[1] Forster's first feature-length motion picture was the psychological drama Everything Put Together (2000), which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

[2] His breakthrough film was Monster's Ball (2001), in which he directed Halle Berry in her Academy Award-winning performance as the wife of a man on death row.

[4] The film grossed $54 million worldwide [5] and earned Will Ferrell a nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

Forster then directed an adaptation of best-seller Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, scripted by repeat collaborator David Benioff and starring British newcomer Khalid Abdalla.

[9] Forster directed the film adaptation of the novel World War Z, starring Brad Pitt, which Paramount announced at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con.

[11] Forster directed his screenplay of All I See Is You, a visually driven drama following a blind woman (Blake Lively) and her husband (Jason Clarke) who, upon the restoration of her sight, begin to discover previously unseen and disturbing details about themselves and their marriage, released in 2016.

In November 2016, Walt Disney Pictures announced that Forster would direct the live-action film adaptation of Winnie the Pooh, which was titled Christopher Robin.