There are so many Ruth Wilson movies and TV shows out there for those who couldn’t get enough of her unnerving performance as Alice Morgan in Luther.
After discovering where to watch Luther the next question many of us would’ve had after taking in every heart-stopping moment of the Luther: The Fallen Sun movie is whether Alice died in Luther and where she was? After all, Ruth Wilson’s portrayal of the psychopathic genius was part of what made the original BBC drama so wonderful. Having killed her parents the self-proclaimed “quirky” character played a cat-and-mouse game with DCI John Luther with twisted romance and confusion thrown in. Now that the Luther movie has landed and was a completely Alice-free zone though, many people might well be looking to enjoy more Ruth Wilson movies and TV shows from her successful career.
Here we reveal our pick of the best Ruth Wilson movies and TV shows you might not have seen before or you just won’t be able to resist re-watching!
Our pick of the best Ruth Wilson movies and TV shows
Mrs Wilson
Playing her own real-life grandmother in this BBC historical drama, Ruth Wilson shines as Mrs Alison Wilson - a widow who discovers her late husband Alexander Wilson has been leading a secret life. When the former MI5 officer passes away, Alison discovers that she’s not the only Mrs Wilson out there and tries to shield her sons Gordon and Nigel (Ruth’s real-life father) from the devastating truth. Heart-wrenching and almost too unbelievable to be true, this deeply personal series also saw Ruth step into the role of executive producer. She was even nominated for the 2018 Best Actress BAFTA TV Award for playing Alison Wilson so if that doesn’t entrance you into giving this a go, we don’t know what will!
Mrs Wilson is available to watch on Netflix and via Amazon Prime Video via a BritBox subscription.
Saving Mr. Banks
Starring alongside the likes of Dame Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks, if you love Ruth Wilson movies and TV shows then this is one to add to your to-watch list. She plays Margaret Goff, the mother of Mary Poppins’ author P.L. Travers, born Helen Goff. Following Helen's childhood in Queensland, Australia and her meeting with none other than Walt Disney as he attempted to buy the film rights to her Mary Poppins novels, Saving Mr. Banks was critically acclaimed and earned plenty of award nominations. With this movie Ruth Wilson proved once again that she need not always be the titular or primary character to deliver an outstanding and memorable performance.
Saving Mr. Banks is available on Disney+.
Small Island
Adapted from Andrea Levy’s prize-winning novel of the same name, Small Island takes viewers back in time and stars Ruth Wilson as Queenie, a young woman from a humble background in Yorkshire who dreams of something more. Marrying Bernard Bligh, her path eventually crosses with Michael and later also Hortense during and after the Second World War. Michael and Hortense were raised together in Jamaica and Hortense later travels to England seeking a new life, only to face appalling racial abuse and prejudice. Their lives are also intertwined with that of Gilbert Joseph who accepted Hortense’s offer of marriage in return for bringing her to England with him. Emotionally-charged and truly devastating in places, this period drama is one of the most poignant of Ruth Wilson movies and TV shows.
Small Island is available to watch via Amazon Prime Video via BritBox.
Dark River
The 2017 movie Dark River is loosely inspired by Rose Tremain’s novel, Trespass, re-set in the Northern English county of Yorkshire where Ruth Wilson’s Alice Bell works happily as a sheep shearer on a farm. Until, that is, her father dies and Alice quits her job and returns home where she starts to experience pretty disturbing flashbacks. Confronting her past after all this time isn’t easy and coming face-to-face with her brother Joe after 15 years, Alice sets about trying to secure their late father’s tenancy and turn the farm around whilst he might have other ideas...
Dark River is available to buy on Amazon Prime Video.
The Affair
As the name might suggest, The Affair focuses on the emotional impact of infidelity upon relationships and stars Ruth Wilson as Alison Bailey who meets and falls head-over-heels for married Noah Solloway (Dominic West) after meeting him at the diner she works at. This is one of those Ruth Wilson movies and TV shows that truly shows there are two sides to every story, showing both Alison’s perspective as a waitress whose marriage has fractured after the loss of her son and Noah’s as a man whose family is dependent upon his rich father-in-law. Each episode of this spellbinding series reflects their often contrasting points of view on the same events. Packed full of emotional tension, mystery and heartbreak, this is an emotional rollercoaster of a watch.
The Affair is available to watch via Amazon with a Paramount+ subscription or via a Showtime subscription.
See How They Run
See How They Run - Disney+
Perhaps the most recent of Ruth Wilson movies and TV shows to be released is See How They Run which also stars Saoirse Ronan, David Oyelowo, Adrien Brody and Sam Rockwell. Packed with comedy, this period drama mystery is set in 1953 as Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap celebrates its centenary. American director Leo Köpernick is in charge of directing the film adaptation only to wind up dead, setting up a chain of events that Agatha Christie herself might well have been proud of. With suspects galore (including Mousetrap producer Petula Spencer played by Ruth) and two detectives on the case, things soon get even more intriguing as the perpetrator is finally uncovered…
See How They Run is available on Disney+.
His Dark Materials
His Dark Materials - BBC iPlayer
It might be a far cry from the gritty London streets of Luther, but His Dark Materials is a Ruth Wilson series that sees her talent for playing morally dubious individuals like Alice Morgan shine through again. She plays the mysterious and glamorous Mrs Coulter in this adaptation of Philip Pullman’s book trilogy, which follows young orphan Lyra Belacqua in an alternative world as she sets out to find her kidnapped friend Roger and discovers far more danger than she bargains for. Ruth Wilson’s portrayal of Mrs Coulter is chillingly brilliant and the more the seasons go on the more complexity in her character develops.
His Dark Materials seasons 1-3 available to watch via BBC iPlayer and HBO, but sadly, if you're going to be abroad when you want to watch His Dark Materials then sadly you won't be able to watch thanks to regional restrictions.
Luckily there’s an easy solution and you can use a VPN to continue watching. This is a handy bit of software that changes your IP address so that you can access on-demand content or live TV just as if you were at home.
Our sister site, TechRadar, has tested all of the major VPN services and they rate ExpressVPN as the absolute best. They say, “It’s compatible with all of your devices, supports most streaming services, and ranks among the fastest. You can even install it on devices like an Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Xbox, and PlayStation. So for a one-stop-shop, you can’t go wrong with Express.”
