When it comes to taking up roles with a rather serious tone, Cillian Murphy is an actor who can do it better than anyone else. Murphy has a distinct acting style that makes him the perfect actor to play the role of a villain, a spy, or even an antihero. He has given amazing performances in several projects and if you are a fan, here are 10 best movies featuring Cillian Murphy that you should definitely watch.
1. Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer is a historical picturization of the first atomic bomb created by J. Robert Oppenheimer also called the father of the atomic bomb. This movie is the pinnacle representation of Cillian Murphy’s acting talents as he perfectly delivers the conflict in Oppeneimer’s mind about the overall impact of the creation of atomic bombs. This movie is a prime example of cinematography, storytelling, and of course impeccable acting. Oppenheimer bagged 13 nominations at the 2024 Oscars and took home 7 awards.
2. Red Eye
Red Eye revolves around a hotel manager named Lisa who is flying back home to attend her grandmother’s funeral. At there airport, she meets a a charming man named Jackson Rippner and as it turns out, they are seated together in the plane. However, in a shocking turn of events, Jackson reveals that he is an assassin who is going to take out the head of Homeland Security and he needs Lisa to change the hotel room of the official.
When Lisa tries to raise an alarm, he tells her that he has had Lisa’s father kidnapped and would hurt him if she does not comply. This movie is one of the best thrillers you will ever watch and even though this movie was made with a rather low budget, Cillian Murphy’s excellent screenplay completely compensates for it.
3. Anthropoid
Based on an extraordinary true story, Anthropoid is the story of two self-exiled Czech and Slovak soldiers who embark on a mission to assassinate a high-ranking Nazi General Reinhard Heydrich who is the third in command for the Reich right after Hitler and Himmler.
Hyrdrich was the leader of the Nazi forces when they took over Czechoslovakia and was the main man behind organizing the Final Solution. This movie will keep you on the edge of your seat for a very long time for its suspenseful theme and intense scenes. If you are someone who enjoys aspy thrillers and movies based on true stories, Anthropoid is something you should not miss out on.
4. Sunshine
Taking place in 2057, this movie shows us that the Sun is gradually dying, and as a result, everything on Earth is dying as well. A crew of astronauts is sent to reignite the sun but they fail to complete their mission. Seven years later a new crew with a massive nuclear bomb is sent to complete this mission but their death is imminent. Cillian Murphy shines in the leading role of Robert Capa throughout the movie.
5. Batman Begins
Batman Begins is probably the only superhero project in which Cillian Murphy has displayed his talents. Initially, he auditioned for the role of Bruce Wayne but was instead given the role of the main villain of the movie, Dr. Jonathan Crane aka The Scarecrow. To date, his adaptation of Scarecrow is said to be one of the finest antagonist roles he has appeared in. Batman Begins is considered to be one of the best Batman movies made and a major credit of it goes to the performance given by Cillian Murphy.
6. A Quiet Place Part II
Following up on the events seen in A Quite Place, this sequel follows the Abbot Family as they have discovered that high-frequency sounds can kill the aliens, and with this information, they leave their burnt-down farm to find other survivors. Then they cross paths with Emmett played by Cillian Murphy who is a father and had lost his family to the aliens. Even though he does not talk in the movie, you can understand exactly what he wants to say just by looking at his expressions. His performance in this movie is truly commendable and definitely deserves your time.
7. 28 Days Later
28 Days Later was the movie that brought Cillian Murphy to fame and gave birth to one of the most loved franchises in the world. In this movie, we see Cillian in the role of Jim, a bicycle-riding delivery boy who goes into a coma after an accident but when he wakes up, he finds the city has gone to ruins and has been taken over by people who have become cannibalistic.
He later finds out that a virus has turned people into these monsters and now he along with the groups of people who rescued him fight for their survival. 28 Days Later played an important role in the zombie genre as this was the first movie that introduced the world to the concept of fast zombies.
8. Peaky Blinders
Peaky Blinders is the only full-length TV show where we see Cillian Murphy as a lead character. This series takes place in Birmingham after World War 1 and brings us a crime boss Thomas Shelby, played by Cillian Murphy, who leads a group of mobsters majorly from his own family calling themselves the Peaky Blinders.
The show’s basic structure of the plot is how a small gang becomes one of the biggest crime families in England. The inspiration for this show was taken from a real-life gang called the Peaky Blinders that operated in Birmingham from the 1880s until the 1920s. Cillian Murphy, till date, is hailed for the role of Thomas Shelby.
9. Inception
Inception brings in Cillian Murphy as a kind of antagonist, who is the target of a Leonardo DiCaprio-led group of corporate espionage agents who can go into the dreams of a person and steal their deepest secrets. DiCaprio’s team thinks Murhpy’s character to be an easy target but things take a turn when they realize that he is way more formidable than they could have ever anticipated. Cillian Murphy excels at playing characters that are going through mental turmoil or are constantly under pressure and he has displayed this talent of his beautifully in Inception.
10. Small Things Like These
Small Things Like These is an adaptation of the novel of the same name written by Claire Keegan. This movie revolves around a man named Bill Furlong, who lives in a small conservative town where the church and its nuns can dictate the lives of everyone living there. However, things take a massive turn when he discovers some dark secrets about the nuns and uncovers shocking truths, This movie is essentially a suspense thriller that will most definitely keep you hooked till the very end.
