# What is the best Meryl Streep movie of all time?

> Oscar gold and hidden gems share the screen — her catalog spans tear-jerking dramas, sharp comedies, and biopics that redefined their subjects. Which one is her finest hour?

*By YPB Team · Published April 21, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-best-meryl-streep-movie-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Sophie's Choice**
   A 1982 drama in which Streep plays a Polish Holocaust survivor haunted by an unthinkable wartime decision, earning her second Oscar.
2. **Kramer vs. Kramer**
   A 1979 courtroom drama about a custody battle that won Streep her first Oscar and reshaped how Hollywood portrayed divorce.
3. **The Devil Wears Prada**
   A 2006 comedy-drama in which Streep plays the icy fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly opposite Anne Hathaway.
4. **Out of Africa**
   A 1985 Best Picture winner set in colonial Kenya, with Streep opposite Robert Redford as writer Karen Blixen.
5. **Doubt**
   A 2008 drama in which Streep plays a strict nun who suspects a priest of misconduct, sparking a tense moral standoff.
6. **The Iron Lady**
   A 2011 biopic in which Streep's portrayal of Margaret Thatcher earned her third Academy Award.
7. **Julie & Julia**
   A 2009 film where Streep's joyful portrayal of culinary legend Julia Child became an instant classic.
8. **The Post**
   A 2017 Spielberg thriller in which Streep plays Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham deciding whether to publish the Pentagon Papers.
9. **Bridges of Madison County**
   A 1995 romantic drama directed by Clint Eastwood in which Streep plays an Iowa housewife swept into a brief but transformative love affair.
10. **Silkwood**
   A 1983 Mike Nichols drama based on the true story of Karen Silkwood, a nuclear plant worker who suspected safety violations.
11. **Adaptation**
   A 2002 Charlie Kaufman meta-comedy in which Streep plays a real-life author tangled in Nicolas Cage's neurotic screenwriting.
12. **Mamma Mia!**
   A 2008 ABBA musical in which Streep sings and dances her way through a Greek island wedding romp.
13. **Heartburn**
   A 1986 Mike Nichols film based on Nora Ephron's semi-autobiographical novel about betrayal in marriage, with Streep opposite Jack Nicholson.
14. **Postcards from the Edge**
   A 1990 comedy-drama based on Carrie Fisher's memoir, with Streep as a struggling actress navigating addiction and a controlling mother.
15. **The Hours**
   A 2002 drama connecting Virginia Woolf to two women across decades, with Streep as a modern-day New Yorker.

Tags: movies, actors, classics, meryl streep