Jenna Ortega movie, ranked from worst to best.
Jenna Ortega movies. 2022 was an exceptional year for breakout star Jenna Ortega. Between starring in a total of five 2022-released movies, as well as her star-making performance in Netflix’s Wednesday TV series, the young actor has found a large amount of success, and rightfully so, as she is one of the brightest up-and-coming stars of her generation. This many notable projects all in one year indicate that this is only the beginning of Ortega’s already impressive film career.
Jenna Ortega’s light burned bright through all of 2022. She has become a major scream queen between her roles in horror films such as Scream and Ti West’s X, but she has also proven to work well in dramas with her performance in The Fallout, showing her versatility as an actor. Here are all five of Jenna Ortega’s 2022 movies, ranked from worst to best.
5. American Carnage
Ambitious but Poorly Executed
American Carnage is a film that presents a rather intriguing premise but unfortunately drops the ball in its execution. The film stars Night Teeth-star Jorge Lendeborg Jr. alongside Jenna Ortega and follows a group of youths who are suddenly detained after a governor issues an executive order to arrest all children of undocumented immigrants.
When they’re given the opportunity to have the charges against them dropped in exchange for assisting the elderly, things take a dark turn quickly. It’s an interesting idea rooted in timely social commentary, but it doesn’t quite come together as a whole, mainly due to the restrictions of the film’s small budget. Ortega is, however, the highlight of the film, and her character Camila is the film’s strongest aspect by far.
4. Studio 666
Silly but Fun Time
Jenna Ortega’s Skye Willow crawls for survival in Studio 666
The Foo Fighters’ horror-comedy, Studio 666, features a very small role from Jenna Ortega, but a memorable one nonetheless. The film follows the Foo Fighters, who have hit a career slump and are looking for inspiration for their newest album. The band comes across a house with a dark past and chooses this as the space to create their next masterpiece, but the house quickly begins to show its devious cards as various entities begin to plague the band.
Ortega plays a character called Skye Willow, a member of a previous music group who resided in this house which met a dark end. She has limited screen time, but she makes the most of what she’s got in a pretty enjoyable horror comedy. Studio 666’s Sam Raimi inspirations are apparent, and the film wears these influences on its sleeve to make for a goofy low-budget thrill ride with plenty of laughs and wild deaths to satisfy fans of both The Foo Fighters and horror aficionados alike.
3. The Fallout
An Emotional Powerhouse
Jenna Ortega and Maddie Ziegler as their characters in The Fallout
Perhaps Jenna Ortega’s most emotionally-charged film and role to date, The Fallout is a tough watch in many respects. The film follows Ortega’s Vada Cavell, a normal high schooler whose life is altered after a tragedy occurs in her school, and the film examines the aftermath and trauma of this event through her eyes. It’s a tragically timely film with a message that packs a punch, but it is also an engaging drama and character study, and it features Ortega’s best performance to date.
Jenna Ortega’s scream queen status is shed here in favor of a more complex and subtle role, and she is given a lot to chew on with this character. She balances trauma and heartbreak beautifully while still managing to make the character of Vada likable and sympathetic rather than just a tool to convey the film’s message. The Fallout is a very compelling drama but is also one that may be harder to watch multiple times compared to a couple of Ortega’s other 2022 films.
2. X
A Refreshing Take on the Slasher Genre
Serving as both an homage to 1970s and 1980s slasher flicks, X is a great slasher in its own right. Ti West’s first entry in his X trilogy is a complete and utter blast. The film has a seemingly simple slasher set-up with a group of independent adult filmmakers renting out a house on the property of an old couple, who may have sinister intentions. But as soon as Mia Goth’s character Pearl is introduced, the film begins to show that there is a little more bite to X than in your typical slasher film. The film uses the slasher template to explore themes of aging and the generational divide, with a script that is as sharp-edged as Pearl’s axe.
Jenna Ortega plays Lorraine, the youngest and least experienced among the ensemble of adult film talent she tags along with, which gives her an interesting dynamic that fleshes her character out more than most slasher film characters. The outsider-looking-in perspective that her character offers conflicts nicely with the older, more seasoned adults she is accompanying, and this further highlights how the film explores generational ideals. Ortega brings a sense of curiosity and innocence to the group that helps her character stand out, and she turns in a terrific performance in X.
However, the real star of X is Mia Goth as Pearl and Maxine. Her dual performance is mesmerizing, as she plays two characters who are generations apart but have an almost disturbing amount in common. But despite their obvious similarities, Goth makes both characters stand on their own, and she makes the viewer want to see even more from each of their stories.
1. Scream 6
Breathes New Life Into the Series
Just narrowly edging out X for the best Jenna Ortega-starring film of 2022 is Scream, the fifth entry in the long-running horror-comedy slasher franchise started by Wes Craven in 1996. The film brought the Scream series to a new generation while also respecting and continuing the legacy that preceded it.
The Scream formula is implemented flawlessly in this film, which follows a new group of teens alongside legacy characters like David Arquette’s Dewey Riley, Courtney Cox’s Gale Weathers, and Neve Campbell’s iconic Sidney Prescott as they try to stop a new Ghostface killer that has emerged in the town of Woodsboro. Scream manages to find its own voice despite being a sequel in a long-running franchise, but still has the same satirical edge that the series is known for, making for yet another iconic film in this series.
Jenna Ortega plays Tara, the younger sister of Melissa Barrera’s Sam Carpenter, the film’s main protagonist. She is a character that is well-versed in what she refers to as “elevated horror” films. Her phone call scene with Ghostface is easily one of the most entertaining in the franchise. She doesn’t get nearly as much screen time as she perhaps should have, but it only makes the desire to see her character return in the upcoming Scream VI all the more enticing. This is especially true with this latest Scream entry being easily one of the strongest in the whole series and a joyfully great time overall.
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