Every Andrew Garfield movie, ranked according to critics

Rotten Tomatoes score: 27%

Synopsis: “Lions for Lambs,” directed by and starring Robert Redford, marked Garfield’s feature-film debut. The movie, released in 2007, costarred Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep. 

Garfield played a college student named Todd Hayes, who was the president of his fraternity and disinterested in applying himself to his studies despite his intelligence. In the film, Redford portrayed his professor, Dr. Malley, who educated him on two former students who decided to enlist in the US Army and fight in Afghanistan. 

“‘Lions for Lambs’ is one of those movies in which the principals talk a lot but don’t say much,” James Berardinelli wrote for ReelViews. “The film is built not upon characters and plot but upon ideas. That would be fine if the ideas were revolutionary or interesting, but they’re fairly commonplace.”

Rotten Tomatoes score: 38%

Synopsis: The film centered on a love triangle that developed between characters played by Garfield, “Stranger Things” actor Maya Hawke, and Nickelodeon alum Nat Wolff.

“Mainstream” was a satire about social media and viral fame, as Garfield’s character concocted a chaotic social media persona that resulted in internet fame. 

Critics said that the film felt outdated and didn’t offer compelling commentary on its central topic of social-media stardom. 

“The film has all the knowing swagger of something on the cutting edge but none of the self-awareness to realize that it’s arrived late to the party,” Steven Scaife wrote for Slant magazine. 

Rotten Tomatoes score: 51%

Synopsis: Garfield and Emma Stone returned as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy, respectively, in 2014’s “Amazing Spider-Man” sequel.

The overstuffed movie centered on Spidey facing two villains: a disgruntled Oscorp electrician named Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx), who became Electro after falling into a tank of electric eels, and Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), Peter’s childhood best friend who took on the Green Goblin persona after the death of his father Norman Osborn (Chris Cooper).

“TASM 2” set up a sequel involving the comic-book supervillain group known as the Sinister Six, but plans were scrapped and the Spidey franchise was later rebooted with Tom Holland as the web-slinger. 

“The majority of its 142 minutes are devoted to cross-film story arcs and subplots, without a lot of space left over from a strong narrative through line,” Grant Watson wrote for Fiction magazine. “The film has a beginning, a middle, and an end, but they’re all just a little too unfocused and flabby.”

Rotten Tomatoes score: 58%

Synopsis: Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, the A24 movie featured twists and turns as Garfield’s character, Sam, attempted to follow clues and get answers about the woman named Sarah (played by Riley Keough).

“Under the Silver Lake” received mixed reviews from critics. 

Olly Richards of NME wrote that the film “is clearly intentionally baffling. It’s a garble of surreal ideas, only very loosely pinned to something you could reasonably call a plot.”

Allen Almachar of The MacGuffin said that the film won’t “appeal to general audiences,” but enjoyed it due to “Mitchell’s confident writing and direction” and Garfield’s performance. 

“Garfield subverts his charm and good boy looks to play Sam as a kind of worn out bum,” Almacahr wrote. “While Sam may be the protagonist, the narrative also paints him with villainous undertones.”

Rotten Tomatoes score: 64%

Synopsis: “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” centered on a traveling theatre troupe and costarred Heath Ledger (who died while production was underway), Christopher Plummer, Gwendoline Christie, and Jude Law.

Critics praised the stunning visuals of director and cowriter Terry Gilliam’s film but described the plot as messy. 

“The contrast between the stark, bleak cities and the amazingly colorful, crazy acid-trip fantasy sequences was a visual treat,” Amie Simon wrote for Three Imaginary Girls. “It definitely LOOKS fantastic. The problem is in the substance.”

Rotten Tomatoes score: 67%

Synopsis: “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” whose title was based on a 2000 documentary film of the same name, showed how Faye and Bakker built a religious empire that eventually fell.

Critics weren’t impressed by the film’s storyline but praised the performances of Chastain and Garfield.

“While the resulting narrative feels disappointingly routine, the movie is worth watching for Chastain’s makeup-caked and brassy performance alone,” David Sims wrote for The Atlantic. 

Rotten Tomatoes score: 68%

Synopsis: The film showed how drastically Cavendish’s life changed when he developed polio and was paralyzed from the neck down at 28 years old. 

“Breathe” received mixed reviews. Critics praised the performances of Garfield and Claire Foy (who played his wife Diana) but said that the film focused too much on their characters’ romance. 

“Set in a jolly old England of warm beer, country houses and village greens, it feels more like ‘Downton Abbey’ with a medical subplot than a serious biopic about an astoundingly able disabled man and his devoted wife,” Stephen Dalton wrote for The Hollywood Reporter. 

Rotten Tomatoes score: 71%

Synopsis: Mark Romanek’s film, based on the Kazuo Ishiguro novel of the same name, starred Garfield, Carey Mulligan, and Keira Knightley. It chronicled the intertwined lives of Kathy H (Mulligan), Ruth C (Knightley), and Tommy D (Garfield), beginning with their time as students at a boarding school named Hailsham.

“A beautifully realized adaptation of a profoundly affecting novel,” Dan Jolin wrote for Empire magazine. “Intelligent sci-fi provides the backdrop, while in the foreground is a trio of truly impressive performances from Mulligan, Knightley, and Garfield.”

Rotten Tomatoes score: 71%

Synopsis: Garfield was the second actor to portray Spider-Man on the big screen, following Tobey Maguire’s performance in Sam Raimi’s trilogy that lasted from 2002 to 2007.

Garfield’s version of the love-struck teen superhero was a moodier outcast than Maguire’s. He traveled via skateboard when he wasn’t swinging from buildings and adorned his bedroom with posters of musicians and Alfred Hitchcock movies.  

“The potential is there for a much bigger, better, ‘Spider-Man’ movie universe to come, even if this movie doesn’t fully realize that potential,” Kofi Outlaw wrote for ScreenRant.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 80%

Synopsis: John Crowley’s 2024 film tells a non-linear love story between the two characters Tobias (Garfield) and Almut (Pugh), who meet after she accidentally hits him with her car. The movie jumps around different time periods, showing the butterflies at the start of their relationship to the challenges faced after Almut is diagnosed with ovarian cancer. 

Critics were moved by Garfield and Pugh’s performances and effortless rapport on screen. 

“In a movie whose setup almost inevitably leads to rampant sentimentality, Pugh and Garfield are enormously charming actors who are also skilled at undercutting their own charm,” Steve Pond wrote for TheWrap. “They commit to the sentiment without yielding to it, making ‘We Live in Time’ a truly charming and surprisingly rich film.”

Rotten Tomatoes score: 83%

Synopsis: The film was based on a 1966 novel of the same name by Shūsaku Endō. To prepare for his role, Garfield spent a year studying to be a Jesuit priest and went on a silent retreat in Wales for a week with his costar Adam Driver. 

Garfield also lost 40 pounds for the role and slept three hours a night during production, according to The Guardian. 

Critics praised the film’s introspective and thought-provoking nature.

“A theologically complex, yet exquisitely beautiful and spiritual journey, one’s patience is rewarded with a richness and soul searching introspective experience that lingers long after the curtain falls on ‘Silence,'” Debbie Lynn Elias wrote for Behind the Lens.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 84%

Synopsis: Directed by Mel Gibson and based on a real-life story, Garfield portrayed Desmond Doss.

Doss, a Seventh-Day Adventist, famously refused to bear arms while serving as a US Army medic during WWII. He fearlessly stepped into the lines of fire to rescue soldiers and was the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor, in October 1945. 

“‘Hacksaw Ridge,’ the first movie Mel Gibson has directed in a decade, is about as Mel Gibson as you can get: grisly, devout, and patriotic, with a deeply complicated core,” Alissa Wilkinson wrote for Vox. 

Rotten Tomatoes score: 87%

Synopsis: “Tick, Tick… Boom!” was released in November 2021 on Netflix and helmed by “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda in his directorial debut. Garfield, who had never sung professionally before or played the piano, spent a year honing both skills to portray Larson.

The film was set in 1990, shortly before Larson’s 30th birthday, as the composer got ready for a workshop of his rock musical called “Superbia,” which he had spent eight years working on. 

He juggled his career aspirations with his day job at the famous Moondance diner, his relationship with his girlfriend Susan (Alexandra Shipp), and the financial hardship of living in NYC — all while constantly feeling like he was running out of time to accomplish everything. 

The undercurrent of “Tick, Tick… Boom!” was the knowledge that Larson, who died on the morning of January 25, 1996 hours before the first Off-Broadway preview performance of “Rent,” wouldn’t live to see the impact of his musical genius.

Jessica Derschowitz of Entertainment Weekly wrote that the film “unspools as an exuberant ode to Larson and a tribute to anyone, especially those in the arts, who might be chasing big dreams” and said that Garfield delivers “one of the most emotional performances of the year.”

Rotten Tomatoes score: 88%

Synopsis: The TV movie was based on Jonathan Trigell’s 2004 novel of the same name. Garfield portrayed Eric Wilson, who took on the name Jack Burridge after re-entering society following a yearslong prison sentence. He became a hometown hero after saving a little girl, but a secret from his past threatened to tarnish his new reputation. 

Critics were impressed by the intricacies of Garfield’s performance.

“Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Jack as a young adult — by now he’s a tense, twitching man-child who regards people very gingerly — taps a deep, dark reservoir of sentiment,” Christy DeSmith wrote for the Star Tribune.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%

Synopsis: Michael Shannon’s character, a corrupt real-estate agent named Rick Carver who evicted people from their homes in Florida in order to resell and make a profit, served as the foil to Garfield. After Dennis, his mom (played by Laura Dern), and his son got evicted from their shared home, he ended up working for Rick to earn some money and discovered shady business dealings. 

Kenneth Turan of the LA Times wrote that Shannon delivered a standout performance, but also applauded Garfield’s work.

“He’s especially good at sensitive desperation, and he’s able to project a steeliness behind the despair that catches Carver’s eye,” Turan wrote. 

Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%

Synopsis: Years after his time as Spidey was cut short, Garfield got a shot at redemption in “No Way Home.”

In Jon Watts’ third “Spider-Man” film, Tom Holland’s titular character recruited Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell to keep his superhero identity a secret. But their plan went awry, resulting in villains from the multiverse entering his universe and wreaking havoc. Miraculously, the teen webslinger ended up getting help from some familiar faces — previous Spider-Man actors Garfield and Tobey Maguire reprising their roles. 

Garfield’s involvement in the movie was perhaps one of Marvel’s worst-kept secrets, but critics were still delighted and touched by his performance. 

“Now seven years older and doing some of the best work of his life, a more mature Garfield exudes something that doesn’t enter into this ever-recycling, short-term-memory franchise — that there is life after Spider-Man,” Jake Coyle wrote for the Associated Press.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%

Synopsis: Garfield starred alongside Jesse Eisenberg, who played Mark Zuckerberg, and Justin Timberlake, who portrayed Napster cofounder Sean Parker. Through a fast-paced dialogue written by Aaron Sorkin, the film explains how Zuckerberg found himself in the middle of two lawsuits. 

More than a decade later, people still can’t get enough of Garfield’s performance in the film — particularly in the “lawyer up” scene.

“This account of Facebook’s founder, and of the website’s explosive growth, quickly lifts you to a state of exhilaration, and pretty much keeps you there for two hours,” Joe Morgenstern wrote for the Wall Street Journal.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%

Synopsis: The movie was the first in a “Red Riding” trilogy released in 2009, based on David Peace’s “Red Riding Quartet” book series. 

Garfield starred as a crime reporter at the Yorkshire Post named Eddie Dunford, who investigated a series of child murders.

“‘1974’ initiates the extensive tale with a convincing bout of revulsion, dragging the viewer into a smoke-choked era of shaky journalistic integrity and power-mad men of authority,” Brian Orndorf wrote for BrianOrndorf.com