The full ranking
Two Oscars before age 30. Jodie Foster's greatest films span five decades, from her electrifying debut in Taxi Driver to her late-career triumph in Nyad.
The Silence of the Lambs
Foster won her second Oscar as FBI trainee Clarice Starling, navigating a world of predators with absolute moral clarity. Her cat-and-mouse with Anthony Hopkins' Lecter is one of cinema's great duels.
Taxi Driver
Foster was 12 when she played Iris, the child prostitute Travis Bickle fixates on, and her performance is haunting in its matter-of-fact precociousness. Scorsese's masterpiece depends on her total credibility.
The Accused
Her first Oscar, as rape survivor Sarah Tobias fighting for the prosecution of cheering bystanders. A raw, physically committed performance that changed how American cinema depicted sexual violence.
Contact
Foster as Dr. Ellie Arroway, the radio astronomer who makes first contact in Zemeckis' Sagan adaptation. A film about science and faith, and Foster plays every register of Ellie's fierce, lonely conviction.
Panic Room
Trapped in a reinforced Manhattan panic room with her daughter while thieves operate below. Fincher's technical showpiece would be arid without Foster's absolute physical commitment.
Inside Man
Foster's enigmatic power broker is the third angle of a triangle no one fully understands in Spike Lee's heist thriller. She moves through a film dominated by Washington and Owen with total, quiet authority.
Nell
Foster plays a young woman raised in complete isolation who has never encountered modern society. She invented a language, moved differently, and gave a performance of complete physical and emotional commitment.
Carnage
Polanski's adaptation of a Reza play about two couples whose polite dispute disintegrates over an afternoon. Foster's wound-tight Brooklyn mother unravels with alarming precision.
Nyad
Foster won the Golden Globe playing Bonnie Stoll, the friend and coach who believed Diana Nyad could swim from Cuba to Florida at 64. A late-career performance of real emotional weight alongside Annette Bening.
Bugsy Malone
In Alan Parker's gangster musical where all roles are played by children, 13-year-old Foster plays Tallulah with the full conviction of a seasoned vamp. The film is a curiosity; her performance is remarkable.
Ranked across 1 source: Rotten Tomatoes · All Jodie Foster Movies Ranked by Tomatometer. Full scoring is on the Methodology tab above.
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