21 Rachel McAdams Movies to Watch After “Doctor Strange 2”

Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a successful, confident surgeon in New York City. When a devastating car accident injures his hands, his career is put on hold. Christine Palmer (McAdams) is an emergency surgeon who plays a significant role in his life. She and Dr. Strange dated previously, broke up, and remained friends after the end of their relationship. Following his accident, Christine helps him recover and sticks by his side as he relentlessly tries to find alternative treatments to save his hands. Through his healing, Dr. Strange discovers alternate dimensions and magical powers, which can help to defeat Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), who is on a spree of evil.

“Get in, loser, we’re going shopping” might just be one of the most recited movie quotes of all time, and it was said by none other than Rachel McAdams in the 2004 comedy “Mean Girls.” Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) is a new student at North Shore High School and struggles to fit in among the large student body that is divided by cliques. She connects with school outcasts Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian Leigh (Daniel Franzese), who warn her of the school’s elite clique, the Plastics, consisting of leader Regina George (McAdams), Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chabert), and Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried).

When Cady develops a crush on Regina’s ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels, she hatches a plan with Janis and Damian to infiltrate the Plastics, ruin Regina’s queen-bee reputation, and win over Aaron.

In “Mean Girls,” McAdams is perfectly snobby and posh, making her role one that is constantly revisited nearly 20 years later.

When it comes to romantic movies, “The Notebook” is arguably the blueprint. Based on the acclaimed bestselling novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks, the film follows a captivating love story that withstands trials and hardships across many years.

In the present day, an elderly man named Duke (James Garner) agrees to read a love story to a woman in their nursing home. Meanwhile, back in 1940, Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) meets 17-year-old Allie Hamilton at a carnival and falls for her right away. Noah comes from a humble background and works as a mill worker while Allie comes from a rich family. The two spend their summer together and fall in love, against the wishes of Allie’s family, whose protestations ultimately break them up. The movie follows how Allie and Noah reconnect years later as they try to rekindle their love story, and by the end, a mind-blowing connection between the 1940s couple and Duke is revealed.

In the creative screen adaptation of the beloved character by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, “Sherlock Holmes” delivers a refreshing, humorous take on the classic mystery stories. Detective Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and his partner Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) are put to work to stop a string of murders by Lord Henry Blackwood. During this time, Holmes is approached by Irene Adler (McAdams), a former rival, to help solve a missing-person case. In the film, Holmes and Adler have a playful, romantic dynamic that ultimately helps them work together and fight new criminal cases in London.

Similar to many other films McAdams starred in throughout the 2000s, “Wedding Crashers” is a romantic comedy that highlights her ability to take on any kind of role. The film centres around friends John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy Grey (Vince Vaughn), who are divorce mediators by day and womanisers by night. The pair routinely crash weddings to hook up with beautiful women at the ceremonies. When the two infiltrate the wedding on US Secretary of the Treasury William Cleary’s (Christopher Walken) eldest daughter, John and Jeremy find themselves breaking their own shallow sex rules and actually falling in love with the women they meet. The only problem? John is in love with Claire Cleary (McAdams), who is engaged to be married. Now, the two have to conceal their past to land their dream girls.

Rachel McAdams shines in the lighthearted comedy “Morning Glory” alongside a star-studded cast that includes Diane Keaton, Harrison Ford, and Jeff Goldblum. Becky Fuller (McAdams) has dreamed of being a big-time television producer all her life, and works relentlessly to be taken seriously by her peers and superiors. After she is fired from her job, she is taken on as a producer on the national morning show “DayBreak” which is suffering with declining viewership. Under her leadership, she hires veteran anchor Mike Pomeroy (Ford) to co-host with Colleen Peck (Keaton), which soon turns chaotic as the pair’s strong personalities clash on air.

The 2015 film “Spotlight” earned McAdams several award nominations, including an Oscar nom for best-supporting actress. The widely acclaimed film is based on the Boston-area sex abuse scandal in Catholic churches, and The Boston Globe’s “Spotlight” team that relentlessly worked to reveal the decades of atrocities. In “Spotlight,” McAdams plays journalist Sacha Pfeiffer, who works alongside fellow journalists Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo) and Walter “Robby” Robinson (Michael Keaton) to get to the bottom of a covered-up sex scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston. Through their investigative work, the journalists were able to shed light on the many stories that were swept under the rug and bring justice to the victims.

In “State of Play” McAdams takes on yet another dramatic role that garnered critical acclaim. The thriller centres around the mysterious murder of Sonia Baker (Maria Thayer), a staff member for Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck). In charge of investigating the murder are reporters Della Frye (McAdams) and Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe), who soon find that the case is much more complicated than they initially thought. By unveiling hidden information and connecting dots of an affair between Congressman Collins and Sonia, the two land on a conspiracy that has the potential to disrupt the political landscape as they know it. Can they reveal their findings before being hunted to stay silent?

In his 20s, Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) discovers his ability to time travel. He uses this newfound power to get the only thing he wants in the world, a girlfriend. After several different attempts, he meets Mary ( McAdams) and the two fall in love (with the help of his time travelling powers). Now Tom wants to use his time-travelling powers to avoid the painful parts of their wedding, like drunken speeches and tireless planning. Along the way, Tom’s attempt to perfect every aspect of his life proves to be more difficult than he initially expected, and has consequences for his future, especially what he’s wanted all along.

McAdams stars alongside Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Bill Murray and Alec Baldwin in “Aloha,” a dramatic, romantic comedy. When military contractor Brian Gilcrest (Cooper) returns to Hawaii for a work opportunity, he is reunited with his ex-girlfriend Tracy (McAdams). The couple’s relationship ended due to Brian’s dedication to his job, which took him away from their relationship. Along with facing the falling out of his former relationship, Brian is paired with a youthful, idealistic Air Force pilot Allison Ng (Stone) to help him carry out his latest work assignment. Torn between his past and the present, Brian struggles to determine what he wants out of love and life.

What if the past five years of your life were completely erased in an instant? Couple Paige (McAdams) and Leo (Channing Tatum) Collins were happily married before a tragic car accident changed everything. Paige, who was injured in the accident, does not remember the last few years of her past, including her marriage with Leo. Along with the pressure of her parents and her lack of memory, Paige’s only choice is to reconnect with the past she remembers and slowly detach from Leo in the process. He is not ready to give up however, and does everything in his power to get Paige to fall in love with him again, or risk losing her for good. A box of Kleenex is definitely recommended when watching this movie.

McAdams reunites with her “Wedding Crashers” costar Owen Wilson in the 2011 comedy film, “Midnight in Paris.” Gil Pender is a writer that dreams of moving to Paris. Gil and his fiancee Inez (McAdams) travel to Paris to vacation with her rich parents. While Inez is more sociable with her friends, Gil is more focused on exploring the city without a crowd of snobs. One night, when he abandons Inez to wander around Paris, he is transported back to the 1920s and becomes obsessed with the characters he meets along the way.

McAdams shares the screen with Will Ferrell in this hilarious comedy from Netflix that centres around Europe’s biggest singing competition. Lars Erickssong (Ferrell) and Sigrit Ericksdóttir (McAdams) are best friends and have had dreams of their band Fire Saga reaching an international audience for years. The two are luckily selected to take part in Iceland’s pre-screener for Eurovision, but fail terribly during their performance. To their surprise, a boat carrying finalists for the competition explodes and makes them the winners of the pre-selection competition, allowing them to advance to the finals. Together, McAdams and Ferrell are a forceful comedic duo whose dynamic make for an entertaining watch.

Though she is only in the film for a short period of time, McAdams delivers a stunning performance as Maureen Hope, the wife of professional boxer Billy “The Great” Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal). Hope is at the top of his game after earning the light heavyweight title. Despite Maureen’s fear of his violent profession, she supports her husband through his fights. When the couple attend a fundraiser together, Hope is taunted by a rival boxer, which results in a fight breaking out. During the fight, shots ring out and Hope devastatingly discovers that Maureen was shot amongst the chaos. She dies in his arms, and the tragedy is too much for him to bear. Hope loses everything, including his home and his daughter, Leila, and must fight with everything he has to get his life back on track.

There is nothing quite like the experience of earning the acceptance of your in-laws. With an ensemble cast that includes McAdams, Diane Keaton, Dermot Mulroney, Luke Wilson, and Sarah Jessica Parker, “The Family Stone” is a comedy that many can relate to. Everett Stone (Mulroney) is in love with Meridith Morton (Parker) who is uptight and meticulous about everything. Stone’s family is the complete opposite, and more on the laid-back, liberal side, which totally clashes with Morton’s personality. When Stone and Morton visit his family for Christmas, everyone’s personalities are front and centre, making for an interesting and eventful holiday together. In the film, McAdams plays Amy Stone, the unapologetic, sarcastic sister of Everett.

Based on the novel of the same name by Audrey Niffenegger, “The Time Traveler’s Wife” is another romance film of McAdams in which she stars alongside Eric Bana. Henry DeTamble (Bana) has the curse of spontaneously travelling back and forth through time, which interferes greatly with his everyday life. He time travels and meets Clare (McAdams) as a young girl who gradually falls in love with him throughout his frequent time-travelling visits as she grows up. The two marry and have a child together, but his condition causes constant strain in their relationship as he unexpectedly disappears for periods of time. Have some tissues in hand while watching this one.

McAdams shares the screen with Jason Bateman in this action-comedy that centres around a seemingly innocent game night gone wrong. Max Davis (Bateman) meets witty, intelligent Annie (McAdams) during a night of trivia when they both win the game. The two get married and enjoy playing games with their group of friends, who all have a competitive flair. One night, Max’s brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler) invites the couple and their friends for a role-playing mystery game, with his expensive Corvette as the prize. The game takes a literal turn, however, when Brooks is kidnapped by actual criminals.

Ronit Krushka (Rachel Weisz) is a photographer living in New York City when she hears the news of her father’s death. She travels to London to honour her father and agrees to stay with an old friend, Dovid Kuperman, and her childhood friend Esti (McAdams), who happens to be his wife. Far detached from the Jewish Orthodox practices of her father and her friends, Ronit struggles to fit in, but her friendship with Esti helps her. The two have a history, however, and a past romance resulted in Ronit being exiled from her family. Now that Ronit is back in London, she discovers that her feelings toward Esti have not changed, and the two struggle with their feelings while Esti tries to adhere to the customs of her religion.

Günther Bachmann (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is the head of a special government team that seeks to crack down on terrorism in Germany. When a Russian man named Issa Karpov tries to inherit his father’s fortune, it gives Bachmann the opportunity to further investigate a scholar who he believes has ties to Al-Qaeda. In the film, McAdams plays Annabel Richter, an immigration lawyer that helps Bachmann’s growing case. Thrilling and filled with twists and turns, “A Most Wanted Man” has been heralded by critics for its adapted storyline from the 2008 novel of the same name as well as the main cast’s performances.

Featuring a star-studded cast that includes Patricia Clarkson, Pierce Brosnan, and Chris Cooper, “Married Life” follows the intricate lives of five people who are all engaged in affairs with one another. Harry Allen (Cooper) is a married businessman who, unbeknownst to his wife, is having an affair with a much younger war widow named Kay Nesbitt (McAdams). Meanwhile, Henry’s friend Richard Langley (Brosnan) is infatuated with Kay, and begins a relationship with her. All the while, Henry’s wife, Pat (Clarkson), is having an affair of her own, making their lives more connected than any of them know.