The 10 Best Parker Posey Movies, Ranked (2024)

Parker Posey's signature acting style and delivery make her instantly recognizable on screen. She has been called the "Queen of the Indies," having spent most of the 90s starring in independent films like Kicking and Screaming and Personal Velocity. She's also acquired a fan base through her supporting roles in mainstream movies like Superman Returns and Suburbia, proving that no box can contain her.

Unapologetic and audaciously free in her performances, she secured the affinity of director Hal Hartley; Posey starred as his beloved Fay Grim character in his independent trifecta: Henry Fool, Fay Grim, and Ned Rifle. Director Christopher Guest can't get enough of Posey either, casting her in five of his "mockumentary" style films, exalting her Indie Royalty status, and endearing her to hosts of fans. She's built a diverse film and television catalog filled with antagonistic roles and uproarious feats of improvised comedy, and she shows no signs of shedding her crown and scepter.

10 'Beau is Afraid' (2023)

Director: Ari Aster

With a budget of 35 million, Beau is Afraid was A24's most expensive and Ari Aster's most ambitious project. The movie follows Beau, played with the perfect mix of fear and disbelief by Joaquin Phoenix, on an epic voyage to his childhood home. Along the panic-inducing, non-stop maelstrom of a journey, an eclectic and sometimes surprising roster of actors (Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, and Patti LuPone, to name a few) stop by to take a piece of Beau.

The most significant minor character in this genre-defying comedy hellscape belongs to Posey because her character possesses the power to decrease the amount of space occupied by Beau's overbearing mother (LuPone). In the briefest of performances as Beau's childhood forbidden crush, Elaine, she holds the weight of missed opportunities and longing with just a look. Posey's time on camera is essential to the plot, containing a surprising climactic scene so explosive and noteworthy that it's a testament to her screen presence in a movie boasting a running time of three hours.

Beau Is Afraid

R

Drama

Comedy

Horror

810

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Following the sudden death of his mother, a mild-mannered but anxiety-ridden man confronts his darkest fears as he embarks on an epic, Kafkaesque odyssey back home.

Release Date

April 21, 2023

Director

Ari Aster

Cast

Joaquin Phoenix , Parker Posey , Amy Ryan , Richard Kind , Nathan Lane , Patti LuPone

Runtime

179 minutes

Main Genre

Drama

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9 'You've Got Mail' (1998)

Director: Nora Ephron

In the classic holiday staple rom-com You've Got Mail, Nora Ephron conducted an orchestra of salty and sweet characters in concert to warm even the coldest of hearts. Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks were reunited after the success of their romantic union in Sleepless in Seattle. Supporting cast members included the likes of Dave Chappelle, Jean Stapleton, and Posey. The rest is history.

Following a particular elevator scene, Joe (Hanks) suddenly realizes that his narcissistic girlfriend Patricia (Posey) isn't the one. Conversely, at this moment, the audience rejoices because Posey enters with an exclamation point, fulfilling and exceeding expectations. Without Posey, the contrast between the women in Joe's life would've packed less punch. Viewers will never forget Patricia interrupting a wistful elevator confession from Joe by yelling, "Where are my TicTacs? Ugh!"

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8 'Clockwatchers' (1997)

Director: Jill Sprecher

Boring temp jobs in an office setting bring four women together in this 90s comedy starring Lisa Kudrow, Toni Collette, Posey, and Alanna Ubach. When they're not making copies, getting coffee, or literally watching the clock, the four characters bond over office personnel gossip. Their bond is tested, however, when items begin to go missing at the office, and everyone is a suspect.

As Margaret, Posey acted as the self-appointed leader of the temp staff, taking newcomer Iris (Collette) by the hand. Oozing with charm and confidence, Margaret is the movie's heart, even if the camera follows Iris for most of the film. Posey layers Margaret with skill; she is a flippant force at the office but a lonely, aimless dreamer once she clocks out. When these dualities are revealed to the audience, she becomes the only fully realized clockwatching character.

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7 'The Daytrippers' (1996)

Director: Greg Mottola

The Daytrippers is a movie about Eliza (Hope Davis), a woman who suspects her husband Louis (Stanley Tucci) is having an affair. After confiding in her parents, sister Jo (Posey), and Jo's boyfriend Carl (Liev Schrieber), all hop in the family station wagon and head to the city to catch Louis in the act. During their excursion, the passengers learn more about themselves and each other than anyone ever does regarding Louis.

At the movie's start, Jo and Carl are lovestruck, Eliza is hopeful, and the parental units are agreeable. As the road trip progresses, chasms begin to form. Posey plays Jo with eye-rolling hilarity, never letting her foot off the gas in defying her mother, and her avant-garde wardrobe could have come directly from the set of Party Girl. Maintaining residencies on opposite sides of the personality spectrum, the siblings look out for one another, but it's Posey's Jo who is most memorable when the dust settles.

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6 'Dazed and Confused' (1993)

Director: Richard Linklater

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In the coming-of-age classic, Dazed and Confused, teenagers navigate the hierarchies of high school in 1976. The movie chronicles a group of incoming first-year students and a rowdy bunch of juniors on their way to the top during the last day of the school year. Hazing and widespread shenanigans unfold in the comedy that started the careers of Ben Affleck, Matthew McConaughey, and Yellowstone's Cole Hauser, to name a few.

The no-holds-barred incoming upperclassman and master of hazing ceremonies, Darla (Posey), is responsible for the unforgettable "Air Raid!" line, as well as her subsequent treatment of the newly enrolled students. Where other future senior members of the student body take a knee, Darla delights in unauthorized body art by condiments, group humiliation, and not-so-veiled threats. Her maniacal laughter and devilish grin while dispensing chaos and dominance struck fear into the young students and audiences, earning Posey a place in cult classic history.

Dazed and Confused

R

Comedy

Documentary

Drama

Release Date

September 24, 1993

Director

Richard Linklater

Cast

Jason London , Joey Lauren Adams , Milla Jovovich , Shawn Andrews , Rory Cochrane , adam goldberg

Runtime

103 minutes

Main Genre

Comedy

Writers

Richard Linklater

Studio

Universal Pictures

Tagline

See it with a bud.

Production Company

Gramercy Pictures, Alphaville Films, Detour Filmproduction

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5 'Henry Fool' (1997)

Director: Hal Hartley

Posey plays a sister to a nearly nonverbal sanitation worker and unlikely poet brother, Simon (James Urbaniak), in the first of three films as Fay Grim. Compelled to write at the urgency of mysterious drifter Henry Fool (Thomas Jay Ryan), Simon becomes a prolific poet, while Fay falls for Fool's charm. Critics described the indie film as "philosophical, political and p*rnographic," as there is rarely a dull moment in this drama, which scored a certified fresh score of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Fay Grim is a role Posey was born to play; a misanthropic, chain-smoking nymphomaniac. On the surface, Fay seems callous and indifferent to the emotional state of their mother (Maria Porter), only to become unmoored after her mother's sudden death. Until the appearance of Fool and her brother's newfound writing skills, Fay had discredited him, too. Her transformation from an aloof sibling and daughter to a responsible mother by the end of the movie was skillfully executed by Posey, leaving audiences hungry for more Fay Grim.

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4 'Waiting for Guffman' (1996)

Director: Christopher Guest

In her Christopher Guest "mocumentary" movie debut, Posey joins a rag-tag cast of characters in a musical set in the small town of Blaine, Missouri, honoring the town on the eve of its 150th anniversary. The hopeful amateur actors, led by director and actor Corky St. Clair (Guest) anxiously await the arrival of a former New York City director and the possibility of performing on Broadway. Guest's usual suspects suit up and enter stage left in one of his funniest movies, boasting a Rotten Tomatoes score of 91%.

As Libby Mae Brown, Posey plays a young woman currently under Dairy Queen's employ, eager to formulate a "healthy" Blizzard, but equally ready to begin her career as a Broadway star. Ridiculous yet catchy musical numbers performed opposite Guest, as well as scenes filmed documentary style at Dairy Queen and her personal residence (grilling a solitary chicken wing outside) are highlights. Posey leveled up with her next Guest-helmed role in Best in Show, but she made her mark in Waiting for Guffman.

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3 'The House of Yes' (1997)

Director: Mark Waters

To call the Pascale family "dysfunctional" would be polite; their warped reality is far more sinister. On a stormy Thanksgiving night, Marty Pascale (Josh Hamilton) surprises his family with his new fiancé (Tori Spelling), to his incestuous twin sister's (Posey) horror. His twin, known only as "Jackie-O," is a visual representation of the former first lady, and this is a perfectly reasonable and unremarkable fact in the Pascale home. For Spelling's character Lesly, this Thanksgiving will live in infamy.

While incest is no joke and family dysfunction at this level is a special kind of nightmare, Posey does some of her finest work as Jackie-O Pascale. As the evening progresses, fiancé Lesly learns how deep the familial divergence goes as Jackie and twin brother Marty ritualistically re-enact the Kennedy assassination. Despite the unsettling premise and critical dissension, the movie is laced with black comedy, a specialty of Posey's, making it one of her most iconic performances.

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2 'Party Girl' (1995)

Director: Daisy von Scherler Mayer

In 1995, Posey sashayed onto the scene as a legendary NYC party girl, Mary, jailed and in need of bail. Her only living relative, a librarian godmother Judy (Sasha von Scherler), agrees to pay for her release. Mary secures a job at the library (as the most chic library clerk on record) in order to pay her back, learning the Dewey Decimal System and accidentally falling in love with the profession in the process.

As the reigning Queen of Independent films circa the 90s, Party Girl was Posey's coronation. The queer New York City club scene is celebrated, and the music of the era is showcased, mirroring Posey's real-life experiences living in New York at the time. Posey's own fashion acumen lends itself to an additional parallel between the actor and the character Mary, but it is Posey's portrayal of self-actualization through Mary that shines through all the glitter.

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1 'Best in Show' (2000)

Director: Christopher Guest

In Christopher Guest's third "mockumentary," Best in Show, he invites viewers into the worlds of several dog show contestants and their pets, leading up to a fictional prestigious Mayflower Dog Show. In the opening scene, the audience is introduced to the most hysterical couple, Hamilton and Meg Swan (played by Michael Hitchco*ck and Posey in a historic feat of comedy improvisation). As the couple meets with their therapist, their child, a despondent Weimaraner, Beatrice, joins the session in a must-see movie that scored an impressive 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The movie is stacked with an impressive roster of Guest's favorites and new comic additions, including a pitch-perfect Jennifer Coolidge and Jane Lynch, but the high-stakes search for Beatrice's "Busy Bee" toy culminates in a scene-stealing-turned-movie-stealing turn by Posey. The movie in its entirety is Guest's masterpiece, but the complete embodiment of Meg Swan, flaws, open to the public, wielding threats to strangers, hotel staff, and anyone bold enough to speak in her direction, made Best in Show Posey's crowning achievement.

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