Elizabeth Debicki is one of the fastest rising stars of her generation. With a Trophée Chopard, a Golden Globe, two consecutive Emmy Awards nominations, and more, nobody can deny her talent. While Debicki’s most popular role is Princess Diana in seasons 5 and 6 of The Crown, she has a solid filmography on the silver screen.
Debicki’s mainstream breakthrough came in 2017 after she played Ayesha in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. In 2018, Debicki appeared in five movies, and she received critical acclaim and more mainstream acknowledgment, especially for her role in the heist movie Widows. From MaXXXine to Widows, these are Elizabeth Debicki’s best movies.
10 ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2’ (2017)
Directed by James Gunn
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 was Elizabeth Debicki’s mainstream breakthrough. In the Marvel movie, the Guardians try to escape the Sovereign, an alien race they were hired by but end up stealing from them. The movie is the second installment in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie series and part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Debicki plays the Golden High Priestess Ayesha, who is the leader of the Sovereign. Ayesha acts as the secondary antagonist of the movie.
The main problem with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 is that too much is happening at once. The movie wants to be very plot driven and very character driven at the same time as it delves into the backstory of Peter Quill, and the relationship between Gamora and Nebula. The movie also has three villains, which is a bit too many. Overall, the movie has a more cartoonish feel than its predecessor. However, it still captures the heart and the magic of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and it was the transition for the Guardians to appear in other Marvel movies. While Debicki’s role was limited, she quickly gathered attention and praise, which launched her into the mainstream.
9 ‘MaXXXine’ (2024)
Directed by Ti West
MaXXXine is the third installment in Ti West’s trilogy X. The movie follows Maxine Minx in Hollywood after she survives the massacre in the first installment X. Maxine gets her big breakthrough when she is cast as the lead in a horror movie. But her life changes when Hollywood starlets and women around Maxine are haunted by a killer from her past. While MaXXXine ranks lower than X andPearl, it is still a very good horror movie.
Debicki plays the role of movie director Liz Bender, which she said was inspired by the movie’s director, Ti West as a director who “who understands that horror is an excellent Trojan horse for messaging and for performance.” Debicki steals every scene she is in, even the ones with the talented Mia Goth, and throughout the movie she keeps you thinking over and over if she is the killer. She is simply the most delightful addition to the trilogy in its third installment, which was the most entertaining movie of the trilogy. The movie is full of cinematic nods, such as the parallels West draws between Maxine’s character and Bette Davis and the elements paying homage to Brian De Palma. However, MaXXXine is not as bold as its earlier counterparts. It shies away from fully exploring Maxine’s trauma and instead leaves the audience with a very shallow analysis of the trauma, which may make the movie feel disconnected from the rest of the trilogy. Yet, fans everywhere are excited about the possibility of a fourth movie.
MaXXXine
- Release Date
- July 5, 2024
- Director
- Ti West
- Runtime
- 103 Minutes
- Franchise
- X
8 ‘Everest’ (2015)
Directed by Baltasar Kormákur
Everest centers around two expedition groups on their descent from the summit of Mount Everest when a violent storm sweeps in and entraps them. The movie is based on the true events of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster. Debicki plays Caroline Mackenzie, the medical aid on Mount Everest’s base camp. She plays the character with so much passion and humanity that audiences would believe she has been a medical aid all her life and not an actress. When Debicki was filming Everest, she was relatively a newcomer to the industry, but audiences couldn’t tell because of how well she understood her character, and how real her character felt.
Everest is a visually beautiful movie with excellent cinematography. The survival aspects of the movie will reel audiences in and keep them interested. However, the pacing in the movie is not the best, and it leaves so much to be desired from such a high-risk disaster situation. Additionally, the movie tricks watchers into believing it would revolve around the animosity between Rob Hall (played by Jason Clarke) and Scott Fischer (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) when it doesn’t. It simply makes promises it can’t always keep.
Everest
- Release Date
- September 10, 2015
- Runtime
- 150
- Main Genre
- Drama
7 ‘Breath’ (2017)
Directed by Simon Baker
In Breath, Elizabeth Debicki plays Eva, the distant wife of Sando (played by Simon Baker) who befriends two teenage boys and pushes them towards bigger ambitions and more adventures. The coming-of-age drama is an adaptation of a novel of the same name written by Tim Winton. In his directorial debut, Baker serves a very rewarding and heartwarming coming-of-age story.
While the movie doesn’t raise any revolutionary ideas about maturing, the use of surfing to tell the story adds a unique perspective. All the actors give great performances, especially Debicki, whose Eva was a champion surfer stopped by a knee injury, and haunted by her lost potential ever since. Debicki portrays a woman lost and haunted by a life she could have had. The cinematography is breathtaking, especially the underwater shots.
Breath is available to Stream on Tubi in the U.S.
Watch On Tubi
6 ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3’ (2023)
Directed by James Gunn
Elizabeth Debicki returns as Ayesha in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3. In this movie, Ayesha has created Adam Warlock (played by Will Poulter) to haunt the Guardians of the Galaxy, especially Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper). Additionally, the Guardians must defend the universe from the High Evolutionary, who threatens to destroy it. Again, Debicki’s role is very limited, but she knows how to capture everybody’s attention with the very little she has got.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 is the audience’s final chapter of the Guardians of the Galaxy as they know them, as many members of the team leave to pursue other goals. The movie has been described as the perfect goodbye to one of the best trilogies in superhero movies. The movie has a lot going on, but James Gunn succeeds in weaving most of those storylines into one cohesive story. One major highlight is that Gunn doesn’t rely on CGI as much as other Marvel movies.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 is available to Stream on Disney+ in the U.S.
Watch on Disney+
5 ‘Tenet’ (2020)
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Tenet is Christopher Nolan‘s most ambitious movie. The movie tells the story of the Protagonist (portrayed by John David Washington) as he tries to stop World War III, armed by only one word. Nolan employs time inversion as the movie’s mind-blowing and hard-to-understand gimmick. It is a movie that requires multiple rewatches to enjoy, but it is worth it.
Debicki plays Kat Batron, the wife of the main antagonist, Andrei Sator (portrayed by Kenneth Branagh). Unfortunately, she suffers from Nolan’s awful characterization of his female characters as she barely has a personality, but Debicki’s acting keeps you interested in her character. Yet, Tenet is a puzzle that watchers enjoy solving and a movie full of mind-blowing sequences, such as a reverse car chase. Tenet is a movie that Nolan has been thinking of and wanting to make since 2000.
Tenet
- Release Date
- August 22, 2020
- Runtime
- 195
4 ‘The Great Gatsby’ (2013)
Directed by Baz Luhrmann
Debicki’s role as Jordan Baker in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby was only her second on-screen role. The movie is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and it follows Nick Carraway (portrayed by Tobey Maguire) as he enters the lavish world of Jay Gatsby (portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio). The Great Gatsby is the perfect novel to be adapted to a movie due to its visual writing and aspects. Luhrmann goes all out with the glitz and glamour to capture the magic of the party scene during the roaring 1920s. The Great Gatsby is one big party and all watchers are invited.
But even below the glitz and glamour, Luhrmann showcases a lot of his characters’ inner struggles and emotions to present a great character study in the form of a movie. As for Debicki, she acts as if she is a veteran actress who has been on the screen forever. She shares scenes with DiCaprio, Maguire, and Carey Mulligan, and she stands out in a lot of those scenes. Jordan Baker is a secondary character in The Great Gatsby, but she is one of the most important. She is the one who makes Nick Carraway understand Jay Gatsby’s world, and she is one of Daisy’s (portrayed by Mulligan) very few close friends.
The Great Gatsby (2013)
- Release Date
- May 10, 2013
- Cast
- Lisa Adam , Frank Aldridge , Amitabh Bachchan , Steve Bisley , Richard Carter , Jason Clarke
- Runtime
- 143
- Main Genre
- Drama
3 ‘Macbeth’ (2015)
Directed by Justin Kurzel
Macbeth needs no introduction. It is an adaption of Shakespeare’s play, which revolves around Macbeth’s (portrayed by Michael Fassbender) rising to power after he murders King Duncan (portrayed by David Thewlis) upon a prophecy. Elizabeth Debicki plays Lady Macduff, a lady whose children are killed on orders by Macbeth. The murder of Lady Macduff’s children is an obvious sign of Macbeth’s descendement to insanity.
Justin Kurzel breathes a new life into Shakespeare’s tragedy with stunning visuals, haunting intensity, and great performances from everybody. Fassbender is successful at capturing Macbeth’s internal conflicts and his descent into madness, while Marion Cottilard‘s Lady Macbeth brings her cunning and ambitious nature to the surface. The supporting cast, including Debicki, is equally as good.
Macbeth
- Release Date
- August 16, 2015
- Runtime
- 113 minutes
- Main Genre
- Documentary
2 ‘The Tale’ (2018)
Directed by Jennifer Fox
The Tale is a brave and powerful autobiographical drama directed by Jennifer Fox. The Tale follows documentary filmmaker Jennifer Fox (portrayed by Laura Dern) as she reassesses her relationship with her running coach, Bill, (played by Jason Ritter), and horse riding instructor, Mrs G., (played by Debicki) when she was 13. Jennifer finally realizes that she was groomed by them and raped by Bill, and discovers she was not the only one.
The movie is based on director Fox’s own experience as a child. The movie highlights how grooming changes the survivor’s mentality and makes them deny their trauma. Throughout the movie, Jennifer realizes that a story she has written about Bill is full of nothing but lies to help her cope with the trauma and survive. Debicki’s Mrs G. is central to this story, as she grooms the girls for her husband, Bill. Debicki portrays Mrs G. with so much calmness and kindness that the audiences start to trust her and let their guard down, similar to how the groomed girls trust her.
The Tale
- Release Date
- January 20, 2018
- Runtime
- 114
- Main Genre
- Drama
The Tale is available to Stream on max in the U.S.
Watch on max
1 ‘Widows’ (2018)
Directed by Steve McQueen
Widows is Debicki’s biggest movie to date and the start of her swift rise to stardom. The movie raised almost $76 million at the international box office, which doesn’t rank at the very top of Debicki’s movies, according to the box office. However, Widows is where a lot of people became fans of Elizabeth Debicki and her work. Debicki’s performance in this movie is her most award-nominated performance of her career this far. Widows revolves around women who are widowed after their criminal husbands are killed in a police stand-off and their plan to steal $5 million to pay off their husbands’ debts. Debicki plays Alice, one of the widows, in a performance that attracted a lot of praise.
Widows is one of the best women’s heist movies ever made. The movie’s pacing keeps the audience interested and engaged while the story keeps them entertained. The performances in the movie are spectacular, with everybody using the very best of their skills. Widows tells a story of gaining autonomy and freeing oneself from abuse in a very clever way, especially through Alice. Alice has been used and taken advantage of throughout her life, and when the heist opportunity emerges, she finally has a chance to gain freedom, independence, and autonomy. Debicki was praised as a stand out of a cast full of established actors, such as Viola Davis and Liam Neeson. Throughout the movie, audiences see Alice gain confidence a bit by bit, and it shows in very slight actions by Debicki, such as standing taller.
Widows
- Release Date
- November 6, 2018
- Runtime
- 128
- Main Genre
- Crime
- Director
- Steve McQueen
Widows is available to Stream on FXNow in the U.S.
Watch on FXNow
