My five favourite Florence Pugh performances
To celebrate the release of Marvel’s latest movie Thunderbolts, let’s look back at Florence Pugh‘s best performances.
When I saw her debut performance in The Falling 11 years ago, I knew Pugh had star quality and that turned out to be true. She has consistently been the best thing about every movie she’s been in and she can easily turn out one sensational performance after another. She elevates the material every time and picks really interesting projects. In case it wasn’t obvious already, I’m a huge fan!
In the past 11 years, she has notched up a lot of credits so picking my top five was tricky. Without further ado, here are my favourite Pugh performances, from 5 to 1.
Olivia Wilde‘s 2022 psychological thriller was shrouded with controversy and the story was a bit underwhelming, but Pugh was brilliant (of course). She plays Alice, who begins to suspect something is wrong with her Stepford Wives-style community and idyllic marriage to her husband Jack (Harry Styles). Pugh threw herself into the role and really committed to Alice’s escalating madness and paranoia. It’s worth checking out!
Lady Macbeth
While The Falling was her first film, Lady Macbeth was the one that really established Pugh as one to watch back in 2016. In this unexpected period drama, she plays Katherine, who is bored and stifled in a loveless marriage to a man significantly older than her. She takes matters into her own hands in a dark and twisted way. As the saying goes, the devil makes work for idle hands!
I didn’t love this romantic drama as much as I thought I would, mostly because of its non-linear narrative, but there was no denying that Pugh and Andrew Garfield gave top-tier performances and had excellent chemistry as the couple Almut and Tobias. They both have great access to their emotions and aren’t afraid of vulnerability, but they’re also playful, funny and a delight to watch.
Amy March is one of the least-liked March sisters and is often seen as selfish and spoiled. However, in Greta Gerwig‘s 2019 adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel, Pugh portrays Amy as well-rounded and complex and you understand her better (even if you don’t approve of her choices!) Pugh’s monologue to Timothee Chalamet about marriage being a financial proposition as much as an emotional one is a standout. It’s no surprise she achieved her first Oscar nomination!
Midsommar
Pugh has openly said that she went to a dark place while filming Ari Aster‘s 2019 folk horror and that’s no surprise considering what her character Dani had to endure throughout this movie. She and Jack Reynor play a couple who go to a midsummer festival in Sweden and end up in the hands of a cult. Dani is traumatised and grieving before the trip and to say she goes through it is an understatement. Pugh is constantly in tears, agony and despair and I felt exhausted just watching her. She should have gotten an Oscar nomination for this performance but it was released in the same year as Little Women and the Oscars don’t take horrors seriously enough.
She is also fantastic as Yelena Belova and the star of the ensemble in Thunderbolts – and you can see her work in cinemas from Thursday 2nd May.
PS. It would be remiss of me to do a post about Pugh and not share my gallery from the 2018 London Critics Circle Film Awards. I interviewed her on the red carpet and she was so lovely!