Since landing her first movie role in The Witch, Anya Taylor-Joy has gone on to star in some of the most celebrated movies and TV shows out there. Catapulting herself onto everyone’s TV screens at the height of the pandemic in Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, the award-winning actress captures attention whenever she’s on camera.
Despite only being in her late 20s, Taylor-Joy is already solidifying herself as a cornerstone in the industry, starring in films that encourage us to eat the rich (quite literally) in The Menu, to taking on one of the most beloved franchises in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. She’s cemented herself as Hollywood’s favorite scream queen in some of the creepiest films ever made, but the next moment, will shock you in a buzzy and flirtatious Jane Austen adaptation.
Ahead, we revisit the best Anya Taylor-Joy movies and TV shows of all time — ranked by someone who’s watched all of them.
10. Split (2016)
Anya Taylor-Joy graced many of our screens for the first time with M. Night Shyamalan’s Split, a psychological thriller starring James McAvoy as a man with dissociative identity disorder who captures three teen girls (one of which is Taylor-Joy’s character).
While the film has copped some rightful critiques about its damaging portrayal of dissociative identity disorder and mental illness more broadly, Taylor-Joy does a fantastic job at captivating audiences and delivering a convincing performance.
9. Barry (2016)
Barry is the biopic of Barack Obama’s first year at Columbia University, with Taylor-Joy playing Charlotte, a flirty love interest. With some great on-screen chemistry with Devon Terrell, Taylor-Joy shows that she’s capable of taking on real-world, current stories — and delivering them with irresistible charm.
8. Thoroughbreds (2017)
Scream Queen Anya returned for Thoroughbreds, a dark comedy teen thriller that focuses on the put-together student Lily (Taylor-Joy) and a social pariah Amanda (Olivia Cooke), with the two of them plotting to murder Lily’s shitty stepfather (Paul Sparks).
Taylor-Joy is peak creep here, displaying a downright terrifying manipulative streak, while also carefully balancing being both sympathetic and funny.
7. Last Night In Soho (2021)
From director Edgar Wright comes Last Night In Soho, a psychological horror that sees a woman (Thomasin McKenzie) gain visions of a captivating woman from the 1960s, Sandie (Taylor-Joy). Soon, she discovers that something more sinister is going on, featuring a very creepy Matt Smith.
While Last Night In Soho is definitely flawed and isn’t fully developed, Anya Taylor-Joy looks an absolute sight kitted in ’60s London gear. It’s a role that was simply made for her.
6. The Menu (2022)
2022 was a busy year for Taylor-Joy, releasing both The Northman and The Menu — another dark comedy horror in which she stars opposite Nicholas Hoult and Ralph Fiennes — which arrived in the peak “eat the rich” cinematic era (thanks to flicks around the same time like Triangle of Sadness and Glass Onion).
In The Menu, Taylor-Joy goes to a high-end restaurant on a private island with her date (Hoult), where she’s subjected to deadly games by the Head Chef (Fiennes) and quite literally needs to fight to survive. Taylor-Joy plays the clever Margot with ease and shows that no, her acting isn’t just for period pieces.
5. The Northman (2022)
While many people might spend the entirety of The Northman completely distracted by Alexander Skarsgård, Taylor-Joy’s role in the Robert Eggers film isn’t anything to scoff at.
In this Hamlet-esque story based on Norse mythology, we see a Viking prince (Skarsgård) seek revenge for his father’s death. Taylor-Joy plays Olga of the Birch Forest, a woman with mystic abilities and a cunning mind — and it’s easily one of the most ethereal and captivating performances of her career. Two words: scene stealer.
4. Emma (2020)
If you thought Taylor-Joy was just a scream queen, think again. In this remake of the famous Jane Austen novel, Taylor-Joy plays the titular Emma Woodhouse, who has a penchant for playing matchmaker. Taylor-Joy shows that she can take on the romantic comedy genre with ease, showing off her mischievous side and letting her eyes do the talking.
3. The Witch (2015)
Robert Eggers and Anya Taylor-Joy are truly a match made in heaven, and nowhere is that more obvious than in The Witch. Her first movie role, this folk horror film is set in 1630s New England, following a family of English settlers who live a reclusive life next to a forest with evil forces.
Taylor-Joy plays Thomasin, the eldest daughter who’s caught in the crossfire after sinister forces come after her family. The result is one of the best horror movies ever made.
2. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
In Taylor-Joy’s newest flick, she settles into rural New South Wales to take on one of the most iconic Australian movie franchises of all time: Mad Max. In it, she has big shoes to fill by taking on the role of a younger Furiosa, which was previously played by Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road.
Described as her “dirtiest and bloodiest” role yet in an interview with Refinery29, Taylor-Joy says this was also her most “silent” film in her career thus far.
1. The Queen’s Gambit (2020)
C’mon, was it going to be anything else? There couldn’t be any Anya Taylor-Joy performance at number one but The Queen’s Gambit. Becoming a welcome companion during the pandemic, this is the show that made us all pick up the chess pieces and say rook to bishop 4.
The Netflix series features Taylor-Joy at her most versatile as the gifted chess prodigy Beth Harmon who rises through the ranks while struggling with addiction and an inability to form relationships. The performance transformed her into a household name, earning her a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe, a Critic’s Choice Television Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
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