From Titanic to Hamlet, Kate Winslet has made some darn good films. Whether you’re looking for a title for movie night, or are craving a Kate Winslet binge-watching session, we’ve got you covered. Keep scrolling for the 30 Best Kate Winslet movies, ranked.
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2004
Director: Michel Gondry
Rated an incredible 8.4 out of 10 by IMDb members, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is considered by many critics and movie fans to be Kate Winslet’s very best film. We agree. Directed by Michel Gondry and co-starring Jim Carrey, Eternal Sunshine is about a broken-up couple who undergo a new medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories. For her portrayal of Clementine, Winslet received a Best Actress nomination at the Academy Awards.
2. Titanic
1997
Director: James Cameron
Though it wasn’t her first film, Titanic was the movie that launched Kate Winslet into international stardom. The epic recreates the last days and hours of the famous ship which sank on its maiden voyage. Winslet portrays Rose, a 17-year old aristocrat who falls in love with a poor Leonardo DiCaprio.
3. Mildred Pierce
2011
Director: Various
Winslet won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television for her turn as the titular character in Mildred Pierce. This well-received five-episode miniseries features Winslet as a divorced mother who decides to open her own restaurant in 1930s California.
4. Finding Neverland
2004
Director: Marc Forster
Finding Neverland is a beautiful film about author J.M. Barrie, and his friendship with the family who inspires him to write his classic children’s tale, Peter Pan. Winslet, who plays the mother of said family, was nominated for a Best Actress BAFTA Award.
5. Hamlet
1996
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet remains one of the best received versions of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, thanks in part to powerful acting. This includes Winslet, who portrays the doomed Ophelia.
6. The Reader
2008
Director: Stephen Daldry
In this hauntingly powerful film by director Stephen Daldry, Winslet plays Hanna Schmitz, a mysterious and private woman who must defend herself in a war-crime trial in the years following World War II. It was this role that finally won Winslet her Oscar for Best Actress.
7. The Life of David Gale
2003
Director: Alan Parker
The Life of David Gale is a powerful and thought-provoking film about a professor who is accused of murdering a student and sentenced to death row. Winslet plays Bitsey Bloom, a reporter who sets out to learn Gale’s story and ultimately finds she doesn’t believe he is guilty.
8. Sense and Sensibility
1995
Director: Ang Lee
This Jane Austen adaptation directed by Ang Lee was one of Winslet’s first major film roles. In this movie about three daughters left poor by the rules of inheritance, Winslet portrays Marianne.
9. Little Children
2006
Director: Todd Field
Based on the bestselling novel by Tom Perrotta, Little Children tells the story of four different people — two spouses from different marriages, a disgraced police officer, and a registered sex offender — living in suburban Massachusetts. Winslet plays Sarah, a woman who finds herself attracted to another’s husband. The film garnered Winslet Best Actress nominations at the Golden Globes, the Oscars, and the BAFTA Awards.
10. Quills
2000
Director: Philip Kaufman
Starring Winslet alongside Geoffrey Rush and Joaquin Phoenix, Quills tells the tale of the infamous Marquis de Sade, who finds himself an inmate in a Napoleonic-era asylum and stuck under the thumb of a “tyrannically prudish” doctor. Winslet plays Madeleine, a laundress who smuggles de Sade’s now famous writings to a publisher.
11. Heavenly Creatures
1994
Director: Peter Jackson
Acclaimed director Peter Jackson chose a young and unknown Winslet to star in Heavenly Creatures, his film about two teenage girls with a unique bond, who take revenge after their concerned parents try to separate them.
12. Revolutionary Road
2011
Director: Sam Mendes
Revolutionary Road marked the highly anticipated reconnection of Winslet and her Titanic co-star, Leonardo DiCaprio. But this time, the two play a young couple living in Connecticut in the 1950s. The film, directed by Winslet’s then-real-life husband, Sam Mendes, follows the couple as they struggle to survive the “seven-year itch” whilst raising their two children.
13. Steve Jobs
2015
Director: Danny Boyle
In Steve Jobs, director Danny Boyle takes audiences behind the scenes of the digital revolution. In this well-received biopic, which is based on Walter Isaacson’s bestselling biography, Winslet portrays Joanna Hoffman, officially Steve Jobs’ head of marketing, but unofficially his moral center.
14. Carnage
2011
Director: Roman Polanski
Carnage is a dramatic comedy starring Winslet, Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, and Christoph Waltz. When their sons are involved in a fight, two sets of parents come together in an attempt to hold a cordial meeting. Increasingly childish behavior ensues.
15. The Dressmaker
2015
Director: Jocelyn Moorhouse
In The Dressmaker, Winslet plays Tilly, a glamorous woman who returns to her small town in Australia and opens a dress shop. The film was well received, especially in Australia, where it was awarded the Audience Choice Award for Favourite Australian Film at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards. At the same awards, Winslet took home the prize for Best Lead Actress.
16. Iris
2001
Director: Richard Eyre
Iris is the true story of novelist Iris Murdoch. The film follows Murdoch’s relationship with her husband from their days as young students to her battle with Alzheimer’s. Winslet portrays the singular character as a young woman, while Dame Judi Dench plays her in later life.
17. The Holiday
2006
Director: Nancy Meyers
For many, The Holiday has become a must-watch during, well, the holidays. In this star-studded romantic comedy, Winslet plays Iris, one of two women with guy troubles who swap homes in each other’s home towns.
18. Labor Day
2013
Director: Jason Reitman
Written and directed by Jason Reitman, Labor Day stars Winslet as Adele, a depressed single mother who picks up a wounded man in need of a ride. When Adele and her son, Henry, realize they’ve picked up an escaped convict, the family’s options become increasingly limited.
19. Jude
1996
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Based on the classic novel by Thomas Hardy, Jude is the story of a stonemason who is desperately in love with a cousin, played by Winslet. Unfortunately, she is already married to a man she does not love, and he has been tricked into marriage by another.
20. The Fox & the Child
2007
Director: Luc Jacquet
Kate Winslet lent her voice to the English version of Luc Jacquet’s The Fox & the Child, which has been described as part fairy tale, part nature documentary.
21. Collateral Beauty
2016
Director: David Frankel
Collateral Beauty is a star-studded drama in which a man (Will Smith) experiences an unexpected tragedy, and responds emotionally by writing to Love, Time, and Death. Winslet plays Claire, a friend of Smith’s.
22. Divergent
2014
Director: Neil Burger
Based on the novel by Veronica Roth, Divergent is the hit film about a society divided by factions based on virtues. Winslet portrays Jeanine, the mysterious and increasingly powerful leader of the Erudite faction. Winslet also appeared in Divergent’s sequel, Insurgent, which did not make our list of Kate Winslet’s 30 best movies.
23. Flushed Away
2006
Director: David Bowers and Sam Fell
For the young, or just young at heart, there is Flushed Away. This animated film features Winslet as the voice of Rita, sidekick to an uptown mouse (voiced by Hugh Jackman), who gets flushed down the toilet of the penthouse he’s been living in, only to end up in the sewers of London. Flushed Away earned a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Animated Feature Film.
24. Contagion
2011
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh’s horrifying action film, Contagion, stars Winslet as Dr. Erin Mears, a doctor tasked with investigating and containing cases of the infection sweeping the globe. The film also features an international cast of stars, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Jude Law, and Laurence Fishburne.
25. A Little Chaos
2014
Director: Alan Rickman
Viewers of A Little Chaos can go back in time to the lavish court of King Louis XIV. The film, directed by the late Alan Rickman, tells the story of two talented landscape artists, one of whom is played by Winslet. The two become romantically entangled as they work together to create the impressive gardens of Versailles.
26. The Mountain Between Us
2017
Director: Hany Abu-Assad
The Mountain Between Us is a 2017 action-adventure film in which Winslet stars alongside Idris Elba and Beau Bridges. Winslet plays Alex, a photojournalist who finds herself one of two passengers on a private plane after her flight is canceled. When their pilot suffers a fatal stroke mid-flight, the plane crashes and the two passengers are stranded in the High Uintas Wilderness.
27. Pride
2004
Director: John Downer
Pride is a 2004 television movie in which Winslet voices the character of Suki, a young lioness, who leaves her pride in order to mate with a lion from “the other side of the river.” The Romeo & Juliet-like film also features the voices of Helen Mirren, Sean Bean, and Jim Broadbent, among other notables.
28. Enigma
2001
Director: Michael Apted
Based on the novel by Robert Harris, Enigma is a drama film about a young genius who must race against time in order to crack an enemy code and save the woman he loves — Winslet, of course.
29. Triple 9
2016
Director: John Hillcoat
Triple 9 is an action-packed crime thriller about a group of criminals who plan the murder of a police officer in order to pull off their biggest heist yet. In a role far different than any other, Winslet portrays Irina Vlaslov, head of the mob.
30. Romance & Cigarettes
2005
Director: John Turturro
Unlike any other film on her resume, Romance & Cigarettes is actually a musical! The movie tells the story of a man’s journey into infidelity, and stars Winslet, James Gandolfini, and Susan Sarandon.
With more than 60 credits to her name, many of Kate Winslet’s most famous projects were left off our list, including All the King’s Men, Insurgent, and Hideous Kinky. Did your favorite Kate Winslet movie make the cut?