Having joined the Saturday Night Live cast quite late into its 37th season in April 2012, Kate McKinnon had a pretty abrupt debut on the sketch comedy series. However, her final curtain call at Studio 8H (around the same time fellow movie and TV star Pete Davidson left the cast, too) was anything but abrupt, since the two-time Emmy winner had already become one of the show's most renowned and popular talents. She has an impressive number of notable big-screen credits to show for it.
The voice of Ms. Frizzle in Netflix's reboot of The Magic School Bus and one of the biggest stars in the platform's The Bubble cast rarely plays the lead in any of her films (so far, at least) but might as well have for how brilliantly she has managed to steal the show from her top-billed co-stars. Allow us to present why we believe our recommendations for the best Kate McKinnon movies truly deserve to be called “Kate McKinnon movies” in the following list, complete with tips of where to find them available on streaming, for digital rental, or purchase on physical media.
Barbie (2023)
A highly accomplished, fun-loving woman (played by Margot Robbie) and her boyfriend (played by Ryan Gosling) go on a life-changing journey outside of their idyllic, colorful, isolated world.
Why it’s one of Kate McKinnon’s best movies: Reuniting with her Bombshell co-star, Robbie, McKinnon joined the Barbie cast as "Weird Barbie" -- which is now a real doll fans can pre-order on Mattel's website -- in co-writer and director Greta Gerwig's massive hit, which is now available with a Max subscription.
Stream Barbie on Max.
Rent or buy Barbie on Amazon.
Buy Barbie on Blu-ray on Amazon.
DC League Of Super-Pets (2022)
When Superman (John Krasinski) is suddenly kidnapped, his super-powered dog, Krypto (Dwayne Johnson), teams up with Batman's (Keanu Reeves) hound, Ace (Kevin Hart), and other enhanced animals to rescue the Man of Steel.
Why it’s one of Kate McKinnon’s best movies: For her first role in a superhero movie, McKinnon starred in the DC League of Super-Pets voice cast as Lulu -- a hairless guinea pig and the central antagonist of this funny animated film for audiences who love both animals and comic books.
Stream DC League of Super-Pets on Max.
Buy/rent DC League of Super-Pets on Amazon.
Buy DC League Of Super-Pets on Blu-ray on Amazon.
Finding Dory (2016)
After helping her Clown Fish friend (voiced by Albert Brooks), find his son (voiced by Hayden Rolence), a Blue Tang (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) tries to overcome her short-term memory loss and search for her long-lost parents.
Why it’s one of Kate McKinnon’s best movies: McKinnon makes a cameo, alongside fellow SNL star Bill Hader, in the star-studded Finding Dory voice cast in this heartwarming sequel to one of Pixar's best movies, Finding Nemo.
Stream Finding Dory on Disney+.
Rent or buy Finding Dory on Amazon.
Buy Finding Dory on Blu-ray on Amazon.
Family (2018)
A self-loathing workaholic (played by Orange is the New Black cast member Taylor Schilling) is given a much-needed crash course in emotional bonding when she is suddenly tasked with looking after her teenage niece (played by Bryn Vale), who dreams of becoming a Juggalo.
Why it’s one of Kate McKinnon’s best movies: McKinnon appears in the small, but show-stealing, role as the next-door neighbor to Schilling's character in writer and director Laura Steinel's uproarious comedy, Family.
Stream Family on Tubi.
Stream Family on Freevee through Amazon.
Buy Family on DVD on Amazon.
Sisters (2015)
Reunited by their parents’ request to help clean their childhood home before it goes on the market, a divorced nurse (played by Amy Poehler) and her older, but far less responsible, sibling (played by Tina Fey) seek to recapture their youth by throwing a wild party that quickly proves to be a bit more wild than they intended.
Why it’s one of Kate McKinnon’s best movies: While she was still something of a Saturday Night Live icon in-the-making, McKinnon shared the screen with established SNL legends Fey and Poehler in one of the funniest party movies in recent memory, Sisters, as one of the more scene-stealing guests at their house rager.
Stream Sisters on Max.
Rent or buy Sisters on Amazon.
Buy Sisters on Blu-Ray on Amazon.
Rough Night (2017)
An engaged politician (played by Academy Award nominee Scarlett Johansson) reunites with her four best friends from college (played by McKinnon, Jillian Bell, Zoë Kravitz, and Ilana Glazer) to let loose for her bachelorette party getaway in Miami, until it suddenly takes a horrifying turn.
Why it’s one of Kate McKinnon’s best movies: McKinnon puts on an over-the-top Australian accent to steal the show from Johansson (a Marvel movies star and now wife of a fellow Saturday Night Live cast member) and the rest of the all-star cast of Rough Night -- another fun, female-driven comedy about recapturing one’s youth, but with a much darker twist.
Stream Rough Night on Hulu.
Rent or buy Rough Night on Amazon.
Buy Rough Night on DVD/Blu-Ray on Amazon.
Office Christmas Party (2016)
A tech company’s struggling Chicago branch manager (played by T.J. Miller), his chief technology officer (played by Jason Bateman), and the head of Research and Development (played by Olivia Munn) try to save their jobs by hosting an extreme “non-denominational holiday mixer” in hopes of striking a business deal with a sought-after client (played by Courtney B. Vance).
Why it’s one of Kate McKinnon’s best movies: McKinnon plays the, initially, least rowdy partier in, arguably, the finest of her party movies, Office Christmas Party -- another star-studded romp that technically counts as a raunchy holiday movie, but is also not particularly tied down by holiday themes, making it a good enough time to watch any time of year.
Buy/Rent Office Christmas Party on Amazon.
Buy Office Christmas Party on Blu-Ray on Amazon.
Masterminds (2016)
Hoping to win the heart of his co-worker (Kristen Wiig), a guard for an armored truck company (played by Zach Galifianakis) agrees to help pull off a huge bank robbery for her conniving lover (played by Owen Wilson), who ends up betraying him by hiring a bumbling hitman (played by Jason Sudeikis) to do away with him.
Why it’s one of Kate McKinnon’s best movies: McKinnon shared the screen with fellow SNL stars Kristen Wiig and Leslie Jones when she played Jandice, the inhumanly and unsettlingly calm wife of Galifianakis’ character, in Masterminds -- an irreverently comedic dramatization of one of the most profitable heists in U.S. history from Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess.
Buy/Rent Masterminds on Amazon.
Buy Masterminds on Blu-Ray on Amazon.
The Angry Birds Movie (2016)
A community of flightless birds -- including the cynical Red (Jason Sudeikis), the super fast Chuck (Josh Gad), and the literally explosive Bomb (Danny McBride) -- are forced to band together and fight back against an organization of disgusting green pigs who arrive and threaten to take over their secluded, serene island home.
Why it’s one of Kate McKinnon’s best movies: Another time that McKinnon shared the screen with Sudeikis in 2016 was when she leant her voice to play two different roles (Stella and Eva) in The Angry Birds Movie -- the epic, big screen adaptation of one of the most popular mobile gaming apps in history.
Stream The Angry Birds Movie on Netflix.
Rent/buy The Angry Birds Movie on Amazon.
Buy The Angry Birds Movie on Blu-Ray on Amazon.
Ferdinand (2017)
After he is mistaken for a wild beast and forcibly brought to a camp for bullfighting training in Spain, an imposing, yet friendly and gentle, bull (voiced by John Cena) enlists the help of his new friends to help him escape and reunite with his human family.
Why it’s one of Kate McKinnon’s best movies: One of McKinnon’s even funnier and more prominent voice acting roles was as a neurotic, elderly goat named Lupe, who befriends’ John Cena’s titular goat hero in Ferdinand -- a sweet, animated adaptation of writer Munro Leaf and illustrator Robert Lawson’s beloved children’s book, and one of the best movies by Blue Sky Studios in more recent years.
Stream Ferdinand on Disney+.
Buy/Rent Ferdinand on Amazon.
Buy Ferdinand on Blu-Ray on Amazon.
The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018)
After she goes through a painful break-up with her boyfriend (played by Justin Theroux), who ended things with a text message, a woman (played by Mila Kunis) discovers that her ex was actually a secret agent, which leads her and her best friend (McKinnon) to become embroiled in an international conspiracy and forces them to go on the run in Europe.
Why it’s one of Kate McKinnon’s best movies: One of McKinnon’s funniest and most prominent live-action movie roles was a character named Morgan Freeman, a free-spirit who is full of surprises, in The Spy Who Dumped Me -- a thrill-a-minute, laugh-a-minute hybrid of romantic comedies, buddy cop movies, and espionage thrillers directed by Booksmart co-writer Susanna Fogel.
Rent or buy The Spy Who Dumped Me on Amazon.
Buy The Spy Who Dumped Me on Blu-Ray on Amazon.
Yesterday (2019)
A young, hopelessly struggling musician from England (played by Himesh Patel) finally achieves the success he has always dreamed of, but by peculiar means: he has suddenly woken up in an alternate reality in which The Beatles never became famous and begins passing off their groundbreaking hits as his own creations.
Why it’s one of Kate McKinnon’s best movies: McKinnon gives, easily, the funniest performance in Yesterday -- writer Richard Curtis and director Danny Boyle's inventive, musical fantasy dramedy -- as Ed Sheeran’s extremely demanding, brutally honest, money-grubbing manager, Debra Hammer, who makes Patel’s character, Jack, into a star.
Rent or buy Yesterday on Amazon.
Buy Yesterday on Blu-Ray on Amazon.
Bombshell (2019)
After landing her dream job at Fox News, a young journalist (played by Margot Robbie) falls prey to Roger Ailes' (John Lithgow) sexual advances, inspiring her to join Megyn Kelly (nearly unrecognizable Charlize Theron) and Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) in a plot to expose the CEO's toxicity.
Why it’s one of Kate McKinnon’s best movies: McKinnon gives, easily, the funniest performance in the Bombshell cast as a composite character inspired by first-hand accounts of the scandalous events at the media outlet dramatized in director Jay Roach’s otherwise disturbing Oscar-winning dramedy.
Stream Bombshell on Amazon Prime.
Get Bombshell on Blu-Ray on Amazon.
If you still cannot get enough of Kate McKinnon after binging the bulk of her feature-length filmography, her best Saturday Night Live sketches are available to stream with a Peacock Premium subscription. Also, she finally found her way onto the SNL Season 49 hosting schedule. Keep an eye out for her upcoming sci-fi film, In the Blink of an Eye, from director Andrew Stanton.
