Meryl Streep has been in too many movies to count at this point in her career. Since 1977, she’s been in over 75 movies and appeared in plenty of other forms of media. With so many to count, it can be hard to decide on a favorite Streep performance, but IMDb makes finding her highest-rated performances easy. A lot of younger folks know of Meryl Streep through her iconic role as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada or her role as Amanda Seyfried’s mother in Mamma Mia. Surprisingly, neither of these incredibly popular movies made the top 10 Meryl Streep films on IMDb, despite how many people can quote Miranda Priestly’s iconic speech about Andi’s cerulean blue sweater, played by Anne Hathaway.
Updated on August 10th, 2022 by Amanda Bruce: IMDb allows users to rate movies in perpetuity once the movie has been released. That means if enough people rediscover an older film through streaming or a rerelease, there's always the possibility of ratings changing. With ratings remaining in flux, these are Meryl Streep's current top 10 films through the Internet Movie Database.
Sophie's Choice (1982) 7.5
- Available to stream on Hulu
Sophie’s Choice depicts the story of a Holocaust survivor named Sophie played by Meryl Streep, and her abusive lover, the Jewish-American Nathan, who is obsessed with the Holocaust. Their rocky relationship is affected by this obsession, as well as Sophie’s traumatic past, as they befriend Stingo, a writer, and the narrator of the film.
While most of the story was fictionalized, only one of the characters in the movie was a real person: Rudolf Hoess, an actual commandant at Auschwitz.
Doubt (2008) 7.5
- Available to stream on Pluto TV
Based on the stage play by John Patrick Shanley (who brought the movie to the big screen himself), Doubt followed the goings-on at a Catholic school when one nun believed a teacher was paying too much attention to one of his students. Streep starred as the nun leading the school, and the one tipped off to the behavior. Though all of the principal cast were nominated for Academy Awards for their work, they didn't win them. Streep did take home a Critics Choice Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance though.
The Hours (2002) 7.5
- Available to stream on Prime Video
The Hours was inspired by the work of notable author Virginia Woolf. The movie weaves together three different storylines, that of Woolf, played by Nicole Kidman, writing her novel, that of an unhappy housewife (Julianne Moore) in the 1950s, and that of a modern literary editor (Meryl Streep) struggling with the reality of aging and an ill friend. All three of the stories tie into Woolf's work Mrs. Dalloway, and all three actresses were praised for their performances in the movie with Nicole Kidman winning an Academy Award for her work.
The Bridges Of Madison County (1995) 7.6
- Available to stream on Netflix
Inspired by the novel of the same name, The Bridges Of Madison County became Streep's best-known movie for a long time. A romantic drama, it features Streep in the role of a woman who has an affair with a photographer who comes to her small town to photograph the historic bridges. Like most of Streep's highest-rated roles, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her work but didn't win one here.
Adaptation. (2002) 7.7
- Available to stream on HBO Max
When Charlie Kaufman was hired to write an adaptation of Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief for the screen, he suffered from severe writer's block, and decided to turn his struggles into the movie instead, resulting in one of the most meta movies of Meryl Streep's career. Streep plays Orlean, and plenty of supporting actress award nominations for the role, but it's Nicolas Cage as Kaufman who really carries the movie. He also played Kaufman's fictional twin, who succeeds at screenwriting while Kaufman struggles to gain his footing. Streep was so intrigued by the movie that she reportedly took a pay cut for the role.
Kramer Vs. Kramer (1979) 7.8
- Available to stream on Prime Video
One of Meryl Streep’s first movies, Kramer Vs. Kramer was an iconic role for both her and Dustin Hoffman. Kramer Vs. Kramer is a legal drama about a custody battle between Joanna Kramer, and her ex-husband Ted Kramer. Famous for its depictions of the effects of divorce on the psychology of children, as well as the gender roles of the time, it became the highest-grossing film of the year when it came out in 1979.
It is widely known that when Hoffman, in character, slaps Meryl Streep in the movie, it was not scripted and he had not previously asked for her consent, as Streep has talked about it on multiple occasions.
Little Women (2019) 7.8
- Available to stream through Prime Video
Another book to movie adaptation for Streep, Little Women adapted Louisa May Alcott's novel of the same name. The story of the March sisters is so beloved, and already has a successful 1990s adaptation starring Winona Ryder, that audiences were a bit skeptical going in. Greta Gerwig's interpretation of the source material won audiences over though. Streep had a supporting role as Aunt March, an elderly relative whom both Jo and Amy take turns acting as a companion for, keeping her entertained and learning domestic skills from her. Streep's part in the movie wasn't large, but it was endlessly entertaining for the audience.
Manhattan (1979) 7.9
- Available to stream on Tubi
Manhattan was one of the earliest movies in Streep's acting career, and it put her into the fold of then-creative-powerhouse Woody Allen, who both directed and starred in the movie. It followed Allen's character as he fell in love with the mistress of his best friend, but dated a teenager. At the time, the movie was widely praised, but for modern audiences, the plot has become incredibly controversial. While it's got Gershwin's music and beautifully shot black and white film to please audiences, a romance between a teenager and a twice-divorced forty-something doesn't sit well with the modern audience.
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) 7.9
- Available to stream on Disney Plus
Adapted from the work of Roald Dahl, Fantastic Mr. Fox was Wes Anderson's first animated feature. It captured the spirit of Dahl's style in his novels perfectly and featured a pretty stellar voice cast. Meryl Streep worked opposite George Clooney for much of her work on the movie as Streep played the wife of the titular fox, voiced by Clooney.
The movie followed the fox as his marriage, and the lives of the foxes, ended up in danger after he raided the farm of the humans who lived next door. The movie was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards, but unfortunately for the team behind the movie, it was released the same year as Pixar's Up, which stole the show.
The Deer Hunter (1979) 8.1
- Available to stream through Prime Video
An epic-war drama film, The Deer Hunter is one of the few movies here where Meryl Streep plays a supporting role. Depicting the lives of the people living in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania, it shows the effects of the U.S. Vietnam War on their lives. John Cazale, who plays Stan, had cancer at the time of the filming and couldn’t afford his medical bills. To keep his co-worker on set and healthy, Robert DeNiro paid for his medical insurance and refused to participate in the film if Cazale was fired.