Top 21 Ranked

The Best Penélope Cruz Movies Ranked

The Queen of Spanish Cinema's Most Iconic Performances

Discover the finest films of Penélope Cruz, from her Oscar-winning Almodóvar collaborations to blockbuster Hollywood hits and acclaimed dramas.

Draft Best Penélope Cruz Movies with friends and our judges will crown a winner!

About Penélope Cruz

Penélope Cruz

In the alchemy of modern cinema, few figures command the screen with the primal, soul-baring intensity of Penélope Cruz. She possesses a rare, dual-citizenship in the world of celebrity, operating as both a grand-scale Hollywood icon and a gritty, uncompromising pillar of European art house film. To watch her is to witness a perpetual state of emotional high-stakes. Whether she is maneuvering through the neon-drenched melodramas of Madrid or the polished gloss of a global blockbuster, she carries an unmistakable gravitational pull that makes it impossible to look away.

Her ascent found its heartbeat in her partnership with Pedro Almodóvar, a collaboration that redefined the archetype of the Spanish screen siren. In All About My Mother and the hauntingly beautiful Volver, she moved beyond mere beauty to inhabit women defined by their resilience and maternal ferocity. This relationship reached a new peak of maturity in Parallel Mothers and Pain and Glory, where she traded the frantic energy of her youth for a quiet, devastating precision. Audiences connect with her because she refuses to sanitize the messiness of womanhood. She embraces the maternal, the neurotic, and the grieving with a transparency that feels startlingly private.

This vulnerability is precisely what made her a lightning rod when she crossed over into American cinema. While films like All the Pretty Horses and the psychedelic thriller Vanilla Sky introduced her to the masses, it was her volcanic turn in Vicky Cristina Barcelona that truly signaled her arrival as a force of nature. As the mercurial Maria Elena, she weaponized her charisma, earning an Academy Award by playing a woman teetering on the edge of brilliance and madness. It was a performance that proved she could dominate an ensemble by sheer force of personality, a feat she mirrored in the musical spectacle Nine and the high-octane drama Ferrari, where she stole the show from behind a mourning veil as the formidable Laura Ferrari.

Even when the material leans into lighter territory, like the playful chemistry of Bandidas or the biting industry satire of Official Competition, she maintains an edge. She never glides through a role; she anchors it. Her career is a testament to the idea that a performer can be a chameleon without losing their essence. She remains the same woman who stunned audiences in Open Your Eyes and broke hearts in the raw, uncomfortable Don't Move. She understands that the camera can see through artifice, so she offers it only the truth.

Today, she occupies a space reserved for the legends. She is a bridge between eras, possessing the classic glamour of a mid-century Italian diva and the sharp, psychological curiosity of a modern intellectual. From the drug-fueled tragedy of Blow to the noir-infused layers of Broken Embraces, she has built a body of work that feels less like a resume and more like a vibrant, breathing map of the human experience. She remains an essential constant in an ever-shifting industry, reminding us that true stardom isn't about the spotlight, but about the fire burning underneath it.

The Complete Rankings

Based on the top picks in drafts on SnakeDrafts

See Top Ten
21
Penélope Cruz in On the Fringe (2022)
On the Fringe
2022

A day in the life of Azucena, who is running out of time to keep herself and her family from being evicted; Rafael, a lawyer who sets out to reunite a mother with her daughter; and Teodora, a sick old woman who searches for her long-lost son before it is too late.

Drama
1h 43m
Juan Diego Botto
Penélope Cruz, Luis Tosar, Adelfa Calvo, Christian Checa
20
Penélope Cruz in Jamon Jamon (1992)
Jamon Jamon
1992

José Luis has a cushy corporate job at the lingerie factory his mom owns. After he falls in love and proposes to Silvia, a beautiful laborer on the underwear assembly line, his mom enlists Raul, a potential underwear model and would-be bullfighter, to seduce Silvia.

Comedy
Drama
1h 35m
Bigas Luna
Stefania Sandrelli, Anna Galiena, Juan Diego, Penélope Cruz
19

Genius Belgian detective Hercule Poirot investigates the murder of an American tycoon aboard the Orient Express train.

Draft this topic with friends

Think you'd pick differently? Start a draft with your crew and see who really has the best taste in Best Penélope Cruz Movies.

18
Penélope Cruz in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
2011

When Jack crosses paths with a woman from his past, he's not sure if it's love...or if she's a ruthless con artist using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth.

Adventure
Action
2h 16m
Rob Marshall
Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Ian McShane
17
Penélope Cruz in Twice Born (2012)
Twice Born
2012

Full-throttle melodrama about an ill-starred romance set against the backdrop of the siege of Sarajevo. A mother brings her teenage son to Sarajevo, where his father died in the Bosnian conflict years ago.

Drama
Romance
2h 7m
Sergio Castellitto
Penélope Cruz, Emile Hirsch, Adnan Hasković, Saadet Işıl Aksoy
16
Penélope Cruz in Everybody Knows (2018)
Everybody Knows
2018

Laura, a Spanish woman living in Buenos Aires, returns to her hometown outside Madrid with her Argentinian husband and children. However, the trip is upset by unexpected events that bring secrets into the open.

Crime
Mystery
2h 12m
Asghar Farhadi
Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Ricardo Darín, Eduard Fernández
15
Penélope Cruz in Don't Move (2004)
Don't Move
2004

While waiting for the brain surgery of his daughter Angela, victim of a motorcycle accident, the surgeon Timoteo recalls his torrid affair with and passion for Italia, a simple woman from slums in the periphery of the big city where he lives. The ghost of the beloved and sexual object of desire Italia chases him in his memories.

Drama
Romance
2h 5m
Sergio Castellitto
Penélope Cruz, Sergio Castellitto, Claudia Gerini, Angela Finocchiaro
14
Penélope Cruz in Official Competition (2021)
Official Competition
2021

When a billionaire entrepreneur impulsively decides to create an iconic movie, he demands the best. Renowned filmmaker Lola Cuevas is recruited to mastermind this ambitious endeavour. Completing the all-star team are two actors with massive talent but even bigger egos: Hollywood heartthrob Félix Rivero and radical theatre actor Iván Torres. Both are legends, but not exactly best friends. Through a series of increasingly eccentric trials set by Lola, Félix and Iván must confront not only each other but also their own legacies. Who will be left when the cameras finally start rolling?

Comedy
Drama
1h 54m
Gastón Duprat
Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz, Oscar Martínez, José Luis Gómez
13
Penélope Cruz in All the Pretty Horses (2000)
All the Pretty Horses
2000

The year is 1949. A young Texan named John Grady finds himself without a home after his mother sells the ranch where he has spent his entire life. Lured south of the border by the romance of cowboy life and the promise of a fresh start, Cole and his pal embark on an adventure that will test their resilience, define their maturity, and change their lives forever.

Drama
Romance
Matt Damon, Henry Thomas, Lucas Black, Penélope Cruz
12
Penélope Cruz in Ferrari (2023)
Ferrari
2023

Set during the summer of 1957. Ex-racecar driver, Enzo Ferrari, is in crisis. Bankruptcy stalks the company he and his wife, Laura, built from nothing ten years earlier. Their tempestuous marriage struggles with the mourning for one son and the acknowledgement of another.

History
Drama
Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Gabriel Leone
11
Penélope Cruz in Pain and Glory (2019)
Pain and Glory
2019

Salvador Mallo, a filmmaker in the twilight of his career, remembers his life: his mother, his lovers, the actors he worked with. The sixties in a small village in Valencia, the eighties in Madrid, the present, when he feels an immeasurable emptiness, facing his mortality, the incapability of continuing filming, the impossibility of separating creation from his own life. The need of narrating his past can be his salvation.

Drama
Antonio Banderas, Asier Etxeandia, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Nora Navas
10
Penélope Cruz in Broken Embraces (2009)
Broken Embraces
2009

Harry Caine, a blind writer, reaches this moment in time when he has to heal his wounds from 14 years back. He was then still known by his real name, Mateo Blanco, and directing his last movie.

Drama
Romance
Penélope Cruz, Lluís Homar, Blanca Portillo, José Luis Gómez
Why it ranks

Operating as Almodóvar’s ultimate shape-shifting muse, Cruz oscillates between brittle vulnerability and old-Hollywood poise with a dexterity that redefined her screen persona. She navigates the film’s recursive layers of grief and glamour by grounding a stylized, noirish tragic heroine in raw, pulse-quickening humanity. This role solidified her transition from international star to a sophisticated dramatic heavyweight capable of carrying an entire cinematic landscape.

9
Penélope Cruz in Open Your Eyes (1997)
Open Your Eyes
1997

Handsome 25-year-old Cesar had it all -- a successful career, expensive cars, a swank bachelor's pad, and an endless string of beautiful and willing women -- until he is thrown into a strange psychological mystery after a car accident scars his face and lands him in prison.

Drama
Thriller
1h 57m
Alejandro Amenábar
Eduardo Noriega, Penélope Cruz, Chete Lera, Fele Martínez
Why it ranks

Cruz radiates an ethereal, shape-shifting magnetism as Sofía, effortlessly oscillating between a bohemian dream girl and a haunting projection of guilt. It is the definitive breakout that established her as a global gamine icon, capturing the luminous vulnerability that would eventually make her Almodóvar’s ultimate muse. She commands the screen with a watchful, quiet intensity that grounds the film’s surrealist descent.

8
Penélope Cruz in Bandidas (2006)
Bandidas
2006

When a ruthless robber baron takes away everything they cherish, a rough-and-tumble, idealistic peasant and a sophisticated heiress embark on a quest for justice, vengeance…and a few good heists.

Action
Comedy
1h 33m
Espen Sandberg
Penélope Cruz, Salma Hayek Pinault, Steve Zahn, Dwight Yoakam
Why it ranks

Cruz delivers a high-octane comedic masterclass, leaning into a refined, equestrian physicality that perfectly offsets the grit of the Western genre. This role marked a pivotal moment in her crossover appeal, proving she could translate her fierce European art-house intensity into a playful, blockbuster-ready charisma. She elevates the outlaw archetype with a sharp-tongued elegance, demonstrating a transformative versatility that would soon lead her to Oscar-winning territory.

7

Following the tragic death of her teenage son, Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona in an attempt to contact the long-estranged father the boy never knew. She reunites with an old friend, an outspoken transgender sex worker, and befriends a troubled actress and a pregnant, HIV-positive nun.

Comedy
Drama
Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Candela Peña, Antonia San Juan
Why it ranks

Cruz delivers a performance of luminous, wide-eyed sincerity as Sister Rosa, grounding Almodóvar’s baroque tragedy with a disarming sweetness and unexpected maternal grit. This breakout role transformed her from a Spanish starlet into an international muse, proving she could command the screen with understated vulnerability rather than just fiery bravado. It remains the definitive showcase of her ability to find profound grace within the profane.

6

David Aames has it all: wealth, good looks and gorgeous women on his arm. But just as he begins falling for the warmhearted Sofia, his face is horribly disfigured in a car accident. That's just the beginning of his troubles as the lines between illusion and reality, between life and death, are blurred.

Mystery
Romance
2h 16m
Cameron Crowe
Why it ranks

Cruz infuses the film with a luminous, ethereal gravity, reprising her role from Open Your Eyes with a newfound melancholic softness that arguably outshines the original. It stands as her definitive bridge from Spanish superstar to Hollywood mainstay, proving she could translate her sophisticated vulnerability into a global cinematic language. She anchors the film’s surrealism in raw, palpable humanity, transforming a high-concept dreamscape into a hauntingly intimate portrait of longing.

5
Penélope Cruz in Nine (2009)
Nine
2009

Arrogant, self-centered movie director Guido Contini finds himself struggling to find meaning, purpose, and a script for his latest film endeavor. With only a week left before shooting begins, he desperately searches for answers and inspiration from his wife, his mistress, his muse, and his mother.

Drama
Music
1h 58m
Rob Marshall
Why it ranks

Cruz delivers a high-wire act of raw carnality and desperation, weaponizing her physicality in the show-stopping "A Call from the Vatican." This performance solidified her status as a rare versatile threat in the American musical, earning her a third Oscar nomination and proving she could command a frame with breathless, athletic intensity. It remains the definitive example of her ability to find the bleeding heart inside a stylized caricature.

4
Penélope Cruz in Parallel Mothers (2021)
Parallel Mothers
2021

Two unmarried women who have become pregnant by accident and are about to give birth meet in a hospital room: Janis, in her late-thirties, unrepentant and happy; Ana, a teenager, remorseful and frightened.

Drama
Penélope Cruz, Milena Smit, Israel Elejalde, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón
Why it ranks

Cruz delivers a masterclass in transparency, layering Janis with a frantic, maternal desperation that feels lived-in rather than performed. It marks a career-best peak in her collaboration with Almodóvar, trading her usual fiery earthiness for a sophisticated, nerve-frayed precision. She navigates the heavy silence of buried secrets with such visceral intensity that her eyes often tell more of the story than the script itself.

3
Penélope Cruz in Volver (2006)
Volver
2006

Three generations of women survive the east wind, fire, insanity, superstition and even death by means of goodness, lies and boundless vitality.

Comedy
Drama
Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo
Why it ranks

Cruz radiates a grounded, earth-mother grit as Raimunda, channeling the volcanic spirit of Anna Magnani to anchor Almodóvar’s surreal family secrets with raw, working-class pragmatism. It is the definitive turning point in her career, the moment she evolved from a global ingenue into a formidable dramatic heavyweight capable of commanding the screen through sheer, soulful tenacity.

2
Penélope Cruz in Blow (2001)
2001

A boy named George Jung grows up in a struggling family in the 1950's. His mother nags at her husband as he is trying to make a living for the family. It is finally revealed that George's father cannot make a living and the family goes bankrupt. George does not want the same thing to happen to him, and his friend Tuna, in the 1960's, suggests that he deal marijuana. He is a big hit in California in the 1960's, yet he goes to jail, where he finds out about the wonders of cocaine. As a result, when released, he gets rich by bringing cocaine to America. However, he soon pays the price.

Crime
Drama
2h 4m
Ted Demme
Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Franka Potente, Rachel Griffiths
Why it ranks

Cruz delivers a volatile masterclass in high-fashion hysteria, transforming Mirtha Jung into a whirlwind of cocaine-fueled rage and brittle vulnerability. It remains the definitive showcase of her early Hollywood era, proving she could consume the screen with a ferocity that made even Johnny Depp feel like a supporting player. Her transition from seductive accomplice to shrieking, embittered wreck provides the film its most jagged and authentic emotional edge.

1
Penélope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
2008

Two girlfriends on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.

Drama
Romance
Why it ranks

Cruz is a human live wire as Maria Elena, weaponizing a volatile blend of Spanish and English to hijack the film’s polite neuroses with pure, operatic chaos. It is the defining volcanic turn of her career, one that finally funneled her fiery unpredictability into an Oscar-winning masterclass in comedic friction.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about this list and SnakeDrafts

Penélope Cruz has had notable collaborations with director Pedro Almodóvar, starring in several of his acclaimed films such as Volver, Parallel Mothers, and Pain and Glory. These collaborations highlight her dynamic range and ability to embody complex characters in intimate dramas.

Penélope Cruz seamlessly navigates between European art house cinema, exemplified by films like All About My Mother and Broken Embraces, and Hollywood hits such as Vanilla Sky and Blow. This versatility allows her to showcase both intense dramatic performances and mainstream appeal.

The filmography includes a diverse array of genres including drama, romance, crime, musical, comedy, and thriller. For instance, Nine blends drama and musical elements, while Bandidas combines action and western influences with comedy.

Yes, Ferrari (2023) is a historical drama featured on the list that showcases Penélope Cruz in a story rooted in real-life events, displaying her capacity to perform in biographical narratives.

Movies like Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Don’t Move prominently showcase Penélope Cruz’s talent for portraying complex romantic relationships and emotional intensity. These films underscore her ability to bring depth and nuance to love stories and dramatic conflicts.

Indeed, Nine (2009) features Penélope Cruz in a musical drama role, where she combines her acting skills with singing and dancing to create a memorable and captivating performance.

Vanilla Sky is a mystery and romance film starring Penélope Cruz that demonstrates her ability to engage audiences in psychologically complex narratives with layers of suspense and emotional depth.
Join Thousands of Drafters

Think You Can Pick Better?

Challenge your friends, make your picks, and let AI + human judges decide who has the best taste!

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play