10 Best Cher Movies Ranked: Oscar Winners and Essential Roles

Cher’s transition from chart-topping music icon to Academy Award-winning actress represents one of entertainment’s most successful second acts. While she remains the only solo artist to achieve number-one singles across seven consecutive decades, her filmography—from 1967’s “Good Times” to 2018’s “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again”—demonstrates equally impressive dramatic range. Following early setbacks in the late 1960s with Sonny Bono-helmed projects, Cher mounted a remarkable cinematic comeback in the 1980s that yielded an Oscar, a Cannes Film Festival award, and multiple Golden Globes. This ranking evaluates her character-driven performances, excluding brief cameo appearances such as her turn in “The Player,” to present the definitive list of her ten essential film roles.

The Methodology: Evaluating a Dual Legacy

Assessing Cher’s acting career requires balancing critical acclaim, cultural impact, and box office performance across distinct eras. Her earliest cinematic efforts, including 1967’s “Good Times” alongside Sonny Bono and the 1969 drama “Chastity” (which Bono wrote), failed to establish her as a serious actress, leading to a thirteen-year absence from feature films. The criteria for this ranking prioritizes her return to dramatic storytelling beginning in 1982, weighing award recognition, co-star chemistry, and historical significance within her filmography.

#10–#7: Cult Classics, Courtroom Dramas, and Directorial Debuts

The bottom half of this ranking showcases Cher’s versatility across genres rarely associated with her musical persona, spanning camp musicals to serious social issue dramas.

Burlesque (2010) occupies the tenth position despite—or perhaps because of—its reputation as a camp classic. The backstage musical stars Christina Aguilera as aspiring singer Ali Rose, who impresses Cher’s Tess Scali, the proprietor of a struggling Los Angeles burlesque theater. Though critics initially dismissed the film and it earned only mediocre box office returns, the production received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Comedy or Musical and developed a devoted following within the queer community. Diane Warren won a Golden Globe for the original song “You Haven’t Seen The Last of Me,” while Cher herself received a Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actress—a contrast that underscores the film’s polarizing appeal and subsequent reclamation as a cult favorite.

At number nine, Suspect (1987) presents Cher as Kathleen Riley, a public defender representing a deaf-mute homeless veteran (Liam Neeson) accused of murder. Directed by Peter Yates and written by Eric Roth, the political thriller pairs Cher with Dennis Quaid as a juror who assists her in uncovering a larger conspiracy. The film marked one of two collaborations between Cher and John Mahoney in 1987 (the other being “Moonstruck”), and features Neeson in a challenging silent performance. During promotion, Cher emphasized the difficulty of portraying legal expertise, noting the challenge lay in convincing audiences she possessed the educational background and professional experience of a seasoned lawyer.

If These Walls Could Talk (1996) ranks eighth for its historical significance as Cher’s directorial debut. The HBO anthology film examines abortion across three decades—the 1950s, 1970s, and 1990s—through women living in the same house, with Cher directing and acting in the final segment as an abortion doctor. The project earned four Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Made for Television Movie, and three Golden Globe nominations, including Best Supporting Actress for Cher. Co-starring Demi Moore, Sissy Spacek, and Anne Heche, the film’s relevance intensified following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, highlighting Cher’s commitment to socially conscious storytelling.

Mermaids (1990) lands at number seven as a quintessential mother-daughter drama set in 1963. Cher portrays Rachel Flax, a free-spirited single mother whose relationship with her daughters—played by Winona Ryder (in her first Golden Globe-nominated role) and Christina Ricci (in her film debut)—strains under constant relocation. Directed by Richard Benjamin and based on Patty Dann’s novel, the film explores familial bonds through what the cast described as a “fish out of water” dynamic, where the Flax family exists partially in their own isolated world despite being physically present in society.

#6–#4: Prestige Pictures, Blockbusters, and Career Resurgence

This tier represents Cher’s establishment as a bankable dramatic lead capable of anchoring both serious dramas and major studio tentpoles during the mid-to-late 1980s and beyond.

Mask (1985) earns the sixth spot for Cher’s Cannes Film Festival Best Actress win (tied with Norma Aleandro for “The Official Story”). Portraying Rusty Dennis, the mother of a boy with craniodiaphyseal dysplasia (played by Eric Stoltz in the same year he was famously fired from “Back to the Future”), Cher delivered what many consider her most nuanced dramatic work. Despite the Golden Globe nomination and Cannes victory, she was famously snubbed for an Oscar nomination, prompting her to attend the ceremony in a Bob Mackie-designed “revenge dress” that remains iconic in awards show history. Cher later explained in the 2024 documentary “Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion” that she dressed specifically for “revenge” following the snub.

The Witches of Eastwick (1987) sits at number five as a supernatural blockbuster directed by George Miller and adapted from John Updike’s novel. Starring alongside Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer as small-town witches seduced by Jack Nicholson’s devilish stranger, Cher reportedly leveraged her star power to switch roles with Sarandon on the first day of shooting, taking the part of Alexandra that originally featured better scenes with Nicholson. Sarandon later confirmed that Cher provided her with a wig and gold dress to help define her alternate character after the sudden switch. The film earned a BAFTA for Best Special Effects and received nominations for both an Academy Award (John Williams’ score) and a Grammy.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) claims the fourth position through sheer entertainment value and commercial success. The sequel to the 2008 ABBA musical features Cher as Ruby Sheridan, mother to Meryl Streep’s Donna, despite being only three years older than Streep in reality—a continuity quirk that did not diminish her impact. Her third-act entrance performing “Fernando” helped propel the film to a “Certified Fresh” Rotten Tomatoes rating and over $395 million in worldwide box office receipts, while inspiring Cher’s subsequent “Dancing Queen” covers album and fueling speculation about a potential third installment supported by cast members like Pierce Brosnan.

#3–#1: The Performances That Cemented Her Legacy

The top three films represent the foundation of Cher’s reputation as a serious dramatic actress, culminating in her Academy Award triumph and establishing relationships with major directors that would define her career.

Silkwood (1983) ranks third as the career pivot that earned Cher her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Directed by Mike Nichols and written by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen, the biographical drama features Cher as Dolly Pelliker, the lesbian roommate and coworker of nuclear whistleblower Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep). Cher’s embodiment of the “soft butch” character in 1970s Oklahoma earned her a Golden Globe win and BAFTA nomination, while establishing a friendship with Streep that continues today. The film itself received five Oscar nominations, including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actress for Streep, marking her fifth nomination.

Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982) takes the runner-up position as the film that restarted Cher’s acting career after her thirteen-year hiatus. Robert Altman’s adaptation of Ed Graczyk’s Broadway play—which ran only 52 performances—features Cher alongside Sandy Dennis, Karen Black, and Kathy Bates as members of a James Dean fan club reuniting in the 1970s. Though the theatrical production received negative reviews, Altman’s film version earned Cher her first Golden Globe nomination for film acting and caught the attention of Mike Nichols, who subsequently cast her in “Silkwood” based on her performance.

Moonstruck (1987) stands uncontested at number one. Norman Jewison’s romantic comedy, written by John Patrick Shanley, pairs Cher as Italian-American widow Loretta Castorini with Nicolas Cage as her fiancé’s passionate younger brother Ronny. Cher advocated fiercely for Cage’s casting despite their eighteen-year age difference, threatening to quit if he were not hired. Their electric chemistry produced three Academy Awards: Best Actress for Cher, Best Supporting Actress for Olympia Dukakis, and Best Original Screenplay for Shanley, with additional nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor (Vincent Gardenia). The film also earned Cher a Golden Globe and BAFTA nomination, cementing its status as one of cinema’s greatest romantic comedies and famously resulting in Cher occasionally being slapped by strangers recreating her character’s on-screen action.

Complete Ranking at a Glance

For quick reference, Cher’s ten best films ranked from essential to classic:

• #1: Moonstruck (1987)
• #2: Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)
• #3: Silkwood (1983)
• #4: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)
• #5: The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
• #6: Mask (1985)
• #7: Mermaids (1990)
• #8: If These Walls Could Talk (1996)
• #9: Suspect (1987)
• #10: Burlesque (2010)

What’s After the Movie?

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