All 10 Best Mackenzie Davis Movies Ranked (Best to Worst)

Few films capture the soul-crushing exhaustion of modern motherhood with the incisive honesty found in Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody's domestic drama. The narrative follows an overwhelmed mother on the brink of total collapse who receives an unexpected lifeline in the form of a luminous, unorthodox night nanny. Davis steps into the titular role with an intoxicating blend of radiant youth, unforced empathy, and quiet melancholy. Her seamless chemistry with Charlize Theron anchors the movie's delicate balancing act between comedic relief and profound emotional breakdown. It remains Davis's most nuanced and career-defining screen role, demanding effortless warmth alongside a poignant, spectral undercurrent that lingers long after the credits roll.

Social politeness transforms into suffocating terror in this taut psychological thriller about an American couple visiting an idyllic British country estate. Director James Watkins wrings sweat-inducing tension from passive-aggressive boundary violations and the excruciating terror of avoiding an awkward scene. Davis is utterly phenomenal as Louise, serving as the movie's sharpest moral compass and primary emotional anchor. Unlike horror protagonists who freeze, she imbues her character with a fiercely protective maternal instinct that simmers beneath forced smiles before exploding into raw defensive ferocity. Her ability to telegraph acute social unease and primal panic gives the film its visceral bite, establishing one of her most commanding performances to date.

Clea DuVall's glossy, crowd-pleasing holiday rom-com subverts festive tropes by exploring the suffocating anxiety of compulsory heteronormativity during family gatherings. The plot tracks a high-stress Christmas visit where one partner is forced back into the closet to appease conservative parents. Davis delivers an emotionally taxing, grounded performance as Harper, balancing painful self-preservation with genuine romantic affection. While romantic comedies often sand down the sharp edges of flawed protagonists, Davis dares to let Harper appear genuinely conflicted, cowardly, and human. Her raw honesty opposite Kristen Stewart grounds the broader farcical humor, offering a poignant look at the emotional cost of living behind a social mask for the sake of familial approval.

Tim Miller's legacy sequel brought kinetic vitality back to a battered franchise by stripping away convoluted lore in favor of a relentless, high-velocity chase across highways and military compounds. Stepping into the shoes of augmented future-soldier Grace, Davis commands the screen with staggering physical authority. Towering, bruised, and emotionally resolute, she turns standard action-hero beats into an intimate tragedy about loyalty and inevitable obsolescence. Sharing frames with cinema icon Linda Hamilton is no small feat, yet Davis often emerges as the film's beating heart, delivering visceral combat choreography while anchoring every brutal sprint with fierce, unyielding protective instincts that elevate the entire blockbuster.

Michael Dowse's witty Toronto-set romantic comedy breathes fresh air into familiar will-they-won't-they dynamics through razor-sharp dialogue and genuine interpersonal chemistry. Centered on the complicated platonic intimacy between two creative misfits, the movie thrives primarily on the unhinged comedic electricity generated by its supporting cast. Davis portrays Nicole, the impulsively candid, delightfully foul-mouthed partner to Adam Driver's Allan. Davis lights up every scene she occupies, matching Driver's manic comedic timing beat for beat while grounding their wild romantic subplot in breezy, authentic warmth. It served as a pivotal early career milestone, signaling her undeniable comedic instincts and effortless indie charisma.

Drake Doremus crafts a deeply melancholic, improvisational chamber piece about domestic stagnation unraveling inside an idyllic upstate New York family home. When a British exchange student enters their orbit, long-buried marital fractures and suburban disillusionment bubble to the surface. Davis appears as the family's teenage daughter, handling the collateral damage of a crumbling household with understated sensitivity. While the central narrative leans heavily into familiar forbidden-infatuation terrain, Davis prevents her subplot from feeling like an afterthought. She infuses her character's quiet teenage rebellion with authentic hurt and quiet observation, offering an early glimpse of the formidable emotional restraint that would soon define her broader filmography.

Jon Stewart's barbed satire of modern campaign finance sets its sights on a rural mayoral race hijacked by high-priced Washington strategists. The film exposes the cynical disconnect between beltway political machines and working-class realities through farcical, small-town posturing. Davis plays the grounded, straight-shooting daughter of a retired Marine colonel whose viral video inadvertently sparks the media circus. Though the screenplay occasionally trades biting insight for broad, familiar tropes, Davis brings natural warmth and steady authenticity to the fray. She serves as the picture's vital tether to sanity, cutting through the performative noise of big-money politics with dry wit and genuine Midwestern grit.

Tom Gormican's slick, Manhattan-set buddy comedy attempts to chronicle the anxieties of young professional bachelors determined to avoid romantic commitment. Built around the breezy banter of its three central male leads, the film relies heavily on standard genre contrivances and episodic misadventures. Davis takes on the role of Chelsea, the sharp, patient counterpart to Miles Teller's commitment-phobic character. While the narrative mechanics frequently reduce female perspectives to narrative obstacles, Davis elevates her limited screen time with disarming charm and dry, effortless humor. Her natural screen presence injects warmth into an otherwise glossy, predictable diversion, standing out amid a whirlwind of formulaic raunch-comedy set pieces.

Blending apocalyptic alien invasion tropes with high school teenage angst, this horror-comedy envisions a small town where vampires, zombies, and humans precariously coexist until chaos strikes from outer space. The movie revels in goofy splatterpunk absurdity, messy pacing, and off-the-wall genre mashups. Davis embraces the madness as a sharp-witted local vampire contending with supernatural prejudice and hormonal crises. Her comedic commitment is palpable, leaning wholeheartedly into fanged camp and physical sight gags without ever condescending to the ridiculous material. It is an unapologetic, chaotic B-movie romp that remains an entertaining footnote demonstrating her early willingness to dive into unhinged genre sandbox experiments.

Floria Sigismondi's atmospheric retelling of Henry James's classic novella The Turn of the Screw places a fragile governess inside an ominous Maine estate housing deeply disturbed orphan siblings. The film boasts striking gothic imagery, evocative sound design, and an oppressive sense of isolation that initially promises a chilling psychological breakdown. Davis shoulders the entire weight of the narrative as Kate, tracing her character's frayed nerves with genuine conviction and wide-eyed panic. Unfortunately, the production is severely undone by an abruptly truncated, notoriously muddled finale that squanders her committed performance. Davis fights hard for thematic coherence, but even her dedicated emotional intensity cannot rescue the script's frustratingly hollow narrative collapse.