The Best Tess Harper Movies, Ranked
43 credits from 1983 to 2025, ranked by the Movie Echo Score — a blend of critic reviews, audience ratings and lasting impact. Good Side of Bad (2025) comes out on top with a score of 91. The biggest box office hit is Surprise (2015) with $49.6M worldwide. Below: the best films by genre and by decade, the most awarded and the newest releases.
Top Rated Tess Harper Movies
The 6 highest-rated films Tess Harper is credited on. Good Side of Bad (2025) leads with 91, followed by Our Almost Completely True Story (2022) at 78. The Movie Echo Score blends critic reviews, audience ratings, cultural impact and how well a film holds up.
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#1 Movie Echo Score: Score 91 Good Side of Bad 2025 · Drama -
#2 Movie Echo Score: Score 78 Our Almost Completely True Story 2022 · Romance -
#3 Movie Echo Score: Score 77 Burden 2018 · Drama -
#4 Movie Echo Score: Score 64 The Long Shadow 2020 · Thriller -
#5 Movie Echo Score: Score 63 The Evening Hour 2021 · Drama -
#6 Movie Echo Score: Score 60 Burden 2020 · Drama
Biggest Tess Harper Box Office Hits
Tess Harper's films have made $123M worldwide in total. Surprise (2015) is the biggest hit at $49.6M, ahead of Crimes of the Heart (1987) ($22.9M). Lifetime grosses, with each film's domestic share.
- 1
Surprise 2015 · Family $49.6M - 2
Crimes of the Heart 1987 · Drama $22.9M $22.9M dom. - 3
Her Alibi 1989 · Mystery $18.7M $18.7M dom. - 4
Criminal Law 1988 · Drama $9.97M $9.97M dom. - 5
Tender Mercies 1983 · Drama $8.44M $8.44M dom. - 6
Amityville 3-D 1983 · Horror $6.33M $6.33M dom. - 7
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys 1991 · Western $3.6M $3.6M dom. - 8
The Man in the Moon 1991 · Drama $2.85M $2.85M dom. - 9 Burden 2018 · Drama $450K $139K dom.
- 10
My New Gun 1992 · Comedy $170K $170K dom.
The Best Tess Harper Movie in Every Genre
The best-rated film in each genre Tess Harper has worked in, the genres with the most films first. Drama leads with 16 films, and Good Side of Bad (2025) is the pick of them.
- Drama 16 films Good Side of Bad 2025 · as Mary Ellen Movie Echo Score: 91
- Comedy 5 films My New Gun 1992 · as Kimmy Hayes
- Thriller 4 films The Long Shadow 2020 · as Mama Doris Movie Echo Score: 64
- Family 2 films Surprise 2015 · as Linda
- Mystery 2 films Her Alibi 1989
- Romance 1 film Our Almost Completely True Story 2022 · as Tess Movie Echo Score: 78
- Western 1 film My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys 1991 · as Cheryl
- Horror 1 film Amityville 3-D 1983
The Best Tess Harper Movie of Each Decade
One pick per decade of Tess Harper's career, newest decade first: the best-rated film of each ten years, from 1980s to 2020s.
The Latest Tess Harper Movies
The most recent films Tess Harper is credited on, newest first — starting with Good Side of Bad (2025). Open any of them for the cast, ratings, box office and where to watch.
- Good Side of Bad 2025 · Mary Ellen
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American Outlaws 2023 · Loretta Hillhouse - Our Almost Completely True Story 2022 · Tess
- The Evening Hour 2021 · Dorothy Freeman
- The Long Shadow 2020 · Mama Doris
- Burden 2020 · Hazel Griffin
- Burden 2018 · Hazel
- Surprise 2015 · Linda
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Straight A’s 2013 · Mother -
The Christmas Heart 2012 · Elizabeth -
A Christmas Wish 2011 · Trudy Willis -
Fatal Secrets 2009 · Naomi
The Best Tess Harper Movies: Questions & Answers
The best-rated, highest-grossing, most awarded and newest Tess Harper films, answered from the rankings on this page.
What is the best Tess Harper movie?
Good Side of Bad (2025) is the best-rated Tess Harper film, with a Movie Echo Score of 91, ahead of Our Almost Completely True Story (2022) (78) and Burden (2018) (77). The Movie Echo Score blends critic reviews, audience ratings and how well a film has lasted.
Good Side of Bad: cast, ratings & box office What is the highest-grossing Tess Harper movie?
Surprise (2015) made the most at the box office, with $49.6M worldwide, followed by Crimes of the Heart (1987) with $22.9M. Together, Tess Harper's films with box office figures have made $123M.
Which Tess Harper movie won the most awards?
Tender Mercies (1983) is the most decorated Tess Harper film, with 2 wins from 11 nominations across the Oscars, Golden Globes, BAFTA and the other ceremonies in the awards database.
What is the best Tess Harper drama movie?
Good Side of Bad (2025) is the best-rated of Tess Harper's drama films, with a score of 91. In other genres: My New Gun (comedy), The Long Shadow (thriller) and Surprise (family).
What is the newest Tess Harper movie?
The newest film on Tess Harper's filmography is Good Side of Bad (2025), with Tess Harper as Mary Ellen.
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