The best Joe Keery movies and TV shows include primarily a series of smaller independent movies surrounding his role in one of the most successful streaming television shows in history. Keery grew up in Massachusetts and was one of five children. He began his love of acting as a child when he started working in theater at a performing arts camp and kept acting during his high school years. This led to college at DePaul University, where he received a Bachelor's degree in Acting, beginning a career in television commercials.

However, after picking up small roles in guest appearances on TV shows and working in some independent movies, Joe Keery received his breakout role when he signed on to play Steve Harrington in the Netflix science fiction series Stranger Things. By the second season, he moved into one of the main roles and became a breakout star of the series. This led to several bigger movie roles, including working with Ryan Reynolds in Free Guy, Liam Neeson in Cold Storage, and Fargo.

10 Slice (2018)

Jackson

In 2018, Joe Keery took his fame from Stranger Things into a smaller role in the horror-comedy movie Slice. The film takes place in a small town in the United States that is home to about 40,000 ghosts, many of whom were residents of a closed sanatorium in the town. The ghosts work alongside the living but have to live in a neighborhood segregated from the rest of the town. When a pizza delivery driver is murdered in Ghost Town, a reporter sets out to uncover the truth as the living start to fear the ghostly residents.

Zazie Beetz (Atlanta, Joker) stars as Astrid, an employee at the pizza restaurant, while Rae Gray is Sadie, the reporter investigating the murder. As for Joe Keery, he plays Jackson, a friend of Sadie and her photographer for the newspaper. He is mostly an inept character, unable to really help out when needed, but the movie around him is full of big ideas and a fun atmosphere, as well as a star-making turn by Chance the Rapper. Critics gave it a 54% rating, with credit going to its originality.

9 Spree (2020)

Kurt Kunkle

Joe Keery took the lead role in the 2020 found-footage dark comedy Spree. Keery plays Kurt Kunkle, a young man who wants to become a viral social media star and will do anything to get to that level of fame. However, when a little kid he used to babysit becomes a social media celebrity, Kurt sets his site on more deliberate stunts and a willingness to cross the line to find fame. When he uses his job as a rideshare driver for Spree to start killing people and posting the murders, things start to spiral out of control.

Sptee received a 67% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with credit mostly going to Joe Keery. Critics also point out the critique of social media culture on display in the movie, and even the lack of the film's deeper meanings was seen as a part of that critique of internet celebrity. Among the reviews, Thrillist critic Dan Jackson wrote, "One of the best parts of Keery's performance is the way he plays the strange combination of naive earnestness and calculated cynicism that drives a person like Kurt to act in such a desperate manner."

8 No Activity (2019-2021)

Officer Ed Reinhardt

Stranger Things wasn't the only television show Joe Keery has starred in over his young career. He also appeared in the CBS All Access (now Paramount+) series No Activity. That streaming series ran for four seasons and told the story of different people who live in the world of a major drug cartel bust. The characters include two hapless cops, two criminals who don't know what is happening, two dispatch workers who don't get along, and two Mexican tunnelers trying to get out.

Joe Keery plays the recurring role of Officer Ed Reinhardt. While he is not one of the lead characters, he appears in two different seasons of the show (although he was animated in season 4). In that fourth season, he became Judd's (Tim Meadows) new partner. The series had a 70% approval rating from critics, who praised its originality, with some great comedy and an even better cast, with stars like J.K. Simmons, Amy Sedaris, Will Ferrell, and more dropping by for small roles.

7 Marmalade (2024)

Baron

In 2024, Joe Keery took on one of three lead roles in the romantic heist film Marmalade​​​​​. In this movie, Keery plays Baron, a simple-minded yet kind young man who ends up in jail, sharing a cell with a man named Otis (Aldis Hodge, Leverage). Otis, an escape artist, helps Baron escape prison in exchange for $250,000. When Otis wants to know how he got that much money, he recounts how he met a young woman named Marmalade (Camila Morrone), which led to the bank robbery that landed him in prison.

The story Baron tells is full of twists and turns, and it all ends up as a fun ride from start to finish, with Keery once again showing his immense charisma in the lead performance. Marmalade only had a limited theatrical release before hitting digitally in 2024. Critics liked the film, with a 71% Rotten Tomatoes score, and many praised the chemistry between the leads and the touching ending.

6 Free Guy (2021)

Walter "Keys" McKeys

Released in 2021, Ryan Reynolds stars in Free Guy, a movie that takes place inside a video game setting. Reynolds is Guy, a non-playable character in the online video game Free City. However, one day, Guy gains sentience and realizes he is a character inside a game and has nothing to do with the main story. When he starts to make decisions on his own and does unexpected things, he becomes a worldwide phenomenon but is something that the game's designers need to shut down.

Joe Keery plays Walter "Keys" McKey, one of the game's developers who created Free Guy's engine with his former partner Millie (Jodie Comer). While Millie is inside the game as an avatar, Walter has to decide if he will help her prove the game is based on her work or stay loyal to his ruthless boss, Antwan (Taika Waititi). The film was a huge success, making $331 million at the box office with an impressive 80% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and even an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects.

5 After Everything (2018)

Chris

In 2018, Joe Keery starred in the comedy-drama movie After Everything. In this movie, Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) stars as Elliott, a young man with a rare type of bone cancer who begins dating Mia (Maika Monroe), a customer at the sandwich shop where he works. The film then shows how she stands by him as he begins his cancer treatments, remaining by his side through all the struggles. However, when the two marry after his recovery, they must decide if their love was only strong because of the struggles.

Joe Keery plays Chris, and while it was a small role, it was also around the time that Keery began dating star Monroe in real life. In After Everything, Chris and Mia end up going on a Tinder date together, but things don't work out, and she ends up with Elliott instead. Critics praised the film, giving it an 83% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The critics praised the story's honesty and bittersweet look at romance in today's society.

4 Henry Gamble's Birthday Party (2015)

Gabe

In one of Joe Keery's first movie roles, he plays Gabe in Henry Gamble's Birthday Party, a low-budget indie drama. Cole Doman plays Henry Gamble, a closeted teenager who faces struggles because he is also an active member of a church youth group that would denounce him if they learned of his sexuality. The film focuses on his 17th birthday party, and it splits time throughout the film by following different people at the party and their inability to often deal with their own issues.

The movie opens with Henry masturbating alongside his friend Gabe as they talk about a girl who might attend the birthday party. The party then sees the attendees — both adults and teens — as they deal with their own suppressed issues, from drinking alcohol to marriage problems and infidelities. Keery only has a small role, but this was an ensemble piece where everyone had a chance to shine. Critics awarded it an 86% fresh Rotten Tomatoes score.

3 Molly's Game (2017)

Trust Fund Cole

Aaron Sorkin wrote and directed Molly's Game in 2017. The biographical drama stars Jessica Chastain as Molly Bloom, a woman who becomes the target of the FBI thanks to an underground poker empire she runs that includes movie stars, athletes, business tycoons, and even of the Russian mob. The real-life attendees included names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, and Tobey Maguire (all of whom were combined into a composite character played by Michael Cera).

Joe Keery played a character known as "Trust Fund Cole." In the movie, he is a trust fund kid who Molly catches cheating by using security cameras. However, she can't punish him because he hints that the other players would stop coming if they knew there were security cameras, forcing her to work out a deal with him. Critics praised the film and it earned an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, while Chastain received a Golden Globes nomination as well.

2 Fargo (2023-2024)

Gator Tillman

Joe Keery ed the cast of Fargo in the show's fifth season. In that season, he takes on the role of Gator Tillman, a young man who will do anything to prove himself to his sheriff father, Roy (Jon Hamm). While Gator is a secondary antagonist, Roy is the true villain who abused his wife and then did everything he could to bring her back home after she ran away, going into hiding for her own safety and well-being.

Gator is also willing to kill anyone at the drop of a hat and might be more dangerous than his dad, thanks to his reckless nature. Critics praised the season, awarding it a 93% fresh rating, and Keery continued to prove that he could play a ruthless villain with ease, as this was released around the same time as his serial killer rideshare movie Spree. Fargo season 5 earned three Golden Globes nominations and won one Primetime Emmy Award with 15 nominations.

1 Stranger Things (2016-Present)

Steve Harrington

Joe Keery became a star thanks to one role: Steve Harrington in Stranger Things. He appeared for the first time in season 1 as a popular high school student and Nancy's boyfriend. He is a bully to the main characters, but this soon changes. In the second season, he was moved into a lead role. He and Nancy broke up, but he took on the role of a "babysitter" to the group since it is his job to look after them as they get into more trouble when the horrors come to Hawkins.

Steve became a hero as the series rolled on, helping fight Vecna at the end of the fourth season alongside Robin and Nancy and delivering aid to the people affected by the resulting earthquake. Stranger Things has been a major success story for Netflix, with monstrous viewing numbers, constant high critics scores, and 12 Primetime Emmy Awards wins with 57 nominations. Joe Keery was nominated for a Hollywood Critics Association TV Award in 2022 for his performance.