11 Sydney Sweeney Horror and Thriller Movies, Ranked
Who knew she was such a scream queen?
Although Sydney Sweeney has been acting since 2009 when she was just 12-years-old, she was not a recognizable star until she began playing troubled high school student Cassie Howard on Euphoria in 2019. In this decade, Sweeney became quite the scream queen, she has eleven horror and thriller roles in her filmography. Here are those roles, ranked from least to most enjoyable:
Spiders 3D (2013)
A “3D sci-fi monster movie” that has the worst reviews on this list, despite its $7 million budget. The plot sees mutant spiders loose in New York City after a Soviet space station crashes into a subway tunnel. Sweeney plays the daughter of a transit supervisor and a department of health employee who are at the center of the outbreak.
Along Came the Devil (2018)
Also known as Tell Me Your Name, this is Sydney Sweeney’s first starring role in a horror movie. She plays Ashley, a young woman who realizes she is being possessed by a demonic spirit. Her friend and a local expert in demonology get involved and attempt to save her life via exorcism.
ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction (2009)
After an independent movie filmed in Sweeney’s hometown of Spokane, she became interested in acting and presented her parents with a “business plan” in order to win their support. She made her film debut in ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction, a zombie comedy with a $1 million budget. Sweeney portrayed a little girl named Lisa. It was a tiny role and not a movie many people want to see unless you’re feeling nostalgic for Iraq War-era humor (see the film’s title).
Dead Ant (2017)
If you’re the kind of person who wants to see a woman running from a giant ant while topless, you’ll only have to wait two minutes into Dead Ant. This is a low-budget comedy horror movie. It’s a bad movie, but it is an enjoyable bad movie. Sweeney plays a woman on her way to Coachella with her friend when they meet a glam-metal band at a gas station in Joshua Tree and decide to smoke peyote together. She then spends the rest of the movie screaming and running from giant ants in her bikini — until she is pulled into an ant hole by the mutants.
The Ward (2010)
John Carpenter directed this supernatural horror movie set in 1966. It follows a woman institutionalized in a psych ward, Kristen (Amber Heard), who is haunted by a former patient of the ward, Alice. Sweeney portrays the younger version of Alice, seen in flashbacks. This isn’t as good of a horror movie as anyone would expect upon hearing that John Carpenter is involved, however, it’s not as bad as some reviews would lead you to believe. If you’re into insane asylum horror, this is worth checking out.
Night Teeth (2021)
Night Teeth is a vampire thriller about a chauffeur who is introduced to the world of vampires one night after picking up two mysterious women. Sweeney has a small role along with Megan Fox as sexy vampire queens and it’s definitely a highlight of the movie. Despite terrible reviews, I think Night Teeth wasn’t that bad and it had great series potential that I wish Netflix had tapped into.
Echo Valley (2025)
In this thriller, Sweeney plays Claire, a troubled addict and prodigal daughter to the main character Kate (Julianne Moore). When her daughter confesses that she accidentally killed her boyfriend during an argument, Kate covers for her and hides the body. This turns into a suspenseful cat-and-mouse game between Kate, Claire and a local drug dealer.
The Voyeurs (2021)
An erotic thriller that stars Sweeney as Pippa, a young woman who develops a habit of spying on her neighbors with her boyfriend. They watch the couple across the street engage in sex, adultery and abuse and fight about how whether it’s right to interfere with the strangers’ lives. This is an okay movie, but Watcher (2022) did it so much better.
Nocturne (2020)
A supernatural horror movie that stars Sweeney as Juliet, the less talented of two twin sisters attending a prestigious arts boarding school. As she competes with her twin, Juliet also notices supernatural phenomena and begins losing track of time. One reviewer said Nocturne is like “if Whiplash and Black Swan had a baby that didn’t live up to its parent’s expectations.”
Under the Silver Lake (2018)
Under the Silver Lake is a surrealist neo-noir black comedy thriller about a Los Angeles man’s (Andrew Garfield) search for a woman (Riley Keough) he met in his apartment swimming pool one night. Sweeny’s role is tiny, she is credited as just “Shooting Star #2” and appears at a pool party along with another actress who once knew the missing woman. You probably shouldn’t watch this just for Sydney as her role is so small, but it is an interesting movie. It competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes when it was released in 2018.
Immaculate (2024)
This is the horror movie Sydney Sweeney wanted to be in so bad she bought the script and produced the film herself. Sweeney stars as Cecelia, a devout novice nun who has just joined a convent in Italy. When the virginal Cecelia discovers she is pregnant, the convent celebrates. But when her health worsens during the pregnancy, Cecelia discovers she is being held captive with something monstrous growing inside her.
Honorable mentions:
A few of Sweeney’s other horror-adjacent roles, though they aren’t movies:
The Handmaid’s Tale (Season 2, 2018) — Sweeney portrays Eden Blaine, a devout 15-year-old girl whose greatest aspiration was marriage. The government assigned her to be Nick’s bride and they were married in a mass ceremony. She was eventually executed by the government, despite being an obedient believer.
Sharp Objects (2018) — In this excellent southern gothic psychological thriller miniseries based on the Gillian Flynn novel of the same name, Sweeney plays Alice, the psych ward roommate of main character Camille (Amy Adams). Her small role was expanded by director Jean-Marc Vallée, who added more scenes for her.
Strawberry Spring (2021) — This is a podcast performance of Stephen King’s short story of the same name. Sweeney voices the character of Anne Bray.
Further reading:
- 13+ Best Bad Movies Ever Made
- 10 Best Nunsploitation Horror Movies
- Opinion: 5 Upcoming Sydney Sweeney Projects That I Will No Longer Be Watching
