I Watched Every Sofia Coppola Movie—Here’s How They Rank

When it comes to movies, I’m easy to please. Give me an engaging story and a great soundtrack, and most of the time I’ll give it five stars. By no means am I a film critic. That being said, I do try to stay on top of what I call “Movies with a capital M.” Ones that are more artistic, awards season standouts, or any flick that might prompt a true cinephile to say, “What?! You haven’t seen insert obscure title here?!”

Film bro jokes aside, I think it’s worth recognizing that not every movie is made with the mainstream in mind. I like it when a film focuses more on character development than hitting every plot point, or it makes me think deeper about what it’s trying to say. To me, nobody illustrates that idea better than Sofia Coppola. She may be one of the most famous female directors and the ultimate nepo baby, but her filmmaking style is much more subtle. I love the ways she portrays complex family relationships and strong female characters (more often than not played by Kirsten Dunst). I also know that her aesthetic visuals and simple scripts will hit almost every time.

So which of Sofia Coppola’s movies is actually the best? With the exception of Bill Murray’s Christmas special, she’s written and directed eight feature-length projects all by herself. To rank her catalog as a writer-director powerhouse, I took it upon myself to watch (or rewatch) them all. Without further ado, here are my reviews:

8. The Bling Ring

It’s fun in theory that this movie is based on a Vanity Fair article from 2010, but after watching, I was left thinking that not every piece of media needs an adaptation. The Bling Ring is so painfully 2013 and is very different from every other Sofia Coppola movie. It looks like one big Instagram filter, and a good 75 percent of the runtime follows the teenage ensemble breaking into celebrities’ houses and going to parties. It just got old after a while! We hardly got to know anything about the characters beyond their robbing and clubbing. Maybe that was the point: a shallow movie about shallow people, but it just wasn’t enough to make it worth watching.

7. On the Rocks

The premise of a woman enlisting her playboy father to help her catch her husband cheating makes this movie sound like a screwball comedy, especially when Bill Murray’s in the cast. But screwball isn’t Sofia Coppola’s style. On the Rocks is much more muted, in terms of both its humor and its looks. As Rashida Jones’ character’s doubts about her marriage take over her life, we’re taken on an interesting emotional journey. But in comparison, the father-daughter dynamic falls flat. While the ending of this one kept it from the bottom of my list, it ultimately didn’t stick out to me as much as the others.

6. The Beguiled

This Gothic thriller is a remake of a 1971 film and an adaptation of the original book from the ‘60s. The Beguiled has just about everything I could ask for in a movie. It’s romantic, suspenseful, character-driven, and has a few tricks up its sleeve. The problem is, I wish there were a little more of everything. Only in the last half hour do things really “get interesting.” I’m not sure if this was Sofia Coppola’s way of differentiating her version of the story from the original adaptation, but I would’ve liked to see more of a build-up. Even so, I still enjoy movies that take a “slice of life” approach to storytelling. Just be warned that the slow pace might not be for everyone.

5. Somewhere

I have to be honest: I hated the first 15 minutes of this movie and was prepared to write it off completely, but by the end, I had done a total 180. Sofia Coppola relies on a lot of her usual tricks and tropes—a celebrity protagonist who has everything he could ever want but still isn’t happy, and the unconventional relationships that arise. But even after noticing the structural similarities to her other movies, I still found myself drawn into the world of Somewhere. The father-daughter dynamic between Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning’s characters felt so genuine, and everyone should watch this one for themselves.

4. The Virgin Suicides

Based on Bret Easton Ellis’s novel of the same name, The Virgin Suicides is Sofia Coppola’s directorial debut. I found out this detail toward the end of my watch and was shocked. Knowing that so many trademarks of her work are present right from the start of her career makes me marvel at her distinct directorial style even more. My one gripe with this movie is the way it tells the Lisbon sisters’ stories. It’s told by boys from their neighborhood who barely knew them, rather than the girls themselves. I know this was a purposeful choice and that my anger would be better directed at the book than the movie, though. I don’t think I’d ever rewatch or read the original source material because, as the title suggests, it’s not the most upbeat story. But since the movie was a well-made debut, I still ranked it higher on the list.

3. Lost in Translation

Don’t come for me: I’d seen this one a few years ago, and I didn’t get it. But now that I’ve rewatched it, I’ve seen the error of my ways. Parts of this movie haven’t aged well, but other parts feel timeless. I love it when comedic actors take on dramatic roles, and Bill Murray knocks it out of the park. Every conversation he has with Scarlett Johansson’s character feels so natural. What I think drives Lost in Translation is a longing to be understood—both literally, since the characters are in a foreign country where they don’t speak the language, and emotionally. It reminds us that sometimes the best love stories are only temporary, something that haunts me in real life, but I love seeing it so much in movies.

2. Marie Antoinette

Out of the movies I hadn’t seen before curating this list, this one was my favorite. Once again, Sofia Coppola is portraying a misunderstood female protagonist (or historical figure, in this case). But while watching Marie Antoinette, I realized she also likes to portray young women who are starved for connection, and burdened by expectations that—try as they might—they can’t always reach. The real Marie Antoinette was only 14 years old when she was married off to the future king of France, and I loved the choices that were made to remind the viewer of her age, from the infamous Converse shot to the stilted dialogue between Marie and her husband. This movie is just as lavish as you’d expect—and yes, it was actually filmed at Versailles.

1. Priscilla

I had a feeling this movie would take the number one spot because of how much I loved it after seeing it in theaters…multiple times. Dare I say Jacob Elordi was a better Elvis than Austin Butler? There’s a scene around the halfway point that I think captures the central conflict of this movie. It’s a montage of Elvis, Priscilla, and their friends rollerskating, drinking milkshakes, and doing all the things we’d now consider stereotypical of the ‘60s. Elvis is at his prime, young, and in love. With the dreamy lighting and romantic soundtrack, it’s hard for viewers not to fall in love with him, too. But that picture-perfect image is completely different from what was happening behind closed doors. This movie is all about how love isn’t always enough, especially when you lose yourself in the process. I swear, I tried to give every movie on this list a fair shot at the top, but Priscilla still deserves it most.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hannah Carapellotti, Contributing Writer

Hannah is an Ann Arbor-based writer with a bachelor’s in English and writing from the University of Michigan. Outside of The Everygirl, Hannah has written for The Michigan Daily, where she also served as an editor. She currently works at an independent bookstore and is interning for a literary agency.

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