It's strange to see so very few films on this list because it feels like Florence Pugh has been around for years. Whether she's acting as a murderous wife or chopping up a lunchtime salad in her endearing lockdown cooking videos, Pugh knows how to hold the camera. She's charismatic and grounded, a combination that when paired with her Pucklike face and, as she puts it, "weirdly low voice" is easy to see why the actor is booked and busy.
With an adaptation of East of Eden in the works and period drama The Wonder due for release some time this year, we'll soon be high with a Florence feast. Until then, we're bringing you our top five films starring Florence Pugh to stream in the meantime.
The Falling (2014)
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In our minds Florence Pugh and Maisie Williams are made of the same stuff, so it only seems natural for the two to star in a film together. This one serves as Pugh's acting debut and follows a couple of best friends at an English school in the 1960s. It's kind of a cross between The Virgin Suicides, Ginger & Rosa and Poison Ivy. A tragedy starts a bout of mass hysteria at the school, and students start fainting out of nowhere.
Lady Macbeth (2016)
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Yeah, so this one is dark. But is that not what we love about Pugh's acting, her versatility? As Katherine, a 17-year-old to sold into a loveless marriage with a man double her age, Pugh is both frightening and captivating in equal measure. Pushed to the edges of loneliness, murder becomes the only avenue to secure her own freedom, so that she can enjoy a life alongside her lover Sebastian – the stable hand. You'd go to any length too, if you were in love with Cosmo Jarvis. Of course, Katherine takes it too far and the film ends in tragedy. Naomi Ackie is involved as well, if you needed another reason to press play.
Little Women (2019)
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2019 was a big year for Pugh. Her involvement in Greta Gerwig's adaptation of Little Women compounded with her leading role in Midsommar, launched her into the public sphere. Little Women is particularly special. Saddled with the role of Amy March, commonly known as the youngest and least favourite sister, Pugh had minds to change. She brought a depth and humanity to Amy that we previously hadn't seen, highlighted by this quote plucked out by Gerwig from the book: "I don’t pretend to be wise, but I am observant". Amy was spoiled yes, but she was grounded in the facts, them being that a woman was at an economic disadvantage. Being the youngest, the pressure fell on Amy to marry well, and her performance garnered newfound sympathy for the character.
Midsommar (2019)
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She can do drama, she can do thrillers and as demonstrated in Midsommar, Florence Pugh can be a scream queen too. One of our favourite A24 horrors, Pugh plays Dani, who despite their crap relationship, decide to stick with her boyfriend Christian after Dani experiences a gruesome family tragedy. Eager to get a change of scenery, Dani invites herself on a trip Christian and his friends are making to a remote Swedish village – much to his friends chagrin – for the rare midsummer festival. Blissful and brightly lit as their surroundings are, things begin to go south when the festival rituals and villagers take a grisly and jarring turn. Quite literally only the fairest survive.
Don't Worry Darling (2022)
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Although the film hasn't hit the theatres yet, we're certain it'll bring us another searing performance from Pugh. Olivia Wilde is behind the lens while Pugh and Harry Styles play house (which is up Styles' alley) as married couple Alice and Jack. However, despite what our dreams might look like, marriage to Jack is not all it's cracked up to be. Set deep in the desert of a utopian community dubbed 'Victory', where the men work on a top-secret Victory Project and the wives attend to domestic duties with discretion, cracks begin to appear in the sublime veneer for Alice. After all, what do their husbands even do? And what is behind the Victory Project? I guess we'll find out on September 23.
