Ranking the movies of Andrea Arnold from worst to best
Female filmmakers are thriving in contemporary British cinema, providing some of the most innovative and dynamic stories of recent times. From the poetic visions of the films of Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay to the homegrown horror of Rose Glass, several female directors are leading the contemporary British charge for creative innovation. Whilst these aforementioned directors are significant names, the Oscar-winning work of Andrea Arnold has managed to cross physical boundaries and cultural platforms.
Emerging onto the scene at the turn of the new millennium, Arnold’s career began with almost instant success, winning the Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short Film for her 2003 work, Wasp. This led the burgeoning director to take on her first feature film in 2006, helming the dark emotional drama Red Road, starring Kate Dickie, Tony Curran, Martin Compston, Paul Higgins and other talented names in British drama.
Ever since, Arnold has been labelled as an exciting name in the industry, moving from strength to strength as she took on projects of increasing significance. Appearing at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009, Arnold would gain a Palme d’Or nomination for her following film, Fish Tank, once again establishing her name among some of the very best up-and-coming filmmakers working in contemporary cinema.
Over a decade later, Arnold has forayed into documentary work alongside a plunge into Hollywood, where she took the chance to work with leading stars – Shia LaBeouf, Riley Keough and Sasha Lane.
Ranking the movies of Andrea Arnold:
5. Wuthering Heights (2011)
Many have tried to adapt Emily Brontë’s iconic 19th-century novel Wuthering Heights, with varying degrees of success across the board. Arnold’s 2011 attempt sits somewhere in the middle of such adaptations, being a faithful recreation of the novel that somewhat modernises the text by making Heathcliff a black character, played by James Howson, even if Arnold does little more than this to magnetise viewers.
Stripped back and bare, Arnold does well to express exactly what made the original novel so good, though her signature mark of quality is somewhat missed.
4. American Honey (2016)
Having only created British indie dramas up until 2016, news that Arnold was taking to Hollywood was met with both excitement and trepidation. Would she be able to translate her gritty style to American audiences? The short answer was ‘yes’, with American Honey being a gripping coming-of-age tale that focuses on the risks and mistakes one makes when searching for identity and opportunity.
Working with her largest cast of supporting actors yet, Arnold took to collaborating with the likes of Shia LaBeouf, Riley Keough, Sasha Lane and Arielle Holmes for the ambitious indie drama.
3. Red Road (2006)
Arnold’s feature film debut was a special piece of intimate cinema that perfectly reflected the trauma and paranoia that became innate within contemporary surveillance society. The story follows Jackie (Kate Dickie), a CCTV operator who watches over a small portion of Glasgow, Scotland and spots a man from her past whom she never thought she’d ever see again. The sighting turns into an obsession and quickly mutates until she is compelled to confront him physically.
Strange, eerie and bone-chillingly pertinent, Arnold’s story is essential for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the inner workings of contemporary surveillance technology.
2. Cow (2022)
Arnold’s first feature foray into documentary filmmaking, Cow, was an utter marvel to behold in 2022, with the compassionate, objective movie following the life cycle of a cow on a British farm. Placing the audience in the empathetic position of an animal’s right-hand side, Arnold’s film asks you to identify with the existence of such a being, using an experimental film style that attempts to tap into the thoughts and feelings of an entirely different consciousness.
Close, personal and dialogue-less, Arnold’s film is a noble human effort to unlock an ethereal, compassionate understanding of the truth of those we share our planet with. It is undoubtedly among her very best work.
1. Fish Tank (2009)
Andrea Arnold’s very best film is her second feature film, the BAFTA award-winning drama Fish Tank. Another coming-of-age tale, Fish Tank, tells the story of 15-year-old Mia, whose life is forever changed when her mum brings home an enigmatic new boyfriend. An impressionable young girl, Mia (Katie Jarvis) fights to protect herself and her future, finding a passion in dance as she forges a future for herself in the creative arts.
Though the future isn’t as clear-cut as Mia believes it to be, and reality hits when her dream of dance meets the harsh truth of modern life, and her relationship with her new step-father Connor (Michael Fassbender) takes an unlikely turn. Emotionally wrought and dramatically powerful, thanks to several fantastic lead performances, Fish Tank is a marvel of modern British drama.
