white supremacists and the people who support their efforts, from conservative radio hosts to on-the-ground organizers.

9 The Sixth Sense (1999) – 86%

M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense is one of the highest-grossing horror movies of all time, and it earned multiple Oscar nominations, including one for Collette’s performance as the mother of a boy cursed with the ability to see dead people, Cole Sear. As Lynn Sear, Collette plays a concerned and loving mother worried about her son’s welfare and mental health.

Bruce Willis plays a child psychologist, Malcolm Crowe, who works with Cole. As he spends more time with Cole, Crowe comes to accept the child’s extra-sensory ability is legitimate. Courtesy of the famous Shyamalan twist, the film ends by flipping the reality of the characters’ lives presented to the audience for the majority of the film.

8 Hereditary (2018) – 89%

In Hereditary, Collette plays a troubled miniature artist, Annie Graham, reeling from the death of her distant mother. Unfortunately, after her mother’s death, Annie’s life takes one terrible turn after another, including the horrific death of her 13-year-old daughter, Charlie.

Collette gives a heartbreaking performance as a grief-stricken mother and spouse. The events in the film strain her relationship with her husband, Steve, and her son, Peter. As negative circumstances pile up against her family, Annie comes to a startling realization: her late mother was part of a cult hoping to resurrect the demon Paimon, and her daughter’s clan will be the sacrifice needed to bring the entity to Earth.

7 Dinner With Friends (2001) – 90%

Collette stars alongside Dennis Quaid, Andi McDowell, and Greg Kinnear in this HBO adaption of a Pulitzer-Prize winning play by Donald Margulies. McDowell and Quaid play a couple, Gabe and Karen, who set up their friends Tom and Beth, played by Kinnear and Collette. Tom and Beth fall in love and marry, and the four enjoy spending time together.

Things go south, and Tom eventually leaves Beth for another woman, forcing Gabe and Karen into a tug-of-war between their divorcing friends. Gabe and Karen learn a lot about themselves and their union as Tom and Beth’s partnership dissolves before their eyes.

6 Little Miss Sunshine (2006) – 91%

This indie gem from the mid-2000s sees Collette acting alongside Greg Kinnear again, as well as Steve Carell, Paul Dano, and Alan Alda. A quirky road trip film, Abigail Breslin’s character Olive is at the heart of the action. She plays a nerdy 7-year-old who has decided she wants to participate in a beauty pageant and her dysfunctional extended family decide to make her dreams come true.

Collette plays Olive’s mother, Sheryl, while Dano is her Neitzsche-reading older brother and Alda her drugged-out grandfather. Carell plays her suicidal uncle who is grieving from the loss of his long-term partner, and Kinnear is her father, a complicated motivational speaker by trade.

5 Hearts Beat Loud (2018) – 91%

An upbeat indie comedy, Hearts Beat Loud is about a father and daughter who heal through music. Nick Offerman plays a Brooklynite and widower who owns a failing record store. One night, after recording a song with his teenage daughter, Offerman’s character Frank decides to upload it to Spotify, where it goes viral.

Seeing a chance to do what he’s always wanted and form a real band, Frank urges his daughter, who is set on going to college in California at the end of the summer, to pursue this opportunity with him. In the film, Collete plays Frank’s landlord, Leslie.

4 About A Boy (2003) – 93%

Based on a book by Nick Hornby, About A Boy stars Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult as British men of different generations who forge an unlikely bond. Grant plays Will, a slacker living off its father’s fortunes, and Hoult plays Marcus, a pre-teen who lives with his single mother Fiona, played by Collette.

Fiona is a depressed and lonely woman who has trouble finding a stable partner and stepfather for her son. While Marcus hopes Will and his mother will strike a romance, Will sets his sights on another woman, Rachel, played by Rachel Weisz.

3 Mary And Max (2009) – 95%

A sweet, yet dark, stop motion animated feature, Mary and Max brings together a lonely Australian schoolgirl and a suicidal middle-aged Jewish man living in New York through letters. Collette voices Mary, who is bullied because of a birthmark on her face and receives little love or comfort from her distant and troubled parents.

Curious about America, Mary decides to send a letter to a random person in an American phone book, and she chooses Max, who is voiced by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. While he’s initially distraught by the letter, Max eventually responds, and the two find solace in each others’ words.

2 Enough Said (2013) – 95%

Collette acts in this indie comedy from Nicole Holofcener, which stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini as two single empty nesters who begin to fall for each other. Louis-Dreyfus’s character, Eva, is a masseuse, and when one of her clients starts complaining about her ex-husband, who turns out to be Gandolfini’s character Albert, her optimism about the potential union is shot.

Collete plays Eva’s happily married friend Sarah, who does what she can to provide a healthy perspective and support to her friend.

1 Knives Out (2019) – 97%

Rian Johnson’s ensemble whodunnit proved to be a huge success, and the talented cast of actors who play heirs to Harlan Thrombley’s fortune is responsible for keeping the action so entertaining. Johnson’s smart script also helps. When Harland is found dead the morning after his 85th birthday, Joni and the rest of the Thrombeys are all implicated in his murder. The investigation is spearheaded by PI Benoit Blanc, played by Daniel Craig.

Collette plays Joni Thrombey, a lifestyle guru who is the widow of Harlan’s son, Neil. She has a college-age daughter, Meg, whose tuition is paid for by Harlan. It turns out, though, that Joni hasn’t been using the money for Meg’s tuition as intended.

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