The Four Most Underrated Ellen Page Movies

Everyone knows Ellen Page’s hits: Juno, X-Men, Inception, Whip It. But what about all of the other things she’s done? I mean her IMDB page is far from empty. Hopefully this list will encourage you to stray a bit off the beaten path to truly deepen your appreciation for the work of Ellen Page.

Touchy Feely


Touchy Feely is about a massage therapist that suddenly can’t stand physical touch of any kind while her brother’s struggling dental practice becomes an overnight success. Page plays the dentist’s emotionally stunted daughter who sticks around to take care of him rather than following her own dreams. Within the first ten minutes she’s in flannel cooking stew.


Mouth to Mouth


Page is a runaway living on the streets of Europe when she’s approached by members of a street collective (READ: cult). You have to get through a lot to get to the Ellen Page with a shaved head part but maybe it’s worth it. I think this role was cool because her fierce independence really comes across in it. I’m assuming that about her of course but someone who knows her, feel free to chime in.


Hard Candy


Hard Candy focuses on the torture of a suspected sexual predator. As a 14-year-old vigilante, Page makes a clutch Jodie Foster reference and gives some significant screen time to a red hoodie which everyone should appreciate.


The East


The East is about an operative for a private intelligence firm that infiltrates an underground anarchist organization attempting to take down several immoral corporations. She’s not the protagonist in this one but she does kiss a girl and is very self-righteous which I think does it for a lot of people.

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!

Brittani

Brittani Nichols is a Los Angeles based comedy person. When she's not tweeting about white people or watching television, she's probably eating pizza. Actually, she's probably doing all three of those things concurrently and when she's not doing THAT, she's sleeping. Brittani also went to Yale and feels weird about mentioning it but wants you to know.

Brittani has written 328 articles for us.

31 Comments

  1. You had me at “Within the first ten minutes she’s in flannel cooking stew.” AMEN.

  2. Hard Candy was the first movie of her’s I ever saw, and definitely stuck with me for a long time. I basically stayed curled up on the couch whispering WTF WTF WTF IS HAPPENING.

  3. I’ve been wanting to see the east for ages, A. Because Ellen Page B. Because it looks awesome and C. Because the idea of super tall Alexander Skarsgård standing next to tiny Ellen Page amuses my short self.

  4. I watched Mouth to Mouth a couple of days ago and Touchy Feely last night (and I already watched the other movies as well). It’s amazing how she goes from a rebel teen to a soft talking young woman. Her performances are flawless.

  5. ellen page is brilliant in hard candy. so excited to see that here!! now to get my mitts on the other three movies…

  6. Hard Candy is super hard to watch/excellent to watch. For some reason, some stupid adult let me watch it as a preteen right around the time we were going back to the state that I was molested in to visit and it definitely made me consider pulling a Hayley.
    For the record, I didn’t. Pull a Hayley, I mean.
    But sometimes it’s cathartic to watch. That and Enough.
    God, I love Ellen Page.

  7. YES HARD CANDY. I watched this with a girl whose style of rebuffing my advances was to be like “let’s watch movies like hard candy and every episode of the ellen show and talk about if we want to be or do them.”It was confusing. Ellen Page was phenomenal though.

  8. Hard candy was also the first time I saw Ellen page ever. I also was on a date with a guy. He was not happy that I was cheering her on.

    I love that movie.

  9. The East is amazing. Like, the best film I’ve seen in years. Not only does Ellen kiss a girl but I see her character as being gay (though unfortunately the film’s awesome star and co-writer Brit Marling doesn’t agree with me.) And it just has everything, a female spy protagonist who is really well-written and passes the Bechdel test with multiple other well-written women, and it’s very intense, and satisfying. I recommend it to everybody.
    Hard Candy is amazing too but people kinda know that, The East gets so little love.

  10. Hard Candy! I love this movie so, so much. It’s amazeballs. Incredibly intense and hard to watch, but so cathartic and satisfying.

  11. I’m such a terrible fan because the only movie on this list I’ve seen is Hard Candy. I feel like someone needs to revoke my membership to the Ellen Page fan club.

  12. I watched The East flying from Abu Dhabi to London, and damn was Brit Marling a revelation.

  13. When I saw the title of this post I thought, “They better have put The East on that list.” Lo and behold. :)

  14. I know it’s a not a movie but her portrayal of Treena Lahey on Trailer Park Boys hinted at the greatness to come.

  15. see here’s the thing. those four big hits are her only movies on australian netflix. and i know au netflix is pretty lacking bc producers and licensing hates everywhere except america but you know. we only got netflix last year and now my procrastinating has soared.

Comments are closed.