Every Time Aubrey Plaza Made Us Laugh, Cringe, and Rewatch Immediately

Some actors perform. Aubrey Plaza possesses.

You laugh because she’s funny. You cringe because she’s real. And when the credits roll, you’re still not sure what just happened, only that you are hooked and maybe questioning your life choices.

Her dry wit on Parks and Recreation, social media menace in Ingrid Goes West, and unsettling vibe in The White Lotus are not just acts. She disorients you in the best way possible. Each role feels like an experiment in discomfort.

These seven movies and shows prove why she’s Hollywood’s most unpredictable obsession and why you’ll end up rewatching every single one.

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Rotten Tomatoes: 93% | IMDb: 8.6/10

Before the internet crowned “resting b***h face” as a mood, Aubrey Plaza was living it. As April Ludgate, she turned disinterest and gut-wrenching insults into performance art. 

One stare, one monotone clap, and we were finished. You know that look you give when your boss says, “We’re like a family here”? Yeah, April walked so your office sarcasm could run.

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Rotten Tomatoes: 84% | IMDb: 6.6/10

We all know someone who’s dangerously obsessed with curating a perfect life online (and if you don’t… it might be you). Ingrid (Plaza) is that person. She is funny, tragic, and terrifyingly relatable. 

She takes social media obsession to Olympic levels, stalking her favourite influencer across the country to befriend her in person. Reality hits, and as always, harder than anything. 

Watching it feels like scrolling too far down your ex’s Instagram and accidentally liking a post from 2017… the sheer panic.

Rotten Tomatoes: 90% | IMDb: 8.0/10

This is about a chaotic vacation that went south. In The White Lotus, Plaza plays Harper, the woman who can’t hide her side-eye even if her life depended on it. 

While everyone else is busy lying, cheating, or pretending to meditate, Harper’s energy screams, “I’m too smart for this nonsense.” 

And yet, she’s still caught in the drama. 

READ ALSO: If You Loved ‘The Gentlemen’, You’ll Want to Binge These Theo James Roles Next.

Rotten Tomatoes: 93% | IMDb: 6.7/10

Broke, bold, and ready for trouble. That is Emily. 

Forget your usual girlboss stories and vision boards about manifesting success. That’s time-wasting for Emily. She’d rather steal the success. 

Plaza plays Emily, a broke artist who was pushed into the world of credit card scams, and somehow, you’re rooting for her the whole time. It’s tense, dark, and thrilling. 

If you’ve ever been broke enough to consider side hustles that sound a little illegal, this one hits close.

Rotten Tomatoes: 91% | IMDb: 6.9/10

Safety Not Guaranteed is a rom-com for the emotionally unavailable. Plaza plays a cynical journalist who meets a man claiming he can jump through time. 

You expect something weird, but what you get is heartbreak… actually, you get both. It’s romantic, awkward, and just weird enough to work.

READ ALSO: 5 Movies to Binge When You’re Going Through a Breakup.

Rotten Tomatoes: 91% | IMDb: 8.1/10

If chaos had a soundtrack, it would sound like Aubrey Plaza in Legion. Legion is an intro to her villain era, and oh, she’s terrifying. 

In this psychotic superhero series, Plaza plays a shape-shifting mind demon with unholy charm. 

One moment, she’s whispering; the next, she’s dancing like madness itself.

Watching Legion at first may feel like walking through a maze, especially as an X-Men comic fan, but it's a worthy thriller.

READ ALSO: Why We’ll Always Watch Anything with Jason Bateman In It.

Rotten Tomatoes: 89% | IMDb: 6.5/10

New York Film Academy describes Black Bear as “impossible to describe." I believe that's mainly due to the Aubrey Plaza Effect.  She effortlessly oozes a disturbing, shape-shifting aura.

In Black Bear, Plaza switches between femme fatale (manipulator) and emotionally broken (victim) in a film that feels like therapy gone wrong. It easily passes for one of her best performances. 

In this movie, she’s unpredictable, raw, and magnetic, like watching creativity and self-destruction share a bed.

READ ALSO: 2025 Is the Year of Horror: 7 Terrifying Horror Films You Need to See.

Aubrey Plaza built a career out of being interesting in an industry where many actors strive to be likeable. She’s unpredictable, magnetic, and just a little bit dangerous.

She doesn’t just act. She makes watching her such an explosive and mind-reeling experience that long after the movie ends, she’s still somewhere in your head, smirking.

Her characters live in that space between hilarious and uncomfortable, and that’s exactly why we can’t stop watching. Whether she’s making us laugh, cringe, or question our life choices, she’s proof that awkward girls run the world.