10 Underrated Salma Hayek Movies You Must See

Salma Hayek has built a remarkably varied body of work across languages, genres, and countries. Beyond the most widely discussed titles, her filmography includes a rich mix of independent projects, international productions, and formally inventive experiments that highlight her range across drama, comedy, action, and animation.

This list gathers ten projects that many viewers miss on a first pass through her career. You will find ambitious formal gambles, literary adaptations, true crime stories, and international collaborations, along with voice and producing work that broaden how her talent shows up on screen.

‘Timecode’ (2000)

This experimental drama is directed by Mike Figgis and unfolds in a single continuous take captured by four roaming cameras. The movie presents all four images at once in a split screen format and the actors work from outlines rather than fully fixed dialogue, which gives a spontaneous energy to the intersecting Hollywood stories.

Salma Hayek plays Rose, an aspiring actor whose relationships pull her into the core of the overlapping narratives. The production embraced early digital video workflows and the real time structure required rigorous blocking and rehearsal so that cues matched across all quadrants of the frame.

‘The Velocity of Gary’ (1998)

Directed by Dan Ireland and adapted from a play by James Still, this intimate drama centers on a small circle of characters navigating love, identity, and survival in New York City. The story follows Valentino and Gary as their lives intersect with Mary Carmen, creating a tight focus on personal histories and found family.

Salma Hayek portrays Mary Carmen with a grounded presence that anchors the film’s portrait of working class life. The project was produced within the American independent film ecosystem of the late nineteen nineties and it uses compact locations and a character driven structure to explore its themes.

‘Breaking Up’ (1997)

This relationship drama teams Salma Hayek with Russell Crowe under the direction of Robert Greenwald. The screenplay is by Michael Cristofer and it expands on his own stage play, following two people who cannot fully pull apart or settle into stability as they move through repeated breakups and reunions.

The film keeps the focus on the couple through intimate scenes and a limited set of locations. Hayek and Crowe carry long stretches of dialogue that preserve the story’s theatrical roots while using the camera to add shifts in perspective across the changing seasons of the relationship.

‘Ask the Dust’ (2006)

Writer director Robert Towne adapts John Fante’s novel set in Los Angeles during the Great Depression. The story centers on Arturo Bandini, a struggling Italian American writer, and Camilla Lopez, a Mexican immigrant who works in a downtown diner, as their paths cross in a city shaped by ambition and prejudice.

Salma Hayek plays Camilla and brings historical detail to a character navigating economic hardship and social barriers. The production recreates period Los Angeles with meticulous sets and costumes and it uses the desert and the city as contrasting environments to mirror the characters’ shifting fortunes.

‘Lonely Hearts’ (2006)

This crime drama is written and directed by Todd Robinson and is inspired by the real case of the so called Lonely Hearts Killers active in the nineteen forties. The narrative follows two detectives on the trail while the central couple exploits personal ads to target victims across several states.

Salma Hayek portrays Martha Beck opposite Jared Leto’s Raymond Fernandez, with John Travolta and James Gandolfini as the investigators. The film reconstructs the era through classic cars, wardrobe, and period interiors, and it weaves case file details into the story’s procedural framework.

‘Americano’ (2011)

Mathieu Demy writes, directs, and stars in this French drama that traces a winding trip from Paris to Los Angeles and Tijuana after a family loss. The story engages with memory and identity as the lead character seeks a woman who held a key place in his mother’s past.

Salma Hayek plays Lola, a dancer whose connection to the protagonist runs through personal history and unresolved questions. The film is notable for its cross border route, its blend of French and Spanish, and its intertextual links to the work of Agnès Varda, which add another layer to the journey.

‘As Luck Would Have It’ (2011)

Álex de la Iglesia directs this Spanish feature, released internationally as ‘As Luck Would Have It’. The plot follows a copywriter who suffers an accident at a historical site and becomes the center of an intense media storm that grows around his predicament.

Salma Hayek plays Luisa and supports the story’s exploration of news cycles, public spectacle, and family stakes. The film uses real urban locations in Spain and mixes newsroom scenes with on site sequences to show how a single event ripples through entertainment, advertising, and journalism.

‘The Prophet’ (2014)

This animated anthology brings together multiple animation teams under supervising director Roger Allers. The framing story follows a poet and philosopher whose writings are presented through distinct segments, each directed by a different artist, which allows varied visual styles to interpret the source text.

Salma Hayek serves as a producer and voices Kamila, whose family sits at the heart of the framing narrative. The project features contributions from acclaimed animators and a voice cast that includes performers from across the globe, and it premiered at a major international festival before its wider release.

‘Everly’ (2014)

Joe Lynch directs this action thriller that takes place almost entirely inside a single apartment over the course of one night. The story begins as a woman trapped by a criminal network decides to fight back, which triggers a sequence of escalating confrontations in and around the building.

Salma Hayek plays the title role and the production designs the apartment as a compact arena with practical effects and tightly choreographed set pieces. The movie followed a release strategy that combined digital platforms with limited theatrical play, which was common for mid budget genre films in that period.

‘Beatriz at Dinner’ (2017)

Miguel Arteta directs from a screenplay by Mike White, reuniting the pair after earlier collaborations. The plot follows a holistic healer who attends a client’s formal dinner and meets a group whose lives operate in a very different social and economic sphere.

Salma Hayek plays Beatriz and the story unfolds over a single evening with an ensemble that includes John Lithgow, Connie Britton, Chloë Sevigny, and Jay Duplass. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017 and Hayek received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead for her performance.

Share the titles you would add to this list in the comments so everyone can discover more hidden gems.