Top 4 Elizabeth Olsen Movies

by Helen Earnshaw | 4 May 2016

Elizabeth Olsen is one of the most exciting actresses around and she is back on the big screen this weekend as she stars in I Saw The Light.

Elizabeth Olsen in I Saw The Light

I Saw The Light is a biopic film about musician Hank Williams and will see Olsen take on the role of Audrey Williams alongside fellow Marvel star Tom Hiddleston.

In fact, I Saw The Light will be one of two movies that you can see Olsen in this weekend; she has also reprised her role as Scarlet Witch in Captain America: Civil War.

We take a look back at her career so far and pick out some of her best films.

- Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)

Olsen may have been acting since she was four years old, but her breakout role came in 2011 when she landed the lead role of Martha in Martha Marcy May Marlene.

The movie saw Olsen team up with writer and director Sean Durkin for the first time as he made his feature film directorial debut with the project. It was to be the acting role that really put her on the map and cemented her as a talent to watch out for.

Haunted by painful memories and increasing paranoia, a damaged woman struggles to re-assimilate with her family after fleeing an abusive cult. Olsen was joined on the cast list by Sarah Paulson, John Hawkes, Hugh Dancy, and Christopher Abbott.

Martha Marcy May Marlene was one of the indie hits of 2012 and was met with critical acclaim - as was Olsen's central performance.

There is something incredibly real and raw about Olsen's performance in the film - and there is a fragility to this character that she captures so wonderfully. It really was a star-making performance from the young actress and it is not hard to see why audiences sat up and took note of her.

For me, Martha Marcy May Marlene was a terrific debut for both Olsen and Durkin in what is an intense, challenging, and terrific character driven film. Olsen went on to be nominated at the likes of the Gotham Awards and the Independent Spirit Awards.

- Liberal Arts (2012)

Olsen stuck with the indie genre as she returned to the big screen with Liberal Arts, which was written and directed by Josh Radnor.

This was the second feature film for the actor turned director and it came two years after he made his directorial debut with Happythankyoumoreplease. Radnor took on the central role of Jesse, alongside Olsen as Zibby. Richard Jenkins and Allison Janney completed the exciting cast list.

Newly single and uninspired by his job in college admissions, the introverted Jesse Fisher (Radnor) lives with his head buried in a book. His deep nostalgia for his own alma mater in Ohio - the dining halls and dorm rooms, the parties and poetry seminars - makes him wonder if his best days are behind him. So when his favourite professor (Jenkins) invites him back to campus to speak at his retirement dinner, Jesse jumps at the chance. Meeting Zibby (Olsen) - a precocious classical music-loving sophomore - awakens in Jesse long-dormant feelings of possibility and connection.

Radnor and Olsen have a wonderful chemistry in Liberal Arts and it is this connection between the two actors that really helps push this film forward.

The movie explores different generations and the generation gap and I like the heart and warmth that really does come through in the story as well as the relationships in the film.

Olsen delivers an endearing performance in what was another terrific role for the actress. After the hard-hitting Martha Marcy May Marlene, it was great to see her tackle a very different character and show off her versatility.

- Kill Your Darlings (2013)

Olsen was part of another terrific cast in 2013 as she starred alongside Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHaan, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston, Ben Foster, David Cross, and Jennifer Jason Leigh in Kill Your Darlings.

Kill Your Darlings saw the actress work with director John Krokidas for the first time as he made the leap from shorts to make his feature film directorial debut.

Set in the 1940's during the early days of the literary revolution, Kill Your Darlings is a true-crime thriller based on the previously untold story of a murder that implicated the men who went on to become the great poets of the Beat Generation; Allen Ginsberg, Lucien Carr, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs.

Kill Your Darlings tells how these young men first meet at Columbia University in 1944. A story of friendship, obsession, jealousy and genius, their self-proclaimed brilliance is stained by the brutal murder of David Kammerer, which both consecrated and fractured their early fellowship.

Kill Your Darlings is an evocative drama that really does capture the period and the beat generation of poets wonderfully.

The movie is driven forward by a young and exciting cast with the likes of Radcliffe, DaHaan, Huston, Foster, and Olsen all delivering terrific performances as they tackled an interesting subject and time period.

Kill Your Darlings went on to play well on the festival circuit - showing at the likes of the Toronto International Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival.

- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Avengers: Age of Ultron was only the second time that we had seen Olsen tackle a big budget blockbuster - the first was Godzilla a year earlier. Olsen was one of the big new additions to the Age of Ultron cast list as we were introduced to the character of Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch for the first time.

Scarlet Witch was another terrifically strong female character that Marvel started to explore with Age of Ultron. Wanda and Pietro Maximoff were scared by war and, in the first half of the film, driven by revenge for the death of their family.

However, the duo switches sides and fight with the Avengers - and she joins the team when the credits roll.

Age of Ultron is an action packed ride but does continue to develop the characters and put them at the heart of the storm. Scarlet Witch was one of the best additions and I am looking forward to seeing her develop further going forward.

Olsen plays this role brilliantly - she is driven by the anger that she feels for the death of her family but is also uncertain and afraid about the strength of her powers. She captures all of this beautifully.

Avengers: Age of Ultron, while not as critically successful as its predecessor, was a huge box office hit and went on to gross over $1.405 billion by the end of its theatrical run. It was the fourth highest grossing film of the year - behind Star Wars, Jurassic World, and Fast & Furious 7 - and the second highest grossing Marvel film - second only to Avengers Assemble.