Summary
Best recognized for her role as Natalie Scatorccio in Showtime’s cult TV seriesYellowjackets,Sophie Thatcheris quickly becoming one of Hollywood’s most exciting new faces, particularly inthe horror space.
Since her feature film debut inProspect, Thatcher has racked up a series of unique and standout genre roles, usually playing complex characters and misfits that allow her to showcase her captivating intensity and edge. Fresh off the success ofHeretic, her career shows no signs of slowing down, with fans currently rushing to watch her most recent film,Companion,and tuning into the third season ofYellowjackets.Here’s a rundown ofSophie Thatcher’s best roles to date, ranked.
Serving as her big-screen debut, the 2018 indie sci-fi thriller movieProspectopened the door for Thatcher in the film industry, immediately showing her ability to lead a movie. Starring opposite Jay Duplass and Pedro Pascal, Thatcher plays Cee, a teenage girl on a mission with her father to mine for precious resources on a toxic alien planet, which soon turns into a story of survival when they come across rival scavengers. This Western-inspired sci-fi film draws natural comparisons toThe Last of Us,with its mismatched partnership between Cee and Ezra mirroring the reluctant father-daughter relationship between Ellie and Joel, making it a great choice for fans of the game or show.
Despite effective world-building, it is Cee’s character arc that drives thislow-budget filmforward, and it’s Thatcher’s heartfelt portrayal that dramatically elevates the slow-burn story. The role of Cee set the tone for Thatcher’s career, establishing her ability to turn otherworldly and paranormal stories into gripping coming-of-age tales.
Based on the short story byhorror master Stephen King,The Boogeymanstars Sophie Thatcher as Sadie, a high school student still haunted by the loss of her mother. Her struggling father, a therapist, fails to support her and her sister, instead burying himself in his work and letting in a malevolent presence attached to one of his patients. Sadie fights to protect her sister from the terrifying supernatural entity that feeds on their grief.
In this otherwise cliché genre flick, Thatcher’s signature vulnerability and emotional depth bring an authenticity to the role that the film’s success rests on. As derivative and formulaic as thisPG-13 horror moviecan be, it’s an excellent platform for Thatcher to do everything she does best and is a worthy addition to her horror canon.
In A24’s religious horror filmHeretic,Thatcher plays Sister Barnes, one of two Latter-Day Saint missionaries held captive by Mr. Reed, a charismatic but sadistic man (portrayed by Hugh Grant), who is hellbent on preaching his beliefs about their faith.Hereticmarked Thatcher’s second time working on a project written by filmmaking duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who also penned the screen adaption ofThe Boogeyman.
As is typical of the actor, Thatcher’s character brings a darker edge to the movie. As a seasoned missionary with a traumatic past, Sister Barnes' street-smarts and reserved nature play off her naive counterpart’s bubbly and trusting energy, making her the vehicle through which the audience spots the host’s red flags. Thisdialogue-heavy psychological horrordemands the type of performance that can keep viewers hooked through its lengthy monologs and lack of traditional scares. It is the perfect stage for Thatcher’s subtle acting and nuanced emotional expression, as her suspicion slowly builds to palpable terror.
Thatcher is not new to horror films, but her latest entry,Companion,feels like a breath of fresh air. The team behind the twisty Airbnb horrorBarbariandelivered this genre-defying AI movie, in which Thatcher stars as Iris, a highly sophisticated robot girlfriend who uncovers dark secrets about herself and her boyfriend when a weekend away turns deadly.
Writer-director Drew Hancock uses his sci-fi premise to offer commentary on feminine autonomy and objectification, with Thatcher’s Iris embodying and then deconstructing the ‘perfect girlfriend’ trope, continuing Thatcher’s affinity fordark feminist projects. The role exemplifies Thatcher’s creative versatility like never before and adds anothercomplex horror heroinenotch to her belt, perhaps her most cathartic to watch.
Dubbed a ‘woman-ledLord of the Flies,‘Showtime’sYellowjacketsis a unique mix of supernatural horror, survival thriller, andcoming-of-age dramain which Thatcher stars as beloved misfit Natalie, one of the survivors of a plane crash that stranded a girls’ high school soccer team in the Canadian wilderness.
Thatcher’s performance lets viewers catch a glimpse into the adolescence of Juliette Lewis’ adult Natalie, seamlessly bridging her character evolution as the time-hopping show cross-cuts between its two timelines. Thatcher shines as the group’s outcast, effortlessly embodying Nat’s rebellious nature and intensity.The role of young Natalie inYellowjacketsput Thatcher on the map and remains her most iconic character to date.
