Liam Hemsworth’s 10 Best Movies, Ranked by Rotten Tomatoes

Liam Hemsworth is a talented Australian actor who first rose to prominence with his career-making role as Gale Hawthorne in The Hunger Games films. The groundbreaking and lucrative franchise touted a stacked cast including Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, and Donald Sutherland, and helped make its talented leads bonafide superstars while also earning nearly $3 billion at the box office.

Hemsworth continued capitalizing on the success of the role and flicks by appearing in popular movies including The Expendables 2, The Last Song, Independence Day: Resurgence, and The Dressmaker. Despite being a steady presence in Hollywood and branching out into different genres, not all of Hemsworth’s projects have fared as well as others critically. Let’s take a look at Liam Hemsworth’s 10 best movies, according to Rotten Tomatoes.

10 Cut Bank — 37%

In the 2014 thriller Cut Bank, Liam Hemsworth stars as a restless young man living in the titular small Montana town who witnesses a brutal murder and decides to make the most out of the horrific event by supplying evidence of the attack in exchange for the reward money.

Despite touting a phenomenal supporting cast including Billy Bob Thornton and John Malkovich, critics felt the film didn’t utilize its veteran performers and that their talents were wasted on a predictable script riddled with clichés. The Hollywood Reporter noted that Cut Bank felt like a “copycat, self-consciously comedic violent noir” that attempted to capture the magic of fellow directing greats like Quentin Tarantino and the Coen Brothers but failed to do so.

9 Arkansas — 47%

Based on the John Brandon novel of the same name, the 2020 neo-noir crime thriller Arkansas centers on drug dealers Kyle and Swin (Hemsworth & Clark Luke) as they are seemingly promoted to overseeing the criminal organization for their mysterious kingpin boss known as “Frog” (Vince Vaughn) in the eponymous state; when a deal becomes deadly and goes horrifically wrong, the men are forced to hide their screw-up from the ruthless mobster.

The gripping character-driven flick delivered on building unease and tension, and its hard-hitting dialogue and solid cast performances were singled out, but it nonetheless failed to keep up its momentum and fell flat by the crucial final act.

8 The Dressmaker — 58%

Kate Winslet won the AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress when she starred as Myrtle “Tilly” Dunnage in the 2015 Australian dramedy The Dressmaker, in which the gifted seamstress returns to the outback town of Dungatar to care for her mentally unwell mother (Judy Davis) after having left twenty-five years earlier. Tilly harbors her own secret agenda for the family reunion, with the mysterious woman wanting to get revenge on those who accused her of murdering a schoolmate as a young child.

Liam Hemsworth appears as football star Teddy McSwiney, who becomes enamored by the worldly Tilly and gets caught up in her intricate web of chaos. Though it ultimately garnered a mixed-bag response from critics, The Dressmaker‘s many twists and turns and Winslet’s commanding portrayal of the enigmatic lead character helped it become a modest success at the box office and win numerous accolades.

7 The Expendables 2 — 67%

In the 2012 star-studded, big-screen extravaganza The Expendables 2, Sylvester Stallone and his merry band of mercenary misfits are back at it again, this time facing off against the nefarious Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme) who murdered one of their own and is threatening to cause mass destruction with a deadly weapon. Hemsworth was cast as disillusioned ex-military sniper Billy the Kid, whom Stallone described as being not as “cynical as the other team members” and who brought fresh energy to the veteran fighters.

Related: The Expendables 4: What the Long-Awaited Sequel Needs to Get Right

The Expendables 2 was largely considered to be a solid improvement over the original installment, earning acclaim for its fun and humorous action sequences as well as the addition of Hemsworth, Van Damme, and Chuck Norris. Its impressive box office draw helped lead to the franchise’s 2014 follow-up The Expendables 3 and also established Hemsworth as a formidable action movie star.

6 Isn’t It Romantic — 69%

Rebel Wilson portrays a New York architect who inexplicably finds herself in a magical alternative universe where her life plays out like a romantic comedy in the 2019 meta rom-com Isn’t It Romantic. After constantly being overlooked in both her professional and personal life, a frustrated Natalie becomes trapped inside the genre she loathes the most and attracts the interest of a handsome young billionaire (Hemsworth) in her new enchanted existence.

Featuring the additional talents of stars like Adam Devine, Priyanka Chopra, and Tom Ellis, Isn’t It Romantic was a hit with moviegoers and critics alike and earned appreciation for its modern take on the popular genre; the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film “walks the line between subversive and sendup. It gleefully makes fun of the well-known tropes of romantic comedies, while also satisfying our desire to delight in said tropes.”

5 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 — 69%

Liam Hemsworth first rose to prominence when he appeared alongside Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson in the dystopian action franchise The Hunger Games, portraying Katniss Everdeen’s best friend Gale Hawthorne in all four installments of the film series. In The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, the fierce heroine Katniss and her close allies fight to save Peeta and her nation as they join a mass rebellion to take down President Snow and the Capitol.

Mockingjay – Part 1was the penultimate movie in the groundbreaking franchise based on Suzanne Collins’ young adult novels, and was a smash hit at the box office, grossing over $755 million worldwide. Audiences awarded the action flick an A- CinemaScore and critics were appreciative of its engrossing action, soundtrack, and thrilling storyline.

4 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 — 70%

Fans of the beloved titular franchise said goodbye to Katniss, Gale, Peeta, and the rest of the dystopian gang with 2015’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, as Katniss and her fellow rebels fight to liberate Panem from the repressive and power-hungry leader Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland) once and for all. Fans of the book series and big-screen adaptations flocked to theaters to witness the thrilling conclusion of the series, rooting for the brave protagonist as she and her allies took a final stand against the tyrannical Snow.

The final film was jam-packed full of exhilarating action and powerful performances by its phenomenal ensemble cast, with many critics believing it to be a perfect send-off for the courageous characters. The blockbuster franchise raked in nearly $3 billion over its four spellbinding movies and helped establish the careers of its talented young cast; a prequel, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, is scheduled to be released later this year.

3 Triangle — 80%

In one of his earliest big-screen roles, Liam Hemsworth appears as a yacht passenger who becomes stranded at sea alongside his fellow friends on an abandoned ocean liner in the 2009 psychological horror flick Triangle, focusing on single mother Jess (Melissa George) as she begins to question reality after boarding the mysterious and foreboding ship. The helpless group must fight to keep their wits and survive the seemingly enchanted vessel if they ever hope to make it back to land.

The strange and eerie picture is full of twists and turns that left moviegoers on the edge of their seats, with Projected Figures complimenting the cast and director Christopher Smith in their review, calling it a “mind-bending mystery will leave everyone as lost as protagonist Jess, no matter whether they are trapped in an unraveling mind, a never-ending twilight zone – or in the prisonhouse of cinema itself.”

2 The Hunger Games — 84%

With a stacked cast including Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, and Elizabeth Banks, 2012’s sensational box office juggernaut The Hunger Games famously follows Katniss Everdeen and her fellow tributes as they are forced to participate in the brutal and barbaric eponymous competition that leaves them fighting to the death to survive the televised event. The overwhelming success and popularity of the first installment helped establish a lucrative and enduring franchise, captivating audiences with its captivating characters and engrossing dystopian world.

Related: 10 Actors Almost Cast in the Hunger Games Movies

Lawrence, Hemsworth, and Josh Hutcherson became certified movie stars after headlining the exciting picture, with the trio receiving the People’s Choice Award for Favorite On-Screen Chemistry and inciting Hunger Games-mania within the film’s fandom. The role of Gale Hawthorne has since become synonymous with Hemsworth and remains one of his most noteworthy and celebrated characters.

1 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire — 90%

The absorbing 2013 sci-fi dystopian film The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was the highly-anticipated sequel to the 2012 hit, which once again centers on the brave heroine Katniss as she and her friend Peeta are forced to do a Victory Tour after surviving the bloodshed of the cruel games. Their uplifting victory quickly sparks a rebellion in Panem, and the duo attracts the unwanted attention of the domineering President Snow in the process. Widely regarded as the best installment in the franchise, Catching Fire was also the highest-earning film in the series and amassed $865 million during its run.

Critics and audiences both raved about the gripping and oftentimes unsettling hit movie, as Lawrence’s performance was singled out as well as its stunning visuals and profound emotional complexity. Catching Fire was seen as a triumph over its predecessor, with Time Out declaring, “Like Katniss ducking a poison-tip arrow, the keepers of Suzanne Collins’s trilogy of fantasy novels have dodged the perils of the sloppy second franchise film.”