The Best Rachel McAdams Movies That Prove She's Got The Range
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Vote up the Rachel McAdams movies that prove she's an incredible talent.
Cinema sweetheart Rachel McAdams has an impressive number of film credits to her name. Bursting onto the scene in 2004 with back-to-back emblematic roles - conniving queen bee Regina George in Mean Girls and romantic lead Allie Hamilton in The Notebook - she has the admirable ability to shape-shift into each character she plays. From doe-eyed girl-next-door types to time-travelers' tortured love interests, she masters it all.
Although her catalog is a challenge to choose from, these films are perhaps some of her best. She shines in tear-jerkers, knee-slappers - and everything in between.
- 1806 VOTESPhoto: New Line Cinema
The Premise: A 1940s summer romance fades when star-crossed lovers Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (McAdams) are torn apart by her disapproving family. Seven years later, a rain-soaked reunion rekindles the flame between them. On the cusp of marrying another man, Allie must choose between her new love or her first love.
How She Steals The Show: 2004 was McAdams's breakthrough year. On the pink-colored heels of her supporting role in Mean Girls, McAdams shined as the romantic lead in The Notebook, capturing hearts with her poignant portrayal of Allie. Her chemistry with Gosling is unmatched - earning the pair an MTV Movie Award for best kiss - and her emotive performance is applauded for its beauty and clarity, cementing her place alongside romantic drama royalty.
Lasting Impact: The Notebook is a quintessential chick flick. A frequent top-tier contender on best romantic movie lists - and revered as the most successful film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks's sentimental romance novels - this timeless tear-jerker is as enduring as Noah and Allie's love.
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- 2652 VOTESPhoto: Paramount Pictures
The Premise: Former homeschooler Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) enters the trenches of high school, navigating cutthroat social cliques and territorial teens. When she unwittingly joins the school's popular girl group, The Plastics, she gets plenty of lessons she didn't sign up for.
How She Steals The Show: McAdams is the ultimate mean girl, playing The Plastics' reigning queen bee, Regina George. Blazing in blond-haired, b*tchy glory, she's almost unrecognizable in contrast with her heartfelt portrayal of Allie in The Notebook - which was released the same year. Her catty quips and devious deeds may render Regina a villain, but the comedic charm McAdams brings to the character makes it hard to hate her.
Lasting Impact: Mean Girls is essentially Clueless for the 21st century. With quotable one-liners and Y2K fashion eye candy, the timeless teen comedy has endured the decades, inspiring a Gen Z revival in 2024. Unfortunately, McAdams didn't reprise her role in the 2024 version of Mean Girls, which may explain why it's not as fetch as the original.
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- 3562 VOTESPhoto: Universal Pictures
The Premise: Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) is a young hopeless romantic with the ability to time-travel. Using his special gift, he steals the heart of the rapturous and beautiful Mary (Rachel McAdams). However, playing with time is like playing with fire, and the pages of their perfect love story are ultimately burned away. Traveling back in time over and over again, Tim alters the details of his past to save his future with Mary.
How She Steals The Show: McAdams's performance, according to RogerEbert.com reviewer Susan Wloszczyna, is "infectiously fetching” in this romantic time-travel fantasy. She lights up the screen with a sweet, girl-next-door aura that pairs well with the Hugh Grant-coded charm of her romantic counterpart, Gleeson.
Lasting Impact: With an 82% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, About Time has aged well. Sparking comparisons to Groundhog Day, the decade-old fantastical tale is revered as an underrated classic in the time-traveling genre.
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- 4521 VOTESPhoto: Screen Gems
The Premise: After a near-fatal car wreck, newlywed Paige (McAdams) suffers significant memory loss, rendering her husband Leo (Channing Tatum) unrecognizable to her. Determined to return to marital bliss, Leo tries to capture her heart all over again.
How She Steals The Show: More heart-wrenching than heartwarming, The Vow finds McAdams in a role that challenges her to maintain her character's likability even when she's acting cold. As Paige struggles to recall memories of her husband, her frustration causes her to lash out at him multiple times. Despite her unsavory behavior, McAdams's nuanced portrayal of Paige keeps the audience rooting for her.
Lasting Impact: Fitting for a film about memory loss, The Vow was largely forgotten until a Netflix resurrection cast it back in the spotlight 12 years later. Released during Valentine's Day weekend in 2012, the romantic drama made a grand entrance at the box office in the No. 1 spot, but received tepid reviews in comparison with the two stars' previous romantic opuses, The Notebook (McAdams) and Dear John (Tatum).
- 5432 VOTESPhoto: Warner Bros. Pictures
The Premise: In The Time Traveler's Wife - based on Audrey Niffenegger's novel of the same name - Henry (Eric Bana) is a librarian with a rare genetic disorder that causes him to time-travel involuntarily. His wife Clare (McAdams) is troubled by his frequent vanishing acts, finding herself in a lonely marriage where every moment is fleeting.
How She Steals The Show: In the first of three films in which she unintentionally plays a time-traveler's love interest, McAdams is heart-achingly lovely as Clare. Measuring her performance against the book's underwritten character, one IMDb reviewer wrote that McAdams's luminous portrayal of Clare displays her “unusual ability to make her characters feel real against all odds.”
Lasting Impact: An arguably underappreciated film, The Time Traveler's Wife is no stranger to being criticized for the absurdity of its plot. A 2022 effort to turn the story into an HBO series was met with similar distaste and critiques of aging poorly.
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- 6365 VOTESPhoto: DreamWorks Pictures
The Premise: In Wes Craven's turbulent thriller, Lisa Reisert (McAdams) is kidnapped aboard an overnight flight by a dashing, menacing stranger, Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy), attempting to entangle her in a villainous plot to assassinate the head of Homeland Security.
How She Steals The Show: In a departure from her typical romantic leads, McAdams gives a grounded performance as a woman navigating a dangerous situation. Following her top billings in The Notebook and Mean Girls, Roger Ebert hailed her as a rising star who brought “more presence and credibility" to her role than expected.
Lasting Impact: It may not be one of the first films that comes to mind when recounting horror legend Wes Craven's works, but this stylish psychological thriller holds its own. Regarded as “criminally overlooked,” Red Eye is a gem in McAdams's early acting career.
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- 7472 VOTESPhoto: New Line Cinema
The Premise: Happy-go-lucky bachelors Jeremy (Vince Vaughn) and John (Owen Wilson) crash weddings to hook up with tipsy, emotionally vulnerable women. Their womanizing ways are challenged when John is unwittingly bewitched by beautiful bridesmaid Claire (McAdams).
How She Steals The Show: An adorable, chocolate-haired McAdams is sweet as can be in one of her signature girl-next-door roles. With bright-eyed, charming vulnerability, her chemistry with Wilson ignites the screen. Who wouldn't fall in love with her?
Lasting Impact: A raucous R-rated comedy, Wedding Crashers was considered both an early 2000s summer blockbuster and an absolute train wreck. While it's no masterpiece, its dynamic all-star performances make up for its overly boisterous humor.
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- 8335 VOTESPhoto: Warner Bros. Pictures
The Premise: When serial killer and occultist Lord Blackwood rises from the grave - running rampant through the streets of London on a murderous post-mortem spree - it's up to sleuthing legend Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and his partner Dr. Watson (Jude Law) to end his reign of terror.
How She Steals The Show: As Holmes's nemesis and tempestuous love interest, Irene Adler, McAdams plays the Victorian femme fatale well in a role that defies her typical sweetheart typecasting. Her character's hidden agenda adds another layer of mystery to the plot.
Lasting Impact: While bringing a literary legend like Sherlock Holmes to life on the silver screen is no easy task, director Guy Ritchie's 2009 effort proved to be better than expected. Hailed as a stylish thriller with witty acting performances, this film adaptation is one for the books.
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- 9211 VOTESPhoto: Warner Bros. Pictures
The Premise: Infectiously funny married couple Max (Jason Bateman) and Annie (McAdams) are dead serious when it comes to game night. While hosting a neighborhood murder mystery party, things go off the board when they become real-life players in a deadly game.
How She Steals The Show: Showcasing her incredible wit and comedic timing, McAdams shines alongside Bateman as a hilariously competitive housewife. She's at the top of her game in Game Night, winning over audiences with charm and nonstop belly laughs.
Lasting Impact: After a slow-burn success at the box office, Game Night emerged like a dark horse, taking reviewers by pleasant surprise with its sharp, dark humor. It's a film that arguably doesn't get enough love - triumphing in clever banter and charismatic performances that have rendered it a comical masterpiece.
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- 10196 VOTESPhoto: Open Road Films
The Premise: In this film based on true events, a team of investigative journalists from The Boston Globe shedslight on a massive cover-up of the child sexual abuse sandal in the Roman Catholic Church. Interviewing victims and gathering evidence, they work tirelessly to expose the sins of priests.
How She Steals The Show: In this dark but moving tale, McAdams plays fiercely intelligent journalist Sacha Pfeiffer. Alongside an all-star cast - including Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, and Liev Schreiber - McAdams' graceful performance garnered her first Oscar nomination, for best supporting actress.
Lasting Impact: Considered the underdog, Spotlight snagged the Academy Award for best picture in 2016. Critics were openly upset by the win - favoring the film's flashier competitors like The Revenant and Mad Max - but the riveting crime drama is beloved by many, inspiring resoundingly strong reviews, and a 97% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes.
- 11173 VOTES
The Premise: After a tragic car accident, successful neurosurgeon Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) sustains severe hand injuries that threaten his career. On a quest for a cure through the hidden world of mystic arts, he encounters evils in a parallel dimension that put the fate of the world in his injured hands.
How She Steals The Show: Venturing into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, McAdams plays Dr. Strange's co-worker and ex-lover. With a limited amount of screen time, one reviewer declared that her talents were wasted as Strange's under-used love interest - while another applauded her grounded performance, and admired her witty banter with Cumberbatch.
Lasting Impact: Doctor Strange is an action-packed delight for Marvel fans that inspired a 2022 sequel, in which McAdams reprised her role as Christine Palmer. A third installment is rumored to be in the works, but with no confirmation of her return to the multiverse.
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- Photo: Netflix
The Premise: Small-town Icelandic singers Lars (Will Ferrell) and Sigrit (McAdams) pursue their dreams of global superstardom by participating in the Eurovision Song Contest, a renowned European singing competition. Their bond is put to the test as they navigate scheming competitors, stage malfunctions, and high-pressure performances.
How She Steals The Show: In this musical parade of show-stopping kitsch, McAdams showcases her comedic abilities alongside screwball Ferrell. Their flavors of humor are a bit mismatched - The Hollywood Reporter deeming them an “imperfect fit" - yet it's still a fun watch.
Lasting Impact: Released during the height of lockdown in 2020, this feel-good, farcical comedy offered a bop-filled musical escape during a heavy time. While it may not be considered a masterpiece, reviewers applaud it for being both entertaining and heartfelt.
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- 13143 VOTESPhoto: The Weinstein Company
The Premise: Boxing champion Billy “The Great” Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal) is on top of the world until a tragic incident sends him on a downward spiral, costing him his home, family, and career. Seeking help from a professional trainer (Forest Whitaker), he fights to step back into the ring, and get his life back.
How She Steals The Show: Though her role is short-lived, McAdams gives a captivating performance as Gyllenhaal's wife, Maureen. Her tragic death scene - that's not a spoiler, because it was in the trailer - is heartbreakingly poignant. Entertainment Tonight raved that if there was an Oscar category for best death, McAdams would certainly take home the gold.
Lasting Impact: A drop in the ocean of professional boxing dramas, Southpaw packs a respectable punch. In the same breath that it's critiqued for its genre cliches, the film is hailed for its stellar acting performances by McAdams, Gyllenhaal, Whitaker, and rapper 50 Cent.
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- 1464 VOTES
Disobedience
Photo: Bleecker StreetThe Premise: Years after being shunned from the Orthodox Jewish community for lusting after her childhood friend, New York photographer Ronit (Rachel Weisz) flies home to London to attend her father's funeral. A reunion with her former female flame, Esti (McAdams), who is now married to a man, sparks romance, and tensions rise as they tread the line between faith and desire.
How She Steals The Show: Typically gracing the screen with hunky male counterparts, McAdams is gifted a female love interest in this melancholic love drama. She and Weisz share an electric, natural chemistry that is tender and sensual without falling prey to the male gaze. Her role pushes the envelope in comparison with the traditional romantic tropes she often plays.
Lasting Impact: Adapted from Naomi Alderman's novel with the same title, Disobedience garnered mixed reviews. Some critics called it a “drab story of forbidden love,” while others mused it cut deeper than that, exploring the anguish of its characters with quiet, powerful performances by McAdams and Weisz.
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The Premise: In this coming-of-age tale based on Judy Blume's beloved book, 11-year-old Margaret moves from the city to the suburbs with her family. Navigating new friends, puberty, and adolescent drama, she begins talking to God for comfort.
How She Steals The Show: Although McAdams didn't receive an Oscar nomination - as predicted - for her supporting role as Margaret's mother, Barbara, critics were buzzing about her performance during awards season. Acclaimed for infusing a charming nuance into an otherwise generic character, she didn't take home the gold, but she got plenty of glory.
Lasting Impact: The film didn't flourish at the box office - raking in just $21.5 million against its $30 million budget - but its 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes is a testament to the film's surprising impact. Even without a single Oscar nomination, the heartwarming tale proves to be as beloved as the novel that inspired it.
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