MOVIES

7 Best Rose Byrne Movies And Tv Shows, Ranked





Apple TV+ continues to draw in a whole host of talent, and one actress who definitely deserves a mention is Rose Byrne. She has starred in all three seasons of “Physical” for the streaming service, along with the impressively funny “Platonic,” which debuted in 2023. Should you like to see more of Byrne in action, there’s a whole host of worthy watches to dig into. All of them highlight how great Byrne can be whenever she puts her name on a project. How fortunate then, that we’ve made a list of the best of the bunch to get through.

From haunting horrors to films that the whole family can watch together, all of them are brilliant entries from Byrne’s filmography. To start us off, what better follow-up for her TV stint with Seth Rogen than the first time they collaborated on the big screen by fighting back against Zac Efron in full frat-bro mode?

Neighbors

The chemistry that fuels Apple TV+’s great partnership in “Platonic” began when Rose Byrne and Seth Rogan faced off against Zac Efron in the 2014 film, “Neighbors.” The two actors first starred together in the Nicholas Stoller movie that saw them as a happily married couple who move into the wrong home when they learn it’s next to a frat house.

While a lot of the attention is on Efron and Rogen’s hilarious throwdown through the film by way of readjusted office chairs and Robert De Niro impressions, Byrne holds her own as an angry mother looking out for her daughter, Stella, and also gets in on plenty of giggles as well. This could easily have been another film where the wife takes the back seat while these man children go to war, but Byrne steals just as many scenes getting in on the anarchy and losing it when the boys next door get extreme.

There’s no doubt that her involvement helped line up a sequel with “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising” in 2014, and then reignited their time together in “Platonic” in 2023.

Bridesmaids

The first thought that comes to mind about Paul Feig’s wedding comedy is Maya Rudolph stopping in the middle of a busy road and letting nature take its course — all over a brand new wedding dress. Then you might think of an intoxicated Kristen Wiig shuffling into first class and having a tête-à-tête with the cabin crew. What often goes overlooked, though, is how one of the best among the “Bridesmaids” crew is Rose Byrne getting under the skin of our leading lady with a fake smile and an underhanded compliment to match.

Facing off with Wiig’s Annie, Byrne’s Helen becomes the perfect foil to throw a wrench in the works for our maid of honor, albeit one that’s in an elegantly wrapped bow. Every one of Helen’s ideas to improve the wedding grates on Annie’s nerves, making their eventual altercation all the more enjoyable.

What sets Byrne’s character apart from so many other comedic pseudo-villains is her turn in the final act. The opposing sides of this war finally show their cards before the wedding, and it’s Byrne and Wiig’s barbed dynamic that helps make this comedy a classic. 

Insidious

While Byrne might’ve made a career out of cracking jokes for the most part, we can’t forget the scare fest she applied her talent to that began 13 years ago. In James Wan’s “Insidious,” Byrne played struggling mother, Renai Lambert, who is forced to face an evil that has plagued her husband’s side of the family tree for decades and taken a grip on her son (Ty Simpkins) in the process.

As the franchise grew, the “Insidious” timeline eventually started to shift its focus to distressed Dad Josh (Patrick Wilson), as well as revisiting their son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) in the film’s final chapter. Thankfully, though, Byrne makes a mark as the mother struggling to understand what she’s married into with the first “Insidious.”

Being on the receiving end of plenty of the franchise’s most iconic scares, Byrne is a brilliant addition to the Dalton family, and she sells every fright she experiences. One that will always stick out is her rushing around the house to find a boy who most certainly isn’t her son — even if she’s oblivious to that unsettling fact.

Sunshine

Chuck a space rock in any direction of Danny Boyle’s overlooked sci-fi film and you’re guaranteed to find someone on the cusp of stardom. Alongside the likes of Chris Evans, Cillian Murphy, and recent Emmy winner Hiroyuki Sanada, Rose Byrne finds herself on a mission to reignite the sun in the brilliant and totally underrated sci-fi movie, “Sunshine.”

Climbing aboard this do-or-die mission, Byrne plays Cassie, pilot of the Icarus, the vessel sent on a daring effort to fire up our nearby star after Earth has frozen over. With Boyle at the helm, the film deals with humanity’s place in the world as well as matters of religion and God, mainly posed by Mark Strong as the sole survivor of the previous attempt who becomes the film’s burnt baddie.

It’s worth heading back to “Sunshine” not only to see Byrne’s work, but the rest of the incredible cast that joined her in the film. While Strong and Murphy are fighting for the future of humanity, she adds her own emotional heft to raise the tension.

28 Weeks Later

Another dip into a world brought to life by Danny Boyle, “28 Weeks Later” was Rose Byrne’s first bout with horror in the sequel to the now iconic zombie flick. With the virus in full swing as revealed in the ending of “28 Days Later,” Byrne is on the ground in the U.K. after it meets its own apocalypse. Alongside the likes of Jeremy Renner, Idris Elba, and Harold Perrineau, Byrne plays U.S. medical officer Scarlet, who is trying to keep the Rage virus at bay and ends up doing about as good a job as everyone else on the unfortunate British Isles.

While it might lack the bite and pound pulses at a different rate, it doesn’t stop the talent, including Byrne, from delivering commendable horror performances right up until the film’s chilling finale. It might be safe to say that Scarlet won’t be on the run from the Rage in the anticipated “28 Years Later,” but it’s rewarding to see that she helped the franchise keep audiences enthusiastic to see more of it in the future.

Instant Family

Proving that Byrne can bring a family-friendly atmosphere to a film when she wants to, “Instant Family” saw her star wth Mark Whalberg as a couple who adopt three kids and struggle with life as brand new parents. Octavia Spencer, Tig Notaro, Joan Cusack, and Julia Hagerty help deliver the laughs as a team of social workers uniting the children and parents who might make for the perfect family if they can just all settle down.

“Instant Family” feels like a movie from a bygone era — there’s something incredibly ’90s about this forgotten little comedy from director Sean Anders. Once again, while Byrne might not take the center stage, she certainly contributes to this brilliant team effort for a film that’s perfect for a Sunday afternoon on the sofa when you’ve binged just about everything else.

Spy

If there’s anyone who’s going to steal the scene from Melissa McCarthy, it’s her former “Bridesmaids” co-star Byrne as the evil villain of this hilarious espionage entry. Starring as illegal arms dealer Rayna Boyanov, Byrne applies the same kind of snooty superiority that she did with Feig’s whimsical wedding number, but, you know, in a kind of global terrorist way. Naturally, the laughs come just as hard and fast here.

Playing it straight across from McCarthy’s bumbling secret agent works brilliantly as Byrne gives as good as she gets as the supervillain. The only fault for this comedy gem is that we didn’t get another adventure with Susan Cooper, and perhaps even Rayna as well. Given how the film ended with Byrne’s character getting taken in by the authorities, having these two back in action and on the same side again would be an absolute hit. Come on Paul Feig, give us “Spy 2” — and bring Boyanov, too.


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