Copyright /FILM
Are you watching? If you are, you'd notice that Julia Garner is on a fairly remarkable run in the world of film and television. The 31-year-old actor's career has been on a steady rise since she became one of the breakout stars of the Jason Bateman Netflix crime thriller "Ozark," stealing entire episodes as the complex and tragic Missouri petty crook Ruth Langmore. Her work earned her three Primetime Emmy Awards, as well as further work with Netflix and other streamers. In 2025, however, she surfed her way to the silver screen with two back-to-back summer hits — Marvel Studios' "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" and Zach Cregger's "Weapons." At this rate, it seems as though Garner is primed for a career-defining role in the near future — perhaps in the upcoming FX true crime, crypto scandal drama "The Altruists." Before she wins any more Emmys, we want to take a look at the first decade or so of her career to celebrate our favorite Julia Garner performances so far. "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" isn't necessarily the worst film on this list — in fact, we have a certain affection for its striking if occasionally uncanny and perhaps even at times garish visual style. But while the undeniably strange and seductive vibe of "Sin City" is enough to land it a spot on this list, the story doesn't give Julia Garner nearly enough to do to be ranked any higher. Like its 2005 predecessor, "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" is a hyper-stylized, hyper-sexual, and hyper-violent crime anthology film from directing duo Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller (based on stories from Miller's Dark Horse comic book series of the same name). It is, notably, the first comic book movie to feature Garner over a decade before a second dive into the pages would launch her career further into the stratosphere — but, of course, we'll get to all that a bit further down. Garner appears in the largely self-contained story called "The Long Bad Night," in which she has a supporting role as Marcie, a waitress whom Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Johnny escorts to a high-risk, high-reward casino. With Marcie as his supposed good-luck charm, Johnny manages to take the vengeful Senator Roark for nearly all he's worth, humiliating him in ways Johnny himself can't even begin to fathom — though he certainly will by the time Roark and his henchmen have managed to track him down. "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" is worth watching at least once, especially if you can tune in to Rodriguez's signature flair for violence and drama. Fair warning: it's not really possible to talk about "Apartment 7A" without spoiling "Rosemary's Baby," a classic film with more twists than a potential viewer — even one already aware of its iconic ending — might be aware of. A prequel to the 1968 film written and directed by Roman Polanski and based on the same source material by novelist Ira Levin, this otherwise forgettable 2024 streaming feature boasts a commanding leading performance from Julia Garner (even though it's often so boring it's scary). She stars as Terry Gionoffrio, a character originally played by Angela Dorian in Polanski's film who dies by suicide early in its story. "Apartment 7A" follows her before her demise, starting with a tragic accident that derails her once promising career as a Broadway dancer. Running out of auditions and options, her only stroke of good fortune is the seemingly random kindness of two elderly strangers — Minnie Castavet (Dianne Wiest) and her husband Roman (Kevin McNally). When Minnie offers Terry a free New York City apartment for as long as she needs to get back on her feet, literally and figuratively, Terry can't help but accept. Such kindness is almost enough to make up for the strange fixation Minnie seems to have with her, and the even stranger paranormal phenomena that quickly begins to consume her mind. Almost. "Apartment 7A" was dropped on Paramount+ without much fanfare, with most critics dismissing it as an unsuccessful attempt to wring something of worth from a stale library of intellectual property. Even so, Garner's talent is unmistakable here, and when she's allowed to imbue Terry with the humanity she barely possessed in "Rosemary's Baby," it almost makes watching the rest of the film worth it. Almost. In 2011, Julia Garner and Christopher Abbott made their feature film debuts together in the Sean Durkin thriller "Martha Marcy May Marlene." 14 years later, after the latter actor appeared in a wide range of projects including "Girls," "Poor Things," and "Kraven the Hunter," the pair reunited for the 2025 Universal monster movie "Wolf Man." Ryan Gosling had originally been attached to star and executive produce based on a pitch of his own making, with Derek Cianfrance ("The Place Beyond the Pines") set to direct. However, after years of development purgatory, Gosling and Cianfrance exited and were replaced by Abbott (who starred in "First Man" with Gosling) and horror favorite Leigh Whannell. In addition to "Saw" and "Upgrade," Whannell had been responsible for 2020's "The Invisible Man," a rare success for Universal in their attempts to capitalize on their most recognizable IP. This is all to say that, for how much the project changed behind the scenes, "Wolf Man" could be a lot worse. On the one hand, Whannell's updating of werewolf mythology is at least interesting in its attempts to explore illness, parenthood, and the terror of isolation (with Garner and Abbott playing young parents stranded in a secluded farmhouse as the latter slowly succumbs to a tragic transformation that intentionally resembles ALS at times). On the other hand, the sharply-rendered claws of "Wolf Man" are only willing to cut so deep, leading to a relatively underwhelming and predictable ending compared to Whannell's previous monster mash. There were plenty of reasons why "Wolf Man" bombed both critically and commercially when it was released — but Garner's performance isn't one of them. She is more active here than she was in "Apartment 7A," and the respectable 100-minute runtime stops the film from ever mutating into a true slog. Caught between salacious tabloid thrills and a seemingly earnest desire to dig into the psychology of a complicated public figure that was once the fleeting fascination of New York magazine readers, "Inventing Anna" is an often frustrating watch. Julia Garner plays the eponymous New York socialite Anna Delvey (née Sorokin), a real conwoman who wreaked havoc on the city's most exclusive circles. As the series depicts it, Garner's Anna came to America with no connections and little ability to achieve the extravagant life she dreamed of. Thus, she mastered the art of manipulating those with more social and financial capital than her, her chosen targets ranging from sleazy app developers and cautious optimistic banking executives to kindred spirits like Fyre Fest's own Billy McFarland (Ben Rappaport) and disgraced pharmaceutical investor Martin Shkreli (Will Stephen). The entire saga unfolds within the framework of an article being written by journalist Vivian Kent ("VEEP" alum Anna Chlumsky), a fictional stand-in for real life New York magazine author Jessica Pressler (who originally penned the piece that inspired the series). Upon its release in 2022, one of the journalists involved filed a defamation lawsuit against "Inventing Anna." The polarizing show was also criticized for some flimsy, devil's advocate-style thematic logic, asking audiences to be skeptical of Delvey's vilification when "everyday, men do far worse things than anything" Delvey "allegedly" did. Regardless, if the writing and direction were a bit more solid in their aims, "Inventing Anna" would be at the top of our list of recommendations for new Julia Garner fans. It's undoubtedly one her best and most distinct performances yet, and is one of very few qualities elevating the series overall beyond a guilty pleasure watch. For the most part, "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" is a bigger deal to the future success of Marvel Studios than the career of Julia Garner. The behemoth blockbuster hit-makers released the film as their third effort of 2025 after two commercial misfires. "Captain America: Brave New World" had been pummeled by critics and reportedly fell short of the box office return it would've needed to break even on its $180 million budget; "Thunderbolts*," though received better by critics and audiences, fell even shorter. If "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" had come out at any other time in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it would probably be considered a perfectly fine, occasionally triumphant Marvel movie, the likes of which dominated the box office in the 2010s (y'know, the kind that are pretty great for an hour or so, then fall apart into a CGI mess during the third act). Coming after such a dry spell, however, this elseworld ensemble sci-fi romp has been rightfully hailed as the MCU finally getting their own formula right again. Box office receipts have already been more favorable than "Thunderbolts*" or "Brave New World" (though it seems unlikely it will deliver anything close to the billion-dollar homerun the studio needed to feel comfortable heading into their next "Endgame"). Garner has a memorable supporting role in the film as Shalla Bal, also known as the Silver Surfer, an alien imbued with cosmic powers by her planet-eating boss. The combination of her performance, Matt Shakman's directing, and a script that makes room for humanity allows her character to shine far brighter than the iteration seen in "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer." Written and directed by Paul Weitz (the brother of Chris Weitz, and co-writer of projects ranging from "American Pie" and "Murderbot" to "About a Boy" and "Mozart in the Jungle"), "Grandma" is an indie dramedy about three generations of women at various stages of estrangement from one another trying (in small and indirect ways) to make sense of their differences, overcome them, or accept them. For the majority of the film, Julia Garner is paired with Lily Tomlin, one of the most influential comedy stars in movie history. "Grandma" was released in 2015, the same year Tomlin would begin starring opposite Jane Fonda on the hit Netflix comedy series "Grace and Frankie." Tomlin plays the titular character named Elle, an elderly, once-radical lesbian with a staunchly anti-establishment point of view and varyingly healthy skepticism about the world at large. After the death of her partner, Elle has increasingly isolated herself from the world — making it all the more shocking when her teenage granddaughter Sage (Garner) shows up at her house asking for money so that she can get an abortion. Though Sage's mother, Elle's daughter Judy (Marcia Gay Harden), could likely cover the cost as a successful working mother, the fear of her reaction is enough to send Sage and Elle on a chaotic road trip to pull together cash neither of them have. "Grandma" is a fairly standard feel-good independent film written to make you cry only as much as it will make you laugh. Tomlin and Garner drive most of the plot, supported by an ensemble that includes Judy Greer, Sam Elliott, Laverne Cox, Nat Wolff, and John Cho. "The Royal Hotel" is one of the best movies you probably missed from 2023. The second of two collaborations between Julia Garner and Australian director Kitty Green, "The Royal Hotel" is an unconventional and deeply uncomfortable psychological thriller that masterfully dramatizes the terror a person can feel in otherwise normal circumstances when they are completely robbed of power. Garner plays Hanna, an American backpacker traveling through Australia with her best friend Liv (Jessica Henwick of "Iron Fist" and "Cuckoo"). Desperate for cash after blowing through their trip budget sooner than expected, they find jobs working as bartenders at a dive in the outback, where they will also live (or rather, be stranded, with nothing around them but open plains for miles) until the end of their employment. It's a classic setup for a horror movie, and Green smartly gives the audience enough time to imagine the other shoe dropping in familiar fashion. Rather than jumping to horror tropes, however, "The Royal Hotel" builds a far more plausible and nightmarish environment in its titular locale, where hulking, drunk, and emotionally volatile men stumble in and out at will, demanding service and attention at all times. With no money and nowhere else to go until a bus can retrieve them, Hanna and Liv are forced to navigate a world that feels dangerous yet normalized — so much so that they're never quite sure if they should leave or tough it out. Suffice it to say, "The Royal Hotel" is an unexpectedly effective slow-burn thriller that will likely be an outright horror movie for anyone who's worked in the service industry. Prior to working together on "The Royal Hotel," Kitty Green and Julia Garner made another anxiety-inducing thriller titled "The Assistant." The 2019 film explores many similar themes to Green's 2023 feature, including the danger of casual sexism, exploitation of young workers, and the normalization of sexual harassment and misconduct in the workplace. Perhaps because its setting feels more closely married to images of professional success, however, "The Assistant" is even harder to watch. The entire film takes place during a single shift of Jane (Garner), a junior assistant at an upscale, New York-based film production company. Garner and Green were intent on depicting the day-to-day lives of the most overlooked and relied upon workers in the entertainment industry, with Green drawing upon the real stories of assistants she interviewed during her writing — some of whom had worked for notorious producer and criminal Harvey Weinstein while he was still one of the most powerful men in Hollywood. Garner's research for the role included shadowing assistants at her management company, even recording them as they took calls so that she could better portray the subtle ways they're able — and, unfairly, expected — to manage the absurd personalities they come into contact with daily. Together, their work makes "The Assistant" feel credible and urgent. As Jane suffers through the direct abuse of her boss and the quieter, but no less traumatic moral injury of being party to his cruel and unethical behavior, the story never feels like an exaggeration. If anything, it should be a call to action for the entertainment industry at large that behavior can be so vividly rendered on camera while often being protected behind it. Though it flies somewhat under the radar compared to other Netflix shows of its quality, there's no denying that "Ozark" is one of the best shows the streamer has ever produced since it went into original programming. Created by Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams ("The Accountant"), showrun by Chris Mundy ("True Detective: Night Country"), and executive produced and in large part directed by star Jason Bateman, the series began streaming in 2017 and ran for four ridiculously tense seasons until 2022. Bateman anchors the crime thriller as Marty Byrde, a mild-mannered financial advisor who secretly launders money for a drug cartel on the side. Despite his disciplined restraint and careful adherence to both the rules of law and the lawless, Byrde's life is entirely undone by the greedy excesses of his close friends and business partners. When it comes to light that they had been skimming money off the top to the tune of several million dollars stolen from the cartel, he is forced to move his family to the Ozarks in a desperate play to prove his worth and save their lives. Julia Garner gives a breakthrough performance as Ruth Langmore, a local who comes from a notorious family of petty criminals. The sudden influx of the city-dwelling Byrdes and their suspiciously vast fortune catches Ruth's attention immediately, so much that she inserts herself into Marty's criminal operation in the hopes of taking it for herself one day. Ruth is arguably the best character on "Ozark," thanks almost entirely to Garner's deep understanding of the character's psychology, environment, and struggles. She's responsible for some of the most exciting moments in the series, and her fate has stuck with us for years at this point. It may be a bold call, and it may well be early, but we don't think it's too early to say that "Weapons" is Julia Garner's best movie yet. The 2025 hit from "Barbarians" director Zach Cregger is a scary, twisted, and surprisingly hilarious suburban nightmare that stars Garner as an elementary school teacher suspected of having been involved with the unexplained disappearance of her entire class. Garner was cast late in the game alongside Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, and Benedict Wong – none of whom were originally meant to appear in the cast. But while Pedro Pascal couldn't stretch himself to star in both "Weapons" and "The Fantastic Four: First Steps," Garner surfed the 2025 summer blockbuster season to stardom. As Juliette Gandy, she expertly balances the comedy and drama necessary to pull off Cregger's unique tone. The character — implied to be running from scandal and nursing numerous unhealthy coping mechanisms, including a reliance on alcohol — cares so deeply and genuinely for the well-being of her class that she risks crossing boundaries with her students. These are flaws that Garner portrays to heartbreaking effect throughout the film, especially as she becomes one of the few people capable of solving the mystery at the heart of the story. "Weapons" isn't just a treat for horror fans, but anyone who loves the movies. It's a sharp and original concept with impeccable execution, further elevated by the strength of Garner's central performance. Don't let us or anyone else spoil the movie for you — run on out the door and see it for yourself.
