What is the best Judi Dench movie of all time?

Seven decades of unstoppable craft — from Shakespearean ingénue to M, from Queen Victoria to the Dowager Countess's neighbor. Where does this most beloved of dames reach her peak?

1

Mrs Brown

A 1997 drama where Dench plays Queen Victoria, who forms a controversial close friendship with her Scottish servant John Brown in the years after Prince Albert's death.

2

Shakespeare in Love

A 1998 romantic comedy where Dench plays Queen Elizabeth I in a memorable cameo that won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress despite only 8 minutes of screen time.

3

Chocolat

A 2000 drama where Dench plays Armande Voizin, a spirited grandmother who befriends a chocolatier and indulges her appetites against her family's wishes.

4

Iris

A 2001 biographical drama where Dench plays the older Iris Murdoch, the celebrated novelist in the grip of Alzheimer's disease.

5

James Bond as M

The 1995–2012 James Bond film series where Dench plays M, the steely head of MI6 who becomes Bond's most complex relationship.

6

Mrs Henderson Presents

A 2005 comedy-drama where Dench plays Mrs Laura Henderson, the eccentric widow who opens a London theatre featuring nude tableaux during the Blitz.

7

Notes on a Scandal

A 2006 psychological thriller where Dench plays Barbara Covett, a lonely history teacher who manipulates a younger colleague's scandalous secret.

8

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

A 2012 comedy-drama where Dench plays Evelyn Greenslade, a widow who moves to India after her husband's death and rediscovers her sense of purpose.

9

Philomena

A 2013 drama where Dench plays Philomena Lee, an Irish woman searching for the son she was forced to give up for adoption five decades earlier.

10

Pride

A 2014 British comedy-drama where Dench plays Cliff's mother, one of the Welsh mining community members who befriends a group of LGBT activists.

11

Red Joan

A 2018 spy drama where Dench plays the older Joan Stanley, a British woman revealed to have been a Soviet spy who passed nuclear secrets during the Cold War.

12

Belfast

A 2021 Kenneth Branagh semi-autobiographical film where Dench plays Granny, the warmhearted grandmother of a young boy navigating the Troubles in 1960s Northern Ireland.