If you include voice acting and cameos, then Scarlett Johansson is not the highest-grossing actor/actress in history, but when looking at lead and supporting roles, she is, at least for now. Put another way, she’s the highest-grossing star at the moment, at least without adjusting for inflation. And you probably should adjust for inflation most of the time, but hey, big numbers are big numbers and the number next to her name is technically the biggest. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that a big role in the MCU is a contributing factor in making said big number so big, but also, Jurassic World Rebirth was the movie that pushed her over the previous highest-grossing star, Samuel L. Jackson. Oh, he’s also in a ton of MCU movies. And, if you go by cameos and voice roles, his box office total is second only to Stan Lee, who had so many cameos that his worldwide total stands at the highest.
Speaking of the MCU, there’s one movie from that behemoth of a series below, but then there are a few non-superhero movies highlighted here as well, all intended to showcase the best of Scarlett Johansson’s filmography to date. Not all of these movies contributed greatly to that previously mentioned high box office total she’s achieved, but that’s okay. The box office thing is a reason to talk about Johansson at the moment, but great movies can obviously be great without earning much money. Some of these did okay, and some not so much, but they were all high-quality films on top of being excellent showcases for Johansson’s talents as an actress.
5
‘Lost in Translation’ (2003)
Directed by Sofia Coppola
It wouldn’t quite be accurate to call Lost in Translation a star-making role for Scarlett Johansson, since she’d appeared in movies as far back as 1994, and had, by 2001, had been featured in a couple of close-to-great ones (namely, The Man Who Wasn’t There and Ghost World), but Lost in Translation was a star… codifying role? It was something. It was the Diet Coke version of a star-making role: almost, but not quite. But that’s not a knock on Lost in Translation, more just that she was already decently established before then. Anyway, this movie has her starring alongside Bill Murray, both playing people who form an odd bond while in Tokyo for different reasons.
Lost in Translation is generally considered to be Sofia Coppola’s best film, or at least a strong contender, and deservedly so.
They do indeed feel lost, per the title, and find something within each other that’s almost romantic, but not quite… maybe… sort of. There’s not a lot that happens in Lost in Translation, but there is a lot that’s felt, and that ends up being more than enough. It also helps that the film has a pretty great soundtrack, and it also successfully captures the unique beauty of Tokyo, feeling emotional, atmospheric, and quietly sad at times. It’s generally considered to be Sofia Coppola’s best film, or at least a strong contender, and deservedly so. It is restrained in scope, and some may consider it slow, but Lost in Translation is well-acted, has a unique feel to it, and proves undeniably cinematic, in turn feeling like a good entry point to arthouse cinema (it’s kind of an art film, albeit a pretty approachable one).
4
‘Avengers: Endgame’ (2019)
Directed by Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Avengers: Endgame wasn’t really the end for anyone, considering how the MCU has kept trucking along (for better or worse) in its wake, but it was a finale for the first three phases of the cinematic universe in question. And it was huge, and fulfilling, and a pretty wild achievement, which even those who don’t love superhero movies might have to begrudgingly acknowledge. The cast of Avengers: Infinity War was effectively halved for Endgame, given the way that movie ended, but it was still a star-studded affair… plus not everyone was gone forever. But the core Avengers team did remain intact, and Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow was a part of that, having been there in The Avengers (2012), though making her first appearance even earlier than that, in the flawed (yet still kind of important, in the end) Iron Man 2 (2010).
Johansson did take center-stage one more time after this, in Black Widow (2021), but that wasn’t nearly as strong of a film as Endgame, even if Johansson gave a good performance there, or at least as good as the material allowed. She’s part of a big ensemble in Avengers: Endgame, sure, and is central to one somewhat divisive scene (if you know, you know, and this is one of the highest-grossing movies of all time, so you probably do know), but taken as a whole, the film’s an immense achievement nonetheless. It’s been a tough act to follow ever since 2019, but it can still be appreciated and enjoyed for what it served as a finale for, and for how efficient it was as a blockbuster crowd-pleaser.
3
‘Under the Skin’ (2013)
Directed by Jonathan Glazer
Getting highlighted by a New York Times poll as one of the greatest sci-fi movies of the 21st century so far, Under the Skin is undoubtedly singular as a work of science fiction, functioning simultaneously as a very odd horror movie, too. Scarlett Johansson plays some sort of alien creature who disguises itself as a woman and goes around Scotland, hunting and doing something unsettling to those she preys on. She kind of consumes them, but it’s also hard to describe. The movie is strange, but in a way that works, rather than detracts. It’s not just centered on an alien, but the whole film feels like it might well have been shot and edited by aliens. It’s all super uncanny, uncomfortable, and provocative.
Those qualities do make it a great sci-fi movie, though, and no other movie about an alien or aliens coming to Earth feels much like Under the Skin. Maybe The Man Who Fell to Earth is the closest film it can be compared to, and that one followed by Under the Skin would make for one hell of a double feature. Under the Skin will not be – and has not been – enjoyed by everyone, but also, enjoyment might not even be the point. It’s an experience, and it’s effectively horrifying and eerie in ways that few movies have been before. Also, as far as Scarlett Johansson’s performance goes, this is similarly unlike any other role she’s played, and it therefore also works as something that demonstrates her impressive (and sometimes underappreciated) acting range.
2
‘Her’ (2013)
Directed by Spike Jonze
For a completely different sort of sci-fi movie starring Scarlett Johansson that also happened to come out in 2013, here’s Her, which is not nearly as horrifying as Under the Skin. This one is more of a romantic dramedy that also has science fiction central to its premise, being about a lonely man (Joaquin Phoenix) who develops a relationship of sorts with an operating system, and that operating system is voiced by Johansson. So, it’s a voice-only role for her, and that would usually be something that’d be hard to consider and/or rate alongside live-action performances, but Johansson is phenomenal here, turning in what’s probably one of the best – and most memorable – voice-acting roles of the past couple of decades.
Phoenix is also worthy of praise, of course, since he has to sell this unlikely relationship and make it feel natural and emotional, but Johansson does so much with nothing but her voice, and really helps Her work much better than you might expect it to. Her is simple, surprisingly good, and very easy to get swept up in emotionally. There are a near-limitless number of ways a movie with a premise like this could’ve gone wrong, but instead, Her works so well that it’s honestly a struggle to single out any aspect of it that didn’t go right. It’s a film that will eventually be considered a classic, if it’s not already, being visually stunning, shockingly well-acted, and overall effortlessly moving.
Her
- Release Date
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December 18, 2013
- Runtime
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126minutes
1
‘Marriage Story’ (2019)
Directed by Noah Baumbach
2019 was a particularly great year for Scarlett Johansson, as not only did it have her starring in one of the biggest blockbusters of all time (the previously mentioned Avengers: Endgame), but it was also the year she received two Oscar nominations, and her only two to date. One was Best Supporting Actress, for Jojo Rabbit, which she is excellent in, but that’s not quite a perfect or masterful movie; it’s just a bit too messy and tonally chaotic, even if some parts of it are quite powerful. The other was for Best Actress, for Marriage Story, and that was a pretty much perfect performance given in a close-to-flawless movie.
It’s a film that’s all about the acting, really, and it gives a very talented cast a lot of material to work with. Emotions run high, since the story here is about a marriage that’s fallen apart, with Johansson and Adam Driver playing the couple who now have to deal with all the challenges that come with divorce. It’s heavy, intense at times, and pretty uncompromising as a drama, but the approach works wonders. And both Driver and Johansson are more than up for handling the oftentimes harrowing scenes they have to be in, to the point where Marriage Story might well have both at their respective career bests (and that’s saying a lot in either case). It’s not a happy film, but it is a moving one that does offer catharsis, at least by the end. It’s raw, expertly acted, and undeniably powerful, and probably the best movie Scarlett Johansson has starred in to date.
Marriage Story
- Release Date
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December 6, 2019
- Runtime
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136 minutes
- Director
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Noah Baumbach
- Writers
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Noah Baumbach
