Best Penelope Cruz Movies of All Time

Penelope Cruz’s filmography is quite impressive and she has been nominated for Oscar three times throughout her career. She has appeared in different genres and has worked with incredible filmmakers. Here are the best Penelope Cruz movies of all time.

Having earned yet another Academy Award nomination in February 2022 for her role in Parallel Mothers, Penelope Cruz is an impressive actress. Her reputation in Spain, as one of the best actresses of her time, was cemented when she got her latest nomination. She role to fame in her native country Spain. Initially, it was challenging for her to perform in American movies as well as she did in Spanish films due to the fact that she had to speak English. However, she rose past that and built an extensive resume in the subsequent years. She has been in the movie industry since the 80s, and she has acted in many magnificent films. It is no surprise that her talent attracted the attention of many fans worldwide. TechTrends made a list of the best must-see Penelope Cruz movies of all time.

Keep reading to see whether your favorite tops the list. The movies are in order of their ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, but we also included the IMDb ratings.

Best Penelope Cruz Movies of All Time

Source: photo.stackexchange.com

Having signed with an agent at the age of 15, Penelope Cruz Sanchez had her debut on Television a year after, and her movie debut came when she was 17, earning a lot of critical acclaim. So, enjoy watching the best Penelope Cruz movies of all time that we have listed for you.

11. Nine 2009

  • Genre: Musical/Romance
  • Director: Rob Marshall
  • Stars: Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Daniel Day-Lewis
  • Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 39%, IMDb 5.8

Another Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress was awarded to Penelope Cruz a year after she actually won it. This was her third nomination at the Academy Award. In the movie Nine, she plays the role of a famous director’s mistress. It was first done on Broadway and the fact that it swept that year’s Tony nominations was notable but the woman who featured this role, Anita Morris, became banned from television as they believed that his costume and song was sexually suggestive. Despite all that, Cruz’s performance was incredible, making this one of the best Penelope Cruz movies of all time.

Read more: Best Nicole Kidman Movies of All Time

10. Vanilla Sky 2001

  • Genre: Thriller/Romance
  • Director: Cameron Crowe
  • Stars: Penélope Cruz, Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Kurt Russell, Jason Lee
  • Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 43%, IMDb 6.9

Penelope Cruz and Tom Cruise are co-stars in this movie, which should have been a physical gorgeousness, blowing off the roof of any cinema in the world. The two even went out for three years, but broke up for Cruise’s Scientological strictures. It was the English version of the Spanish movie Open Your Eyes, telling the tale of a rich man who gets cosmetic surgery to fix his face, which was ruined during a car accident that his jealous girlfriend, portrayed by Cameron Diaz, caused as he was falling for a gorgeous woman played by Cruz. In addition, she had the same role she did in the Spanish language version. Despite not having earned high rating from Rotten Tomatoes, the fans enjoyed the movie as it was one of Penelope Cruz’s greatest movie roles.

Read more: Best Tom Cruise Movies of All Time

9. Everybody Knows 2018

Source: IMDb.com
  • Genre: Mystery/Crime
  • Director: Asghar Farhadi
  • Stars: Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem , Ricardo Darín, Bárbara Lennie, Carla Campra
  • Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 78%, IMDb 6.9

In 2018, Asghar Farhadi directed the movie Everybody Knows, which is in Spanish language and shows the reunion of Bardem and Cruz, who portray the role of Paco and Laura, respectively. Laura’s daughter goes missing and they get a ransom request. Therefore, tensions mount since they have had a grudge against Paco for a long time. While the kidnapping brings a strong crime to the story, the movie centers around the nuanced character relationships as the suspicions grow. In addition, Michael O’Sullivan from The Washington Post described this movie as “Immensely watchable and thematically complex tale, which in some ways plays out like a deceptively conventional Agatha Christie-style whodunit.” This is one of the best Javier Penelope Cruz movies of all time.

Read more: Best Javier Bardem Movies of All Time

8. Liv Flesh 1997

  • Genre: Drama/Romance
  • Director: Pedro Almodóvar
  • Stars: Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Liberto Rabal, Francesca Neri, Pepe Sancho, Ángela Molina
  • Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 80%, IMDb 7.3

The movie Live Flesh is an adaptation of Ruth Rendell’s book with the same name and another one of the best Penelope Cruz movies of all time. It is a thriller directed by Pedro Almodóvar that stars Francesca Neri and Javier Bardem as Elena and David, respectively. The two appear as total opposites but try to start a life together even when they get tempted with affairs. Moreover, Penelope Cruz had a short appearance in this movie as a sex worker who gives birth to the hero of the movie at the start and her presence was charismatic. David and Elena meet when David, a young cop, gets a report of a gunshot. He then meets Elena who was there to meet her drug dealer and got into a fight with another man named Victor.

The movie shows the two’s life that was affected by the presence of Victor as well as Clara, who has her sights on David. In addition, the movie won a BAFTA Awards for Best Non-English Language Film in 1999.

“A richly detailed tale of passion, perfidy and revenge adapted from a typically tricky Ruth Rendell novel.” — Janet Maslin, The New York Times

Read more: Best Survival Movies of All Time

7. Vicky Cristina Barcelona 2008

Source: IMDb.com
  • Genre: Romance/Comedy
  • Director: Woody Allen
  • Stars: Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Messina, Patricia Clarkson
  • Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 80%, IMDb 7.1

Penelope Cruz had a collaboration with Woody Allen in the movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which won the Golden Globe award. She received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for the amazing role she played in this movie as Javier Bardem’s ex wife. Javier Bardem plays the role of Juan Antonio Gonzalo, who is the center of the movie. Johansson portrays the role of a tourist whose name is Cristina. Moreover, she is traveling in Spain with Vicky, her friend. The two are then approached by Juan Antonio, a suave artist who wants to seduce them despite being attached to his ex-wife Maria Elena, portrayed by Cruz. When Vicky gets engaged, Cristina goes to live with Juan Antonio and Maria. This Allen movie is among the best Penelope Cruz films ever.

Read more: Best Scarlett Johansson Movies of All Time

6. Broken Embraces 2009

  • Genre: Drama/Romance
  • Director: Pedro Almodóvar
  • Stars: Penélope Cruz, Lluís Homar, Blanca Portillo, José Luis Gómez
  • Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 82%, IMDb 7.2

Working once again with his frequent collaborator, director Pedro Almodóvar, Penelope Cruz impressed once again. While being well received in Europe and getting many nominations, including the Cannes Film Festival, it had a lower profile in the US. Cruz plays the role of Lena, a movie star and the mistress of a producer. When Ernesto Martel, played by Jose Luis Gomez, dies, a chain of events occurs. This drama uses elements of film noir and romantic comedy to tell the tale of love and loss. Cruz’s has had many incredible roles over the years, but her role in this movie is arguably the most captivating. This is yet another one of the best Penelope Cruz movies of all time.

Read more: Best Drama Movies of All Time

5. Open Your Eyes 1997

Source: IMDb.com
  • Genre: Drama/Sci-fi
  • Director: Alejandro Amenábar
  • Stars: Penélope Cruz, Eduardo Noriega, Fele Martínez, Najwa Nimri, Chete Lera
  • Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 87%, IMDb 7.7

Open You Eyes came out in 1997 and it marks one of the best Penelope Cruz movies ever. It is like the Spanish version of the Vanilla Sky, which was the original role Cruz acted in, in the English version. When using the Spanish language, her power as and actress shows even more and quite easily. This must-watch sci-fi movie got better reviews than the English adaptation Vanilla Sky. Considering Cruz’s incredible talent, it was not far after this movie that she gained worldwide recognition. This is one of the best Penelope Cruz movies of all time that you should add to your watch list, if you haven’t seen it already.

Read more: Best Sci-fi Movies of 2022

4. Volver 2006

  • Genre: Drama/Comedy
  • Director: Pedro Almodóvar
  • Stars: Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo
  • Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 91%, IMDb 7.6

Volver revolves around the story of women’s bravery that helps Cruz unleash her charisma, beauty and intensity. She performs as Raimunda, who is a hardworking wide and mother and her life gets affected by an act of violence. Moreover, this movie marks her most acclaimed lead role as she got her sole Best Actress nomination at the Academy Award for this movie. She also got nominated for the Golden Globes, SAG, as well as some other awards. So, we highly recommend this as one of the best Penelope Cruz movies of all time.

Read more: Best Zendaya Movies and TV Shows of All Time

3. Pain and Glory 2019

  • Genre: Drama
  • Director: Pedro Almodóvar
  • Stars: Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Asier Etxeandia, Leonardo Sbaraglia
  • Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 96%, IMDb 7.5

Yet another time, Penelope Cruz makes a mark with her presence in Almodóvar’s movie, which is about pleasure, while being a pleasure to watch itself. Antonio Banderas portrays the role of Salvador, who is a director having a midlife crisis, health concerns and a career lull. The something is unlocked in him and he remembers ecstatic memories of his mother, portrayed masterfully by Cruz. She was able to perform in a way that fuses sensuality, innocence and motherhood, while at the same time a beauty that many idealize. Therefore, Pain and Glory is among the best Penelope Cruz movies of all time in recent years.

2. Parallel Mothers 2021

  • Genre: Drama
  • Director: Pedro Almodóvar
  • Stars: Penélope Cruz, Milena Smit, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Rossy de Palma, Daniela Santiago
  • Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 96%, IMDb 7.8

Another one of the best Penelope Cruz movies of all time that brought her an Oscar nomination is Parallel Mothers, which was released in 2021. This is yet another collaboration between Pedro Almodóvar and Cruz which resulted in something spectacular. It appears like the legendary director is able to bring the best out of Cruz and that notion is further cemented by this movie. She portrays the role of Janis and her incredible performance earned her another Academy Award nomination. Janis is a photographer who gets pregnant after having a short affair. She then finds herself in a maternity unit, sharing a room with Ana, played by Milena Smit. Then, the two form a bond and Cruz was able to show how mature, passionate and emotionally intelligent the character was. We highly recommend this as one of the best Penelope Cruz films of all time.

1. All about My Mother 1999

Source: IMDb.com
  • Genre: Drama
  • Director: Pedro Almodóvar
  • Stars: Penélope Cruz, Antonia San Juan, Marisa Paredes, Cecilia Roth, Candela Peña
  • Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 98%, IMDb 7.8

The 1999 movie directed by Pedro Almodóvar won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Penelope Cruz is famous for having worked with legendary Spanish filmmaker Almodóvar. All about My Mother is the second movie the two have had together. The film stars Penelope Cruz who plays the role of an inspiring writer’s mother and she does not want her son to learn about his dad. In addition, the story revolves around gender, sexuality, HIV/AIDS and existentialism quite stylish, and with nuance that only a director like Almodóvar is able to create. Despite not being the main character, Cruz impresses in the role of Rosa, who has been abused and is a victim of violence. This is indeed one of the best Penelope Cruz movies of all time.

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