Olivia Colman is one of the most talented actresses of her generation and consistently stars in great movies. Born Sarah Caroline Sinclair, the Oscar-winner started her career on the BBC sketch comedy show Bruiser and gradually became a staple of British television. Colman is famous for her equal talent in drama and comedy, as seen by her range between hilarious shows like Fleabag and period dramas like The Crown, where she portrayed Queen Elizabeth II in seasons 3 and 4.
Colman’s career in movies skyrocketed in the 2010s, and she’s now one of the most revered actresses working today, constantly receiving unanimous praise from critics and recognition from major awards organizations, including the Academy Awards. There are also many great Olivia Colman roles people don’t know about representing her fun and versatile filmography, which also consists of indie productions and innovative animated features. Here’s a ranking of her very best movies.
9 Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (2022)
With incredible bursts of color and action, 2D blending into 3D, and a scary villain with a big twist to offer, it’s not surprising that Puss in Boots: The Last Wish received unanimous praise from critics and performed so well at the box office — becoming Olivia Colman’s top-grossing movie. She delivers a heartwarming vocal performance as Mama Bear, one of the members of Goldilocks’ chaotic family. She starts off as a low-key antagonist but goes through a beautiful arc at the end. The spinoff sequel is the best Shrek movie in almost 20 years and deservedly earned the franchise its fourth Oscar nomination in the Best Animated Feature category.
8 The Lobster (2015)
The Lobster has the power to puzzle anyone with its absurd synopsis: set in an alternate future, single people are sent to a hotel where they must find the love of their lives in 45 days, or else they will be turned into an animal of their choice and sent into the wilderness. Unsuspecting viewers might expect an unconventional love story, a conspiratorial thriller, or a black comedy that knows no limits. All these things can be found in The Lobster, in the weirdest way possible.
The Lobster is also one of the best Colin Farrell movies, and his performance is a great highlight, but the supporting characters also regularly steal the show. Rachel Weisz is as charming as ever while Olivia Colman plays the hotel manager. Her overly sophisticated and intentionally tedious character effectively encapsulates the counterfeit image of love that her establishment represents. It takes talent to perform such a lifeless character. The Lobster is a challenging movie but a great option for anyone looking for something beyond her more down-to-Earth dramas.
7 Tyrannosaur (2011)
Tyrannosaur showed the world what Olivia Colman could do in dramatic roles. A relatively obscure production with a small budget, it follows a violent man on a path of self-destruction who befriends an innocent Christian woman, played by Colman. Tyrannosaur is unsurprisingly one of Colman’s highest-rated movies on social media, as it does a great job of contrasting severe violence with a sensibility few movies achieve so realistically. Of course, much of this comes from the brilliant performance of the two leads. Tyrannosaur writer-director Paddy Considine, who is better known as an actor, won a BAFTA Film Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director, or Producer.
6 Locke (2013)
Steven Knight’s Locke became famous for taking place entirely in a car and unfolding its narrative solely through phone calls and Tom Hardy’s expressions. He plays the titular Locke, a successful man whose world begins to crumble in a single night. Locke is one of the best movies involving just one actor on screen, but it also offers one of Olivia Colman’s most inventive vocal performances. She’s only heard, on the other line of Locke’s phone calls, but it feels as if she’s in the same space as the main character, elevating the movie’s conflict and setting the path for a climax that sticks with viewers for quite some time.
5 Hot Fuzz (2007)
Hot Fuzz is the second movie in writer-director Edgar Wright’s Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, a series of absurd comedies that perfectly balance humor and violence. Again starring Shaun of the Dead‘s main duo, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, this is also considered one of the best action comedies of the 2000s. It follows a big-city cop who is demoted and sent to a tiny village that is suddenly hit by a wave of bloody and suspicious deaths. Olivia Colman plays the sole female officer in the village’s police department. It’s a small role but captures the power of her natural talent for comedy with an over-the-top and highly expressive performance.
4 The Mitchells Vs. The Machines (2021)
The Mitchells vs. the Machines offers a rare villainous role performed by Olivia Colman. She voices PAL, an evil AI with a minimalist white face who turns against humanity. A sweet sci-fi animated feature about family and trust, this Oscar-nominated movie also delivers clever social commentary on how humanity and technology are becoming a single entity, driven by similar greedy principles. Still, there’s always kindness and beauty to balance things, and that’s where the Mitchell family stands. Influenced by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Mitchells vs. the Machines uses a mix of 2D and 3D to craft a unique and exciting style, resulting in Colman’s most beloved animated release.
3 The Lost Daughter (2021)
The Lost Daughter follows a lonely woman on a summer vacation whose painful scars from the past come back after she meets a young mother. The movie was well-received by critics due to its strong screenplay and Olivia Colman’s heartrending performance, which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Colman drives the narrative at ease, bringing longing and melancholy to every frame through actions that are difficult to understand but charged with sentiment and emotional vexation. What’s even better is that she isn’t alone, as Dakota Johnson delivers a career-best performance while Jessie Buckley plays a younger version of Colman’s Lost Daughter character and also received an Oscar nomination.
2 The Father (2020)
The Father is Olivia Colman’s best-reviewed movie and features one of her most impactful performances. Based on a play, the adaptation doesn’t hide the influence of the stage, as its brilliant performances expand the corridors and walls of a small apartment into a private labyrinth. Anthony Hopkins takes the lead as an aging man losing his grip on reality, all the while refusing to comply with his daughter’s insistent attempts to assist him. The Father manages to transmit the melancholy and disorientation of the main character to the viewers in a sensorial approach, and Colman breathes empathy through her character’s difficult choice toward a person she deeply loves.
1 The Favourite (2018)
The Favourite plays like a twisted game, in which the three main characters constantly switch between submission and defiance to get the upper hand on one another. It’s a great movie about female villains, though it’s never easy to tell exactly who the bad guy is here. Olivia Colman portrays Queen Anne, an unstable monarch suffering from gout who displays constant shifts of humor. She’s the perfect vulnerable target in the feud between her most devoted servant, Sarah (Rachel Weisz), and Sarah’s cousin, Abigail (Emma Stone), who slowly sways the queen with her charm to gain her attention.
Marking her second collaboration with The Lobster writer-director Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite features Olivia Colman‘s best performance yet. She received numerous accolades for her work, including a Golden Globe, a BAFTA Film Award, and an Academy Award for Best Actress. The Favourite is outrageously hilarious and plays with the fragility of powerful people in a court ruled by chaos and hysteria, offering an unpredictable narrative that ends in a completely different spot from where it began.
