Kristen Stewart originally gained media attention for her portrayal of Bella Swan in the Twilight franchise. She has since moved on to have a rather successful acting career, and her directorial debut, The Chronology of Water, is currently in pre-production with a release date to be announced.
Like any actor who has had an extensive career, Stewart has been part of some hits and some misses. She has gained acclaim for her appearances as a host on Saturday Night Live and has received criticism for her role as Bella in the Twilight franchise. Here is a look at her five best and five worst movie roles, according to IMDb.
Worst: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (5.0)
As mentioned before, Stewart generally received criticism for her performances in the Twilight films, and Eclipse is no exception. Eclipse is the third installment in the Twilight saga, continuing the romance between Bella (Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson). In spite of its generally low rating, it grossed almost $700 million at the box office.
The film is about Edward and Bella discussing Bella's eventual transformation into a vampire, something Edward insists on happening after they are married. Meanwhile, Victoria, a vampire from the first film, seeks revenge on the Cullens for killing her mate and creates a newborn vampire army. The Cullens then team up with the Quileute wolves to fight the army.
Best: Camp X-Ray (6.9)
Camp X-Ray is a film about Lieutenant Amy Cole (Stewart) who has been deployed to Guantanamo Bay. She feels disdain toward the poor treatment of detainees but also feels negatively toward the detainees themselves. Nonetheless, she develops a bond with a detainee who was wrongfully arrested. Trigger warnings include controversial torture techniques, sexual misconduct, racial profiling of Muslims and Middle Eastern people, and people dealing with suicidal thoughts.
The film first premiered at the Sundance Festival and was later available to view at other film festivals. It can be purchased to stream through services such as iTunes and Amazon. The Women Film Critics Circle nominated the film for the "Best Movie About Women" award and nominated Stewart for Best Actress for her performance.
Worst: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (4.9)
Breaking Dawn - Part 1 is the second-to-last film in the Twilight saga and fourth film overall in the series. It is about Bella and Edward's marriage and subsequent honeymoon on Isle Esme. Bella becomes pregnant and the pregnancy progresses faster than a human pregnancy since the fetus is half-vampire. She insists upon keeping the baby in spite of it taking a large toll on her body. In order to survive giving birth to her and Edward's child, Edward turns her into a vampire.
The film adapted the first part of the novel Breaking Dawn and acted as a set-up for the finale of the series, in which the Cullens, werewolves, and ally vampires faced off against the Volturi.
Best: Welcome To The Rileys (7.0)
Welcome to the Rileys is about a married couple, Doug (James Gandolfini) and Lois (Melissa Leo), still reeling from the death of their teenaged daughter many years before. Doug has an affair with a waitress named Vivian (Eisa Davis) who eventually dies. He then leaves for New Orleans in order to get himself together after Vivian's death only to meet Mallory (Stewart), a teenage stripper. Doug, needing a place to stay, moves in with her and they develop a familial bond. Lois eventually joins them in order to save her marriage and develops a similar bond with Mallory. They eventually learn that Mallory cannot replace their daughter and move back to their home.
In spite of its higher IMDb rating, the film was a flop at the box office, earning a little more than $300,000 when it had a $10 million budget. It also received mixed reviews from critics.
Worst: Seberg (4.7)
Seberg is about Jean Seberg (Stewart), a French New Wave icon in the 1960s. It chronicles her story being an FBI target due to her political involvement and romantic relationship with activist Hakim Jamal (Anthony Mackie).
Reviewers have claimed that the film did not do the true story or Stewart's performance justice. It has also received low ratings on a number of sites including Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, as well as IMDb. In spite of these lower reviews, Time Magazine has credited Stewart's performance in the film as one of the best in 2019.
Best: Speak (7.3)
Speak is a coming-of-age teen drama about Melinda Sordino (Stewart), who struggles socially during her freshman year of high school after she was raped at a party by a senior the previous summer. The film deals with high school social issues and Melinda dealing with the trauma of the assault, which she chooses not to discuss with anyone for most of the film.
The film was adapted from the young adult novel of the same name by Laurie Halse Anderson and is one of Stewart's earlier performances. In spite of its high rating on IMDb, critics view this film as being gratuitous and exploitative of trauma.
Worst: The Twilight Saga: New Moon (4.7)
New Moon is the lowest-rated Twilight film and probably the worst book of the series. The premise of the film (and book) is that Edward has deemed himself and his family too dangerous to be around Bella, causing him to break up with her and his family to leave Forks.
The rest of the film depicts Bella as depressed and engaging in self-destructive, thrill-seeking behavior. Alice (Ashley Greene) and Edward believe this behavior to have led Bella to kill herself, causing Edward to want to kill himself. However, Alice and Bella intervene just in time.
Best: Still Alice (7.5)
Still Alice is about Alice Howland (Julianne Moore), a linguistics professor diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's. It also depicts how the disease affects Alice's relationship with her family, which consists of her husband John (Alec Baldwin) and their adult children Anna (Kate Bosworth), Tom (Hunter Parrish), and Lydia (Stewart). Alice gradually stops recognizing family members, leading to much heartbreak for everyone.
The film received many accolades and was generally given high ratings among critics and viewers. Critics especially praised Moore's performance in the leading role (she won an Oscar for her work), but also gave praise to Stewart's performance in a supporting role as well.
Worst: Charlie's Angels (4.1)
Elizabeth Banks' Charlie's Angels is a reboot of the 2000 film and its sequel. It follows different Angels: Sabina (Stewart), Elena (Naomi Scott), and Jane (Ella Balinska) as they try to stop people from using corrupt technology for nefarious purposes. Banks' film allowed for expanding upon the world of Charlie's Angels, giving the Angels an agency where they can eventually be promoted.
The film, in spite of being generally better than the 2000 film, unfortunately, flopped at the box office and was generally not well received among critics and audiences. Despite of the negative reception and the low IMDb rating, Stewart and the rest of the cast gave great performances.
Best: Into The Wild (8.2)
Into the Wild is a biographical film adapted from the nonfiction book of the same name by John Krakauer. The film chronicles Chris McCandless (Emile Hirsch), at times also known as Alexander Supertramp, who goes off the grid and tries to find fulfillment by hitchhiking his way to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Stewart plays a minor role in the film as Tracy Tatro, a teenager McCandless meets while on the road.
Sean Penn wrote and directed the film and received praise from critics. Critics have also praised the cast's strong performances, and the film itself received fairly high ratings from most critics and film sites.