The 18 Best Winona Ryder Movies and TV Shows (and Where to Watch Them)

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Jess Bacon

Jess Bacon

JustWatch Editor

Since the 1980s, Winona Ryder has been at the forefront of genre-defining movies and TV shows. From Prime Video and more!

After her feature film debut in Lucas in 1986, the American actress was cast in Tim Burton’s horror comedy, Beetlejuice. Led by Catherine O’Hara, Michael Keaton and Geena Davis, Ryder played the angsty goth teen, Lydia Deetz who can see ghosts - or so she discovers, as they move into their new house.

The cult classic grossed over $74.7 million at the box office and established itself as one of the quirkier Halloween staples for fans to revisit year after year. Almost four decades later, Ryder is reprising her role in the , long-awaited sequel with some of the original cast, as well as newcomers such as Wednesday star, Jenna Ortega.

Winona Ryder had a host of quirky roles in her early years, such as another major commercial and critical success with Burton’s Edward Scissorhands. It stormed at the box office, grossing over four times its budget (to $80 million worldwide) and receiving a shot of nominations at the Academy Awards.

The acclaimed actress continued to showcase her extensive range in roles such as Jo March in 1994’s The Age of Innocence. For both her roles in Little Women and The Age of Innocence, Ryder received consecutive nominations for Best Actress at the Academy Awards - a feat achieved by very few actors.

With an eclectic and rich filmography, it can be difficult to know where to start with Ryder’s best performances that range from comedies such as The Dilemma.

Yet, arguably, Winona Ryder’s best role is one of her most recent and on-going appearance as Joyce Byers in Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things. With four seasons and a fifth on the way, Ryder has shown the immense breadth of her captivating talent in the supernatural drama that is one of the most watched shows on Netflix.

Where to watch the best Winona Ryder movies and shows online

As Winona Ryder returns to the big screen in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, here are the 18 best Winona Ryder movies and TV shows and where to stream them now.

  1. Stranger Things

    Stranger Things

    2016

    # 1

    When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces, and one strange little girl.

  2. Little Women

    Little Women

    1994

    # 2

    Jo struggles for independence and sometimes clashes with her beloved mother and sisters Meg, Amy and Beth. She also contends with their cranky Aunt March, their impulsive neighbor Laurie and kindly linguistics professor Friedrich Bhaer.

  3. The Age of Innocence

    The Age of Innocence

    1993

    # 3

    In 19th century New York high society, a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin.

  4. Edward Scissorhands

    Edward Scissorhands

    1990

    # 4

    A small suburban town receives a visit from a castaway unfinished science experiment named Edward.

  5. Beetlejuice

    Beetlejuice

    1988

    # 5

    A newly dead New England couple seeks help from a deranged demon exorcist to scare an affluent New York family out of their home.

  6. Bram Stoker's Dracula

    Bram Stoker's Dracula

    1992

    # 6

    In 19th century England, Count Dracula travels to London and meets Mina Harker, a young woman who appears as the reincarnation of his lost love.

  7. Heathers

    Heathers

    1988

    # 7

    A girl who halfheartedly tries to be part of the "in crowd" of her school meets a rebel who teaches her a more devious way to play social politics: by killing the popular kids.

  8. The Plot Against America

    # 8

    An alternate American history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in New Jersey, as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism.

  9. The House of the Spirits

    # 9

    A rancher, his clairvoyant wife and their family face turbulent years in South America.

  10. Alien Resurrection

    Alien Resurrection

    1997

    # 10

    Two hundred years after Lt. Ripley died, a group of scientists clone her, hoping to breed the ultimate weapon. But the new Ripley is full of surprises … as are the new aliens. Ripley must team with a band of smugglers to keep the creatures from reaching Earth.

  11. Mermaids

    Mermaids

    1990

    # 11

    Fifteen-year-old Charlotte Flax is tired of her wacky mom moving their family to a different town any time she feels it is necessary. When they move to a small Massachusetts town and Mrs. Flax begins dating a shopkeeper, Charlotte and her 9-year-old sister, Kate, hope that they can finally settle down. But when Charlotte's attraction to an older man gets in the way, the family must learn to accept each other for who they truly are.

  12. Mr. Deeds

    Mr. Deeds

    2002

    # 12

    When Longfellow Deeds, a small-town pizzeria owner and poet, inherits $40 billion from his deceased uncle, he quickly begins rolling in a different kind of dough. Moving to the big city, Deeds finds himself besieged by opportunists all gunning for their piece of the pie. Babe, a television tabloid reporter, poses as an innocent small-town girl to do an exposé on Deeds.

  13. Black Swan

    Black Swan

    2010

    # 13

    Nina is a talented but unstable ballerina on the verge of stardom. Pushed to the breaking point by her artistic director and a seductive rival, Nina's grip on reality slips, plunging her into a waking nightmare.

  14. Star Trek

    Star Trek

    2009

    # 14

    The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals. One, James Kirk, is a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy. The other, Spock, a Vulcan, was raised in a logic-based society that rejects all emotion. As fiery instinct clashes with calm reason, their unlikely but powerful partnership is the only thing capable of leading their crew through unimaginable danger, boldly going where no one has gone before. The human adventure has begun again.

  15. Girl, Interrupted

    # 15

    Set in the changing world of the late 1960s, Susanna Kaysen's prescribed "short rest" from a psychiatrist she had met only once becomes a strange, unknown journey into Alice's Wonderland, where she struggles with the thin line between normal and crazy. Susanna soon realizes how hard it is to get out once she has been committed, and she ultimately has to choose between the world of people who belong inside or the difficult world of reality outside.

  16. Lost Souls

    Lost Souls

    2000

    # 16

    A young woman becomes aware of a conspiracy to enable the Devil to walk the Earth in human form. To defeat the prophesy, she must convince a respected New York crime journalist, who is devoid of faith, that he is in fact the target of the conspiracy.

  17. Reality Bites

    Reality Bites

    1994

    # 17

    A small circle of friends suffering from post-collegiate blues must confront the hard truth about life, love and the pursuit of gainful employment. As they struggle to map out survival guides for the future, the Gen-X quartet soon begins to realize that reality isn't all it's cracked up to be.

  18. Celebrity

    Celebrity

    1998

    # 18

    The career and personal life of writer Lee are at a standstill, so he divorces his bashful wife, Robin, and dives into a new job as an entertainment journalist. His assignments take him to the swankiest corners of Manhattan, but as he jumps from one lavish party to another and engages in numerous empty romances, he starts to doubt the worth of his work. Meanwhile, top TV producer Tony falls for Robin and introduces her to the world of celebrity.