The 12 Greatest Monica Bellucci Movies, Ranked
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Monica Bellucci has been an acting icon for so long that it's easy to forget just how varied her filmography really is. For a lot of people, Bellucci is instantly recognizable as the impossibly glamorous Italian actress who seemed perfectly suited to playing mysterious, seductive characters that demanded attention. Her beauty has been a huge part of her public image for decades, but it can also make it easy to overlook how many different kinds of movies she has taken on.
Bellucci has never stuck to one corner of the movie world. Her career includes big Hollywood productions, European dramas, action movies, comedies, psychological thrillers, and some genuinely difficult films that pushed her far beyond the glamorous image audiences had come to associate with her.
She's also had an unusual knack for making an impression even when she isn't the main character, which has given her filmography more memorable performances than her star billing alone might suggest.
12 Tears of the Sun (2003)
Tears of the Sun saw Monica Bellucci take on a role that was unlike much of what she had done before. She plays Dr. Lena Kendricks, an American doctor working at a mission in Nigeria when civil war breaks out around her. When Bruce Willis' Navy SEAL team arrives to evacuate her, Lena refuses to leave without the refugees under her care, forcing the soldiers to decide whether they can take everyone with them.
Bellucci gives Lena a stubbornness that keeps her from feeling like a standard civilian caught in the middle of a conflict. Even as the movie shifts its focus toward the surrounding soldiers, Lena's refusal to abandon her patients remains the defining part of her character.
11 Shoot 'Em Up (2007)
Shoot 'Em Up is pure action-movie chaos, and Bellucci gets to play along with it. She plays DQ, a mysterious woman who turns to Clive Owen's Mr. Smith for help protecting her newborn son while being pursued by a group of assassins. Bellucci brings a softer presence to a movie that is almost constantly firing guns, crashing cars, and pushing its ridiculous premise as far as it can go. She also gets some fun chemistry with Owen, giving the movie a little more than its nonstop shootouts and absurd action set pieces.
10 Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
Bram Stoker's Dracula was one of Monica Bellucci's earliest film roles, arriving before she became an international star. She has a small but memorable part as one of Dracula's brides, appearing alongside Gary Oldman as the titular vampire. Bellucci has only a few lines as one of Dracula's brides, but she gets one of the film's more memorable visual moments when the brides try to seduce Jonathan Harker. It's a small role, but it gave Bellucci an early chance to make an impression in a major Hollywood production. It's a small role, but Bellucci certainly doesn't disappear into the background.
9 Remember Me, My Love (2003)
In Remember Me, My Love, Monica Bellucci plays Giulia, a mother who has spent years putting her family first and starts to wonder if that's really the life she wants. Her marriage is strained, her children are dealing with their own problems, and Giulia begins thinking about what she might have missed along the way. Bellucci plays Giulia's frustration without overdoing it, letting the character's dissatisfaction build as the movie goes on. The performance earned Bellucci a David di Donatello nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
8 Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002)
Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra lets Monica Bellucci have a little fun. She plays Cleopatra, who gives Julius Caesar three months to build a magnificent palace in Alexandria after he insults the Egyptian people. Bellucci leans into Cleopatra's quick temper and exaggerated reactions, giving the character plenty of personality without playing the comedy too seriously. The film was a huge success in France and gave Bellucci a chance to show a much lighter side of her acting.
7 The Best Offer (2013)
In The Best Offer, Monica Bellucci plays Claire Ibbetson, a mysterious woman who hires an eccentric art expert played by Geoffrey Rush to help sell her family's collection after her parents die. Claire rarely gives him a clear answer about herself, making her increasingly difficult for him to understand as he becomes more involved in her life. Bellucci plays Claire as someone who is never quite as open as she seems, which makes her scenes with Rush increasingly tense as their relationship develops. It's one of Bellucci's more restrained performances, but she holds your attention every time Claire is on-screen.
6 Spectre (2015)
Monica Bellucci had already spent years playing mysterious women on screen, so her casting in a James Bond movie made plenty of sense. In Spectre, she plays Lucia Sciarra, the widow of a powerful criminal who finds herself in danger after her husband's death. Bellucci and Daniel Craig have good chemistry in their scenes together, even though Lucia only appears briefly. The role also gave Bellucci the chance to become the oldest Bond woman in the franchise at the time, making Spectre a notable part of her career.
5 The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
Before Spectre gave Monica Bellucci a place in the James Bond franchise, she was already part of another huge Hollywood series. In The Matrix Reloaded, she plays Persephone, the wife of the Merovingian, who becomes involved with Neo and his search for the Keymaker. Her best scene comes when Persephone asks Neo to kiss her, using the moment to figure out whether he still feels anything real.
Bellucci plays Persephone with just enough attitude to make her feel like more than another strange face in the Matrix, and the character's kiss with Neo is one of the movie's more memorable scenes.
4 Brotherhood of the Wolf (2002)
In Brotherhood of the Wolf, Monica Bellucci plays Sylvia, a mysterious woman who arrives in France while a series of killings blamed on a strange creature has the local authorities scrambling for answers. At first, Sylvia seems to be there for one reason, but the movie keeps adding new pieces to her story until her real connection to the investigation becomes clear.
Bellucci plays her with a deliberate sense of secrecy, giving the character enough confidence to keep the audience wondering what she is really after. By the time the movie reveals Sylvia's true purpose, Bellucci has made the character's earlier scenes take on a completely different meaning.
3 The Apartment (1996)
The Apartment catches Monica Bellucci before she became the international star most audiences know today. She plays Lisa, the woman Max thinks he has found again after years apart, setting off a romantic mystery built around their complicated history. As Max tries to figure out what really happened between them, Bellucci's Lisa becomes harder to pin down, with the movie slowly revealing more about their past.
It's an early role that gives Bellucci more to do than just play the object of a romantic obsession, and it shows how good she could be at keeping a character just out of psychological reach.
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