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Meryl Streep · Filmography Ranked

Best Meryl Streep Films, Ranked by IQ Score

Five decades of the most-Oscar-nominated performer in screen-acting history. Every Streep film, ranked by IQ Score.

Meryl Streep's filmography is the most-canonical screen-acting catalog of the late-20th and early-21st century. 21 Oscar nominations — more than any other performer in the medium's history. Three wins (Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie's Choice, The Iron Lady).

Anchor picks: Sophie's Choice (1982) — her Best Actress Oscar performance and one of the most-canonical lead-actress works ever recorded. The Hours (2002), Adaptation (2002), Doubt (2008) round out the catalog's top tier. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) won her first Oscar.

11 titles · ranked by IQ Score

  1. 1
    Sophie's Choice poster — IQ Score 167/200 — Masterclass tier

    Sophie's Choice

    Masterclass drama, war, literary

    Alan J. Pakula's 1982 William Styron adaptation anchored by Meryl Streep's Best Actress Oscar-winning performance as a Polish Holocaust survivor in postwar Brooklyn. The structural commitment to letting the late-act reve…

    167/200
  2. 2
    The Hours poster — IQ Score 167/200 — Masterclass tier

    The Hours

    Masterclass drama

    Stephen Daldry's 2002 David Hare adaptation of Michael Cunningham's novel — three interlocking stories across three time periods anchored by Nicole Kidman (Best Actress Oscar), Julianne Moore, and Meryl Streep. The struc…

    167/200
  3. 3
    Doubt poster — IQ Score 164/200 — Masterclass tier

    Doubt

    Masterclass drama

    John Patrick Shanley's 2008 self-adaptation of his Pulitzer-winning play anchored by Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman as a 1964 Bronx Catholic school principal accusing a young priest of child abuse. The structura…

    164/200
  4. 4
    Out of Africa poster — IQ Score 164/200 — Masterclass tier

    Out of Africa

    Masterclass drama, romance, epic

    Sydney Pollack's 1985 Karen Blixen biographical film anchored by Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. The structural commitment to letting period-British-colonial-Kenya cultural specificity be rendered at theatrical-epic sca…

    164/200
  5. 5
    Julie & Julia poster — IQ Score 163/200 — Masterclass tier

    Julie & Julia

    Masterclass comedy, drama, memoir

    Nora Ephron's 2009 dual-narrative film about food blogger Julie Powell cooking her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking — anchored by Amy Adams and Meryl Streep. The structural commitment to lett…

    163/200
  6. 6
    The Post poster — IQ Score 161/200 — Masterclass tier

    The Post

    Masterclass drama, historical, biography

    Spielberg's 2017 Pentagon Papers film anchored by Meryl Streep as Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham and Tom Hanks as editor Ben Bradlee. The structural commitment to letting Graham's executive-decision agony be…

    161/200
  7. 7
    The Bridges of Madison County poster — IQ Score 161/200 — Masterclass tier

    The Bridges of Madison County

    Masterclass drama, romance

    Clint Eastwood's 1995 Robert James Waller adaptation anchored by Eastwood and Meryl Streep as an Iowa farm wife and a National Geographic photographer who have a four-day affair while her family is away. The structural c…

    161/200
  8. 8
    The Iron Lady poster — IQ Score 156/200 — Stimulating tier

    The Iron Lady

    Stimulating drama, biography

    Phyllida Lloyd's 2011 Margaret Thatcher biographical film anchored by Meryl Streep's third Best Actress Oscar. The structural commitment to interleaving present-day-dementia register with flashback-political-career mater…

    156/200
  9. 9
    Marriage Story poster — IQ Score 145/200 — Stimulating tier

    Marriage Story

    Stimulating comedy, drama

    Follows divorce proceedings through legal, emotional, and artistic registers, demanding viewers hold competing perspectives of marriage dissolution.

    145/200
  10. 10
    The Devil Wears Prada poster — IQ Score 129/200 — Competent tier

    The Devil Wears Prada

    Competent comedy, drama

    Sharp workplace comedy with Meryl Streep's iconic Miranda Priestly, exploring ambition, identity, and the fashion industry.

    129/200
  11. 11
    Mamma Mia poster — IQ Score 119/200 — Competent tier

    Mamma Mia

    Competent romance, comedy, musical

    Phyllida Lloyd's 2008 ABBA jukebox musical whose structural commitment to the Greek-island setting and the multi-generational female cast (Streep, Walters, Baranski, Seyfried) is the film's actual subject. The three-poss…

    119/200

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