Adria Arjona has made a huge name for herself over the past 10 years. The Puerto Rican actress has been working steadily since 2015 and has been cast in both starring and co-starring roles, honing her craft on both the big and small screens. Taking on comic book movies, reimagined classics, and working with well-known directors and writers like James Gunn, Richard Linklater, Michael Bay, J.C. Chandor, Ben Falcone, and Zoë Kravitz, has helped launch her career. She has also made her career bigger with starring turns in Andor, Emerald City, True Detective, and more TV series.
So far, Arjona has appeared in 14 feature-length films, including the recently released Splitsville. As her profile has grown, so has her status, as she has been dating Jason Momoa for well over a year and has also been rumored to be the frontrunner as the next Wonder Woman for DC. Here’s a breakdown of her films, ranked from worst to best, before some of her newest projects come out.
14
‘Morbius’ (2022)
It should hardly be a shock that this is the lowest-rated of her movies. Morbius was one of the most critically panned films of the past 5 years, as the Jared Leto-led Marvel Comic film was lambasted for its script. Leto can be a tough sell these days, having delivered a few bombs at the box office. But the writing didn’t help him out here, nor did it Arjona, who plays a scientist and Michael Morbius’ colleague, Dr. Martine Bancroft.
Leto’s Michael has a rare blood disorder that turns him into a vampire. The film features Matt Smith as Milo Morbius, Jared Harris as Dr. Emil Nicholas, and Al Madrigal and Tyrese Gibson as two FBI agents looking for Michael. The movie made $167 million at the box office but was ultimately a massive failure. It earned Arjona a Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress and Leto one for Worst Actor.
13
‘Sweet Girl’ (2021)
While it was the movie that featured Arjona and Momoa as husband and wife, that’s about where the good news ends for their characters. Sweet Girl was distributed on Netflix and features Momoa as Ray, a survival expert and gym owner. Arjona plays his wife, Amanda, who is stricken with cancer. Momoa seeks vengeance on the pharmaceutical company who delayed the release of a potentially life-saving drug that could have saved his wife from dying.
He and his daughter, Rachel, played by Isabel Merced, stop at nothing to seek out the CEO of the company, played by Justin Bartha. Naturally, it runs deeper than him, and the story veers into deeper conspiracies. It feels a bit like a movie that would have come out in the 1990s and would’ve been shown on cable TV on Saturdays. It’s also a movie that is seen but not remembered much.
12
‘Life of the Party’ (2018)
A Melissa McCarthy-led comedy, Life of the Party features Arjona playing Amanda, a sorority sister of McCarthy’s daughter Maddie (Molly Gordon). McCarthy plays Deanna, a 40-something who goes back to college to complete her degree after her husband files for divorce. Deanna is attending college at the same time as Maddie, making for some uncomfortable moments.
The movie features some classic McCarthy scenes of her making a fool of herself, and it’s a lighthearted comedic effort. Arjona praised McCarthy, telling The Hollywood Reporter that she “held her hand and took her along the ride.” The film itself was panned by critics for not being as funny as it could have been and McCarthy earned the Worst Actress Razzie for it.
11
‘Wedding in New York’ (2015)
In her first film role, Arjona stars in Wedding in New York as Patricia, a woman who has moved into an apartment in New York City. She meets Carlos, a man who has convinced his friend to pose as him at a family wedding so he can meet up with his ex-girlfriend. Patricia is now the woman who lives in his ex-girlfriend’s apartment and the two begin to get to know one another. Carlos’ friend Gonzalo, taking his place at the family wedding, falls in love with the bride, causing family chaos and hilarity to ensue.
The Spanish-language film features Arjona in a supporting role, but she takes Carlos as a wedding date to a Colombian wedding, dressing him in a flashy suit. He is mistaken for a drug lord, which causes more chaos. It’s a screwball comedy written and directed by Alber Ponte. It’s a small-budget film that features some decent performances and gives Arjona a good role that allows her to show her comedic chops.
10
‘6 Underground’ (2019)
6 Underground is a starring vehicle for Ryan Reynolds, who plays Magnet Johnson, a billionaire who fakes his own death to create a squad of “ghosts” who can carry out missions to take down terrorists. Arjona stars as one of the “ghosts,” a former doctor. The film also stars Corey Hawkins, Melanie Laurent, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Dave Franco, and Ben Hardy.
It’s a stylish thriller directed by Michael Bay and written by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, who previously worked with Reynolds on the Deadpool films. The over-the-top action and the improbable sequences ask audiences to suspend disbelief and sit back and enjoy the ride. It struggles to balance wanting to pull comedic delivery from Reynolds while maintaining a serious focus, and it was met with negative reviews from critics.
9
‘Pacific Rim Uprising’ (2018)
Following her starring role as Dorothy in Emerald City, a reimagining of The Wizard of Oz, in 2017, Arjona starred in Pacific Rim Uprising, the sequel to Pacific Rim. Directed by Steven S. DeKnight, the film features John Boyega as Jake Pentecost, the son of Idris Elba’s character from the first film, as a pilot who must help prevent the release of sea monsters and Kaiju 10 years after The Breach was sealed. Arjona plays Jules, an officer for the Pan Pacific Defense Corps.
It also stars Charlie Day, Rinko Kikuchi, Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny, Burn Gorman and Jing Tian. The visual effects are impressive, and the movie made nearly $300 million worldwide. Critics were less fond of the film as it felt a bit like a retread of the franchise’s first film. But it’s a solid summer flick for those who enjoyed the first one.
8
‘The Absence of Eden’ (2023)
A timely drama that came before Zoe Saldaña won her Oscar for Emilia Perez, The Absence of Eden is another film featuring a character of hers in Mexico. The film features Saldaña as Esmee, a dancer who is forced to go on the run after committing a crime. She aims to cross the border into the United States, where her story intersects with Garrett Hedlund’s Shipp, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
Arjona plays Yadira, an illegal immigrant who Shipp is dating. Shipp must confront his moral dilemma of dating an immigrant while trying to protect the border. He and Esmee meet when she has to take a young girl under her care. The movie was highlighted for its performances, but the script was a bit flat and ultimately didn’t deliver the kind of reminders that the filmmaker had hoped.
7
‘The Belko Experiment’ (2016)
Arjona’s first English-language feature film was The Belko Experiment, a unique action horror film written by James Gunn and directed by Greg McLean. She stars as Leandra, the assistant to the COO of Belko Industries. The premise of the film is that an office building in Bogotá, Colombia, is locked down, and the employees inside are forced to kill each other as part of an experiment. While initially not taking the threats seriously, the situation turns real, and a study in human behavior proceeds.
John Gallagher Jr., Tony Goldwyn, John C. McGinley, Melonie Diaz, Josh Brener, and Michael Rooker star in the bloody, violent thriller. The film was a bigger hit with fans than it was with critics, as it earned $11 million at the box office on a $5 million budget, despite middling reviews. The twist at the end makes it worth the watch for horror fans.
6
‘Father of the Bride’ (2022)
2022’s Father of the Bride is a modern reimagining of the classic story from the 1950s and 1990s. This one takes on a Cuban-American flavor with Andy Garcia as the eponymous character named Billy Herrera and Arjona as his daughter, Sofia. His daughter wants a small ceremony with her fiancé, played by Diego Boneta. But Billy wants to show off with a traditional big Cuban wedding.
Gloria Estefan plays his wife and Chloe Fineman takes up the mantle from Martin Short as the eccentric wedding planner. The film was released straight to HBO Max and was seen to have favorable changes from the previous films in the series to provide a unique take. It was a perfectly fine reboot that neither wowed nor exacerbated.
5
‘Triple Frontier’ (2019)
Triple Frontier has a heavyweight cast and was directed by J.C. Chandor with a script by Mark Boal. It features Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Garrett Hedlund, and Pedro Pascal as former Delta Force members who go to find the house of a drug lord and seize the money there, pretending to be government agents. Arjona plays Yovanna, an informant who needs rescuing from Isaac’s character in exchange for the location of the house.
It’s a rough-and-tumble shootout film with solid performances. Any fan of an action adventure film would enjoy it, as it got positive reviews from both critics and audiences. It isn’t the biggest part Arjona has played, but her role proves vital to move the story forward.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
