She made her film debut at a very young age, in 2001, chosen by Nanni Moretti for the role of Irene in “La stanza del figlio”. Two years later he was in the cast of “La meglio gioventù” by Marco Tullio Giordana, followed in 2005 by “Manuale d'amore” by Giovanni Veronesi and “Romanzo Criminale” by Michele Placido.
Nanni Moretti chose her again in 2006 for “Il Caimano”; the following year we see her in “Piano, solo” by Riccardo Milani, while in 2009 she won the Marcello Mastroianni Prize in Venice with Il grande sogno by Michele Placido.
In 2011 he shot in France “L'Apollonide” by Bertrand Bonello, in competition at the Cannes Film Festival (with the director he returned to work in Saint Laurent), while two years later she was at the Locarno Film Festival with “Une autre vie” by Emmanuel Mouret. In 2013 she starred in “Un giorno devi andare” by Giorgio Diritti and “Miele” by Valeria Golino, which earned her the Nastro d'argento.

In 2015 she was in the international cast of Pierre Morel's “The Gunman”, with Sean Penn and Javier Bardem. In the same year he played “Nessuno si salva da solo” by Sergio Castellitto and “Maraviglioso Boccaccio” by the Taviani brothers.
After “Slam – Tutto per una ragazza” by Andrea Molaioli, in 2017 she starred in “Fortunata” by Sergio Castellitto, with which she won the Award for Best Performance in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, and then the David di Donatello and the Nastro d'argento. The following year she played Ilaria Cucchi in Alessio Cremonini's film “On My Skin”.
In recent seasons she appears – among others – in “Euforia” by Valeria Golino, “Croce e delizia” by Simone Godano (Golden Globe for best actress), “Simple Women” by Chiara Malta, “La Dea Fortuna” (David di Donatello and Nastro d'argento for best leading actress), “Diamanti” by Ferzan Ozpetek, “The Story of My Wife” by Ildikó Enyedi, “Superheroes” by Paolo Genovese, “Prophets” by Alessio Cremonini, “La Nouvelle Femme” by Léa Todorov, and in the series “Supersex”, “La  Storia” and “Art of Joy”.

In 2018 she made his theatre debut in the show “La Maladie de la mort”, directed by Katie Mitchell, while in 2020 he signed his first short as a director, “BMM – Being My Mom”, in competition in the Orizzonti section at the Venice International Film Festival, followed by his feature film debut, “Marcel!”, in official selection at the 75° Cannes Film Festival.
In 2025 he performed “La Gioia” by Nicolangelo Gelormini, “Illusion” by Francesca Archibugi, “Gli occhi degli altri” by Andrea De Sica, “L'Estranea” by Paolo Strippoli and “Succederà questa notte ” by Nanni Moretti.