When watching Cillian Murphy movies, you are always guaranteed two things: an outstanding performance by himself and a great film. The Peaky Blinders star has become an instantly recognizable star globally, so here are the top ten best Cillian Murphy movies.
Compiling a list of the ten best Cillian Murphy movies is no easy task due to the sheer quality and quantity of his filmography to date, which is impressive for such a relatively young actor to have.
The Cork-born actor has become a worldwide star in recent years thanks to some of his performances in hit movies.
This article will list what we believe to be the ten best Cillian Murphy movies to watch, ranked in order.
10. Disco Pigs (2001) – one of Murphy’s first film roles
The stage play of Disco Pigs was Murphy’s first gig as an actor; he returned for the film adaption to play the volatile and obsessive 17-year-old boy ‘Pig’ who struggles to let go of the relationship he had with what he believed to be his soulmate.
It’s a haunting and thought-provoking movie and was one of the first to showcase Murphy’s true talents.
9. Red Eye (2005) – a thriller with Murphy as the bad guy
Red Eye is a thriller in which Murphy plays a terrorist who kidnaps a woman and tells her that she must assassinate a politician or her father will die.
Murphy stars as Jackson Rippner, who grows more and more psychotic as he continues to be outwitted by Lisa.
8. The Party (2017) – a rare comedic showing for Murphy
The Party gave Murphy a rare chance to show his comedic chops in this comedy film.
Murphy stars alongside an A-list cast including Tim Spall, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer, Cherry Jones, and Bruno Ganz. It is a simple but funny movie.
7. Sunshine (2007) – a sci-fi thriller
Five years after appearing in 28 Days Later, Cillian Murphy once again teamed up with Danny Boyle in Sunshine, which tells the story of a group of astronauts set in the future who are tasked with the mission of reviving a dying star.
Murphy plays Robert Capa who plays one of the important physicists on board.
6. Dunkirk (2017) – Murphy plays a small but important role
While Murphy plays a small part in Christopher Nolan’s WWII epic Dunkirk, it certainly isn’t an insignificant one.
Murphy perfectly plays a shellshocked soldier and captures the genuine fear and terror that soldiers experience in war and its effect on them.
5. Batman Begins (2005) – one of his breakout movies
Murphy first began his longstanding professional work relationship with acclaimed director Christopher Nolan with Batman Begins where he stars as one of the films primary villain the Scarecrow.
Murphy somehow manages to bring both vulnerability and terror to his character.
4. Inception (2010) – another collaboration with Nolan
It seems like Nolan loves to cast Murphy as a villain.
For Inception, he gave him a more nuanced role as he played a middleman that the protagonist Cobb, played by DiCaprio, was tasked with incepting so that they could get to the father of Cillian’s character, who was the real villain of the piece.
3. Breakfast on Pluto (2005) – tackling difficult subjects
In what was and still is a groundbreaking performance, Murphy shows how versatile he can be when he plays the role of a trans woman who struggles with her identity and how she is viewed.
The movie deals with the subject with great composure and tact, and Murphy certainly does the role justice.
2. 28 Days Later (2002) – the movie that put him on the map
28 Days Later, directed by Danny Boyle, is widely considered to be Cillian Murphy’s breakout role.
In this horrifying zombie movie thriller, Murphy plays Jim who wakes from a coma to find himself in a world overrun by the infected. He proved his acting chops on a larger scale in this brilliant movie.
1. The Wind That Shakes The Barley (2006) – his best performance to date
In first position on our list of the top ten best Cillian Murphy Movies is the Wind that Shales the Barley.
In what was arguably the finest performance of his entire career to date, Murphy shines in Ken Loach’s examination of the Irish War of Independence and its aftermath.
The main focus of the film focuses on Murphy’s character Damien and his brother Teddy (Padraic Delaney) as they join an IRA column to try and free Ireland from the British.
However, the brothers eventually find themselves on opposite sides when it comes to a bloody and deadly civil war.
That concludes our article of what we believe to be the ten best Cillian Murphy movies to watch. How many of them have you seen?
