49 Frances McDormand Movies, Ranked Best to Worst

When even months later, her daughter’s murderer is not found, an angry Mildred Hayes rents three billboards on the outskirts of her town, Ebbing. The message on the board questions the reputed chief of police William Willoughby, much to the chagrin of everyone around, especially Officer Jason Dixon. As Mildred persists in her stance, she enters into a conflict with the authorities.

Jerry Lundegaard, sales manager at an automobile dealership company, incurs a huge debt and devises the ingenious plan of kidnapping his wife so he can extort money from his boss and wealthy father-in-law. However, the supposedly non-violent plan goes awry after his two hired goons attract the attention of pregnant sheriff Marge Gunderson with one killing after another.

FBI agents, Rupert Anderson and Alan Ward, are sent to investigate when 3 civil rights workers go missing in Jessup County, Mississippi. The agents, with diverse approach towards investigation, encounter non-cooperating residents, hostile police, and aggressive Ku Klux Klan. As the KKK assault the local African-Americans and set their houses on fire, the agents have to resort to unorthodox methods of investigations.

Two rival mafia bosses are at loggerheads when Irish mobster Leo O'Bannon provides protection to bookie Bernie Bernbaum, brother of his girlfriend Verna, from Italian gangster Johnny Caspar. Leo expels his right-hand man, Tom Reagan, after learning about Verna's affair with him, following which Tom shifts allegiance to Johnny, but must now prove himself trustworthy by killing Bernie.

A thriller court-room drama, Primal Fear shows the audience how deceptive appearances can be, when experienced Chicago defence attorney Martin Vail, lands-up fighting on behalf of an altar boy, Aaron Stampler, who is accused of murdering Archbishop Rushman, brutally. The film progresses through Vail’s perspective and his reactions to unearthing dark hidden secrets of the Church, while being astutely manipulated.  

Directed by Wes Anderson in his typical style, Moonrise Kingdom features a young boy and girl, Sam and Suzy, living on a New England island who run away to a secluded beach while the entire island searches for them. Pen-pals, Sam, an orphan in a Scout camp, and Suzy, who lives with her family, escape on an adventure through the woods.

Inspired by writer-director Cameron Crowe's boyhood experiences, the film records the coming of age story of 15-year-old rock music enthusiast William Miller, who receives an assignment from Rolling Stone magazine to write about up-and-coming band Stillwater. Despite his mother's concerns about drug usage and raunchy language, he joins the band on an enlightening tour that changes his life.

A Broadway playwright, Barton Fink, is offered a thousand dollars a week deal to write a Hollywood script. He accepts the offer and moves to LA, but struggles to write anything due to writer's block. He seeks help from his neighbour, a novelist and his secretary. However, events take a strange turn with a murder taking place and investigators turning up to question him.

Shortcuts is a comedy-drama film, which revolves around the day-to-day lives of several suburban Los Angeles residents, whose lives are loosely connected. 

Barber Ed Crane is unhappy with his life and his wife Doris who he suspects of having an affair. After a blackmail attempt by Ed on Doris’s boss Big Dave Brewster goes horribly wrong, Ed finds himself in more trouble than he anticipated and tragic consequences await the Crane family. 

When a 40-year-old skeleton is found in Rio County, Texas, Sheriff Sam Deeds is summoned to investigate. According to local stories, the tyrannical sheriff Charlie Wade was killed by deputy Buddy Deeds, Sam’s father, who succeeded Wade to become a much-loved sheriff. Sam, who had a difficult relationship with his father, digs deeper and learns to see Buddy in a different light.

Josey Aimes runs away from her husband after she suffers sexual abuse and violence for a long time. Despite her father’s disapproval, she starts working at a mine, in order to support her two children.  

Professor Grady Tripp teaches creative writing but is unable to overcome his writer’s block and complete his novel. Besides that, his platter is full with – his third wife leaves him, his literary agent arrives to push him to complete his manuscript, his married girlfriend becomes pregnant with their child, his troubled student has problems with life. Can the weekend accommodate any more complications?

Raising Arizona is a crime-comedy film directed by the famous Coen brothers, wherein an ex-con and an ex-cop abduct one baby from a set of quintuplets belonging to a furniture mogul called Nathan Arizona after they discover that they can't have a child. The couple's lives are in jeopardy when Arizona offers a huge reward for the return of his missing baby.

Burn After Reading is a comedy centered around two foolish gym employees who chance upon a CIA agent's memoirs in a CD and try to sell it. Mistakenly assuming that the CD contents are highly sensitive, they first try to blackmail the CIA agent, failing which, they attempt to sell it to the Russians.

Aging music mogul and womanizer, Harry Sanborn, has been dating the much younger Marin Klein. A heart attack forces Harry to stay for a few days at Marin’s mother Erica’s beach house. Hilarious complications arrive when Harry and Erica fall for each other, while a young doctor Julian falls for Erica.  

This Must be The Place is a comedy drama film, which tells the story of a former rockstar who, after his father’s death, sets out to find the Nazi war criminal, who is responsible for his father’s humiliation during the Second World War.

After being burnt hideously in an attack, a mentally unstable scientist stretches his invention of the synthetic skin to the limit, so that he can take revenge on the people who are responsible for his condition. 

Steve Butler, competent salesman of a natural gas company, along with his colleague, Sue Thomason, reaches economically hit rural town to buy drilling rights of local land. At first locals are receptive as Butler explains how they can benefit from the project. But when revered schoolteacher Frank Yates raises objections, environmentalist Dustin and teacher Alice support him by initiating a grassroots crusade.

Based on the Transformers toy line, the movie follows the last days of war between the rival groups Autobots and Decepticons. The third installment in the live-action Transformers film series, the movie grossed over $1 billion worldwide and was praised for the special effects, action scenes, scores, and 3D work. 

Based in 1950s Hollywood, Hail, Caesar! is a dark comedy that revolves around a movie industry 'fixer' who is tasked with investigating the disappearance of the star of a biblical epic. With a stellar star cast, this film showcases the dark side of Hollywood of that era where fixers would clean up the messes of the bigwigs of the movie business.

Vincent Lamarca is a respected New York homicide detective whose son becomes the prime suspect in a murder case. During the course of his investigation, he realizes that his failure as a father has influenced his son’s life negatively.

After quitting her comfortable and lucrative job, Olivia struggles to make ends meet. However, she starts feeling insecure about her future, and also tries to maintain her relationships with her successful and rich friends.  

In late 2415, four centuries after a deadly virus wiped out 99% of the Earth's population, mere five million people live in the futuristic city of Bregna, governed by a congress of scientists. Æon Flux, a skilled warrior assigned by an underground rebel organization to kill Trevor Goodchild, the government's leader, faces a dilemma after discovering a secret conspiracy.

Isle of Dogs is an animated adventure comedy film, which takes us to Japan, and tells the story of a young boy, who is on a quest to find his lost dog. On his journey, he befriends several other dogs, who decide to help him. 

An animated comedy, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted is the third film in the series and showcases four animals still trying to get back to their home in Central Park Zoo of New York. In this instalment, Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman join a travelling circus in Europe, all the while trying to evade capture by an overzealous animal control officer.

A gentle young Apatosaurus, Arlo, finds himself far away from his home and family after he accidentally falls into a fast moving river. The way back to his home is not a simple one and as he journeys, he learns to conquer his fear and recognise his own capabilities. Helping him is his new friend – a wild human child named Spot.