The Best Andrew Garfield Movies
From Social Network to Spider-Man and Beyond
Discover the best performances of Andrew Garfield, from his Oscar-nominated dramatic roles to his iconic turn as Peter Parker in this ranked guide.
About Andrew Garfield
There is a specific kind of intensity that Andrew Garfield brings to the screen, a restless energy that feels less like acting and more like a live wire searching for a ground. He operates with a rare, ego-free vulnerability, often appearing as though he has no protective layers between his nervous system and the camera. Whether he is playing a superhero or a Jesuit priest, he possesses a signature sensitivity that makes him one of the most empathetic performers of his generation. While many of his peers lean into irony or stoicism, he remains unafraid of big, messy, earnest emotions.
His breakout role in the harrowing Boy A showcased this raw nerve immediately, but it was his turn as Eduardo Saverin in The Social Network that forced the world to pay attention. In a film defined by cold intellect and rapid-fire cynicism, he provided the soul, delivering a performance defined by the sting of betrayal. That ability to anchor high-concept stories in genuine human pain arguably made him the most emotionally complex Peter Parker to date. His tenure in The Amazing Spider-Man films, and his joyous return in Spider-Man: No Way Home, solidified him as a pop-culture icon who understood that beneath the spandex, the character was always just a lonely kid from Queens.
What truly defines his career arc, however, is a relentless devotion to the spiritual and the physical. He spent a year in silence and lost significant weight for Martin Scorsese’s Silence, portraying a man of faith pushed to his absolute breaking point. He carried that same conviction into Hacksaw Ridge, where his portrayal of a pacifist medic in the middle of a war zone earned him his first Oscar nomination. He seems drawn to characters who are driven by internal compasses that the rest of the world finds baffling. Even in more grounded dramas like 99 Homes or the heartbreaking We Live in Time, he finds a way to make the mundane feel operatic.
Audiences connect with him because he never keeps them at arm’s length. There is a sense of genuine joy in his work, perhaps most evident in tick, tick... BOOM! where he transformed into Jonathan Larson with a frantic, musical brilliance that many didn't know he possessed. From the eerie dread of Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1974 to the sun-drenched paranoia of Under the Silver Lake, he refuses to play it safe. He has moved effortlessly from the early promise of Never Let Me Go and Lions for Lambs to the weighted maturity of Breathe, proving time and again that he is a shapeshifter. He remains that rare movie star who seems more interested in seeking the truth of a moment than maintaining a pristine image, a quality that ensures his longevity in an industry that often favors style over such profound substance.
The Other Boleyn Girl
2008A sumptuous and sensual tale of intrigue, romance and betrayal set against the backdrop of a defining moment in European history: two beautiful sisters, Anne and Mary Boleyn, driven by their family's blind ambition, compete for the love of the handsome and passionate King Henry VIII.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
2009After a carnival troupe saves his life, a man agrees to help its immortal leader collect five souls and win a bet with the devil.
Lions for Lambs
2007Three stories told simultaneously in ninety minutes of real time: a Republican Senator who's a presidential hopeful gives an hour-long interview to a skeptical television reporter, detailing a strategy for victory in Afghanistan; two special forces ambushed on an Afghani ridge await rescue as Taliban forces close in; a poli-sci professor at a California college invites a student to re-engage.
Under the Silver Lake
2018Young and disenchanted Sam meets a mysterious and beautiful woman who's swimming in his building's pool one night. When she suddenly vanishes the next morning, Sam embarks on a surreal quest across Los Angeles to decode the secret behind her disappearance, leading him into the murkiest depths of mystery, scandal and conspiracy.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
2014For Peter Parker, life is busy. Between taking out the bad guys as Spider-Man and spending time with the person he loves, Gwen Stacy, high school graduation cannot come quickly enough. Peter has not forgotten about the promise he made to Gwen’s father to protect her by staying away, but that is a promise he cannot keep. Things will change for Peter when a new villain, Electro, emerges, an old friend, Harry Osborn, returns, and Peter uncovers new clues about his past.
Never Let Me Go
2010As children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy spend their childhood at an idyllic and secluded English boarding school. As they grow into adults, they must come to terms with the complexity and strength of their love for one another while also preparing for the haunting reality awaiting them.
Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1974
2009Yorkshire, 1974. Fear, mistrust and institutionalised police corruption are running riot. Rookie journalist Eddie Dunford is determined to search for the truth in an increasingly complex maze of lies and deceit surrounding the police investigation into a series of child abductions. When young Clare Kemplay goes missing, Eddie and his colleague, Barry, persuade their editor to let them investigate links with two similar abductions that draw them into a deadly world of secrecy, intimidation, shocking revelations and police brutality.
99 Homes
2015After his family is evicted from their home, proud and desperate construction worker Dennis Nash tries to win his home back by striking a deal with the devil and working for Rick Carver, the corrupt real estate broker who evicted him.
Garfield excels as a desperate laborer pulled into a Faustian bargain, capturing the frantic, sweat-soaked panic of the American housing crisis. His volatile chemistry with Michael Shannon creates a claustrophobic power dynamic that showcases his talent for portraying raw, working-class disenfranchisement.
Breathe
2017Based on the true story of Robin, a handsome, brilliant and adventurous man whose life takes a dramatic turn when polio leaves him paralyzed.
Tasked with communicating a man’s entire inner world through little more than facial expressions and breath, Garfield delivers a triumph of restricted physicality. He bypasses the usual biopic traps by focusing on the mischievous, defiant spirit of Robin Cavendish instead of the tragedy of his paralysis.
The Amazing Spider-Man
2012Peter Parker is an outcast high schooler abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents' disappearance – leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors, his father's former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors' alter ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero.
Garfield retools the iconic wall-crawler with a twitchy, skateboard-toting intellect and a sharper chemical wit than his predecessors. While the script struggles, his charismatic interpretation of Parker’s teenage isolation remains the most psychologically grounded version of the character to date.
We Live in Time
2024An up-and-coming chef and a recent divorcée find their lives forever changed when a chance encounter brings them together, in a decade-spanning, deeply moving romance.
Operating with a lived-in softness, Garfield navigates the non-linear rhythms of grief and romance with a refreshing, ego-free maturity. He elevates the contemporary melodrama by finding the profound in the mundane, proving his ability to command the screen through subtle emotional calibration rather than grand gesture.
Silence
2016In the 17th century, two Portuguese Jesuit priests travel to Japan in an attempt to locate their mentor, who is rumored to have committed apostasy, and to propagate Catholicism.
Garfield undergoes a grueling spiritual and physical depletion in Scorsese’s meditative masterpiece, carrying the crushing burden of a silence that tests the limits of faith. His portrayal of Father Rodrigues is a punishing exercise in endurance that highlights his willingness to vanish into the most demanding of ideological conflicts.
Boy A
2008Freed after a lengthy term in a juvenile detention center, convicted child killer Jack Burridge finds work as a deliveryman and begins dating co-worker Michelle. While out on the road one day, Jack notices a distressed child, and, after reuniting the girl with her family, becomes a local celebrity. But when a local newspaper unearths his past, Jack must cope with the anger of citizens who fear for the safety of their children.
This haunting breakout role utilizes Garfield’s wide-eyed fragility to explore the suffocating weight of a past that cannot be outrun. It remains a masterclass in internal tension, establishing his career-long fascination with characters caught in the crosshairs of societal judgment and personal transformation.
tick, tick... BOOM!
2021On the brink of turning 30, a promising theater composer navigates love, friendship and the pressure to create something great before time runs out.
In this high-wire act of theatrical kinetics, Garfield captures Jonathan Larson’s frantic creative spark with a restless, humming energy that feels dangerously close to combustion. It is a virtuosic showcase that proves his technical mastery of the musical genre is just as potent as his dramatic instincts.
Peter Parker is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a super-hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.
Returning to the cowl with a weary, redemptive grace, Garfield steals the spotlight by infusing his Peter Parker with a decade’s worth of unspoken grief and hard-won wisdom. His উপস্থিতি provides the multiversal crossover its unexpected soul, offering a profound sense of closure that his own solo franchise was denied.
In 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programmer Mark Zuckerberg begins work on a new concept that eventually turns into the global social network known as Facebook. Six years later, Mark is one of the youngest billionaires ever, but his unprecedented success leads to both personal and legal complications when he ends up on the receiving end of two lawsuits, one involving his former friend.
As the moral casualty of Silicon Valley’s birth, Garfield provides the film’s essential heartbeat through a performance defined by escalating corporate heartbreak. He manages to outshine the rapid-fire dialogue by weaponizing a sense of wounded loyalty that makes him the audience’s only tether to reality.
Hacksaw Ridge
2016WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people and becomes the first Conscientious Objector in American history to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Garfield anchors Gibson’s visceral war epic with a staggering display of conviction, transforming Desmond Doss’s pacifism into a physical force of nature. This Oscar-nominated turn marks the definitive arrival of his mature period, where his trademark vulnerability finally meets a steely, unshakeable cinematic gravity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about this list and SnakeDrafts
- Hacksaw Ridge is ranked highest due to Andrew Garfield's compelling portrayal of Desmond Doss, a conscientious objector and combat medic. His performance earned critical acclaim for its emotional depth and earned him an Academy Award nomination, showcasing his ability to embody intense, real-life characters.
- In 'The Social Network,' Garfield plays Eduardo Saverin, a conflicted entrepreneur grounded in real-world drama, highlighting his dramatic acting skills. In contrast, 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' features him as the iconic superhero Peter Parker, emphasizing action and adventure, demonstrating his versatility across genres.
- 'tick, tick... BOOM!' is notable for showcasing Garfield's musical talents and emotional vulnerability as Jonathan Larson, a struggling composer. This role highlights his ability to merge performance with music, earning him widespread praise and an Oscar nomination.
- While the list includes expected hits like 'Spider-Man' installments and 'Hacksaw Ridge,' it surprisingly features less mainstream films like 'Boy A' and 'Under the Silver Lake,' emphasizing Garfield's range. Notably, some popular titles like 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' rank lower, reflecting critical reception rather than box office success.
- 'Silence' represents Garfield's commitment to challenging dramatic roles, depicting a Jesuit priest facing persecution. Directed by Martin Scorsese, this historical drama underscores Garfield's signature sensitivity and dedication to intense character studies.
- The list reveals Garfield's affinity for intense, character-driven dramas often exploring themes of morality, identity, and resilience. Whether in war dramas like 'Hacksaw Ridge' or psychological thrillers like 'Boy A,' Garfield consistently delivers emotionally raw performances.
- 'We Live in Time' is included for its recent showcase of Garfield's romantic and dramatic abilities, highlighting his continuing evolution as an actor. The film represents his ongoing presence in high-profile projects, maintaining his reputation for sensitive and nuanced performances.
