Many actors that get their start in Hollywood at an early age get consumed by the glamor and fame, burning out by the time they reach maturity. It’s an unfortunate phenomenon that comes with its own warnings about the allure of life in the public eye. One notable exception to this phenomenon, however, is Natalie Portman, who began her film career at the age of twelve starring in director Luc Besson’s racy 1994 thriller Léon: The Professional.
Portman swiftly became known for her maturity and presence on set, and her star has never dimmed in Hollywood since her early start. Portman worked steadily throughout her adolescence into adulthood, even filming the Star Wars prequel trilogy while earning a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Harvard University. The strength of her performances earned her awards, critical praise, and consideration for some of the most iconic roles in cinematic history. From her impressive résumé of films, here are the most rewatchable Natalie Portman movies, ranked.
10
‘Annihilation’ (2018)
Directed by Alex Garland
Annihilation is a film that tests the boundaries of the “rewatchable” for a lot of viewers, especially those not inclined to films from the horror genre. But for its thought-provoking commentary on isolation, nature, and grief, this is definitely a horror film that deserves at least a second look. This genre-bending science fiction horror thriller was written and directed by Alex Garland, based on the first novel in author Jeff VanderMeer‘s Southern Reach Series. Portman depicts Lena, a cellular biology professor who is also a former US Army soldier, tasked with leading a team into a mysterious zone where an alien membrane is slowly expanding and altering the genetic code of all the living organisms it surrounds.
This absorbing and chilling film takes a fascination with alien organisms and earthly entanglements and gives it a horrific twist. The terrifying creatures in the film are even more unsettling for their familiarity. And the film evades tidy conclusions, leaving a queasy open-ended feeling to the eerie interrogations raised in the narrative.
Annihilation
- Release Date
-
February 23, 2018
- Runtime
-
115 Minutes
9
‘Closer’ (2004)
Directed by Mike Nichols
Closer is a romantic drama with an ensemble cast that delivers stellar performances in the intersecting narratives of the film. The screenplay was written by playwright Patrick Marber, based on his award-winning 1997 stage play of the same name. If some viewers are struck by the heightened dialogue and intense emotional landscape of the film as it dives into its exploration of themes of modern love and chance encounters, this might have to do with its origins on the stage.
The film can lean into the melodramatic as it explores the intersecting lives of two couples in the throes of their own romantic affairs. Portman portrays escort and exotic dancer Alice, who, in a chance encounter, meets writer, Dan Woolf (Jude Law), who writes a novel about her life. Their relationship entangles the lives of two other individuals, Larry (Clive Owen) and Anna (Julia Roberts). The complex interwoven betrayals and character revelations that occur throughout the film fluctuate between subtle and excessive in this complex ensemble piece. With stellar performances from the heavy-hitter cast, it is arguably Portman in her pink wig that stole the show for most viewers.
Closer
- Release Date
-
December 3, 2004
- Runtime
-
104 Minutes
8
‘The Other Boleyn Girl’ (2008)
Directed by Justin Chadwick
If the popularity of the Netflix series Bridgerton has proved anything, it’s that audiences crave a romantic and lusty period piece, and getting too invested in historical accuracy is entirely beside the point. That’s something to bear in mind when viewing The Other Boleyn Girl, a historical romantic drama about the lascivious King Henry VIII (Eric Bana) and his affairs with Mary Boleyn (Scarlett Johansson) and her sister, Anne (Portman). While armchair historians have noted the film depicts significant errors in both characterization and timeline accuracy for the historical figures it portrays, viewers can’t help but feel invested in the intrigue of the Tudor court drama.
The trailer for the film outlines the Machiavellian twists and turns viewers can expect from the tale of two sisters competing for a married King’s affection. King Henry’s maddening desire to produce a male heir to the throne, coupled with the temptations presented by the two Boleyn sisters, provides the backdrop for the film. The narrative is developed from the popular historical novel of the same name by Phillipa Gregory, and borrows its depiction of the two Boleyn sisters from its source.
7
‘May December’ (2023)
Directed by Todd Haynes
May December is an Oscar-nominated black comedy drama about an actress, Elizabeth Berry, who travels to meet and study the life of the subject of her next project, a woman named Gracie (Julianne Moore), who is known for the tabloid telling of her “May December” romance with her husband, Joe (Charles Melton). Their provocative relationship began when he was the 13-year-old playmate of Gracie’s son, and she was 36. Gracie went to prison for the rape of the young man, and during her prison sentence gave birth to his child. Once released, the two reunited and went on to be married for 23 years, and have three children together.
As Elizabeth arrives on the scene to study Gracie and Joe, the musical score of the film immediately alerts the viewers that there is a darker story being told beneath the light civilities exchanged between actress and subject. Portman’s portrayal of “Hollywood type” Elizabeth attempting to blend in with the neighbors and friends of Gracie’s small town betrays a reserved judgment that spreads out from beneath the veneer of sincerity she attempts to evoke. In her character study of Gracie, Elizabeth attempts to dig into the backstory of the salacious start to her marriage, and the duel to control the narrative begins when Gracie subtly attempts to influence Elizabeth’s perception of her, and the actress begins to formulate her own ideas for the character. The film asks the viewer to interrogate their own salacious interest in the kind of tabloid stories represented by Gracie and Joe’s relationship, and how dark the process of re-telling these stories can become.
May December
- Release Date
-
December 1, 2023
- Runtime
-
113 Minutes
6
‘Garden State’ (2004)
Directed by Zach Braff
Garden State is an indie darling from the early aughts, and the debut film from actor, writer, and director Zach Braff. The quirky story draws loosely from Braff’s real-life experience, depicting Andrew Largeman (Braff), who works as a struggling actor in Los Angeles, but gets called back to New Jersey when his mother dies unexpectedly. Andrew has felt detached after years of taking the medication his father prescribed him, and returning to his hometown and interacting with old friends after his mother’s funeral doesn’t seem to snap him out of his depression.
While at a doctor’s appointment for a headache, Andrew meets the eccentric Samantha (Portman), a pathological liar who admits she doesn’t know why she habitually tells falsehoods, but cheekily confesses that she almost always tells the truth after. Andrew grows increasingly and predictably infatuated with the manic pixie prototype he imagines Sam to be, and ends up confessing his feelings for her after admitting in an emotional monologue to having caused his mother to become paraplegic in a freak accident as a child. The film takes an interesting left turn in its romantic subplot when Sam, Andrew, and an old friend of his from high school, Mark (Peter Sarsgaard), end up tracking down a mysterious object that turns out to have sentimental origins.
Garden State
- Release Date
-
August 20, 2004
- Runtime
-
102 minutes
5
‘Léon: The Professional’ (1994)
Directed by Luc Besson
Besson’s controversial spy thriller film Léon: The Professional is an invitation to have a conversation about the separation of art from artist, and also the tendency in Hollywood to protect and defend male directors that create brilliant films, despite their questionable personal histories. While the concept of an older male mentor figure training a young woman to become an elite assassin is not an entirely new premise, Léon: The Professional walks a different line by adding the romantic feelings of its young 12-year-old Lolita-esque protagonist Mathilda (Portman) towards her mentor Léon (Jean Reno). This subplot did not age especially well with the controversy that arose when it was made known Besson had been dating a 15-year-old actress, Maïwenn Le Besco, whom he would later marry in 1992.
However, Portman’s debut performance as Mathilda, who is seeking revenge against the corrupt DEA agent (Gary Oldman) responsible for killing her family, is astonishing in its maturity. Young Portman demonstrated the absorbing capabilities that she continues to carry within her career in this initial performance. The film remains an astonishingly rewatchable addition to the action-thriller genre.
4
‘Jackie’ (2016)
Directed by Pablo Larraín
Pablo Larraín kicked off his trilogy of biopics about significant women from the 20th century with his historical drama about Jacqueline Kennedy, 2016’s Jackie. This would be followed by the 2021 film Spencer, where the bold casting choice of having Kristen Stewart portray Lady Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, during an uncomfortable Christmas weekend in 1991. The trilogy was recently rounded out with Maria in 2024, with Angelina Jolie in a captivating performance as opera singer Maria Callas.
In Jackie, Portman portrays the vulnerable and visibly shaken first lady in this somber character study, set in the devastating aftermath of the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy (Caspar Phillipson). A week after the traumatic event, Jacqueline was asked to sit down with a journalist (Billy Crudup) to speak about her husband’s legacy and to put words to the nation’s extraordinary grief over what was felt to be a shared loss of the President.
Jackie
- Release Date
-
December 2, 2016
- Runtime
-
100minutes
3
‘Heat’ (1995)
Directed by Michael Mann
Heat is a study in narrative pacing, keeping an iron grip on the audience’s attention from beginning to end. This 1995 crime drama features a stunning ensemble cast, including Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, and Ashley Judd. The film follows the conflict between a Los Angeles Police lieutenant, Vincent Hanna (Pacino), and the gang of career criminals surrounding the high-stakes thief, Neil McCauley (De Niro).
Portman plays Hanna’s troubled step-daughter, Lauren. Her role was brief, but made an incredible impact, once again foregrounding her maturity in tackling yet another role of a complex young woman in a very adult world. After separating from his third wife, Justine, Lauren’s mother, Vincent finds his step-daughter in his hotel room after a suicide attempt. He manages to save her in a mad dash to the hospital, and agrees to reconcile with his wife, despite both parental figures acknowledging their union will never last. Portman’s role in the heist film is small, but adds extra layers of tension to the narrative as Vincent and Neil make their way towards the film’s spectacular finale shootout.
Heat
- Release Date
-
December 15, 1995
- Runtime
-
170 minutes
2
‘Black Swan’ (2010)
Directed by Darren Aronofsky
The haunting intensity of Portman’s portrayal of ballerina Nina Sayers in her quest to embody both the white and black swan in the coveted lead role in the New York City Ballet’s performance of Swan Lake made a lasting impact. Nina is at first perceived as depicting too much of the vulnerability and fragility of the white swan to be considered capable of evoking the dark sensuality of the black swan. This leads Nina to broaden her own sensual experience of the world, taking her through a darkly transformative journey.
The film’s elegant handling of the themes of virtuous innocence tempted towards dark sensuality, and the ties between great art and madness, earned it almost instantaneous critical acclaim. Portman’s commitment to the role involved tortuous ballet training, just as Nina’s transition into the black swan comes with its own growing pains of transformation. Nina’s experimentation with sensuality and her competitive drive pushes her to a madness that bolsters her performance as the black swan, but with tragic consequences.
Black Swan
- Release Date
-
December 3, 2010
- Runtime
-
108 minutes
1
‘V for Vendetta’ (2005)
Directed by: James McTeigue
The screenplay for director James McTeigue‘s film adaptation of Alan Moore‘s DC Vertigo comic V for Vendetta was written by the Wachowskis. The dystopian thriller is set in a future where a fascist totalitarian regime has seized control of the UK government in the wake of a global pandemic. Anarchist and masked freedom fighter V (Hugo Weaving) has plotted an intricate terrorist plot designed to interrupt the government’s tight control over the media consumed by the nation.
This film is the most rewatchable of Portman’s performances, as the radicalization of her character, Evey Hammond, becomes an engaging side plot in V’s reign of terror against the government. V imitates agents of the government in a plot to kidnap Evey, subjecting her to torture and depersonalization techniques in order to force her to see the evils being committed by her government. Evey recognizes that V is actually avenging victims of the government’s heinous crimes, and gradually develops feelings for her once captor. The film’s message about the importance of symbolic resistance to government oppression is both timeless and prescient, making this the most rewatchable of Portman’s movies.