Melissa Barrera's 10 Best Movies & TV Shows, Ranked

Melissa Barrera is an actress whose name has been in the headlines for a couple of years now. For starters, she's one of the most talented rising stars in Hollywood, with roles in some of the best movies and TV shows since the turn of the decade into the 2020s. From taking over key roles in established franchises to appearing in critically acclaimed musicals to starring in underrated TV series, Barrera's talent is undeniable and it's a big reason why she kept landing major roles.

She became even more of a household name after she was fired from the Scream franchise, which she had become the focal point of, for her comments about the conflict between Israel and Palestine. It caused an uproar from fans and led her to step away from Hollywood, where she had been blacklisted by some studios, as she headed to the stage. There, she made her Broadway debut in the musical comedy Titanique, where she played Rose DeWitt Bukater, which was well-received.

The actress recently announced that she's returning to Hollywood and even starting her own production company, which makes it as good a time as ever to look back on the best work of her career. Whether on the big or small screen, Melissa Barrera is a star.

10 Keep Breathing (2022)

It feels like Keep Breathing came and went without making much of an impact, even though it had all the ingredients to be a hit. The miniseries was released on Netflix and focuses on a woman who must survive in the wilderness after a small plane crashes.

That kind of story tends to work for Netflix viewers, evidenced by Apex being a recent hit for the platform. Alas, while Keep Breathing didn't get a ton of viewers, this was a solid survival series. Melissa Barrera gives a great performance as the protagonist, playing both her fear in the wild and the emotion of the flashbacks so well.

9 Carmen (2022)

The acting talent of Barrera is one thing but she is also an accomplished singer, which is clear in several of her roles. One of those is in Carmen, a musical that works as this director's take on the opera of the same name, though it changes the plot and setting pretty significantly.

Barrera stars as the titular Carmen, a woman who is forced to flee her home in Mexico after her mother is murdered and makes a dangerous border crossing into the United States. Once there, she forms a bond with a border guard (Paul Mescal) in this hidden gem.

8 Vida (2018-2020)

For a lot of people, Vida was their introduction to Melissa Barrera. The comedy-drama premiered in 2018 and was inspired by the short story Pour Vida. The plot centers on two Mexican American sisters who return to Boyle Heights, where they were raised, after their mother dies.

Barrera plays Lyn Hernandez, while Mishel Prada portrays her sister, Emma. The siblings are total opposites and that's the driving force of the series. Vida was a hit with critics and won the GLAAD Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, with this being an early look at just how good Barrera is.

7 All The World Is Sleeping (2021)

Some of the best projects in Melissa Barrera's filmography are lesser-known indie films. That's the case with All the World is Sleeping, which premiered at the New York Latino Film Festival in 2021 before getting a wider release nearly two years later.

That means All the World is Sleeping was easy to overlook. Barrera plays Chama, a woman in New Mexico who is struggling to avoid the same mistakes her parents made with her, yet her addiction threatens the life she has with her own daughter. The powerful performance by Barrera is crucial to this success.

6 Abigail (2024)

There's a reason Melissa Barrera is considered one of the best modern scream queens around. She's great in horror movies and one of her best is Abigail. The film made waves when the trailers arrived and it gave away the big twist, but that was fine because there were still more twists to come.

Abigail follows a group of criminals who kidnap the daughter of a powerful underworld boss, only to learn that the girl is actually a bloodthirsty vampire. Barrera shines as Joey, one of the kidnappers who bonds with Abigail and has a past as a military medic.

5 Your Monster (2024)

Your Monster combines the two things that Melissa Barrera is most known for on the screen. It involves her singing and starring in something of a horror movie, though this is more of a romantic comedy than anything else.

The film centers on Barrera as Laura Franco, a woman who gets dumped by her playwright boyfriend after she gets diagnosed with cancer. While struggling with her life, she meets a monster living in her closet and the two form an unexpected bond. It's sweet, heartfelt, well-acted, and features some quality music.

4 Scream (2022)

2022's Scream marked a new era for the slasher franchise. While legacy characters returned, the focus shifted to Sam Carpenter (Barrera), the daughter of Billy Loomis, as she, her sister (Jenna Ortega), and her friends become the target of a new Ghostface killer.

Sam quickly became one of the best final girls in horror history, especially since her connection to Billy made her a complex hero who might have harbored her father's tendency to kill. The killer reveal is great, Barrera is a standout, adn this is one of the best installments of the franchise.

3 The Copenhagen Test (2025)

Along with Barrera, Simu Liu is another talented actor who has risen to prominence in the 2020s. The two partnered up for one of the most interesting new shows on any streaming service, The Copenhagen Test.

The premise sees Liu's Alexander Hale get his brain hacked, allowing enemies to see into his everyday moves. He must prove his loyalty and find out who is behind this with help from fellow agent Michelle (Barrera). You never quite know who is on which side and the chemistry between the leads was strong, though this was canceled after one season.

2 Scream VI (2023)

In Scream VI, it was all about the new blood. Gone were Neve Campbell and David Arquette, allowing Barrera, Ortega, and the rest of the new cast to shine. The setting also shifted to New York, which allowed this installment to feel even more different than what came before.

Barrera gets even more room to shine and ends up being a fantastic lead. Critics appreciated Scream VI and it was named one of the best slasher films of the decade by several publications. In a lot of ways, it also ended on a perfect note that caps Sam's story since she's not in the sequel

1 In The Heights (2021)

The pandemic hurt the box office intake of In the Heights, but that didn't stop it from being one of the best musical movies of all time. An adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's stage play of the same name, it focuses on the lives of several Hispanic people who live in Washington Heights, New York.

While Anthony Ramos plays the lead role, Melissa Barrera is tremendous as Vanessa. Though she is the main love interest, she's a fully fleshed-out character who has hopes and desires of her own, as well as her own musical numbers. It's Barrera at her best, doing all the things that make her a star.