Sydney Sweeney<\/a> has great scenes.<\/p>\n When she\u2019s not launching culture wars with her eyebrow-raising American Eagle denim ads<\/a> or her controversial used bathwater soaps<\/a>, Sweeney, 27, is among the most in-demand young actresses working in Hollywood. The Spokane, Washington, native cut her teeth in pulpy horror movies such as \u201cNocturne\u201d and \u201cThe Voyeurs,\u201d and gained impressive TV cred in acclaimed dramas \u201cThe Handmaid\u2019s Tale\u201d and \u201cSharp Objects.\u201d<\/p>\n But it was her highly memeable turns in HBO\u2019s \u201cEuphoria\u201d and \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d that made her a two-time Emmy-nominated force, which she followed with 2023’s rom-com megahit \u201cAnyone But You,\u201d co-starring fellow rising star (and speculated paramour<\/a>) Glen Powell.<\/p>\n With public interest higher than ever, the toothsome Sweeney is headed into the biggest movie season of her career so far, with high-profile roles in Ron Howard\u2019s survival thriller \u201cEden\u201d (in theaters Aug. 22) and book adaptation \u201cThe Housemaid\u201d (in theaters Christmas Day). She also transforms into boxer Christy Martin for biopic \u201cChristy,\u201d<\/a> premiering at Toronto Film Festival in September.<\/p>\n Join our Watch Party! <\/strong>Sign up to receive USA TODAY’s movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Lefty (Paul Walter Hauser, left) and Penny Jo (Sydney Sweeney) fall in love in “Americana.”<\/p>\n But first, there\u2019s \u201cAmericana\u201d (in theaters Aug. 15), Tony Tost\u2019s baffling riff on a Coen Brothers-style shoot-\u2018em-up. Sweeney plays a meek diner waitress named Penny Jo, who dreams of becoming a country singer and gets caught up in a bloody battle for a pricey Native American relic. The actress struggles to find her footing in the messy genre mashup, speaking with an exaggerated stammer and failing to light sparks with Paul Walter Hauser as the infatuated Lefty.<\/p>\n “Americana” may be yet another misstep for Sweeney, although she does have at least a few gems in her limited filmography. Here are her best movies, ranked:<\/p>\n Sweeney doesn’t have much screen time in “Under the Silver Lake,” a surreal dark comedy following Andrew Garfield as he searches for his missing neighbor (Riley Keough). The actress affably plays a flirtatious model whom Garfield encounters at a graveyard party, donning bedazzled makeup a year before “Euphoria” made it a mainstream trend.<\/p>\n Here’s why: <\/strong>Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle jeans ad sparks controversy<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Sweeney hasn\u2019t had many opportunities to show off her range, and her performances are often painfully stilted (\u201cAnyone But You\u201d) or wildly overwrought (“Echo Valley”<\/a>). But her flat intonation and vocal fry are perfectly suited to Marvel\u2019s campy critical misfire<\/a>, playing a demure yet powerful teenager who\u2019s taken under the wing of Dakota Johnson\u2019s equally spacey Cassie. We’re still not over her delivery of, “You saved my stepmother, then you were super-awkward about it.<\/a>“<\/p>\n Quentin Tarantino\u2019s love letter<\/a> to Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and 1960s Los Angeles is far and away the best film on Sweeney\u2019s resum\u00e9. Unlike her now-famous co-stars Mikey Madison<\/a>, Austin Butler and Margaret Qualley, Sweeney doesn\u2019t have much to do as Snake, one of the feral flower children living with Charles Manson (Damon Herriman). Still, she has a beguiling presence and fits the earthy, subtly menacing vibe of Manson’s ranch dwellers.<\/p>\n Similarly to \u201cMadame Web,\u201d Sweeney knows exactly what kind of movie she\u2019s in and completely nails the outrageous, deadpan tone. Here she portrays a wide-eyed novitiate who gets trapped at a creepy Italian convent after becoming pregnant with a child the other nuns believe to be the second coming of Jesus Christ. The up-and-comer goes all in as the film careens toward its gleefully gory finale, proving her scream queen bona fides with a commanding, vanity-free performance.<\/p>\n<\/span><\/div>\n
5. ‘Under the Silver Lake’ (2018)<\/h2>\n
4. ‘Madame Web’ (2024)<\/h2>\n
3. ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ (2019)<\/h2>\n
2. ‘Immaculate’ (2024)<\/h2>\n
1. ‘Reality’ (2023)<\/h2>\n