13 best films with Jessica Chastain

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

All genres and roles are subject to Jessica Chastain's talent.

The red-haired beauty is capable of playing with equal skill a bored housewife and a fighter against terrorists, the owner of an underground casino and a genius scientist, a spaceship commander and a loose guitarist.

1. Tree of life

• USA, 2011.
• Drama, mystery.
• Duration: 138 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 8.

The film tells about the life of a boy named Jack. As an adult, the hero recalls his childhood and reflects on the joyful and tragic pages of his family history.

Jessica Chastain played Jack's caring and meek mother. Her heroine is a living embodiment of philanthropy and the complete opposite of the despotic and impulsive father of the hero, played by Brad Pitt.

Controversial and somewhat pretentious, director Terrence Malick's film definitely falls into the “not for everyone” category. Therefore, to get acquainted with the filmography of Chastain, it is better for novice movie lovers to choose something simpler. For advanced moviegoers, welcome aboard.

2. Servant

• USA, 2011.
• Drama.
• Duration: 146 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 1.

The film is based on the novel of the same name by Catherine Stokett. In the center of the plot is an aspiring writer who is working on a book about the difficult life of colored maids in the southern states of the United States.

The tragicomic role of Celia Foote, a silly beauty with a heart of gold, earned Jessica several nominations, including Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations.

3. Shelter

• USA, 2011.
• Drama, thriller.
• Duration: 120 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 4.

Curtis, a simple worker, has terrible dreams about a deadly tornado approaching his family. Gradually, it becomes more and more difficult for him to distinguish reality from hallucinations. Therefore, he begins to build a safe shelter to save his wife and daughter from the unexpected.

For the role of the wife of the protagonist Samantha Jessica Chastain was nominated for the Saturn and Independent Spirit awards. The actress herself talks about her character as a very strong-willed woman, ready to do anything to protect her family.

4. Goal number one

• USA, 2012.
• Drama, action.
• Duration: 157 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 4.

The plot of the film is based on the chronicle of a ten-year hunt for the leader of the al-Qaeda terrorists, Osama bin Laden. Jessica Chastain played the main character, a young CIA agent Maya, whose main task is to eliminate the most dangerous terrorist in the world.

The prototype of Maya was a real CIA employee who was awarded the most important US military award. The film received a warm welcome from critics, and Jessica Chastain received a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama.

5. Mom

• Spain, Canada, 2013.
• Horror, thriller, drama.
• Duration: 100 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 2.

In an abandoned forest hut, two girls were found who, after several years of isolation, have lost most of their social skills. The young couple takes the children into their home, unaware that they are already being cared for by an unfriendly supernatural spirit.

Another dramatic role in Jessica's piggy bank is the cynical rocker Annabelle. The girl is forced to confront the ghost alone, while her friend Lucas, played by Nikolai Coster-Waldau, lies in a coma.

Once again, Chastain is revealed as a very talented actress. For an hour and a half of screen time, her character changes dramatically. At the beginning of the film, the viewer sees an egocentric girl, and at the end - a loving mother, ready to protect children at the cost of her life.

6. The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby

• USA, 2013–2014.
• Drama, melodrama.
• Duration: 96 minutes, 105 minutes, 123 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 9; 6, 9; 6, 3.

A dramatic story of one couple, told in three films. Conor and Eleanor are madly in love with each other, but tragic events change everything. Having made an unsuccessful suicide attempt, Eleanor disappears without a trace from her husband's life.

Director and screenwriter Ned Benson wrote the role of the main character specifically for Jessica Chastain and expected the actress to take a long time to persuade him to shoot. However, she unexpectedly herself was inflamed with the desire to play in Benson's melodrama.

For this, Chastain even turned down the role of scientist Maya Hansen in Iron Man 3. After Jessica dropped out of the project, her role was given to Rebecca Hall.

Watch on Google Play (part 1) →

Watch on Google Play (part 2) →

7. Interstellar

• USA, UK, 2014.
• Sci-fi drama.
• Duration: 169 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 6.

The earth of the future faces dire famine due to global crop failure caused by drought and dust storms. Interstellar travel remains the last hope for human survival. NASA employees find a wormhole in Saturn's orbit, which leads to a promising star system. A team of experienced researchers is sent in search of a planet with conditions suitable for humans.

Jessica plays Murph, daughter of the main character Cooper, played by Matthew McConaughey. According to the plot, the little heroine manages to grow up and become a scientist while her father travels through space and time. Therefore, for the role of this character, it was necessary to select as many as three actresses, including the very young at that time Mackenzie Foy and Ellen Burstyn.

For her role as Murph, Jessica Chastain was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress.

8. The most violent year

• USA, 2014.
• Crime drama.
• Duration: 125 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 0.

The plot of the dramatic film directed by JC Chandor unfolds around the life of the American immigrant Abel Morales, who wants to keep his business. However, an unprecedented rampant crime in New York threatens to destroy everything he has created.

Jessica Chastain won the Best Supporting Actress Award from the National Council of Film Critics. The role of Abel Morales' wife Anna - a brave, domineering and luxurious beauty - was to first go to Charlize Theron.

9. The Martian

• USA, 2015.
• Science fiction adventure film.
• Duration: 142 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 0.

A film directed by Ridley Scott based on the book of the same name by Andy Weir. The plot tells the story of an astronaut who is left alone on Mars with no connection to Earth.

Jessica Chastain plays Crew Commander Melissa Lewis. After Melissa does not find her comrade Mark Watney (Matt Damon) on board, she is forced to command take-off. It was assumed that this role will be played by Cate Blanchett, who at that time was busy with another project.

10. Crimson Peak

• USA, Canada, 2015.
• Horror, melodrama, fantasy.
• Duration: 119 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 5.

This gothic thriller directed by Guillermo del Toro tells the story of a beautiful young girl Edith (Mia Wasikowska) who fell in love with the charming Englishman Thomas (Tom Hiddleston). The newlyweds move to the groom's family estate, where they will live with his older sister Lucille.

In 2016, Jessica Chastain won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the gothic lady Lucille Sharp.

11. Sloane's Dangerous Game

• USA, France, 2016.
• Drama, political thriller.
• Duration: 132 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

Elizabeth Sloan is a sought-after and ruthless lobbyist. She is once tasked with campaigning to support the gun law among the female population. The heroine cannot betray her moral principles and goes to a competing company, taking with her a team of like-minded people.

The political thriller directed by John Madden can be seen as a full-fledged benefit performance by Chastain, which demonstrates all the possibilities of her acting potential. For her performance, Jessica was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress (Drama), behind Isabelle Huppert.

12. The zoo keeper's wife

• USA, 2017.
• Historical film, drama.
• Duration: 127 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 0.

The historical war drama directed by Niki Caro based on the book of the same name by Diana Ackerman tells about the spouses Yana and Antonina Zhabinsky. The director of the Warsaw Zoo and his wife save people during the German occupation by hiding them in empty animal cages.

In this beautiful biopic in the spirit of Schindler's List, Jessica Chastain played a refined and loving heroine - Antonina Zhabinskaya, who is forced to show unthinkable courage in the face of war.

13. Big game

• USA, 2017.
• Drama, biographical film.
• Duration: 140 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

Based on a true story directed and written by Aaron Sorkin, it follows former skier Molly Bloom, nicknamed the Poker Princess, running the most expensive underground casino in Hollywood.

Another benefit of Jessica Chastain in the debut directorial project of one of the best screenwriters in Hollywood. For her role in The Big Game, the actress was nominated for a Golden Globe.

It can be noted that with its concept of "a strong woman surviving in a male world" the film resembles Sloan's Dangerous Game. In addition, a kind of translation ironically made the Russian titles of these films very similar.