After years as an indie darling, Greta Gerwig has become a box office sensation. The filmmaker’s third directorial effort “Barbie” has become one of the biggest movies of 2023, posting a massive $155 million opening weekend. And although the film’s numerous pleasures — including fantastic performances from Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, a blockbuster pop soundtrack, and immaculate (pink!) production and costume design — would have likely helped it find fans regardless. Gerwig’s confident direction and strong voice as a filmmaker is what’s really made the movie into a cultural juggernaut.
“Barbie” and its massive success seems to signal a completely new era of Gerwig’s career. Her next project will see her venture even further into blockbuster filmmaking with two film adaptations of “The Chronicles of Narnia” for Netflix. The films will likely be even bigger than Barbie (at least as a matter of budget), signaling that Gerwig has fully graduated into her status as a major studio directer. Heck, she even has a screenwriting credit on next year’s “Snow White” movie.
It’s a surprising direction, given the director’s indie darling roots. Gerwig got her start as an actor in “LOL” and “Hannah Takes the Stairs” by eventual co-director Joe Swanberg. She later co-lead another effort with Swanberg, “Nights and Weekends,” and embarked on a solid character actress career with roles in films like “The House of the Devil,” “20th Century Women,” and “No Strings Attached.” But her career (and personal life) changed when she starred in 2010’s “Greenberg,” directed by her current romantic partner Noah Baumbach.
Gerwig and Baumbach became a writing duo, with their features “Frances Ha” and “Mistress America” racking up accolades. In 2017, Gerwig attracted acclaim when she branched out into her first solo directorial effort, the beloved “Lady Bird” starring Saoirse Ronan. The film became one of the most acclaimed indies of its decade, and Gerwig quickly followed it up with her equally adored adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women.” Both movies turned Gerwig from an indie darling into a household name, and one of the most in-demand directors in all of Hollywood.
Although she’s only three solo directorial features in, Gerwig’s talent and her distinctive, wry energy can be found in her writing efforts, her acting roles, and movies that contain both. In celebration of “Barbie,” IndieWire rounded up the best films Gerwig has participated in, either as a writer, director, or actor. While it’s admittedly a bit difficult to weigh her acting roles against her directorial efforts, we focused on what the auteur brings to each project — and what makes the films great Gerwig showcases. Read on for the essential guide to Gerwig’s best movies.
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10. “Nights and Weekends” (2008)
Image Credit: ©IFC Films/Courtesy Everett Collection What it is: “Frances Ha” was Gerwig’s acting breakout, and “Lady Bird” her first major awards contender. But “Nights and Weekends,” on which she wrote, directed, produced, and acted, was her definitive feature debut. An understated but nonetheless promising introduction to the indie darling Gerwig would become, the 2008 relationship dramedy stars her opposite screenwriter and co-director Joe Swanberg as a couple stuck in a long-distance relationship between Chicago and New York.
Why it’s great Greta: On top of being first on a few fronts in Greta’s filmography, “Nights and Weekends” hints at the knack she has for bringing the best out of her collaborators — and offers a surprisingly sweet reflection on the specific intimacy of strained romance. —AF
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9. “Isle of Dogs” (2018)
Image Credit: Fox Searchlight / Everett Collection What it is: Wes Anderson has enjoyed consistently strong casting across his films, but having Greta Gerwig voice American foreign exchange student Tracy Walker in “Isle of Dogs” was an especially spot-on call. Gerwig’s authoritative but still folksy tone (“You all know me. I always speak my mind and sometimes that ruffles something feathers… ”) helped make the self-righteous Ohio native and dog activist into the perfect rogue investigator unearthing a sprawling canine conspiracy. Gerwig’s vocal softness helped sell the idea that she was simultaneously falling for Atari Kobayashi — aka The Little Pilot (voiced by Koyu Rankin) — and made her performance a standout treat in a film full of endearing characters.
Why it’s great Greta: As far as multi-hyphenate talents go, Gerwig doesn’t get enough credit for her mellow voice and affable conversational tone. You could listen to her do press forever. —AF
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8. “White Noise” (2022)
Image Credit: ©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection What it is: Noah Baumbach’s latest film was the divisive but undeniably interesting adaptation of “White Noise.” Like Don DeLillo’s acclaimed 1985 novel, the movie focuses on “Hitler Studies” Jack Gladney (Adam Driver) as he navigates academia and the drudgery of ’80s suburban life. Gerwig plays Jack’s wife Babette, who tends after their four kids and rallies the family to action after a toxic airborn event threatens the town.
Why it’s great Greta: Although the film is mostly focused on Driver’s academic, Gerwig is the stealth beating heart of the film as the neurotic but lovable Babette, who gets hooked on an experimental drug to treat her fear of death. She effortlessly toggles between light comedy in the first act, action adventure in the second, and sincere drama in the third, as her drug use comes to light. And with Driver, Gerwig shares a lovely understated chemistry that grounds “White Noise” with an offbeat, deadpan presentation. —WC
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7. “Greenberg” (2010)
Image Credit: ©Focus Features/Courtesy Everett Collection What it is: For drama lovers, “Greenberg” will always be remembered as the movie that Noah Baumbach met and fell in love with Gerwig on, after he wrote it with his then-wife Jennifer Jason Leigh. Ignoring the situation happening behind the scenes, the acerbic rom-com stars Gerwig as the personal assistant of the wealthy Greenberg family — who grows attracted to the patriarch’s brother Phillip (Ben Stiller) after he comes to visit at the clan’s Los Angeles home after a mental hospital stay. Initially, the two clash, but their very different personalities also result in unexpected sparks.
Why it’s great Greta: “Greenberg” gained attention at the time of its release primarily for Stiller’s performance as a miserable prick. But as Florence, Gerwig gives the film it’s heart and soul, bringing charm to the role of a young woman who feels unsettled in the world, and doesn’t quite knows what she wants. It’s easy to see her future protagonists — like Lady Bird, Jo, even Barbie — in Florence’s journey, as a woman finding herself and making many regretful decisions in the process. —WC
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6. “20th Century Women” (2016)
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection What it is: After making father-son film “Beginners,” Mike Mills’ follow-up “20th Century Women” changed directions to focus on sons’ relationships with their mothers. Set in 1979, the film stars Annette Benning as Dorothea: a single mother raising her young son Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann) in Santa Barbara. Helping her with caring for her kid is her two tenets at their home, including photographer Abbie (Gerwig).
Why it’s great Greta: Gerwig is only one part of “20th Century Women’s” talented ensemble — also in the film is Billy Crudup as carpenter William and Elle Fanning as Jamie’s BFF Julie — but the role is her meatiest showcase out of any movie she didn’t also write. Initially coming across as quirky comic relief, with her dyed hair and artsy outlook on life, Abbie has a storyline all her own, as she struggles with cervical cancer and the news that she may never be able to birth children. Gerwig has never been as effortlessly affecting or lovable as she is here. —WC
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5. “Mistress America” (2015)
Image Credit: ©Fox Searchlight/Courtesy Everett Collection What it is: Baumbach’s “Mistress America” injects pure lightning into the “Frances Ha” formula for a zippy two-hander between co-writer Gerwig and Lola Kirke. Eight years on, it feels like the cool older sister to Gerwig and Baumbach’s earlier New York character study. A screwball comedy that runs a mile-a-minute, the 2015 film centers on the relationship of would-be stepsisters: one a fledgling writer at Barnard, the other a chaotic thirty-something with an infectious personality and unstable prospects.
Why it’s great Greta: “Mistress America” reigns supreme as Gerwig’s most outright hilarious performance, with the brilliant screenwriter making a meal of out her character’s vexing duplicity (“I’m sure he still loves me…”) to fantastic effect. (“There’s nothing I don’t know about myself — that’s why I can’t do therapy.”) —AF
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4. “Barbie” (2023)
Image Credit: ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection What it is: Gerwig’s history-making big-budget smash from summer 2023 — starring Margot Robbie as Mattel’s most iconic piece of pretty-in-pink IP. It’s a tightly packaged feminist comedy to remember. Oh, and Ryan Gosling? He’s just Ken. “Barbie” grossed $155 million domestic and $182 million at the international box office: the biggest opening weekend for a female director ever. It’s been widely praised for its clever consideration of gender, and the crushing pressure society projects onto womanhood and femininity.
Why it’s great Greta: From horses running the U.S. government to the unequivocal delight that is Ken’s wardrobe, every inch of “Barbie” feels dipped in Gerwig and Baumbach’s influence. As co-writers and partners, the pair manage to craft a delightful thematic tension between patriarchal passivity and feminist rage that’s fizzy, fiery, and — as any toy movie should be — really, really fun. —AF
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3. “Frances Ha” (2012)
Image Credit: ©IFC Films/Courtesy Everett Collection What it is: There’s a self-flagellating smugness to the title “Frances Ha,” brilliantly reflected in screenwriter/star Gerwig’s melancholic yet endearing performance as a 27-year-old woman adrift in her modern dance career and young city life. It’s the second collaboration between Baumbach and Gerwig, following 2010’s “Greenberg,” and paints a miraculously likable portrait of intense insecurity wrapped in a diaphanous cloak of breezy wit and gentle-to-hard truths.
Why it’s great Greta: Gerwig unequivocally nails this starring role written for herself — imbuing every quiet moment with the electric hum of a complicated character perpetually questioning their place in life and love (“I sound stoned.”) That’s not to say Frances tries too hard; there’s a casual, comedy style that’s come to be recognized as quintessential Greta you’ll see peppered into the film’s heaviest contemplations (“I’m not stoned!”), and quippier beats (“Ahoy, sexy!”) that will always feel as fresh and fun and ultimately fearless as Frances and Greta. —AF
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2. “Little Women” (2019)
Image Credit: ©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection What it is: A loving but radical adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel, “Little Women” stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, and Eliza Scanlen as the March Sisters: four young women growing up in Massachusetts during the mid 1800s. Whereas the original book followed them from youth to adulthood linerly, Gerwig’s take cuts between their lives as kids and their lives years latter throughout the movie. And that’s not the only change she makes, as Gerwig massively revamps the ending to both honor what Alcott wrote and create something entirely new in the process.
Why it’s great Greta: Before “Barbie,” “Little Women” showed how good Gerwig was at putting her own stamp on other people’s work. The film is respectful to Alcott’s original vision, but in its comedy, its wit, and its focus on Ronan’s Jo as an independent young woman, it’s unmistakably Gerwig’s creation. The two timelines prove to be a genius move, allowing the audience to track the evolution of the sisters from unformed children to confident young women who know who they are and what they want. And Gerwig’s talent with her actors shine in the uniformly terrific performances from the ensemble, with Ronan in particular dazzling as the spirited Jo and Pugh giving maybe the best performance of her career as the bratty but insecure Amy. Plus, it’s the only film in history that features Bob Odenkirk making an entrence two-thirds of the way through with the line “My little women;” clearly, it’s a masterpiece. —WC
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1. “Lady Bird” (2017)
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection What it is: The great coming-of-age movie of the 2010s, “Lady Bird” stars Saorise Ronan as the titular Sacramento teenager, who endures a truly chaotic senior year from 2002-2003; mainly due to her own terrible decision making. An overdramatic, bratty, and completely lovable creation, Lady Bird (given name Christine) betrays her friends, gets new ones, stars in her school musical, goes to prom, applies to college, falls in love (twice), and frequently makes a total idiot of herself. All the while, she struggles to understand her mother: the lukewarm and intensely critical Marion (Laurie Metcalf), who likewise can barely understand the young woman her daughter is becoming.
Why it’s great Greta: “Lady Bird” was Gerwig’s directorial debut, but the filmmaker showed an immediate and startling prowress behind the camera that would make the most seasoned industry vets jealous. Everything about “Lady Bird” strikes a perfect note and feels effortless at the same time. Gerwig’s screenplay is deft and smart, witty without ever being writerly and flowing through vignettes without ever feeling unfocused. Her directing is top notch, with a dreamy golden-hued nostalgia enveloping the film and making the very specific story of Lady Bird feel universal and accessible to anyone who’s ever been a teenager. And Gerwig’s early acting days shine through in the naturalistic performances she gets from her cast, from Ronan’s tempermental teenager to Meatcalf’s embittered mother to Lucas Hedges and Timothee Chalamet as the two very different boys in Lady Bird’s life. Gerwig will continue to make great movies, but “Lady Bird” was a lightning in a bottle moment of greatness that’ll be difficult to surpass. —WC
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