 At just 25 years of age, British actress Florence Pugh is taking the film industry by storm. Whether it be indie horrors, period dramas or AAA superhero blockbusters, Pugh does not skip a beat. Join me today as we take a look at Florence Pugh's greatest performances and her rise to the acting powerhouse she is today. But before we get into that, if you want videos on the latest movies and TV shows delivered straight to your subscription feed, be sure to hit that subscribe button and ring that bell to not miss a single thing. I'm Matt Rogers and this is The Rise of Florence Pugh. Now I'm going to try and keep major plot points to a minimum here so you can go and enjoy the films I'm going to talk about if you haven't yet seen them, so minimal spoilers ahead. Back in 2014, Pugh made her feature film debut, which was also her professional acting debut in the movie The Falling, starring herself and Macy Williams from Game of Thrones. This film follows two students, played by Williams and Pugh, who attend a strict girl school. After a tragedy occurs, the danger starts to spread throughout the school, which no one is safe from. Pugh's role involves a whole range of emotions in short spans of time, which you would expect from a more experienced actress, but Pugh holds her own and makes it look effortless when it would be anything but. This film is a slow burn, but worth your time for the atmosphere and performances alone. It's a movie that could easily be overlooked unfortunately, but it was enough to put Pugh on the map who hit the ground running, especially for her debut feature film. After The Falling came some small time roles in short films and television, but it wasn't until 2016 that Pugh was truly able to shine in Lady Macbeth. Based in 19th century rural England, we follow the story of a young bride who has been sold into a loveless marriage which slowly disintegrates into a violent and deadly atmosphere for those around them. Pugh has said that she was initially drawn to this role as she prefers characters whose motives are confusing or at least interesting and that perfectly describes her as Lady Macbeth. The role is full of subtle emotions and her trying to hold herself back from reacting how she really wants to, but without giving anything away, things do take a sharp turn in the second act and we see Lady Macbeth's true colours, which can almost be seen as a different role entirely. Lady Macbeth is the film that cemented that Florence Pugh can carry a lead role, a skill she transferred to the horror genre with Netflix's 2018 movie, Malevolent, where we follow some scam artists who make a living off of paranormal encounters that are faked. During one particular job the team realised what they've really signed up for and one by one they lose their grip on reality. Malevolent wasn't as critically acclaimed as Lady Macbeth and I suppose there's a low standard when it comes to Netflix's horror collection. The movie was criticised for its lack of originality and using cliche horror tropes, but its lead actress stood out to critics. In many critic reviews of the film many said that Florence Pugh was clearly a feature star, saying that her performance was the best part of the movie and I agree. After proving herself in primarily British movies it was time for her to step into the international spotlight and did so in 2019's Fighting with My Family alongside some very A-list actors including Dwayne The Rock Johnson, based on a true story of a brother and sister trying to rise through the ranks of the WWE, this film was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews. With a small yet solid collection of lead roles under a belt, Pugh started getting the attention of film directors that wanted her leading their upcoming films and this was where Florence Pugh really took off. After the success of his 2018 film Hereditary, director Ari Asta needed a female lead for his next major film, Midsummer. Asta has said that he saw Pugh in Lady Macbeth and thought that she would be perfect for what would turn out to be one of the most challenging roles she'll ever play. For those of you that watch my videos you may be aware of how big of a fan of this movie I am. I've even made videos reviewing how horrific this movie really is. Whoever was to take on the lead role had to have an incredible acting range and needed to be willing to dig deep and deliver a primal performance of grief and anxiety. And lucky for Ari Asta and I suppose us as the audience Florence Pugh answered the call. The opening scene to this movie is one of the most horrific I've ever seen which just goes to show the talent that is Ari Asta. Again without giving anything away a major tragedy occurs to the main character Dany and after only a few minutes of runtime Dany has had her life as she knows it taken away and Pugh had to portray what that feels like and the resulting performance is heart wrenching. Dany's gradual transformation throughout this masterpiece of a film is subtle but the anxiety the character feels is palpable which is proof that Pugh is an acting powerhouse. But on to more lighthearted roles let's talk little women. The 2019 film adaptation of the 1868 novel in this film it made me realise that she really has this skill that gives her such a familiarity with the actors she's in scenes with. What are you doing? I'm looking at you. I mean what do you intend to do? With life? Yes. I've been writing an opera that would be the central figure. It's a waste of time. Her performance in Little Women earned her an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress in 2019 but missing out on the win which went to Laura Dern for Marriage Story. A shame but there were a lot of strong nominations that year so it's really not fair to say that she was robbed. But there's still a major genre that she was yet to take on and of course it's an action hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With her previous roles Florence Pugh wouldn't be the first person you'd think of to play a Russian spy alongside Black Widow herself but obviously the casting director saw something in her. Now I'm going to say something that might turn some of you against me. I didn't really like the Black Widow movie. To me it was well boring. There was no real high or low moments the villain was forgettable and the movie ended leaving me feeling very underwhelmed. However Pugh played I guess a bit of the comedic relief as Yelena and was very self-aware of the superhero tropes that Natasha pulls. She definitely had a natural talent of breaking the tension without breaking the tone of the movie as well. I like your roster. I knew it. I knew you did. It's so cool right? It's cool. Yes and you can put so much stuff in there. You wouldn't even know. It has been confirmed that Yelena will be returning in the Disney Plus original series Hawkeye so we definitely haven't seen the last of this fan favourite and if the comics are anything to go by she may just become the next Black Widow. Who knows? But what is your favourite Florence Pugh performance? Did I miss any that you've really enjoyed? Let me know. I'll be down there in the comments. But be sure to subscribe for weekly videos covering your favourite movies and TV shows. If you subscribe during this video then walk them aboard and if you had a good time hanging out then SPANK that like button. This is Matt Rogers and that is all.