Emily Blunt has proved time and time again that she can completely transform into any role that she takes on. She has an emotional range that has allowed her to take on very dramatic roles and completely nail them. At the same time, she has also proved with films such as The Devil Wears Prada and The Five-Year Engagement that she is perfectly capable of taking on more comedic roles. She is a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award winner, and deservingly so. Blunt has worked with several prominent directors, including Rian Johnson, Denis Villeneuve, and Christopher Nolan.

Update October 27, 2023. In honor of the release of Pain Hustlers on Netflix, this article has been updated with more entries as well as where you can stream these great performances by Emily Blunt.

Blunt was born in the London Borough of Wandsworth and had an interest in acting from a young age. She attended Hurtwood House, a performing arts school, where she was discovered by a talent agent. After a supporting role in The Devil Wears Prada, Blunt received international recognition, and she has since become an A-list actress. Let's dive into her best dramatic movies so far.

10 The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

Captivating in its narrative, this movie pairs romance, drama, and science fiction. Emily Blunt embodies Elise, a gifted dancer encountering David Norris, played by Matt Damon. The duo tragically finds themselves targeted by an enigmatic entity resolute in separating them. Elise, played by Blunt, becomes both magnetic and multifaceted, ensuring the film's ethereal aspects are balanced with genuine human sentiment.

What Makes It Great

Their shared screen presence, bursting with authenticity and fervor, cannot be ignored. Blunt especially offers a detailed portrayal, epitomizing a woman torn between heart and destiny. Diving profoundly into fate, autonomy, and love's potency, the film gifts audiences with a poignant and contemplative odyssey. The Adjustment Bureau stands as a monumental marker in Blunt's acting journey, highlighting her prowess in intricate, dramatic roles.

Stream on Netflix

9 Your Sister’s Sister (2011)

Your Sister's Sister was written and directed by Lynn Shelton and features an endearing story with memorable characters. The film follows Jack (Mark Duplass) whose best friend (Blunt) instructs him to go to her family's cabin to find peace after dealing with the death of his brother. Along the way, a love triangle is created between the characters played by Blunt, Duplass, and Rosemarie DeWitt.

What Makes It Great

Blunt gives a fantastic performance as a woman who begins to fall in love with her best friend. Her character is honest, and endearing, and she has great chemistry with Duplass. This film boasts an approval score of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes and is praised by critics and fans.

Rent on Apple TV

8 My Summer of Love (2005)

Set against an idyllic English backdrop, My Summer of Love features Emily Blunt in a luminous role as Tamsin. She intertwines fatefully with Mona, portrayed by Natalie Press. This movie dissects the fervid and volatile bond the duo shares, encapsulating young love's quintessence and the quest for self-love.

What Makes It Great

This foundational role for Blunt was an ode to her capacity to embody layered and intricate personas. Venturing through love's alleys, intense infatuation, and self-discovery, the film presents an opulent narrative tapestry. Revered by critiques, this creation sits firmly within film's lore, and Blunt's embodiment of Tamsin shines as an early-career gem.

Rent on Apple TV

7 Looper (2012)

Distinctly innovative, this film is a sci-fi spectacle where Emily Blunt excels as Sara. She becomes inexorably linked to a hitman's world, exquisitely brought to life by Joseph Gordon-Levitt's riveting performance. Standing out within its genre, the film marries avant-garde storytelling with pulsating action. Blunt, becomes a linchpin with her performance in this film, infusing the tale with gravitas and authenticity.

What Makes It Great

The film earns accolades for its cinematic craftsmanship and pioneering time-travel conceptualization. Both critics and audiences celebrate its groundbreaking narrative and technical brilliance. Looper engraves itself in sci-fi annals, with Blunt's portrayal continually recognized and praised, solidifying her stature in the world of drama films.

Rent on Apple TV

6 Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Doug Liman's Edge of Tomorrow is a fantastic science fiction film that follows a destructive alien race and a public relations officer (Tom Cruise) who is put into a time loop, stuck in the same day, with the goal of defeating them. Blunt plays Sergeant Rita Vrataski, who is a fierce and talented soldier who teaches Cruise's character how to defeat the alien race.

What Makes It Great

Blunt gives a solid and passionate performance as a skilled soldier determined to save humanity. At the same time, her chemistry with Cruise was top-notch. Her performance in the movie also won her the award for Best Actress in an Action Movie at the Critics Choice Awards 2015.

Stream on Max

5 The Young Victoria (2009)

Acclaimed filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée directed The Young Victoria, following the life of Queen Victoria (Blunt). The film focuses on the relationship between Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (Rupert Friend). The film featured an ensemble cast that included Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson, Mark Strong, Jim Broadbent, and Thomas Kretschmann.

What Makes It Great

It is no easy task for an actor to portray a character from a different century, but Blunt does it easily. She completely transformed into Queen Victoria and delivered one of the best performances of her career. The film received positive reviews from critics, with a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Stream on Netflix

4 Sunshine Cleaning (2009)

In Sunshine Cleaning, Blunt plays a character who is struggling with both life and addiction. At the same time, her sister, played by Amy Adams, keeps her afloat by starting their own crime scene cleanup business. The movie is a dramedy about two sisters and gives the viewer some insight into their lives. The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008 but did not get a theatrical release until 2009.

What Makes It Great

Blunt gives an honest and sometimes heartbreaking performance from beginning to end. She captures a character who yearns for something more than she has, and her chemistry with Adams is top-notch. Sunshine Cleaning was a moderate box office hit, grossing $17 million against it's $5 million budget, and earned positive reviews from critics.

Stream on Prime Video

3 Sicario (2015)

Emily Blunt gives a highly emotional performance in Denis Villeneuve's Sicario. She plays a determined FBI Special Agent who is assigned to a controversial task of finding the whereabouts of a drug kingpin. She co-starred alongside Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin in this tense and critically acclaimed crime thriller.

What Makes It Great

Blunt is flawless from beginning to end of the film and perfectly shows the emotion of an agent who is very conflicted with her duties as an agent and the moral lines she might have to cross to achieve her goal. Blunt gives one of her finest performances in Sicario. Though she didn't return for the sequel, Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado, Sicario 3 producer Trent Luckinbill said to IndieWire that it would "make a lot of sense" for her to return in the upcoming sequel.

Stream on Prime Video

2 A Quiet Place (2018)

This scintillating horror film saw Emily Blunt as a mother trying to save her family from vicious creatures on a post-apocalyptic earth. Blunt deservingly earned a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance in A Quiet Place. One of the most brilliant aspects of her performance is that she was able to convey so much emotion in a film with little dialogue.

What Makes It Great

Blunt conveys the emotion of a mother desperate to protect her family, and she is fierce from beginning to end. She has fantastic chemistry with John Krasinski (her real-life husband and director of this movie) and the rest of the cast, and she completely carries the sequel, A Quiet Place Part II. In both films, Blunt shows her range as a performer, combining a strong dramatic performance with a great mix of horror and action.

Stream on Paramount+

1 Oppenheimer (2023)

After years of working in genre films like A Quiet Place, Mary Poppins Returns, and The Jungle Cruise, Oppenheimer marked a grand return for Blunt in a major dramatic work. The film is a biopic focused on Robert J. Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) and the creation of the Atomic Bomb and the fallout from it. Blunt played the role of Katherine "Kitty" Oppenheimer, the main character's wife. Yet she is far more than that.

Why Makes It Great

In a movie filled with incredible performances from Murphy to Robert Downey Jr., Blunt shines and is already getting talk of a potential Oscar nomination. Her character is a multifaceted individual, a woman with strong beliefs who is also forced into a life of having children and being a mother when she clearly does not want to. Director Christopher Nolan's films are often criticized for their female characters, with the ones that work usually being determined by the performer, and Blunt not only elevates the material but gives her best performance in years.

Oppenheimer will be available for purchase on PVOD on November 21, 2023