The Top 10 Best Movie Queens

Hail to the Movie Queens, Baby.

Every week Stars & Popcorn tackles a new top 10 list and this week it only felt appropriate to take on the best movie queens of all time given the sudden swell in popularity these lady monarchs are getting in theaters right now. Of course, I could have just given ten spots to Disney princesses (they all eventually become queens), but I decided to go the live-action route with this top 10 list. Surprisingly enough there are tons of movies out there about kings, princes, and princesses, but not too many just featuring queens. Not to worry though, because I scoured the cinematic landscape to come up with some of the best and most memorable movie queens I’ve ever seen. There’s a wide variety of characters that make appearances on this list and no all of them are the kind of rulers I’d want to have. All of them though are unforgettable though. So get ready to hail to the queen, because this list is coming in fast.

10. Queen Ravena- The Snow White and the Huntsman Films

The women kicking off this list of movie queens isn’t exactly what one might call a benevolent ruler. You might recognize Queen Ravena from Stars & Popcorn’s list of the Top 10 Movie Witches, but she also proves to be quite a memorable movie queen as well. If there’s anything Disney has taught us it’s that for every lovely lady monarch out there, there’s an evil queen lurking in the shadows looking to off princesses for no reason. Ravena makes this list because of her incredibly powerful magic which she uses to rule the land with an iron fist. Not only that but this queen is kinda OP. She survived a military coup and returned with a vengeance in The Huntsman. When it comes to movie queens, Ravena might not be the nicest, but she is one of the most powerful out there.

9. Guinevere- King Arthur

Hey, I’m not here to argue whether Antoine Fuqua’s adaptation of the Legend of King Arthur is a good movie or not, but if you’re looking for a warrior queen than look no further than Kiera Knightly’s Guinevere. This version of the queen is a pagan warrior who is trying to defend Britannia from the Roman legions ascending upon it. This is a far cry from the maiden we’ve seen in so many other big-screen incarnations, and she stands ready to leap into battle time and time again in King Arthur. While she might not be the most memorable movie archer we’ve seen over the years, this version of Guinevere is definitely one of the more memorable movie queens I’ve seen. They say “behind every great man is a woman with blood on her hands” and none of the other movie queens come close to this blood-drenched warrior.

8. Queen Clarisse Renaldi- The Princess Diaries

What girl didn’t dream of being a princess growing up? Well, luckily for Anne Hathaway her dream comes true thanks to Queen Clarisse Renaldi. Her home country of Genovia might not be a major player on the world stage and while I can’t prove it I’m pretty sure that. Like most small European Countries, it’s probably got its fair share of war crimes that have been committed over the years, but hey, at least it’s got a brand new 16-year-old princess. I might talk trash about Genovia, but when it comes movie queens, there are few more beloved than the one played by Julie Andrews. The Princess Diaries might not be my kind of movie, but I’m not going to deny it’s cult-like status that makes it beloved by so many.

7. Queen Elizabeth- Shakespeare in Love

If anyone was going to play one of the great movie queens of all time, it would be Dame Judi Dench. She might not get a ton of screen time in Shakespeare in Love since most of the film is based on, you know, Shakespeare being in love, but when she does appear on screen she has one hell of a commanding presence. Her presence in the film makes perfect sense given what a fan of the theater the Queen was at the time (especially when it came to Shakespeare’s plays). What really makes her one of the best movie queens though is the fact that she doesn’t let anyone tell her how to rule. When the evil men of the film come after Shakespeare and his beloved, Queen Elizabeth is having none of it and proves that even in a man’s world, everyone bows to the queen.

6. Marie Antoinette- Marie Antoinette

While Marie Antoinette might be best known for that whole “let them eat cake” debacle, the film Marie Antoinette is known for its pop soundtrack and fever dream visuals. At the center of it all is Kirsten Dunst playing one of the most infamous movies queens on this list. While most of France was, y’know, starving, Marie was hosting extravagant parties and eating the hell out of some fancy French pastries (those of you looking for a good food porn movie should take note). The thing is that young Marie was unfairly villainized by the people for the screw ups of Louis the XV of France, who wasn’t exactly the best king the country ever had. I guess that just goes to show that movie queens can be both king makers and scapegoats