Few actors in modern cinema have orchestrated a more thrilling, deliberate ascent to A-list superstardom than Glen Powell.
Blessed with the sun-kissed swagger of Robert Redford, the razor-sharp screwball comedic timing of Cary Grant, and an earnest work ethic forged over two decades of indie sweat and TV cameos, Powell has single-handedly revitalized two genres Hollywood had left for dead: the big-screen theatrical romantic comedy and the crowd-pleasing summer action blockbuster.
From holding his own in a cockpit opposite Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick to setting global multiplexes ablaze alongside Sydney Sweeney in Anyone But You, and co-writing auteur indie triumphs with Richard Linklater in Hit Man, Powell has proven that movie-star charisma is an undeniable art form.
Whether you are browsing our rankings of the 10 best Margot Robbie movies, Jenna Ortega’s top movies and shows, Sydney Sweeney’s greatest hits, or the best Ana de Armas films, here is the definitive countdown of the 10 best Glen Powell movies of all time, ranked with official posters, critical reception, and performance deep dives.
The 10 Best Glen Powell Movies at a Glance
★ 1. Anyone But You (2023) — Directed by Will Gluck
★ 2. Top Gun: Maverick (2022) — Directed by Joseph Kosinski
★ 3. Hit Man (2023) — Directed by Richard Linklater
★ 4. Twisters (2024) — Directed by Lee Isaac Chung
★ 5. Set It Up (2018) — Directed by Claire Scanlon
★ 6. Hidden Figures (2016) — Directed by Theodore Melfi
★ 7. Everybody Wants Some!! (2016) — Directed by Richard Linklater
★ 8. Devotion (2022) — Directed by J.D. Dillard
★ 9. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) — Directed by Christopher Nolan
★ 10. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018) — Directed by Mike Newell
1. Anyone But You (2023)
- Role: Ben
- Co-stars: Sydney Sweeney, Alexandra Shipp, GaTa, Dermot Mulroney
- Director: Will Gluck
- Rotten Tomatoes / Global Box Office: 87% Audience Score / $220 Million
The film that proved the theatrical romantic comedy wasn’t just alive—it was capable of printing hundreds of millions of dollars. Loosely inspired by William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Will Gluck’s Sydney-set sleeper smash paired Glen Powell with Sydney Sweeney as Bea and Ben, two mutual frenemies who pretend to be a madly-in-love couple at a destination wedding.
What makes Anyone But You an instant classic is Powell’s total absence of vanity. While his sculpted physique fueled viral TikTok edits, his performance leans heavily into screwball vulnerability: getting bitten by a huntsman spider, accidentally stripping naked on a hiking cliff, and serenading Sweeney to Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten.” Powell’s crackling, old-Hollywood banter with Sweeney established him as the undisputed king of modern romantic chemistry.
2. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
- Role: Lt. Jake “Hangman” Seresin
- Co-stars: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm
- Director: Joseph Kosinski
- Rotten Tomatoes / Global Box Office: 96% / $1.49 Billion (6 Oscar Nominations)
Joseph Kosinski’s landmark aerial epic became a historic global sensation, and Glen Powell’s Lt. Jake “Hangman” Seresin was its beating, cocky heart. Originally auditioning for the role of Rooster (which went to Miles Teller), Powell was personally persuaded by Tom Cruise to take Hangman—Cruise promised Powell that he would help craft the character so audiences would root for his redemption rather than hate him.
Powell delivered on every front. Armed with toothy grins, toothpick chomps, and fearless G-force aerial maneuvers, Hangman was the modern heir to Val Kilmer’s Iceman. His eleventh-hour supersonic hero rescue in the film’s climax earned the loudest cheers in theaters worldwide, officially stamping Powell as an elite blockbuster showstopper.
3. Hit Man (2023)
- Role: Gary Johnson
- Co-stars: Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, Retta
- Director: Richard Linklater
- Rotten Tomatoes: 95% Certified Fresh
Hit Man isn’t just one of Powell’s most electrifying performances—it is the movie where he proved his bona fides as an auteur screenwriter. Co-written alongside his frequent collaborator Richard Linklater and inspired by Skip Hollandsworth’s Texas Monthly investigative piece, the film stars Powell as mild-mannered psychology professor Gary Johnson, who moonlights as an undercover fake hitman for the New Orleans Police Department.
The movie acts as an astonishing showcase for Powell’s chameleon-like range. Disguising himself as Russian mobsters, redneck enforcers, and refined sociopaths to entrap would-be clients, he slips into half a dozen distinct comedic personas before falling hopelessly in love with prospective client Madison (Adria Arjona). It is sexy, morally complex, hilarious, and universally hailed as one of 2024’s finest films.
4. Twisters (2024)
- Role: Tyler Owens
- Co-stars: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Maura Tierney
- Director: Lee Isaac Chung
- Rotten Tomatoes / Global Box Office: 75% / $370 Million
Taking on the legacy of Jan de Bont’s 1996 disaster masterpiece was no small challenge, but Lee Isaac Chung’s Twisters soared to massive commercial heights thanks to Glen Powell’s magnetic turn as Tyler Owens, the self-proclaimed “Tornado Wrangler.”
Entering the film in a convoy of lifted trucks shooting fireworks into EF5 vortexes, Tyler initially appears to be a reckless YouTube daredevil. However, Powell deftly peels back the bravado to reveal a master meteorologist who sells merchandise solely to feed disaster victims and fund community recovery. Powell’s electric, rain-soaked chemistry with Daisy Edgar-Jones proved that classic popcorn movie spectacle is at its best when driven by charismatic human connections.
5. Set It Up (2018)
- Role: Charlie Young
- Co-stars: Zoey Deutch, Lucy Liu, Taye Diggs, Pete Davidson
- Director: Claire Scanlon
- Rotten Tomatoes: 92% Certified Fresh
Long before Anyone But You conquered theaters, Claire Scanlon’s Set It Up became the streaming darling that rekindled Hollywood’s faith in the rom-com genre. Teaming up with the wonderful Zoey Deutch, Powell plays Charlie Young, an overworked corporate assistant who schemes to set up his tyrant boss (Taye Diggs) with Deutch’s high-strung boss (Lucy Liu) so they can reclaim their personal lives.
The rapid-fire screwball patter between Powell and Deutch felt reminiscent of classic 1940s Howard Hawks comedies. Powell nailed the exhausted corporate drone aesthetic while imbuing Charlie with an innate decency that made his eventual rooftop pizza realization both hilarious and heart-melting.
6. Hidden Figures (2016)
- Role: Astronaut John Glenn
- Co-stars: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, Kevin Costner
- Director: Theodore Melfi
- Rotten Tomatoes: 93% (SAG Ensemble Award Winner / 3 Oscar Nominations)
In Theodore Melfi’s Oscar-nominated historical drama celebrating the unsung Black female mathematicians behind NASA’s space race, Powell was cast as legendary American astronaut John Glenn. Stepping into the shoes of a revered national hero requires a rare balance of boyish optimism, dignity, and calm courage.
Powell shone brightest in the film’s pivotal dramatic turning point: refusing to launch Friendship 7 until Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) personally hand-checked the computer trajectories, uttering the historic line: “If she says they’re good, I’m ready to go.” The role showcased Powell’s ability to project moral integrity and golden-age American warmth in prestige awards drama.
7. Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)
- Role: Finnegan
- Co-stars: Blake Jenner, Tyler Hoechlin, Wyatt Russell, Zoey Deutch
- Director: Richard Linklater
- Rotten Tomatoes: 87% Certified Fresh
Richard Linklater’s spiritual sequel to Dazed and Confused followed a freewheeling Texas college baseball team in the weekend leading up to the 1980 fall semester. Among an ensemble of future Hollywood standouts (including Wyatt Russell and Tyler Hoechlin), Glen Powell stole the entire movie as Finnegan, the pipe-smoking, smooth-talking philosopher king of the team house.
Finnegan was the ultimate conduit for Linklater’s philosophical musings on masculinity, sports, and romance. Armed with an impeccable mustache, vintage disco threads, and an endlessly quotable gift of gab, Powell turned what could have been a frat-boy caricature into an irresistibly charming mentor figure.
8. Devotion (2022)
- Role: Lt. Tom Hudner
- Co-stars: Jonathan Majors, Daren Kagasoff, Joe Jonas, Thomas Sadoski
- Director: J.D. Dillard
- Rotten Tomatoes: 81% Certified Fresh
A labor of love that Powell spent over five years developing and executive producing, J.D. Dillard’s Devotion tells the true story of Jesse Brown, the first African American aviator in U.S. Navy history, and his wingman Lt. Tom Hudner during the Korean War.
Far more introspective and solemn than Top Gun: Maverick, Powell’s performance as Hudner explored the limits of allyship, unspoken brotherhood, and quiet military sacrifice. The film culminated in Hudner’s daring, real-life Medal of Honor crash-landing in an attempt to save Brown behind enemy lines. It remains one of Powell’s most deeply emotional dramatic hours.
9. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
- Role: Trader #1
- Co-stars: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
- Director: Christopher Nolan
- Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
Before leading nine-figure blockbusters, Powell paid his dues with memorable bit roles in Hollywood crown jewels. In Christopher Nolan’s epic conclusion to the Dark Knight trilogy, Powell appeared as a cocky Wall Street stock trader during Bane’s (Tom Hardy) brutal assault on the Gotham Stock Exchange.
When Powell’s character glibly warns Bane, “This is a stock exchange, there’s no money you can steal!” Bane grabs him by the back of the neck and slams his face into a trading keyboard. Powell frequently jokes in interviews about getting smashed into a terminal by Bane as his official Hollywood initiation rite into legendary filmmaking.
10. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
- Role: Mark Reynolds
- Co-stars: Lily James, Michiel Huisman, Matthew Goode, Penelope Wilton
- Director: Mike Newell
- Rotten Tomatoes: 81% Certified Fresh
In Mike Newell’s tender historical romance set in post-WWII London and the German-occupied island of Guernsey, Powell played Mark Reynolds, a dashing American military officer who courts spirited author Juliet Ashton (Lily James).
While period dramas often paint American suitors as boorish foils, Powell gave Reynolds genuine elegance, patience, and romantic dignity. Even as Juliet finds herself drawn to the quiet island community, Powell’s performance ensured the romantic stakes remained poignant, proving his versatility in traditional British literary adaptations.
Glen Powell Career Comparison Table
| Rank | Movie Title | Year | Director | Character | RT Score / Accolades |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anyone But You | 2023 | Will Gluck | Ben | 87% Aud / $220M Box Office |
| 2 | Top Gun: Maverick | 2022 | Joseph Kosinski | Lt. Jake “Hangman” Seresin | 96% / $1.49B Box Office |
| 3 | Hit Man | 2023 | Richard Linklater | Gary Johnson | 95% Certified Fresh |
| 4 | Twisters | 2024 | Lee Isaac Chung | Tyler Owens | 75% / $370M Box Office |
| 5 | Set It Up | 2018 | Claire Scanlon | Charlie Young | 92% Certified Fresh |
| 6 | Hidden Figures | 2016 | Theodore Melfi | John Glenn | 93% / SAG Winner |
| 7 | Everybody Wants Some!! | 2016 | Richard Linklater | Finnegan | 87% Certified Fresh |
| 8 | Devotion | 2022 | J.D. Dillard | Lt. Tom Hudner | 81% Certified Fresh |
| 9 | The Dark Knight Rises | 2012 | Christopher Nolan | Trader #1 | 87% RT |
| 10 | The Guernsey Literary… | 2018 | Mike Newell | Mark Reynolds | 81% Certified Fresh |
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Glen Powell write Hit Man?
Yes! Glen Powell co-wrote the screenplay for Hit Man (2023) alongside Oscar-nominated director Richard Linklater. The screenplay was adapted from Skip Hollandsworth’s true-crime article in Texas Monthly.
Are Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney dating?
No. While their passionate chemistry in Anyone But You ignited endless dating rumors across social media, Powell and Sydney Sweeney have confirmed they are close professional friends who leaned into the media frenzy to market their rom-com to worldwide audiences.
Who convinced Glen Powell to star in Top Gun: Maverick?
After Powell lost the role of Rooster to Miles Teller, it was Tom Cruise who personally called Powell and persuaded him to take the role of Hangman, mentoring him on how to play an arrogant pilot who still wins the audience’s heart.
What was Glen Powell’s breakout movie?
Powell had his initial breakout in Richard Linklater’s baseball indie Everybody Wants Some!! (2016) and Netflix’s beloved Set It Up (2018), before achieving global A-list status with Top Gun: Maverick (2022).