10 of the best movies to turn Glen Powell summer into Glen Powell fall
Glen Powell summer was a wonderful time for us all. We kicked things off with Hit Man, kept the party going with Twisters, and just had a great time. But now, summer is over and fall is here. Instead of bidding adieu, why not celebrate fall with his movies?
Powell has had a recent boom of success with many wanting to go back to watch his filmography. So if you’re looking for an idea of where to start, we have the top 10 films of his career. But, I will say, any Glen Powell movie is a good Glen Powell movie.
Join us on our journey through Glen Powell’s filmography and figure out where to start your own journey.
10. The Dark Knight Rises
Before you yell at me, Glen Powell is barely in The Dark Knight Rises. So the reason this is in the last slot is because if you’re watching a movie FOR Glen Powell, you might be a bit disappointed. If we were ranking just good movies that Powell was in, this would be higher on the list. The Christopher Nolan film is the last installment to his Batman trilogy and Powell got to play a small role in it.
When Bane (Tom Hardy) goes into the stock market in Gotham, there is a young Glen Powell sitting in a chair in a featured role. It does make me hope for another collaboration between Powell and Nolan somewhere down the line but if you want to just see a quick little Powell cameo, then celebrate Glen Powell Fall with The Dark Knight Rises.
9. Red Wing
Powell starring as the male lead in Twisters was exciting for a number of reasons. One of them being that he worked with Bill Paxton in the past. The two starred in the 2013 Red Wing together. And look, is there anything better than Powell wearing a cowboy hat? I don’t think so!
Red Wing is described as follows: “An orphan’s journey from naive boy to man despite having the odds stacked against him. Francis desperately needed a home, and Maggie provided one for him.”
8. Devotion
2022 was the year of Powell in planes. The summer belonged to Hangman but Powell also was in the 2022 film Devotion. The film focused on Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors), the first Black aviator. Powell played Tom Hudner, Brown’s very close friend, and the film focused on their mission during the Korean war that cemented their legacy as some of the best wingmen of all time.
The film was based on the 2015 book Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice by Adam Makos. And look if you need more of Glen Powell in a plane, at least Devotion has that available for you to enjoy.
7. Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
I am a millennial in my 30s. So I was there at the start of the Powellnaissance. Meaning that I saw Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over as an 11 (turning 12) year old back in 2003. You know I wish I had Juni and Carmen’s tree house. Whenever I think about Alan Cumming, I think about this franchise. It is just the power that the Spy Kids movies had over us. Do you remember all the lyrics to “Isle of Dreams”?
Powell played the Long-Fingered Boy. Look, this movie was a time and if you haven’t ever watched these movies…well, I am jealous. They were my entire personality as a child and I still think about them from time to time.
6. Set It Up
Romantic comedies are so back and we have Glen Powell to thank for it. One of the first characters to kick it off was Charlie Young in the Netflix film Set It Up. He starred opposite Zoey Deutch as Harper Moore and not to spoil you but the movie does have one of the most romantic lines for those of us who have ever felt like we were too much.
Set It Up is described as follows: “Two overworked and underpaid assistants come up with a plan to get their bosses off their backs by setting them up with each other.”
5. Anyone But You
The rom-coms keep on coming! The 2023 film Anyone But You had Powell and Sydney Sweeney bringing an iconic William Shakespeare story to life. Much Ado About Nothing is one of his most iconic comedies and Anyone But You put it in a modern setting with the same amount of mayhem that the play has and then some. At one point, Glen Powell is just completely naked because of a spider.
Ben (Powell) and Beatrice (Sweeney) pretend to date each other when they are forced together at a wedding and…well, we all know what happens in fake dating situations. But let us not forget Ben’s serenity song!
4. Everybody Wants Some
Powell’s collaboration with Richard Linklater has made for some of his best work. One of those films is Everybody Wants Some. If you ever wanted to see what Powell looked like with a mustache, this is the movie for you! It also helps if you love baseball movies (which is why it is one of my favorite of his films).
The 80s setting allows for our college baseball team to have some fun at the disco, talk about Jack Kerouac, and wear some outrageous outfits. But it truly is just a really fun vibe. Everybody Wants Some is described as follows: “In 1980 Texas, a college freshman meets his new baseball teammates, an unruly group of disco-dancing, skirt-chasing partyers, and they navigate their way through the freedom and responsibilities of unsupervised adulthood.”
3. Top Gun: Maverick
The power that Top Gun: Maverick had in the summer of 2022 is unmistakable. So many of us hadn’t been back to movie theaters yet post-COVID or if we did, it wasn’t in the same way people went to theaters before. But then came Maverick and we were so back, baby!
The follow-up to the 1986 film brought us a whole new team of daggers with a new mission. Powell plays Jake “Hangman” Seresin, a hot shot pilot who thinks he is the best of the best. He ends up having one of the best moments in the entire movie and if I could watch Top Gun: Maverick once a week, I would.
2. Twisters
When a movie changes you as a person, you just have to accept it. That’s what happened with me and Twisters. A follow up to the 1996 film Twister, there was something so magical about Lee Isaac Chung’s film. Tyler Owens (Powell) is the tornado wrangler who meets Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and the rest is a whirlwind adventure.
Focusing on the growing danger of tornados in Oklahoma, the movie is a mix of a romantic comedy with the fear and danger of the original film. What I love so much about Tyler Owens is that he is this film’s Jo Harding (Helen Hunt). I could say a million good things about Twisters and if you haven’t seen it yet, I am so jealous.
1. Hit Man
Are you still thinking about Glen Powell’s Patrick Bateman impression? Because I am! Hit Man is the latest collaboration between Powell and Linklater and takes the true story of Gary Johnson and turns it into a wild rom-com. (Some parts are obviously fabricated.) It is truly a shocking movie in the best of ways and you will not be the same after watching Powell play an array of potential hit men.
Gary meets Madison (Adria Arjona) and the rest is history. The rest being Gary (as Ron) falling in love with a woman who tried to hire a hit man. Everything about this movie is perfection and it really is one of Powell and Linklater’s best films. In fact, it is my favorite movie of 2024.
_____________________________
If you want some more after his movies, don’t forget to dive into Scream Queens!
Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com
