Annette Bening’s top-rated films, according to IMDb

American Beauty (1999)

A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter’s best friend.

Rating: 8.3/10

Stars: Kevin Spacey (Lester Burnham), Annette Bening (Carolyn Burnham), Thora Birch (Jane Burnham), Wes Bentley (Ricky Fitts)

20th Century Women (2017)

The story of a teenage boy, his mother, and two other women who help raise him among the love and freedom of Southern California of 1979.

Rating: 7.3/10

Stars: Annette Bening (Dorothea Fields), Elle Fanning (Julie Hamlin), Greta Gerwig (Abbie Porter), Billy Crudup (William)

Richard III (1995)

The classic Shakespearean play about the murderously scheming 15th-century king is reimagined in an alternative setting of 1930s England as clouds of fascism gather.

Rating: 7.3/10

Stars: Ian McKellen (Richard III – Duke of Gloucester), Annette Bening (Queen Elizabeth), Christopher Bowen (Prince Edward of Lancaster), Edward Jewesbury (King Henry VI)

The Report (2019)

Idealistic Senate staffer Daniel J. Jones, tasked by his boss to lead an investigation into the CIA’s post 9/11 Detention and Interrogation Program, uncovers shocking secrets.

Rating: 7.2/10

Stars: Adam Driver (Daniel Jones), Annette Bening (Senator Dianne Feinstein), Jon Hamm (Denis McDonough), Ted Levine (John Brennan)

Ruby Sparks (2012)

A novelist struggling with writer’s block finds romance in a most unusual way: by creating a female character he thinks will love him, then willing her into existence.

Rating: 7.2/10

Stars: Paul Dano (Calvin Weir-Fields), Zoe Kazan (Ruby Sparks), Annette Bening (Gertrude), Antonio Banderas (Mort)

Mother And Child (2010)

A drama centered around three women: A fifty-year-old woman, the daughter she gave up for adoption thirty-five years ago, and a woman looking to adopt a child of her own.

Rating: 7.2/10

Stars: Naomi Watts (Elizabeth), Annette Bening (Karen), Kerry Washington (Lucy), Alexandria M. Salling (Karen (age 14))

Nyad (2023)

It tells the remarkable true story of athlete Diana Nyad who, at the age of 60 and with the help of her best friend and coach, commits to achieving her life-long dream: a 110-mile open ocean swim from Cuba to Florida.

Rating: 7.1/10

Stars: Annette Bening (Diana Nyad), Jodie Foster (Bonnie Stoll), Anne Marie Kempf (Candace), Carolyn McCormick (Elise)

Danny Collins (2015)

An aging rock star decides to change his life when he discovers a 40-year-old letter written to him by John Lennon.

Rating: 7/10

Stars: Al Pacino (Danny Collins), Annette Bening (Mary Sinclair), Jennifer Garner (Samantha Leigh Donnelly), Bobby Cannavale (Tom Donnelly)

The Kids Are All Right (2010)

Two children conceived by artificial insemination bring their biological father into their non-traditional family life.

Rating: 7/10

Stars: Annette Bening (Nic), Julianne Moore (Jules), Mark Ruffalo (Paul), Mia Wasikowska (Joni)

Being Julia (2005)

Set in 1930s London, this movie involves stage actors and actresses and their experiences with love and revenge.

Rating: 7/10

Stars: Annette Bening (Julia Lambert), Michael Gambon (Jimmie Langton), Maury Chaykin (Walter Gibbs), Jeremy Irons (Michael Gosselyn)

Valmont (1989)

France before 1789: When a widow hears that her lover is to marry her cousin’s daughter, she asks the playboy Valmont to take the girl’s virginity. But first she bets him, with her body as prize, to seduce a virtuous, young, married woman.

Rating: 7/10

Stars: Colin Firth (Valmont), Annette Bening (Merteuil), Meg Tilly (Madame de Tourvel), Fairuza Balk (Cecile)

Jerry And Marge Go Large (2022)

Based on the true story about long-married couple Jerry and Marge Selbee, who win the lottery and use the money to revive their small town.

Rating: 6.9/10

Stars: Bryan Cranston (Jerry), Annette Bening (Marge), Rainn Wilson (Bill), Larry Wilmore (Steve)

Life Itself (2018)

As a young New York City couple goes from college romance to marriage and the birth of their first child, the unexpected twists of their journey create reverberations that echo over continents and through lifetimes.

Rating: 6.9/10

Stars: Oscar Isaac (Will), Olivia Wilde (Abby), Annette Bening (Dr. Cait Morris), Mandy Patinkin (Irwin Dempsey)

The Grifters (1991)

A small-time conman has torn loyalties between his estranged mother and new girlfriend, both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play.

Rating: 6.9/10

Stars: Anjelica Huston (Lilly Dillon), John Cusack (Roy Dillon), Annette Bening (Myra Langtry), Jan Munroe (Guy at Bar)

The Search (2014)

A French woman who works for a non-governmental organization forms a special relationship with a lost young boy in war-torn Chechnya in 1999.

Rating: 6.8/10

Stars: Bérénice Bejo (Carole), Annette Bening (Helen), Maksim Emelyanov (Kolia), Abdul Khalim Mamutsiev (Hadji)

The American President (1995)

A widowed U.S. President running for reelection and an environmental lobbyist fall in love. It’s all above-board, but “politics is perception,” and sparks fly anyway.

Rating: 6.8/10

Stars: Michael Douglas (Andrew Shepherd), Annette Bening (Sydney Ellen Wade), Martin Sheen (A.J. MacInerney), Michael J. Fox (Lewis Rothschild)

Bugsy (1991)

The story of how Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel started Las Vegas.

Rating: 6.8/10

Stars: Warren Beatty (Bugsy Siegel), Annette Bening (Virginia Hill), Harvey Keitel (Mickey Cohen), Ben Kingsley (Meyer Lansky)

Hope Gap (2020)

A couple’s visit with their son takes a dramatic turn when the father tells him he plans on leaving his mother.

Rating: 6.7/10

Stars: Annette Bening (Grace), Bill Nighy (Edward), Josh O’Connor (Jamie), Aiysha Hart (Jess)

Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool (2017)

A romance sparks between a young actor and a Hollywood leading lady.

Rating: 6.7/10

Stars: Annette Bening (Gloria Grahame), Jamie Bell (Peter Turner), Kenneth Cranham (Joe Snr), Julie Walters (Bella)

Regarding Henry (1991)

After being shot, a lawyer loses his memory and must relearn speech and mobility, but he has a loving family to support him.

Rating: 6.7/10

Stars: Harrison Ford (Henry Turner), Annette Bening (Sarah Turner), Michael Haley (Court Clerk), Stanley Swerdlow (Mr. Matthews)

The Great Outdoors (1988)

A Chicago man and his family go camping with his obnoxious brother-in-law.

Rating: 6.6/10

Stars: Dan Aykroyd (Roman Craig), John Candy (Chet Ripley), Stephanie Faracy (Connie Ripley), Annette Bening (Kate Craig)

Guilty By Suspicion (1991)

Returning to Hollywood 1951 after working in France, a movie director meets McCarthyism head-on.

Rating: 6.5/10

Stars: Robert De Niro (David Merrill), Annette Bening (Ruth Merrill), George Wendt (Bunny Baxter), Patricia Wettig (Dorothy Nolan)

The Siege (1998)

The secret U.S. abduction of a suspected terrorist leads to a wave of terrorist attacks in New York City, which leads to the declaration of martial-law.

Rating: 6.4/10

Stars: Denzel Washington (Anthony Hubbard), Bruce Willis (General William Devereaux), Annette Bening (Elise Kraft, Sharon Bridger), Tony Shalhoub (Frank Haddad)

Mars Attacks! (1996)

Earth is invaded by Martians with unbeatable weapons and a cruel sense of humor.

Rating: 6.4/10

Stars: Jack Nicholson (President James Dale, Art Land), Pierce Brosnan (Professor Donald Kessler), Sarah Jessica Parker (Nathalie Lake), Annette Bening (Barbara Land)

Death On The Nile (2022)

While on vacation on the Nile, Hercule Poirot must investigate the murder of a young heiress.

Rating: 6.3/10

Stars: Tom Bateman (Bouc), Annette Bening (Euphemia Bouc), Kenneth Branagh (Hercule Poirot), Russell Brand (Windlesham)

Georgetown (2021)

Ulrich Mott, an ambitious social climber, marries a wealthy widow in Washington D.C. in order to mix with powerful political players.

Rating: 6.2/10

Stars: Christoph Waltz (Ulrich Mott), Vanessa Redgrave (Elsa Breht), Annette Bening (Amanda Breht), Corey Hawkins (Daniel Volker)

The Face Of Love (2013)

A widow falls for a guy who bears a striking resemblance to her late husband.

Rating: 6.2/10

Stars: Annette Bening (Nikki Lostrom), Ed Harris (Garret Mathis, Tom Young), Robin Williams (Roger Stillman), Jess Weixler (Summer)

Ginger & Rosa (2012)

A look at the lives of two teenage girls – inseparable friends Ginger and Rosa — growing up in 1960s London as the Cuban Missile Crisis looms, and the pivotal event that comes to redefine their relationship.

Rating: 6.2/10

Stars: Elle Fanning (Ginger), Alice Englert (Rosa), Annette Bening (Bella), Oliver Platt (Mark Two)

Running With Scissors (2006)

A teenage boy comes of age in the 1970's, sent by his neurotic, pretentious mother to live with a jolly, vulgar psychiatrist and his eccentric extended family.

Rating: 6.1/10

Stars: Joseph Cross (Augusten Burroughs), Annette Bening (Deirdre Burroughs), Brian Cox (Dr. Finch), Gwyneth Paltrow (Hope Finch)