With roles in The Amityville Horror (2005), The Poker House (2008), (500) Days of Summer (2009), Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010), and Let Me In (2010). A breakthrough came in 2010 with her performance as Hit-Girl in the superhero film Kick-Ass and its 2013 sequel Kick-Ass 2.

She has since had starring roles in films, such as Hugo (2011), Dark Shadows (2012), Carrie (2013), Clouds of Sils Maria (2014), If I Stay(2014), The Equalizer (2014), The 5th Wave (2016), Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016), and The Miseducation of Cameron Post(2018).