She’s become one of the most recognizable faces on screen and is building a stellar reputation behind the camera too as a director. Since her first major role in a blockbuster film in 2007,Bryce Dallas Howardhas come a long way. She’s always beena brilliant actress and a joy to watch on screen with her bright-eyed stare and strong performances, but it took the film world longer than it should have to truly celebrate her talent the way it deserved.
While she had already caught the eye of a visionary director who gave her parts in two of his films early on,it was playing an iconic comic book characterthat really launched her career forward. She’s since cemented herself as a very popular actress around the world round by her appearancesin massive franchiseslike theTwilightsaga,theJurassic Worldfranchise, and hitStar Warsshows, which she’s also directed.She’s been nominated for a ton of awards, including a Golden Globe and a Critics' Choice Award, and won many others. Now a true star of both the big screen and television, here’s a look at Bryce Dallas Howard’s 15 best movies according to Rotten Tomatoes.
15As You Like It - 36%
Based on Shakespeare’s play of the same name, the Kenneth Branagh-directed romance film,As You Like Itstarred Bryce Dallas Howard in one of its leading roles. She played the character Rosalind in the made-for-TV film, which was Branagh’s fifthShakespearian adaptation, and one which was partly financed by The Shakespeare Film Company.
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While disguising herself as a boy, Howard’s character travels to the Forest of Arden where she meets a boy amid the film’s adapted Japanese setting. Howard was excellent in the role and earned a Golden Globe Nomination for it for Best Actress in a Made-for-TV Film or Miniseries. Despite this, the film fared badly with Rotten Tomatoes critics and only scored 36% on the Tomatometer, which, unlike the audience score, aggregates the ratings of professional critics.
14Gold - 41%
In Matthew McConaughey’s 2016 crime film,Gold,Bryce Dallas Howard played his girlfriend, Kay. McConaughey, on the other hand, plays Kenny Wells, a prospector who struggles to keep his father’s once-thriving company alive. On a whim from a dream he has, Wells ends up in an uncharted Indonesian jungle and faces a myriad of struggles to find and return gold from there. Despite being a decent film with good performances from its main stars, the film bombed commercially. It didn’t fare well with critics either as it languishes with a paltry 41% Rotten Tomatoes rating.
13The Village - 43%
M. Night Shyamalan is known asa visionary and enigmatic director. When his films hit the mark, he’s often hailed as a genius. However, he’s been equally skewered by critics when he doesn’t. One fact that may not be very well known about him is that after seeing Bryce Dallas Howard as Rosalind in a public theater production ofAs You Like It,hegave the actress her first minor break when he offered her a role, without auditioning, in his 2004 psychological horror,The Village.
Howard played Ivy, a blind member of a community that has turned its back on society and lives in a private 19th-century Pennsylvania village. While the elders know the truth of their community’s history and living arrangements, the younger residents, including Ivy live in constant fear of mysterious creatures that live beyond the woods. Featuring the classic spine-tingling suspense and surprise twist at the end that Shyamalan is known for, the film was well-received by audiences but fared worse with critics. Despite this, it was still a smash hit, grossing over a quarter billion dollars.
12Hereafter - 47%
The 2010 Clint Eastwood-directed drama,Hereafter, saw Bryce Dallas Howard cast alongside Matt Damon. The film featured supernatural elements that saw Damon’s character and others experience visions or some form of connecting with the dead.
Eastwood’s directing was viewed favorably, but then again, he’s proven to be such a brilliant director that it always is. The rest of the film didn’t fare as well with critics giving it a 47% rating. Nevertheless, Eastwood’s films rarely miss the mark so even when they aren’t as good as his best pictures, there’s still plenty to like about them asVarietypointed out in their review for it.
“A beguiling blend of the audacious and the familiar; it dances right on the edge of the ridiculous and at times even crosses over, but is armored against risibility by its deep pockets of emotion, sly humor and matter-of-fact approach to the fantastical.”
11Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - 47%
TheJurassic Worldfranchise which builds on the broaderJurassic Parkfranchise has been a massive worldwide commercial hit. Despite this, the films have suffered from never coming close to the original Spielberg-directedJurassicfilms.Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdommay have grossed over a billion dollars at the box office, but lagged far behind critically as it only mustered a meager 47% rating.
This one saw our heroes, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) race against time to save the dinosaurs from a volcanic eruption after they were left behind on the abandoned Isla Nublar. Their efforts only end up embroiling them in a wider conspiracy to capture the dinosaurs as they face a new hybrid threat — the now infamous Indoraptor. While Howard and Pratt worked well together again, the film was pretty bad, more soif you’re aJurassic Parkpurist.
10The Twilight Saga: Eclipse - 47%
TheTwilightbooks and films took the world by storm and became a global phenomenon. By then, Bryce Dallas Howard was already a star thanks to another major franchise she’d starred in.When the third film in the series,The Twilight Saga: Eclipsewas released, there was one noticeable change to the cast. After scheduling conflicts ended withRachelle Lefevre’s dismissalfrom the film, Howard was handed the role of Victoria, whom Lefevre had played in the first two films.
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She was electric in the role herself, easily pulling off the beautiful vampire thing since, if you hadn’t noticed, she’s quite stunning herself. It was a dazzling new look for her as she sported super curly hair, but looked amazing as the character. While this film was tied on the Tomatometer’s ratings with two of her other films, it had the highest audience approval rating of them with 60% against its critics' rating of 47%.
9Manderlay - 50%
The first of her films to reach at least a 50% rating on the site,Manderlaywas a 2005 avant-garde film fromthe revered and controversial Danish director, Lars Von Trier. The final part of Lar’sUSA – Land of Opportunitiestrilogy, the film featured eight chapters and saw Howard play a young woman, Grace Margaret Mulligan, who discovers a plantation in 1933 where people continue living as if slavery never ended.
Grace feels as if she must help liberate the people and stays behind to do so. The film was pretty much panned by critics and Lars Von Trier’s fiery reputation was scalded further by reviewers who felt the film was nothing more than a failed political statement. Nevertheless, Howard was enamoring in the role and played her part well amid the edgy overtones it flirted with.
8A Dog’s Way Home - 59%
A Dog’s Way Homewas a delightful family film that Bryce Dallas Howard performed a voice role for in 2019. It follows the adventures of a puppy named Bella who gets separated from her loving owner, Lucas. What follows is her epic 400-mile journey to try and find him again.
Along the way, Bella encounters many other animals and gets into adventures with them. While the film differed from similar stories like theHomeward Boundtales since the animals here never speak, the film is narrated by Bella, who was voiced by Howard. A great family film and a treat for dog lovers, the film’s audience approval score of 71% should tell you that its critics' score of 59% doesn’t change what a fun film it is.
7Spider-Man 3 - 63%
While Bryce Dallas Howard was quietly building a great reputation as an actress, 2007 saw her land her big break. Starring alongside Tobey Maguire in Sam Raimi’sSpider-Man 3introduced her to a whole new audience. Superhero films have shown the extent of their vast reach and massive fan base around the world and this came to the fore when Howard played the iconic character, Gwen Stacy.
In a classical rendition of the beloved character that’s often Spider-Man’s main love interest in some universes, Howard’s stunning looks and wide-eyed expressions made it feel like Gwen Stacy had jumped right out of a comic book and into our hearts. She was great in the film and although Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane ultimately won Spidey back from the affections of Stacy, Howard had cemented herself as a star and enamored herself to millions of superhero fans in the process. The film wassomewhat harshly pannedwith an underwhelming 63% rating, but was still a fun film that saw Spider-Man’s dark side and the first time we saw Venom on screen.
6Jurassic World - 71%
IfSpider-Man 3made Bryce Dallas Howard a star,Jurassic Worldelevated that fame into superstardom. The first of theJurassicfilms sinceJurassic Park 3, itwas one of the most eagerly anticipated movies in decades because of how the original franchise wowed audiences and forever reshaped the course of cinema history.
With a fresh new look for the film mirrored by Howard’s now iconic scene with doors parting to reveal her saying “Welcome to Jurassic World,” the film tried to shake off the weight of its predecessors' success by going new school with tons more CGI and a terrifying new hybrid dinosaur known as the Indominus Rex. While it wasnever able to live up, in contrast to its 71% rating, it was a massive commercial hit and grossed over one and a half billion dollars.
