Emma Stone is one of the all-time favorites of millennials. We all clung to her after seeing Superbad and have continued to share our love for Stone’s work. So, after her second Academy Award win, you might be looking for more Emma Stone movies to watch!
The thing about her filmography is that there are only a few movies that aren’t great. For the most part, she’s in consistently fun roles, and we love to see her pop up. So labeling the best 10 of her career is hard, and I did have to limit myself to only one of the Amazing Spider-Man movies. I love my Gwen Stacy very dearly.
But if you’re looking for the best movies to watch to understand exactly who Stone is as a performer, here are the top 10 movies starring our latest Best Actress Oscar winner.
1. The Favourite
Emma Stone’s collaboration with Yorgos Lanthimos is one that fans have clung to, and it all started with The Favourite. Vying for the love and affection of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) for their own benefit, the women in her circle may claim their adoration for her, but it is truly a game of who is just better at lying.
Sarah (Rachel Weisz) and Abigail (Stone) go back and forth in Anne’s good graces, and it truly is just a wild, satirical look at period films and is just part of Lanthimos’ biting commentary about the world at large.
2. La La Land
You either love La La Land or you probably don’t think about it as often as I do, and that’s fine, but I do think about La La Land a lot. Mia (Stone) and Seb (Ryan Gosling) are two creatives living in Los Angeles who fall in love and sing and dance their way through trying to make their dreams a reality. Seb wants to own his own jazz club, and Mia longs to be a famous actress making her starring debut.
The mix of music that is both hopeful and heartbreaking at the same time and beautiful scenic shots of Los Angeles make La La Land just stunning to watch. It is a lot to take in and you probably won’t be happy with the ending, but it is the movie that won Emma Stone her first Oscar.
3. Poor Things
Poor Things was Stone’s next picture with Yorgos Lanthimos and the second time she won an Oscar. Telling the story of Bella Baxter, a woman who has the brain of a baby in her adult body, it features Stone navigating the world with Bella’s naïveté. Bella grew quickly and was ready to explore all the world had to offer her, and when she saw the horrors that can exist, she aimed to change her life for the better.
Sure, it is weird to stop and think about how Bella Baxter’s mind works, but Stone brings a joy to her that is captivating to watch. That mixed with Lanthimos’ world building and the stunning sets that you find yourself on made Poor Things one of the best movies of 2023.
4. Easy A
What’s better than Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci as your parents? Singing Natasha Bedingfield over and over again. Now, I absolutely hated The Scarlet Letter while in school. I didn’t like Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writing, and I just felt like tearing my hair out while learning about it. So color me surprised when I loved Easy A as a young teenager.
Inspired by the Hawthorne novel, the film follows along with Olive Penderghast (Stone) as she struggles with her reputation at school and even gives herself the scarlet letter “A” to wear. It is funny, clever, and a lost art form for teen comedies. I miss the days when classic literature was adapted into a cute little comedy for teen audiences.
5. Zombieland
This is for both the Zombieland movies, because I love them very dearly. The first one, which came out in 2009, gave us Stone as Wichita. She joined Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), and Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), and the team all worked together to try to give us the basics to survive the zombie apocalypse.
You must remember to double-tap. This was, mind you, before The Walking Dead even came out, so many of us gained our love for zombie movies and shows from the obsession we all had with Zombieland, and it is still hilarious to watch.
6. BIRDMAN or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
I love BIRDMAN; I think that it is such a fascinating look at celebrity in a twisted and dark way that is still fun to watch. Sam (Stone) is the daughter of Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton), a former superhero actor who is now mounting a Broadway show. Through trying to fix relationships, trying to break out of the superhero mold, and more, BIRDMAN ends up being a commentary on what happens when you’re pigeon-holed (get it?) into one role.
Look, do I have a soft spot for this movie because I saw them filming it before I even moved to New York and it made me ecstatic? Yes, definitely. But I do think it is a very fun and interesting way to look at what actors go through.
7. The Amazing Spider-Man
Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy ushered in a love for the actress like no other. But then again, we finally got to see Gwen Stacy get her time, so of course we all loved her. Starring opposite Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker, I am an apologist for The Amazing Spider-Man movies because I do think that Garfield is better than Tobey Maguire.
Gwen (Stone) is a classmate of Peter’s, and the two fall in love despite the fact that her father has a vendetta against Spider-Man. Still, we get to see how Gwen and Peter rely on each other, and it colors how fans really look at other relationships in Peter’s future. I love how she played Gwen, and even though she did have the same fate as comic book Gwen, it was still wonderful to have her.
8. Gangster Squad
I am just a sucker for the Ryan Gosling/Emma Stone filmography, so I do think that Gangster Squad ends up being fun to watch. Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) is one of the most notorious gangsters in town, so what happens when Sgts. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) and Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling) come up with a plan to bring him to justice?
Stone plays an etiquette tutor named Grace Faraday, who falls in love with Jerry and works with Cohen. Maybe it is the beautiful outfits or just having more of Gosling and Stone together, but I just really love the world of Gangster Squad.
9. Crazy, Stupid, Love
Where were you when you learned the twist of Crazy, Stupid, Love? I remember being in the theater clear as day and just screaming when I learned where this movie was going. If you don’t know what I am talking about, then get ready for one of the best rom-com shocks to ever exist.
Gosling plays Jacob Palmer, a man who knows how to dress and pick up women on his own who is now helping Cal Weaver (Steve Carrell), who is struggling in his marriage to Emily (Julianne Moore). But at the same time, Jacob is going into his own relationship with Hannah (Stone) and learning firsthand about what he preaches.
10. Superbad
The movie that really started it all, for me at least, was Superbad. Emma Stone plays Jules, the love interest of Seth (Jonah Hill) and the sassy, funny girl in class who isn’t afraid to poke fun at these boys who are clearly trying very hard to get the attention of herself and her friends.
It wasn’t necessarily a huge role in the movie, not when we spent more time with the boys, but it still cemented Stone in the comedy world and showed everyone how funny she can be.
(featured image: Searchlight Pictures)
