The 10 Most Underrated Naomi Watts Movies, Ranked (from Least to Most Underrated)

Naomi Watts has navigated everything from intimate chamber pieces to large-scale thrillers, building a filmography that stretches across genres and continents. Beyond the best-known milestones, there’s a deep bench of projects where she collaborates with distinctive directors, anchors challenging material, or slips into quietly complex supporting roles that reward a closer look.

This list focuses on feature films and orders them as a countdown from least to most underrated, using widely available public ratings data to set the order. Each entry includes concrete details—directors, key collaborators, source material, production notes, release context, and what Watts actually does in the role—so you can quickly decide what to watch next.

‘We Don’t Live Here Anymore’ (2004)

Watts co-stars with Mark Ruffalo, Laura Dern, and Peter Krause in this marital drama adapted from short fiction by Andre Dubus, with John Curran directing and Larry Gross writing the screenplay. The film centers on two neighboring couples whose overlapping affairs bring long-simmering resentments to the surface, with classroom and domestic settings reflecting the characters’ shifting allegiances.

The production was shot primarily in British Columbia, doubling for the American Pacific Northwest, with handheld cinematography emphasizing close-quarters performances. It premiered at a major North American festival and earned recognition for ensemble acting, with Watts sharing scenes that hinge on minute changes in tone, gesture, and pace rather than overt plot mechanics.

‘The International’ (2009)

In this Euro-thriller directed by Tom Tykwer, Watts plays an assistant district attorney who teams with an Interpol agent portrayed by Clive Owen to uncover corruption tied to a global banking consortium. The narrative moves through investigative set-pieces that use real civic architecture as backdrops, including sequences in Berlin and Milan.

The production mounted a notable action sequence on a full-scale replica of New York’s Guggenheim Museum interior built on a soundstage, allowing for choreographed cross-level movement and practical effects. Craig Armstrong provides the score, and Franka Potente and Armin Mueller-Stahl appear in key supporting roles as the investigation tracks money flows across borders.

‘Funny Games’ (2007)

Michael Haneke directed this English-language shot-for-shot re-creation of his earlier Austrian film, with Watts and Tim Roth as parents held hostage by two young intruders played by Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet. The film is constructed around long, unbroken takes and deliberate breaches of narrative convention that place emphasis on viewer complicity.

Production took place in the Hamptons and on stages in New York, with Haneke’s signature framing and minimal scoring. Watts also served as a producer, and the film’s design keeps costuming and set decoration intentionally neutral so the psychological dynamics stay in the foreground, aligning with the director’s formal approach.

‘Stay’ (2005)

Directed by Marc Forster from a script by David Benioff, this psychological mystery pairs Watts with Ryan Gosling and Ewan McGregor in intersecting narratives that fold memory, identity, and perception into a single timeline. Rodrigo Prieto’s cinematography uses match cuts and mirrored compositions to link locations and characters.

The film shot on location in New York City, employing practical effects and in-camera transitions for visual continuity. Production design leans on recurring motifs—staircases, bridges, and specific artwork—to cue shifts in narrative layers, and the score by Asche & Spencer underlines scene transitions without telegraphing reveals.

‘Penguin Bloom’ (2020)

Watts portrays Sam Bloom and also produces this adaptation of a non-fiction book by Cameron Bloom and Bradley Trevor Greive about a family’s rehabilitation journey after a life-altering accident. The story follows the Blooms’ care of an injured magpie named Penguin, with scenes that track daily routines, therapy milestones, and family dynamics.

Filmed in coastal New South Wales, the production used trained birds and VFX augmentation for certain behavioral beats, coordinating closely with animal handlers to depict specific stages of healing. Co-stars include Andrew Lincoln and Jacki Weaver, and the film’s release combined festival play with a streaming debut in several territories.

‘Luce’ (2019)

Watts appears alongside Kelvin Harrison Jr., Octavia Spencer, and Tim Roth in this drama adapted by Julius Onah and J.C. Lee from Lee’s stage play. She plays the adoptive mother of a standout student whose writing assignment prompts a series of escalating conversations about expectation, privacy, and institutional authority.

The film was produced through the indie circuit with principal photography in the New York area, using classrooms, homes, and athletic facilities to anchor thematic debates in everyday spaces. Editing favors dialogue-driven scenes that preserve the play’s structure while introducing cinematic pacing, and composer Geoff Barrow contributes to the restrained sound design.

‘Demolition’ (2015)

Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, this character study casts Watts opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in a story about grief processed through dismantling routines and objects. The screenplay by Bryan Sipe structures scenes around letters and late-night drives, tying character beats to practical tasks that visualize internal states.

Shot around New York City and its suburbs, the production incorporates real demolition work under controlled conditions to achieve specific visual gags and metaphors. Chris Cooper appears in a crucial supporting role, and Vallée’s editorial approach—working without temp scores and leaning on source music—keeps the soundscape grounded in diegetic cues.

‘St. Vincent’ (2014)

In Theodore Melfi’s dramedy, Watts plays Daka, a pregnant sex worker who shares scenes with Bill Murray’s irascible neighbor and Melissa McCarthy’s newly single mother. Her character’s schedule intersects with the central plot about after-school care and a parochial-school assignment, creating a cross-section of Brooklyn livelihoods.

The production mixes location shooting in New York with stage work to control interior acoustics for dialogue-heavy scenes. Jaeden Martell’s classroom storyline threads through the ensemble, and the film’s release platformed through festivals before a wide rollout, with marketing focused on Murray’s lead while highlighting the ensemble’s interlocking arcs.

‘The Painted Veil’ (2006)

Watts stars opposite Edward Norton in this adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham’s novel, directed by John Curran with a screenplay by Ron Nyswaner. The narrative follows a couple whose strained marriage is tested during a cholera outbreak in a rural region of China, weaving personal reconciliation with public-health logistics.

Principal photography took place in Guangxi and Shanghai as well as on sets that recreated period interiors, with Stuart Dryburgh shooting landscapes and water travel sequences. Alexandre Desplat composed an acclaimed score, and the production coordinated with local authorities for access to villages and scenic karst formations, integrating river transport into key transitions.

‘Eastern Promises’ (2007)

Watts headlines alongside Viggo Mortensen and Vincent Cassel in David Cronenberg’s crime drama set within London’s Russian-speaking underworld. She plays a midwife whose professional obligations lead to contact with a criminal family, linking hospital records, a lost diary, and a protection network to a broader trafficking investigation.

The production filmed across London boroughs, using real restaurants and bathhouses for authenticity while staging intimate scenes with minimal crew. Steven Knight’s script anchors cultural and linguistic detail, Mortensen trained with dialect coaches and fight coordinators for close-quarters choreography, and Howard Shore’s score threads folk instrumentation through a modern orchestral palette.

Share your picks for overlooked Naomi Watts performances in the comments—what would you add or rearrange?