Naomi Watts is one of the best actresses of her generation. Between gripping awards-nominated dramas, indie comedies, challenging genre fare, collaborations with noted auteurs, and even a recurring role on Twin Peaks: The Return, Watts has done just about everything. She’s been nominated for two Academy Awards and had many box office successes, and she continues to diversify her portfolio with intriguing new roles. There aren’t many of her contemporaries who’ve managed to accomplish as much.
So why is Watts not always given the credit she deserves? Perhaps it's because her latest string of films haven’t been as well received. Her recent credits include a lot of independent films that either didn’t get widespread attention or were critically derided, including The Wolf Hour, Penguin Bloom, Boss Level, This Is The Night, and The Desperate Hour. She also has the unfortunate stigma of being “the mom in The Book of Henry.”
Let’s not forget that Watts is one of the best actors out there, and hopefully this brief decline doesn’t last much longer. Perhaps her upcoming role in the biographical film Infinite Storm will turn things around, but until then check out Watts’ eleven greatest films.
11. Demolition (2015)
The tragic passing of director Jean-Marc Vallee was a major loss for the industry, as Vallee had proven himself capable of tackling challenging projects that don’t fit any one particular genre. Demolition is somehow a very funny movie about grief; it follows the idiosyncratic investment banker Davis Mitchell (Jake Gyllenhaal) as he copes with his wife’s death. Davis starts an unusual relationship with the customer service representative of a vending machine (Watts’ Karen Moreno). It would have been so easy for Watts to be a “manic pixie dream girl,” but she’s just as troubled as Davis is. Their heartfelt dynamic, complemented by Karen’s son Chris (Judah Lewis), is both touching and humorous, thanks to these strong performances.
10. King Kong (2005)
The image of Fay Ray’s Ann Darrow on top of the Empire State Building in 1933’s King Kong is one of the most iconic moments in cinematic history, but there was certainly more that could be done with Ann as a character. Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake spends a lot of time honoring the beloved classic, but one of the major improvements it made was fleshing out Ann’s adaptability. She pursues her ambitions as an actress without taking anyone’s feelings for granted, including a giant ape. It takes a lot to land a climax as effective as the 1933 version, but Watts makes Kong’s death equally as devastating.
9. Fair Game (2010)
There aren’t a lot of movies about the Iraq War that are effective, but 2010’s Fair Game is the rare one that works. Fair Game succeeds by its focus on the daily anxieties of being a whistleblower. The film centers on Watts’ Valerie Plame, a CIA analyst whose husband Joseph Wilson (Sean Penn) exposes the Bush administration’s misinformation about weapons of mass destruction. It’s a searing criticism of the federal government, but it's seen through the prism of a marital ethical debate. Wilson went behind his wife’s back to spread the news. While she believes 100% in exposing the cover up, her husband also betrayed her agency. Watts shows this difficult situation with her excellent chemistry with Penn in their third collaboration after The Assassination of Richard Nixon and 21 Grams.
8. Stay (2005)
Stay didn’t land much of an impact on its initial release, but Marc Forster’s psychological thriller has steadily grown a cult appreciation among genre film fans that appreciate its latent poignance. Although it's framed as a mystery, Stay is a meditation on death that may take several viewings to fully appreciate and pick up on all the clues. Watts appears as a nurse who tries to understand why her husband, the psychiatrist Sam Foster (Ewan McGregor), is so obsessed with his suicidal patient Henry Letham (Ryan Gosling). Watts is far more than just “the wife.” Her character Lila Culpepper survived a past suicide herself, and she’s essential to appreciating Stay’s thoughtful message about the fleeting value of life.
7. Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
A film that’s constructed like Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) requires an entire ensemble that can bring their A-game. It’s also a film that’s inherently about performing arts, and the entire cast does a great job at showing the reality of working together through a difficult production. Watts didn’t receive the attention that her co-stars Michael Keaton, Edward Norton and Emma Stone did, but she gives thoughtful insights into what it's like to be an actress treated like a prop. When Norton’s Mike Shiner attempts to assault her character Lesley Truman during the middle of a live performance, she captures the humiliation and rage of the moment.
6. I Heart Huckabees (2004)
David O. Russell’s “existential comedy” I Heart Huckabees asks both the viewer and the actors to buy into a lot. It easily could have been nothing but a series of sketches bound by a loose pretense of satire, but I Heart Huckabees is so damn funny that it's worth appreciating on many levels. Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin star as idiosyncratic detectives that investigate their clients’ philosophical musings. The strange saga is highly critical of advertising and corporate culture, and Watts is absolutely perfect as the plastic spokeswoman Dawn Campbell. She’s the public front of a corrupt company who hilariously gives deceptive information with a smile.
5. While We're Young (2014)
Noah Baumbach’s generational dramedy contemplates how relationship goals change with age. The young couple Jamie (Adam Driver) and Darby (Amanda Seyfried) have a lot of the same issues that the middle-aged couple Josh (Ben Stiller) and Cornelia (Watts) do. Despite their 20-year age gap, the two couples develop an unusual friendship that inspires Josh and Cornelia to get in touch with their youthful ambitions. Watts does a great job at recognizing this excitement, but realizing it's not meant to last.
4. 21 Grams (2003)
Watts received her first Academy Award nomination for Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu’s stirring drama, and she’s rarely been as heartbreaking on screen. The film tells three intersecting stories within a nonlinear narrative, and each of the central performances deliver devastating emotional moments. Watts stars as Cristina Peck, a recovering drug addict who lives a happy life with her caring husband Paul (Sean Penn). Her world is disrupted when the ex-convict Jack Jordan (Benicio del Toro) is released from prison; Jordan killed Cristina’s previous husband and children in a hit-and-run. Cristina is both devastated and furious, and Watts captures the torment of having to relive the wounds you’ve thought have healed.
3. The Impossible (2012)
The Impossible is more than a standard disaster movie, but it also risked being a disrespectful depiction of true events. Telling the story of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that devastated Thailand from the perspective of an American family was a risk. Thankfully, director J.A. Bayona emphasizes the film’s ensemble nature, and he shows the vulnerability of a family being lost with no ways to communicate. Watts received her second Academy Award nomination for Best Actress with her powerful performance as Dr. Maria Bennett.
2. Eastern Promises (2007)
Watts is the emotional center point in David Cronenberg’s disturbing crime saga. It’s her empathy that sparks the revelations that initiate the plot. Watts stars as Anna Ivanovna Khitrova, a London midwife who cares for a dying pregnant teenager in her last moments. She keeps the girl’s diary after her death, and searches for a translation by visiting the seemingly kind Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl). Semyon is actually a Russian gangster, and his family’s “cleaner” Nikolai Luzhin (Viggo Mortensen) strikes up an unexpected friendship with Anna as he tries to protect her. In a film where everyone has deep secrets, Watts is the one character who is simply a good person and doesn’t try to hide it.
1. Mulholland Drive (2001)
Simply put, Mulholland Drive is one of the best movies ever made. David Lynch’s surrealist masterpiece was initially conceived as his television followup to Twin Peaks, but expanded the initial shoot into a film that has ranked highly among critical rankings in the 20 years since its release. Mulholland Drive can’t simply be “explained,” and each viewer brings their own interpretation. Watts is again the center point of a confusing, and potential maddening nonlinear saga. She’s an angel whose “city of dreams” turns into a nightmare. Watts’ Betty Elms comes to Los Angeles as an aspiring actress, and the haunting events she experiences leave her just as confused as the audience.