Image credit: Focus Features, FilmRise, Walt Disney Studios, Canal+, A24, BBC, CPTC, See-Saw Films
You might know her from "Luther" or "The Affair," but Ruth Wilson has a filmography that's rich with underrated yet great movies.
Here are just some of her underrated movies that have slipped under the radar.
1. "Anna Karenina" (2012) Infidelity, Russian aristocracy, and a whole lot of drama. Anna, the wife of government official Alexei Karenin, falls head over heels for Count Vronsky, a dashing military officer. As their love affair heats up, Anna's social standing takes a nosedive.
Remember, this is 19th-century Russia; divorce isn't just signing some papers. Anna gets ostracized, and her life spirals, dragging everyone down with her.
2. "Dark River" (2017) Alice, a sheep shearer, returns to her family farm after her dad's death. It's all messy family politics and long-buried secrets from here on out. Alice wants to take over the farm, but her brother Joe has other plans. He's been running it into the ground and has no intention of letting go. Family feuds turn into full-blown altercations.
3. "Saving Mr. Banks" (2013) This movie is a dramatized backstory of how Disney's "Mary Poppins" came to be. P.L. Travers, the author of the original book, is as stubborn as a mule. Walt Disney has been trying for two decades to get the rights to adapt her work.
Travers finally flies to L.A. but makes it clear that she's not selling if they don't stick to her terms. The film follows her past, revealing why she's so protective of her story.
4. "Suite Française" (2014) Set during WWII, this drama unfolds in Nazi-occupied France. Lucile's husband is off fighting, and she's left with her strict mother-in-law. Enter German Officer Bruno, who's billeted at their house. But, plot twist: Lucile and Bruno strike an emotional connection. Their feelings grow while the world outside descends into chaos.
5. "Locke" (2013) Ever thought you could be riveted by a guy just driving and talking on the phone? Well, enter Tom Hardy-starring "Locke."
Ivan Locke is a construction manager who gets a call that changes everything. A one-night stand from his past tells him she's giving birth prematurely. Ivan decides to be there for the birth, even if it means jeopardizing his family and career. All the while, he's on the phone, handling a concrete pour at his construction site, and the drama unfolds.
6. "The Lone Ranger" (2013) After surviving an ambush, lawman John Reid joins forces with Tonto, an unconventional Native American. They're both after the same villain, but for different reasons: Reid for justice, Tonto for revenge.
As they traverse across deserts and dodge bullets, the duo uncovers a conspiracy involving railroad tycoons and crooked officials. Soon they both realize they're part of something much bigger than themselves.
7. "Small Island" (2009) Post-WWII Britain and the Windrush era. Hortense, educated but naive, moves from Jamaica to England to join her husband Gilbert. But England isn't the "mother country" she'd dreamt of — it's dreary, racist, and far from welcoming. Concurrently, Queenie, a white British woman, deals with the societal changes and her husband Bernard's return from the war.
8. "I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House" (2016) In this slow-burn horror, Lily is a live-in nurse who takes care of an elderly horror novelist, Iris Blum, in her eerie, old house. Iris has dementia and keeps referring to Lily by the name Polly, which, as it turns out, is a character from one of her own horror novels. As Lily reads Iris's novel, she begins to suspect that the house is haunted by the very ghost that inspired it.
9. "How to Talk to Girls at Parties" (2017) Set in 1970s London, this film explores the punk rock scene. Enn, a shy teenager, crashes a party with his friends. Only this isn't any regular party; it's filled with aliens disguised as humans. He meets Zan, an alien rebel, and the two embark on an adventure that makes Romeo and Juliet look like child's play. All the while, they have to dodge the authorities and even Zan's own species who are bent on stopping them.
