On television, she has since starred in the Foxtel drama Lambs of God (2019), the Netflix thriller Pieces of Her (2022), and the ITV romantic comedy You & Me (2023).

[6] Barden made her acting debut in 1999 with a small role in an episode of the CITV series My Parents Are Aliens.

[21][22] From 2012 to 2014, she had film roles in the horror Comedown,[23][24] the mystery-drama In the Dark Half,[25] the psychological thriller Mindscape, and the indie Lullaby.

Also in 2017, Barden began starring in the Channel 4 and Netflix dark comedy-drama The End of the F***ing World as Alyssa, a role she would play for both series.

She won the IMDb Breakout Star Award and was named a 2018 BAFTA Breakthrough Brit.

[30] Barden appeared in the 2019 music videos for Conan Gray's "Maniac"[31] and Ozzy Osbourne's "Under the Graveyard", as well as the film Jungleland and the Australian Foxtel series Lambs of God.

In January 2021, it was announced Barden had been cast as Jane in the 2022 Netflix thriller Pieces of Her, an adaptation of Karin Slaughter's novel of the same name.

[3] In a 2023 interview with The Daily Telegraph, Barden spoke out against "working class tourism" in acting and posh actors who approach working class roles with a condescending or ignorant attitude, specifically calling out Emma Corrin for wanting to do a "gritty" film with an "outrageous accent".