[a] Born in Miami and raised in Buenos Aires and London, she left school at the age of 16 to pursue an acting career.

Taylor-Joy was born on 16 April 1996 in Miami, Florida, to Dennis Alan Taylor,[4] a former banker, and Jennifer Marina Joy, a psychologist.

[8] She has stated that her birth in Miami was a "fluke", since her parents had been vacationing in the city at the time; because of her birthplace, she holds American citizenship due to the country's jus soli nationality law.

[15] At age 17, she was scouted as a model by Storm Management founder Sarah Doukas, while walking her dog outside Harrods department store in Knightsbridge, London.

[20] That same year, she starred in The Witch, a period horror film directed by Robert Eggers, which tells the story of a Puritan family that encounters forces of evil in the woods beyond their New England farm.

[23][24] Anthony Lane of The New Yorker called Taylor-Joy "remarkable in the role, her wide-eyed innocence entwined with a thread of cunning—proof either of her quick wits, scarcely unusual in a clever and curious girl, or of some fell purpose.

[26][27] The following year, Taylor-Joy starred in Luke Scott's science fiction horror film Morgan, playing the title character.

It received negative reviews and was a commercial failure, but Booth Michigan's John Serba wrote that "Taylor-Joy disarms us with a performance that keenly teeter-totters between little-girl innocent and dead-eyed viciousness.

[29] The same year, Taylor-Joy's likeness was licensed from Storm Management to represent the character of Valkyrie Cain on the tenth anniversary book cover of Skulduggery Pleasant, and subsequently the covers of the seventh, eighth, ninth, and fourteenth books in the series,[30] before she appeared in the music video for Skrillex's remix of GTA's song "Red Lips".

[34] Her third release in 2017 was Sergio G. Sánchez's horror mystery Marrowbone; Tasha Robinson of The Verge wrote that Taylor-Joy brought "a shy, appealing warmth" to an inconsistent character.

[37] In December 2017, she portrayed Petronella Oortman in the BBC One period drama miniseries The Miniaturist, based on Jessie Burton's novel of the same name.

[39] It was a commercial success, grossing $247 million worldwide,[40] Later that year, she appeared in the documentary film Love, Antosha, on the life and career of her late co-star Anton Yelchin; and in Hozier's music video for his song "Dinner & Diatribes".

[46] The Guardian critic Mark Kermode described Taylor-Joy as having created an "admirably spiky character who is less likable than some of her screen predecessors, and all the better for it".

"[54] Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly called Taylor-Joy's performance "darkly fascinating" and noted how she "excels in the quiet moments, [with] her eyelids narrowing as she decimates an opponent, [and] her whole body physicalizing angry desperation when the game turns against her.

"[55] Similarly, Caroline Framke of Variety found her "so magnetic that when she stares down the camera lens, her flinty glare threatens to cut right through it.

[63] In 2022, Taylor-Joy reunited with The Witch director Robert Eggers for a starring role opposite Alexander Skarsgård in the historical epic The Northman.

[67][68] Released the following month was Mark Mylod's black comedy thriller The Menu, in which Taylor-Joy starred opposite Nicholas Hoult and Ralph Fiennes.

[73] Taylor-Joy began 2024 with a cameo role as Alia Atreides in Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two, a casting that was initially kept secret and was not publicly announced until she walked the red carpet at the film's London premiere.

[85] In 2021, Time included Taylor-Joy on its 100 Next list of "emerging leaders who are shaping the future", with a tribute written by former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov.