Awkwafina's 10 Best Movies, Ranked

Especially in the realm of comedy films, it's easy for the most recognizable icons in the genre to be reestablished legends who have amassed massive legacies over the years. This in turn makes it difficult for new faces to be able to spring up and achieve levels of recognition from the public in the medium. However, one notable exception to this trend, as a modern actress who has been taking the comedic world by storm and slowly but surely becoming a household name, is Awkwafina.

Awkwafina has proven herself to be one of the most prominent and versatile actresses in modern comedy films, lending her talents to a wide variety of films and franchises in recent years. However, even after her rise in popularity from numerous supporting comedic roles over the years, her filmography is highly diversified and varied compared to other comedic talents, starring in a multitude of other genres. Her notoriety and recognition only continue to rise year after year as she proves herself to be one of the defining rising stars of the era.

10 'The Little Mermaid' (2023)

Director: Rob Marshall

A live-action remake of the landmark Disney Renaissance film, The Little Mermaid follows the story of Ariel, a young mermaid girl who has massive aspirations of seeing the world beyond the sea, on the vast and forbidden surface. After falling for the charming Prince Eric, Ariel makes a pact with the evil sea witch Ursula to finally visit the surface and meet her crush, but the pact comes with a caveat, where she must have true love's kiss or else she will revert to a mermaid.

Awkwafina provides her extensive vocal talents to the character of Scuttle in the film, previously voiced by Buddy Hackett in the 1989 original film. Especially when compared to the original film, Scuttle is given much more emphasis and focus on the story, allowing Awkwafina the opportunity to flesh out the character in her own signature way for the film. This is most seen with the film's original song given to Scuttle and Sebastian in the latter half of the film, "The Scuttlebutt", sung by both Awkwafina and Daveed Diggs.

The Little Mermaid (2023)

The youngest of King Triton's daughters, Ariel is a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. Longing to find out more about the world beyond the sea, Ariel visits the surface and falls for the dashing Prince Eric. Following her heart, she makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, to experience life on land.

Watch on Disney+

9 'Raya and the Last Dragon' (2021)

Directors: Don Hall, Carlos Lopez Estrada

One of the latest films from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Raya and the Last Dragon sees the once prosperous nation of Kumandra, which lived in harmony and peace between the various cities and communities. However, after a dangerous evil is released upon the land, it begins to fracture the sanctity of the nation as it leaves its people more and more divided. To restore the land to its former glory, the lone warrior, Raya, embarks on a quest to track down a legendary dragon that has the ability to defeat the evil that has swept over the land.

Awkwafina voices the character of Sisu in the film, the magical and mythical last dragon who is enlisted by Raya on her quest to save Kumandra. Her character acts as a great foil to the more serious and hardened Raya, as her more lighthearted and whimsy approach to their quest proves to have both its positives and negatives. Disney has always had a notable history for having iconic comedic side characters that build upon the stylings of relevant comedians, with Awkwafina's Sisu being the latest rendition of this trend.

Raya and the Last Dragon

Watch on Disney+

8 'Ocean's Eight' (2018)

Director: Gary Ross

The modern spin-off of the classic heist franchise, Ocean's Eight follows criminal mastermind Debbie Ocean, younger sister of Danny Ocean, as she plans to pull off a dangerous heist at New York's annual Met Gala. To pull off her seemingly impossible heist, she begins enlisting and gathering a crew of talented female thieves, each with a myriad of strengths and attributes to bring to the team.

The Ocean's franchise has always been defined and well recognized for its amazing and varied supporting cast, a staple feature of the franchise that Awkwafina contributes to greatly with her character, Constance. In the film, Constance is notably recognized for being a loudmouthed and seemingly obnoxious street hustler, who can use this as a front and distraction for expert skills in pickpocketing. Her character easily makes for one of the biggest comedic highlights of the film, having great comedic chemistry with the rest of the team.

Watch on TBS

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7 'The Bad Guys' (2022)

Director: Pierre Perifel

One of the biggest and most recognized success stories to come from DreamWorks Animation in recent years, The Bad Guys follows an infamous crime group known as The Bad Guys, notorious for countless years of successful heists. However, after their biggest heist yet goes wrong and gets the team behind bars, the leader of the group, Mr. Wolf, hatches a scheme to have the team feign going good to save them from prison. Their plan seemingly goes off without a hitch, with the team able to be back on the streets in no time, yet Wolf soon gets a hankering for how it feels to do good.

Awkwafina voices the character of Miss Tarantula in the film, the only female member of The Bad Guys, as well as their highly intelligent tech support and hacker, allowing the team to bypass any security system. More than just her tech skills, the character's minuscule size acts as a major factor for her stealth capabilities and plays into Awkwafina's vocal performance throughout the film. Especially when compared to her previous role as a member of an expert team of thieves in Ocean's Eight, Miss Tarantula is a much more calculated and analytical character, showing Awkwafina's effective range in the genre.

Watch on Peacock

6 'Jumanji: The Next Level' (2019)

Director: Jake Kasdan

The sequel to the pleasantly surprising Jumanji reboot, Jumanji: The Next Level sees the group from the first film reentering the virtual world of Jumanji to save their friend. However, two elderly and inexperienced men also find themselves sucked into the game, along with nearly everyone having completely different player characters this time around. It soon becomes a race against time for the team to find their friend, teach the confused elders the ways of the game, and get accustomed to the new, even more dangerous second level.

Awkwafina plays the role of Ming Fleetfoot in the film, a new player character who is initially controlled by the socially anxious Spencer before eventually being in control of Eddie (played by Danny Devito). The inherent beauty and comedy that comes from the recent Jumanji films is their ability to have actors and actresses play against the grain and pretend to be completely different people. This is shown in full force with Ming in the final third of the film, as Awkwafina harnesses the strange and hilarious energy required to play a bewildered Danny Devito.

Watch on Starz

5 'Quiz Lady' (2023)

Director: Jessica Yu

Quiz Lady follows the story of two sisters; Anne, a smart yet closed-off hard worker with an obsession with gameshow, and Jenny, a wild and unpredictable tornado of a person. The sisters find themselves reunited after the disappearance of their mother and must find a way to work together and earn enough money to pay off her gambling debts. They soon come up with the wild solution of having Anne win the required money by winning the gameshow that she's obsessed with.

Awkwafina plays the leading role of Anne in the film, with a performance and character archetype that is completely different from nearly every other character that she's played. Awkwafina effectively pulls off the completely different comedy style of an awkward, neurotic nerd, furthering her flexibility as a comedic actress in a wide variety of roles. She also has a great deal of comedic chemistry with Sandra Oh as Jenny, creating a dynamic and hilarious duo whose combined comedy defines the film as a whole.

Quiz Lady

A gameshow-obsessed woman and her estranged sister work together to help cover their mother's gambling debts.

Watch on Hulu

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4 'Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' (2021)

Director: Destin Daniel Cretton

One of the bigger and more prominent films to come from the MCU post-Avengers: Endgame, Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings sees highly capable fighter Shang-Chi as he is forced to confront a past he left behind. He finds himself traveling across the world searching for answers as he is being summoned and drawn to the deadly mysterious shadow organization known as the Ten Rings. It soon becomes apparent that he is much more tightly connected with the situation at hand, as it becomes up to him to put a stop to his father and save the world.

Awkwafina plays the role of Katy Chen in the film, Shang-Chi's best friend who has been by his side for nearly the entirety of his life after he left the Ten Rings. Awkwafina's comedic chops lend themselves perfectly to the MCU's style of filmmaking, as well as providing a great surrogate fish out of water for the audience to connect with when the situation gets more and more chaotic and magical. Her friendship with Shang-Chi is also a notable highlight of the film, allowing for a great number of comedic moments throughout the film.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Shang-Chi, the master of weaponry-based Kung Fu, is forced to confront his past after being drawn into the Ten Rings organization.

Watch on Disney+

3 'Swan Song' (2021)

Director: Benjamin Cleary

Swan Song follows the story of Cameron Turner, a man who is diagnosed with a terminal illness, but instead of simply wasting away and having his family live in grief, he is given an unexpected second option. He is allowed to have his place in life replaced with an identical clone, who will continue with his life without his family ever knowing about his terminal illness. However, as time goes on and Cameron comes to terms with his own mortality as well as the role that his clone provides, they begin to have an impasse and second thoughts about what he should do.

Awkwafina plays the role of Kate in the film, a prominent supporting character who acts as an unexpected person of refuge and reflection for Cameron, as Kate is another person being scouted for the same process. In this difficult time away from his family, Cameron can reflect upon his life and how to manage the future with Kate's clone, the seemingly only other person who understands his pain. The role is a great dramatic departure from what Awkwafina is known for, yet much like the other great performances in the film, she excels brilliantly with dramatic weight and power behind every scene.

Swan Song

When a loving husband and father Cameron Turner is diagnosed with a terminal illness, he is presented with the option of sparing his family grief by having him replaced with a clone. Turner is torn about whether to discuss the option with his wife.

Watch on Apple TV+

2 'Crazy Rich Asians' (2018)

Director: Jon M. Chu

One of the biggest and most iconic romantic comedies of the 21st century, Crazy Rich Asians follows the story of American-born Chinese economics professor Rachel Chu, who finds herself traveling with her boyfriend, Nick, to Singapore for a wedding. In the process, Rachel soon finds the truth behind her boyfriend's family, in that they are one of the richest and most prolific families in the entire region. However, she still loves Nick and does what she can to adapt to this wild, luxurious lifestyle so that they can still stay together.

Awkwafina plays the role of Goh Peik Lin in the film, Rachel's best friend and confidant during this time of confusion and stress in her life. It's a common trend and convention of romantic comedies to have a more comedically inclined supportive best friend character, a role that Awkwafina shines beautifully in. Her performance is easily one of the comedic highlights in the film, as this was one of the major roles and performances that placed her on the map for the majority of audiences worldwide as a comedic force to be reckoned with.

Crazy Rich Asians

This contemporary romantic comedy based on a global bestseller follows native New Yorker Rachel Chu to Singapore to meet her boyfriend's family.

Watch on Hulu

1 'The Farewell' (2019)

Director: Lulu Wang

The Farewell follows the story of Billi, a headstrong Chinese-American woman who returns to China after receiving the news that her beloved grandmother has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. However, it is an important part of Chinese culture that her grandmother isn't aware of the diagnosis, so the entire family has created a fake wedding as an excuse to see her one last time. On this trip, Billi is dealing with the emotional turmoil of being with her grandmother for the last time, as well as questioning the morality of not informing her of her impending death.

While Awkwafina has always been known for her exceptional comedic talents, The Farewell is the film that single-handedly proves that her talents go well beyond the realm and scope of comedy. The film blends comedy with its extremely dramatic and heartbreaking story to create a combination that fully delivers in being a highly resonating and powerful tale that brings numerous audiences to tears. The main reason why this film accomplishes this comes in the form of the powerful main performance from Awkwafina, who brilliantly balances the inner and constant pain that the inevitability of death provides.

The Farewell

Watch on Netflix

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