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The 27 Most Anticipated Movies of 2022

We can’t believe it’s already almost April either. But there’s still a lot of 2022 ahead of us and we thought about taking a renewed look at our selection of some of 2022’s most anticipated films, especially considering the calendar of releases has changed a lot in the last few weeks.

Bear in mind that nothing is set in stone, so this isn’t a comprehensive selection. New titles will pop up as the new year unfolds. Plus, most of these titles are tentpole movies and/or sequels or adaptations from pre-existing franchises. Expect the year 2022 to be full of those, but also keep in mind that there’ll also be a fair share of must-see indie movies as the year progresses. It’s hard to know if 2022 will be the year that cinema-going returns to normal, or if we’ll all still be doing a lot of streaming at home for certain titles, while opting for the big screen for others.

And yes, some of the titles on this list are movies that we were already looking forward to watching back in 2019 — ahem, Top Gun: Maverick .

Winter 2022: Movies That Have Already Premiered

The 355 (January 7): This action-espionage ensemble stars Jessica Chastain as a CIA agent who joins forces with a German agent (Diane Kruger), a former MI6 ally who specializes in computers (Lupita Nyong’o) and a Colombian psychologist (Penélope Cruz) on a mission to recover a top-secret weapon. Bingbing Fan plays the mysterious woman who follows their every move. The 355 is now available on Peacock and on video on demand (VOD).

Scream (January 14): This is the fifth installment of the Scream franchise. Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette return to their iconic roles alongside newcomers Melissa Barrera, Kyle Gallner, Mason Gooding and Jenna Ortega. Twenty-five years after the brutal murders that terrified the small town of Woodsboro, a new killer dons the Ghostface mask and targets a group of teenagers. Scream is now available on Paramount+ and VOD.

Moonfall (February 4): Master of disaster and climate change advocate Roland Emmerich co-writes and directs this film that sees the Moon on the brink of colliding with Earth and annihilating our world. Halle Berry plays a former astronaut who partners with another astronaut (Patrick Wilson) and a conspiracy theorist (John Bradley from Game of Thrones ). Together they’ll try to save humanity as they discover our Moon is not what we think it is.

Death on the Nile (February 11): This new adaptation of a classic Agatha Christie novel has Kenneth Branagh directing and playing the lead detective, Hercule Poirot — the Irish filmmaker already starred in and directed Murder on the Orient Express (2017). This one has been postponed several times due not only to the pandemic but also because a prominent role in the movie is played by Armie Hammer. The movie debuts on Hulu and HBO Max on March 29.

Uncharted (February 18): Based on the eponymous action-adventure video game series , the movie stars Tom Holland ( Spider-Man: Homecoming ) as Nathan Drake and Mark Wahlberg as Victor Sullivan. They both embark on an epic international adventure — Barcelona is prominently featured in the trailer — in the pursuit of “the greatest treasure never found.” Meanwhile, Nathan starts discovering new details about his long-lost brother.

The Batman (March 4): Robert Pattinson dons the cape and the pointy-eared mask in this new reboot of the bat franchise. Matt Reeves ( Dawn of the Planet of the Apes ) co-writes and directs the movie, which also stars Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, Jeffrey Wright and John Turturro. Don’t miss our article on the hidden details in The Batman ’s first trailer and the movie’s inception and our full review of The Batman .

Turning Red (March 11): Pixar’s first 2022 title is directed by Domee Shi, who won an Oscar for her short film Bao (2018). The movie follows the story of 13-year-old Mei Lee (voiced by Rosalie Chiang), who turns into a giant red panda every time she gets excited. Sandra Oh voices Mei Lee’s overbearing mom, Ming. Read our review of Turning Red here .

Deep Water (March 18): Based on the novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith and starring Ana de Armas and Ben Affleck, this is one of the titles that has been postponed several times because of COVID-19. De Armas and Affleck play a married couple who have an arrangement to keep their marriage afloat. But when their games turn into murder, things get messier. Highsmith’s source material offers a portrayal of the fake veneer covering American suburbia — let’s hope the film does too.

The Lost City (March 25): Sandra Bullock returns to her comedy roots starring in this action-adventure where she plays Loretta Sage. She’s a popular romance-adventure writer on a promotional tour with Alan (Channing Tatum), the model who has always portrayed Loretta’s main character: the hero Dash. When Loretta is kidnapped by a billionaire (Daniel Radcliffe) who wants to find an ancient lost city’s treasure from one of her novels, Alan decides to take the lead and rescue her as Dash would do. They end up in the middle of the jungle needing to work together to stay alive and find the ancient treasure before it’s lost forever.

Spring Movies 2022

Morbius (April 1): Set in the same universe as Venom , Morbius stars the chameleonic Jared Leto as Dr. Michael Morbius. He suffers from a rare blood disease and, while trying to find a cure for himself and others, he ends up transformed into someone with an urge for blood and other vampiric tendencies. Watching the method actor Leto transform himself into a mindless creature may prove to be one of the most appealing aspects of the film.

Ambulance (April 8): Michael Bay produces and directs this film starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II ( Candyman ) as Will, a vet desperate to pay for his wife’s medical bills. His adoptive brother, Dany (Jake Gyllenhaal), is a professional criminal. When Will asks him for help, Dany enlists Will in a $32 million bank robbery. The two of them end up in an adrenaline-fueled chase through the streets of Los Angeles, inside of an ambulance driven by EMT Cam (Eiza González).

Downton Abbey: A New Era (May 20): First there were the six seasons of the television drama about a family of British aristocrats, their estate and the servants who allowed for everything to run smoothly. Then there was a 2019 movie too, and now it’s time for a film sequel: A New Era . Julian Fellowes, the creator of the show, returns once more here as the writer. And yes, the good news is that despite the dire health diagnosis the Dowager Countess revealed to her granddaughter Mary (Michelle Dockery) at the end of the previous movie, Maggie Smith returns to A New Era to hopefully dispense fresh doses of perfectly delivered puns.

Top Gun: Maverick (May 27): The original Top Gun opened in 1986. Now, this sequel that’s been decades in the making follows Tom Cruise’s Maverick after he’s served more than 30 years as a pilot in the Navy. When he has to train a group of Top Gun graduates for an impossible mission, Maverick meets Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the son of his long-lost friend Goose. Expect spectacular aerial sequences and a lot of need for speed.

Jurassic World: Dominion (June 10): Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard return for this sixth installment of the Jurassic Park franchise and sequel to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018). Franchise originals Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern also star in this movie. Lightyear (June 17): Who was the Space Ranger who inspired the Buzz Lightyear toy from the Toy Story franchise? Chris Evans voices Buzz in this origin story that Pixar describes as a sci-fi action-adventure film.

Elvis (June 24): Musical heavy-weight Baz Luhrmann ( Moulin Rouge ) directs and co-writes this biopic starring Austin Butler ( The Carrie Diaries ) as music legend Elvis Presley. The film also stars Tom Hanks as Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker. “The story delves into the complex dynamic between Presley and Parker spanning over 20 years, from Presley’s rise to fame to his unprecedented stardom, against the backdrop of the evolving cultural landscape and loss of innocence in America,” reads Warner Bros.’ official synopsis of the film.

Summer Movies 2022

Minions: The Rise of Gru (July 1): Allow me the yellow indulgence since I’ve been a fan of these adorable polyglot creatures since I first saw Despicable Me in a movie theater back in 2010. This second prequel of the Minions origin story — and fifth installment of the Despicable Me franchise — is set in the 1970s and follows a 12-year-old Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) and his faithful army of yellow sidekick followers.

Thor: Love and Thunder (July 8): This fourth Thor movie — the second one helmed by the New Zealander Taika Waititi — sees Natalie Portman returning as astrophysicist and Thor’s ex, Jane Foster. Waititi, who’s also taken writing duties for this film, has teased at its romantic components . The movie will also feature Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson and Christian Bale.

Nope (July 22): After Get Out and Us , here comes the next psychological horror film written and directed by Academy Award-winner Jordan Peele. Details are still very much under wraps for this movie, which stars Academy Award-winner Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer and Oscar nominee Steven Yeun . You can read more about Nope and its enigmatic first trailer here .

Fall Movies 2022

Don’t Worry Darling (September 23): Olivia Wilde’s second feature film after she directed the outstanding Booksmart (2019) stars Florence Pugh and Harry Styles as a married couple living in a utopian experimental community in the 1950s. Pugh plays a housewife and someone who fears that the company her husband works for may be hiding something. The movie also stars Wilde alongside Chris Pine, Gemma Chan and Kiki Layne.

Spider-Man: Across Spider-Verse (Part One) (October 7): After the multiverse-set Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film and was lauded for its diverse representation — the movie stars Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) as an Afro-Latino kid who also happens to be Spider-Man — we really are looking forward to this Spider-Verse sequel. Not to mention, it’s one of several animated films we’re most excited about seeing this year.

Black Adam (October 21): This eleventh installment in the DC Extended Universe is directed by the Catalan filmmaker Jaume Collet-Serra and stars Dwayne Johnson as the titular villain. Pierce Brosnan and Aldis Hodge also appear in this Johnson-starring vehicle that could see him become Shazam’s archenemy.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (November 11): Ryan Coogler returns as co-writer and director of the much-anticipated sequel to his Black Panther (2018), the first superhero film to be nominated for a coveted Best Picture nod at the Oscars. Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Daniel Kaluuya, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba and Angela Bassett reprise their roles from the original movie. The multi-talented Michaela Coel ( I May Destroy You ) will play a new role in this sequel. To honor the memory of the late Chadwick Boseman, who played Black Panther in the original film, Marvel has announced that this movie won’t recast the titular role . Also, Thor: Love and Thunder and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever aren’t the only two Marvel Cinematic Universe movies to be released in 2022. There’ll also be Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 6).

She Said (November 18): Maria Schrader ( Unorthodox ) directs this adaptation of Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor’s book in which they relate their New York Times investigation into Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment and abuse behavior. The exposé helped further the #MeToo movement. The film stars Zoe Kazan, Carey Mulligan, Patricia Clarkson and Andre Braugher.

Avatar 2 (December 16): Thirteen years after James Cameron introduced us to Pandora in Avatar , here comes the second installment of this story. Zoe Saldaña, Sam Worthington and Sigourney Weaver all return to Avatar 2 , alongside newcomers Kate Winslet, Vin Diesel and Michelle Yeoh. The franchise is expected to have five installments in total, with each new movie being released two years apart.

I Wanna Dance with Somebody (December 21): Naomi Ackie ( Small Axe ) plays the late singer Whitney Houston in this musical biopic that’s directed by Kasie Lemons ( Harriet ) and also stars Clarke Peters, Stanley Tucci and Nafessa Williams.

Jake Gyllenhaal Movies

1. City Slickers (1991)

PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Western

On the verge of turning 40, an unhappy Manhattan yuppie is roped into joining his two friends on a cattle drive in the southwest.

Director: Ron Underwood | Stars: Billy Crystal , Jack Palance , Daniel Stern , Bruno Kirby

Votes: 59,528 | Gross: $124.03M

2. Donnie Darko (2001)

R | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.

Director: Richard Kelly | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal , Jena Malone , Mary McDonnell , Holmes Osborne

Votes: 811,828 | Gross: $1.48M

3. The Good Girl (2002)

R | 93 min | Drama, Romance

A discount store clerk strikes up an affair with a stock boy who considers himself the incarnation of Holden Caulfield.

Director: Miguel Arteta | Stars: Jennifer Aniston , Jake Gyllenhaal , Deborah Rush , Mike White

Votes: 45,993 | Gross: $14.02M

4. Moonlight Mile (2002)

PG-13 | 117 min | Drama, Romance

As he copes with the death of his fiancée, a young man befriends her parents and must figure out what he wants out of life.

Director: Brad Silberling | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal , Dustin Hoffman , Susan Sarandon , Alexia Landeau

Votes: 14,342 | Gross: $6.84M

5. The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

PG-13 | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Jack Hall, paleoclimatologist, must make a daring trek from Washington, D.C. to New York City to reach his son, trapped in the cross-hairs of a sudden international storm which plunges the planet into a new Ice Age.

Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Dennis Quaid , Jake Gyllenhaal , Emmy Rossum , Dash Mihok

Votes: 456,199 | Gross: $186.74M

6. Brokeback Mountain (2005)

R | 134 min | Drama, Romance

Ennis and Jack are two shepherds who develop a sexual and emotional relationship. Their relationship becomes complicated when both of them get married to their respective girlfriends.

Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal , Heath Ledger , Michelle Williams , Randy Quaid

Votes: 363,966 | Gross: $83.04M

7. Proof (2005)

PG-13 | 100 min | Drama, Mystery

The daughter of a brilliant but mentally disturbed mathematician, recently deceased, tries to come to grips with her possible inheritance: his insanity. Complicating matters are one of her father's ex-students, who wants to search through his papers, and her estranged sister, who shows up to help settle his affairs.

Director: John Madden | Stars: Gwyneth Paltrow , Anthony Hopkins , Hope Davis , Jake Gyllenhaal

Votes: 45,333 | Gross: $7.52M

8. Jarhead (2005)

R | 125 min | Biography, Drama, War

A psychological study of Marine's state of mind during the Gulf War. Told through the eyes of a U.S. Marine sniper who struggles to cope with boredom, a sense of isolation, and other issues back home.

Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal , Jamie Foxx , Lucas Black , Scott MacDonald

Votes: 193,948 | Gross: $62.66M

9. Zodiac (2007)

R | 157 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

Between 1968 and 1983, a San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified individual who terrorizes Northern California with a killing spree.

Director: David Fincher | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal , Robert Downey Jr. , Mark Ruffalo , Anthony Edwards

Votes: 553,703 | Gross: $33.08M

10. Rendition (2007)

R | 122 min | Drama, Thriller

When a terrorist bombing in North Africa kills 19 incl. an American, an Egyptian chemical engineer flying from South Africa to his wife in USA, is arrested upon arriving USA. He disappears. His wife asks senator for help.

Director: Gavin Hood | Stars: Reese Witherspoon , Jake Gyllenhaal , Peter Sarsgaard , Alan Arkin

Votes: 56,592 | Gross: $9.74M

11. Brothers (I) (2009)

R | 105 min | Drama, Thriller, War

While on tour in Afghanistan, Sam's copter is shot down and he is presumed dead. Back home, it is his screw-up brother who looks after the family. Sam does return, but with a lot of excess baggage.

Director: Jim Sheridan | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal , Natalie Portman , Tobey Maguire , Sam Shepard

Votes: 133,192 | Gross: $28.50M

12. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)

PG-13 | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

A young fugitive prince and princess must stop a villain who unknowingly threatens to destroy the world with a special dagger that enables the magic sand inside to reverse time.

Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal , Gemma Arterton , Ben Kingsley , Alfred Molina

Votes: 293,883 | Gross: $90.76M

13. Love & Other Drugs (2010)

R | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

In 1990s Pittsburgh, a medicine peddler starts a relationship with a young woman suffering from Parkinson's disease.

Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal , Anne Hathaway , Judy Greer , Oliver Platt

Votes: 208,708 | Gross: $32.37M

14. Source Code (2011)

PG-13 | 93 min | Action, Drama, Mystery

A soldier wakes up in someone else's body and discovers he's part of an experimental government program to find the bomber of a commuter train within 8 minutes.

Director: Duncan Jones | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal , Michelle Monaghan , Vera Farmiga , Jeffrey Wright

Votes: 527,314 | Gross: $54.71M

15. End of Watch (2012)

R | 109 min | Action, Adventure, Crime

Shot documentary-style, this film follows the daily grind of two young police officers in LA who are partners and friends and what happens when they meet criminal forces greater than themselves.

Director: David Ayer | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal , Michael Peña , Anna Kendrick , America Ferrera

Votes: 253,930 | Gross: $41.00M

16. Prisoners (2013)

R | 153 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

When Keller Dover's daughter and her friend go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts.

Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Hugh Jackman , Jake Gyllenhaal , Viola Davis , Melissa Leo

Votes: 732,161 | Gross: $61.00M

17. Nightcrawler (2014)

R | 117 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

When Louis Bloom, a con man desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story.

Director: Dan Gilroy | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal , Rene Russo , Bill Paxton , Riz Ahmed

Votes: 560,500 | Gross: $32.38M

18. Accidental Love (2015)

PG-13 | 100 min | Comedy, Romance

A small town waitress gets a nail accidentally lodged in her head causing unpredictable behavior that leads her to Washington, D.C., where sparks fly when she meets a clueless young senator who takes up her cause - but what happens when love interferes with what you stand for?

Director: David O. Russell | Stars: Jessica Biel , Ray Brown , Jenny Gulley , Beverly D'Angelo

Votes: 8,695

19. Southpaw (2015)

R | 124 min | Action, Crime, Drama

After a fatal incident sends him on a rampant path of destruction, a champion boxer fights to get custody of his daughter and revive his professional career.

Director: Antoine Fuqua | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal , Rachel McAdams , Oona Laurence , Forest Whitaker

Votes: 243,523 | Gross: $52.42M

20. Everest (2015)

PG-13 | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Biography

The story of New Zealand's Robert "Rob" Edwin Hall, who on May 10;1996, together with Scott Fischer, teamed up on a joint expedition to ascend Mount Everest.

Director: Baltasar Kormákur | Stars: Jason Clarke , Ang Phula Sherpa , Thomas M. Wright , Martin Henderson

Votes: 222,000 | Gross: $43.48M

21. Stronger (I) (2017)

R | 119 min | Biography, Drama

Stronger is the inspiring real life story of Jeff Bauman, an ordinary man who captured the hearts of his city and the world to become a symbol of hope after surviving the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

Director: David Gordon Green | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal , Tatiana Maslany , Miranda Richardson , Richard Lane Jr.

Votes: 46,464 | Gross: $4.21M

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Jake Gyllenhaal Movies Ranked by Tomatometer

Nightcrawler (2014) 95%

Wildlife (2018) 94%

Source Code (2011) 92%

October Sky (1999) 91%

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) 90%

Zodiac (2007) 90%

Stronger (2017) 90%

Brokeback Mountain (2005) 88%

The Sisters Brothers (2018) 87%

Donnie Darko (2001) 87%

Okja (2017) 86%

Lovely & Amazing (2001) 86%

End of Watch (2012) 85%

The Good Girl (2002) 82%

Prisoners (2013) 81%

Nocturnal Animals (2016) 74%

Enemy (2013) 71%

The Guilty (2021) 74%

Everest (2015) 73%

Strange World (2022) 72%

Ambulance (2022) 68%

Life (2017) 67%

Brothers (2009) 64%

Moonlight Mile (2002) 63%

Proof (2005) 62%

Jarhead (2005) 61%

Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) 61%

Southpaw (2015) 60%

Demolition (2015) 54%

Love & Other Drugs (2010) 49%

Spirit Untamed (2021) 48%

Rendition (2007) 47%

The Day After Tomorrow (2004) 45%

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) 37%

Bubble Boy (2001) 31%

Accidental Love (2015) 8%

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Jake Gyllenhaal movies: 16 greatest films ranked from worst to best

Jake Gyllenhaal is a versatile actor who has juggled between film and stage (having appeared on New York stages recently in “Sunday in the Park with George” as well as the play “Sea Wall”/”A Life”). He continues to choose roles that are challenging and unexpected.

Gyllenhaal has been nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in Ang Lee ‘s “Brokeback Mountain,” as well as two SAG Awards for that performance including Best Supporting Actor. He was also nominated for two Golden Globe Awards (for 2010’s “Love and Other Drugs” and 2014’s “Nightcrawler”). Gyllenhaal was also nominated for a third Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance in “Nightcrawler.”

Currently, Gyllenhaal has a host of films on tap for release in 2020 and beyond. But until then, let’s raise a glass to the great performer by ranking his 16 best feature film appearances. Our photo gallery includes “Zodiac,” “Prisoners,” “Donnie Darko” and more.

16. STRONGER (2017)

Director: David Gordon Green; Writer: John Pollono. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany, Miranda Richardson.

This inspirational story is based on the real events surrounding the 2013 Boston marathon bombing. Gyllenhaal plays Jeff Bauman, based on his book of the same name. He is an ordinary man in Boston who became a symbol of hope after losing both legs in the tragedy. Gyllenhaal wisely never portrays Bauman as a victim but instead as a fighter, and Maslany (“Orphan Black”) as Jeff’s ex-girlfriend provides solid support.

15. OCTOBER SKY (1999)

Director: Joe Johnston. Writer: Lewis Colick. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Laura Dern.

Joe Johnston’s biographical drama of the life of Homer Hickam was the first film to really put Gyllenhaal on the map. He plays Homer, a young man in a small West Virginia town in 1957 who is expected to follow his father’s path of being a coal miner, but instead, inspired by the launch of Russian satellite Sputnik 1, Homer decides that he wants to be a rocket engineer himself. Aided by several other classmates, Homer considers himself a “rocket boy” (of which the film’s title “October Sky” is an anagram) and manages several successful rocket launches before the group is falsely accused of starting a forest fire. Gyllenhaal, who was only 17 during filming, received terrific reviews upon the film’s release, as did the film, which, to borrow a rocket term, served as the launching pad to Gyllenhaal’s career.

14. SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (2019)

Director: Jon Watts. Writers: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers. Starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Jon Favreau.

Gyllenhaal dipped his toe into the superhero universe in this latest Spider-Man film in which he plays Quentin Beck, a former Stark Industries employee who in his down time is the superhero Mysterio. His allegiances, however, are subject to question as to whether he is a good guy or a bad guy. When confronted by Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), he reveals his true stripes, but Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio remains a fascinating character and an interesting addition to the Marvel Comics Universe.

13. WILDLIFE (2018)

Director: Paul Dano. Writers: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan. Starring Carey Mulligan, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ed Oxenbould, Bill Camp.

In Paul Dano’s underappreciated directorial debut, Gyllenhaal plays Jerry Brinson, a golf pro at a Montana country club who becomes fascinated by the firefighters taking on blazes in the nearby forests. He takes a low-paying job fighting those fires, which forces him to leave his wife Jeannette (Carey Mulligan) and son Joe (Ed Oxenbould) behind. Jeannette, resentful, embarks on an affair with older man Warren Miller (Bill Camp) who both fills the loneliness in her heart and may provide the family with a little extra income. When Jerry returns home and discovers his wife’s affair, he is utterly devastated. While Jerry is not the most upright of characters, Gyllenhaal’s performance as Jerry gives us an insight as to why he does what he does.

12. THE GOOD GIRL (2002)

Director: Miguel Arteta. Writer: Mike White. Starring Jennifer Aniston, Jake Gyllenhaal, John C. Reilly.

Working alongside performers of the caliber of Jennifer Aniston and John C. Reilly seemed to prompt Gyllenhaal to step up his game in this tale of Justine, a small town Texas cashier (Aniston), who absolutely bored with her life with her husband (Reilly) suddenly sees a new young employee, Holden (Gyllenhaal) with whom she could possibly see a future, or at least an affair. Justine finds a kindred spirit with Holden, who took on his name thanks to his obsession with J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye” and its disillusioned lead character who feels some of the ennui that Justine now feels. Though “The Good Girl” is clearly Aniston’s movie, thanks to the quality of Mike White’s writing, Gyllenhaal’s Holden makes a huge impression, upping his reputation as a potential star.

11. JARHEAD (2005)

Director: Sam Mendes. Writer: William Broyles, Jr. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, Peter Sarsgaard, Chris Cooper.

“Jarhead,” the third film from Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (“American Beauty,” “1917”), is based on Anthony Swofford’s best-selling remembrance of the first Gulf War. Rather than chronicling the thrill of battle, the film itself captures the ennui of not being allowed to fight, which is a frustrating situation for Swoff (Gyllenhaal). As a “jarhead” (slang for Marine), Swoff is trained as a sniper but by the time he is finally deployed to Iraq, the war is almost over, and his unit has to kill time waiting to be sent to a battle that will never come. Though the film received mixed reviews, Gyllenhaal’s depiction of a tightly-wound soldier constantly waiting to spring into battle received strong reviews and became another image gamble for Gyllenhaal that definitely paid off.

10. THE SISTERS BROTHERS (2018)

Director: Jacques Audiard. Writers: Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, John C. Reilly, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riz Ahmed.

In Gyllenhaal’s first Western (where he fits right in), the time is 1851 and Gyllenhaal plays John Morris, a private detective who is hired to track down a man named Hermann Kermit Warm (Riz Ahmed) who is also being pursued by notorious outlaws Eli (John C. Reilly) and Charlie Sisters (Joaquin Phoenix). Once he captures him, Morris becomes convinced that Warm is innocent and winds up partnering with him in his formula to find gold. It’s a wonderfully relaxed performance by Gyllenhaal, and his interactions with Ahmed are among the film’s highlights.

9. ENEMY (2013)

Director: Denis Villeneuve. Writer: Javier Gullon. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Melanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon, Isabella Rossellini.

Gyllenhaal continued his successful artistic partnership with director Denis Villeneuve in this psychological thriller based on Jose Saramago’s novel “The Double.” Gyllenhaal conquers the challenge of playing two identical but very different men who come into one another’s lives. Adam (Gyllenhaal), a lonely academic, rents a film and spies an actor, Anthony Claire (also Gyllenhaal) who looks exactly like him. Intrigued that he has found his doppelgänger, Adam begins to stalk Anthony whose sexual nature turns out to be nothing like Adam’s. The two men begin to blend into each other’s lives until the film’s final shot, which is one of the most shocking that I have ever seen. With “Enemy,” Gyllenhaal set himself for an acting challenge which he conquered masterfully.

8. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS (2016)

Writer/Director: Tom Ford. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

For this surreal thriller, Gyllenhaal plays the dual role of Tony Hastings and Edward Sheffield. Edward is an author who gives his ex-wife his latest novel to read, and she realizes that the characters could be actually based on them. She imagines the main character of Tony, a man whose family is brutally murdered in Texas, as being her ex-husband. Gyllenhaal received a BAFTA nomination for his performance.

7. OKJA (2017)

Director: Bong Joon-ho. Writers: Bong Joon-ho, Jon Ronson. Starring Ahn Seo-hyun, Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano, Steven Yuen, Giancarlo Esposito.

Gyllenhaal gives perhaps what is his nuttiest performance in Bong Joon-ho’s Netflix film “Okja” as TV zoologist Dr. Johnny Wilcox who has an over-caffeinated television persona and who also works for the Mirando Corporation, a Monsanto-like company which is developing alternative food sources, such as breeding so-called “super pigs.” One of those 26 pigs is in South Korea being raised by a young girl named Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun) whose super pig Okja is really her best friend. As over-the-top as Gyllenhaal’s Dr. Johnny might be, it’s a pleasure to see this sometimes inwardly-focused actor let loose.

6. END OF WATCH (2012)

Writer/Director: David Ayer. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña, Anna Kendrick, America Ferrara.

Less a crime drama than a day-by-day look at the life of a pair of street cops, David Ayer’s “End of Watch” gave Gyllenhaal a new kind of acting challenge and he and co-star Michael Peña trained five months for their roles as police partners, including 12-hour ride-alongs with real cops and training in police tactics and weaponry. What came out of it was a thoroughly believable police team dealing with gang violence in South Central Los Angeles. Under the pretense of Gyllenhaal’s character shooting footage of the partners’ daily work life, Ayers gives “End of Watch” a documentary-like immediacy that gives both Gyllenhaal and Peña’s performances an extra layer of grit that neither actor had ever achieved before.

5. DONNIE DARKO (2001)

Writer/Director: Richard Kelly. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jene Malone, Mary McDonnell, Patrick Swayze.

As the title character of this bizarre psychological drama, Gyllenhaal, who was only 20 at the time, took a huge risk in agreeing to take on the role, which, if it went wrong could have stopped the momentum of his growing career. However, even at that young age, Gyllenhaal showed the acting chops to handle the story of a disturbed young man who has visions of a figure dressed as a giant rabbit, who leads Donnie to commit destructive acts. Though Donnie is diagnosed as suffering from “paranoid schizophrenia,” no one steps in to stop Donnie, who claims that he is waiting for the imminent end of the world. As the film gained a following over the next few years, so did Gyllenhaal’s performance, and his high-wire act here led him to even greater roles to come.

4. ZODIAC (2007)

Director: David Fincher. Writer: James Vanderbilt. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards.

David Fincher’s acclaimed retelling of the hunt to track down the feared Zodiac Killer who terrorized Northern California for nearly two decades, is led by Gyllenhaal in one of his most critically-admired performances. Gyllenhaal plays real-life political cartoonist Robert Graysmith of the San Francisco Chronicle who develops an interest in a local murder when the killer sends taunting notes to the newspaper. Graysmith’s theories on the killer’s identity are dismissed by the paper’s crime-beat reporters, but when his ideas begin to intrigue one of them (Robert Downey Jr.), he is brought onto the case. Graysmith plays to one of Gyllenhaal’s great strengths — the ability to appear to be naive, but when it comes down to it, he becomes tough and determined. And “Zodiac” is a perfect example of that.

3. NIGHTCRAWLER (2014)

Writer/Director: Dan Gilroy. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, Bill Paxton.

In one of Gyllenhaal’s darkest but most acclaimed roles, he portrays Louis Bloom, a petty thief who comes upon a grisly accident and sees freelance journalists swarming around the violent aftermath. After learning that stringers, as they are called, earn considerable money selling their footage to local TV news shows, Lou obtains a camcorder and begins selling his footage to an L.A. local station, whose news producer Nina Romina (Rene Russo) is very much of the “if it bleeds, it leads” school. Soon Nina begins to rely on Lou’s footage for ratings, and Lou soon uses that reliance against her, threatening to withhold his footage unless they have sex. Gyllenhaal’s feral-like performance was rewarded with Best Actor nominations from both the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild.

2. PRISONERS (2013)

Director: Denis Villeneuve. Writer: Aaron Guzikowski. Starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Paul Dano.

Marking Gyllenhaal’s first collaboration with director Denis Villeneuve, “Prisoners” focuses on the Thanksgiving Day kidnapping of two little girls and how that act brings one of the parents involved (Hugh Jackman) to vengeance and the brink of madness. In what is arguably his best work as an investigative character, Gyllenhaal plays Detective Loki, who is brought into the case to find the kidnapper, which is difficult enough, but he must also contend with the crazed parent who seems determined to torture a confession out of the now-released initial suspect (Paul Dano), a young man with the IQ of a 10 year-old. Though playing the most grounded character in the film, Gyllenhaal shines in the film, bringing much welcome Pennsylvania color to what could have been a standard detective role.

1. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005)

Director: Ang Lee. Writers: Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana. Starring Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams.

In what is unquestionably Gyllenhaal’s most famous film role, he plays Jack Twist, who is hired to wrangle sheep on Wyoming’s Brokeback Mountain in 1963. Jack is sexually drawn to colleague Ennis del Mar (Heath Ledger), at whom Jack finally makes a pass, which leads to a long-term sexual and emotional relationship, even though both men eventually marry women. The sensitive performances delivered by both men garnered widespread acclaim, leading to Gyllenhaal’s first nomination for an Oscar, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor. (He was also nominated at SAG as part of the “Brokeback” ensemble cast.) If there was any doubt before, after “Brokeback Mountain,” Gyllenhaal had become not only a star, but an esteemed actor as well.

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Screen Rant

Every jake gyllenhaal movie, ranked from worst to best.

He boasts a highly impressive catalog of films to date, but what exactly are the definitively best and worst Jake Gyllenhaal movies of all time?

Ranking every Jake Gyllenhaal movie from worst to best is no easy feat, with the actor enjoying a long and successful career to date. Indeed, everyone has their own opinions about which are the worst and best Jake Gyllenhall movies. Born into the Swedish noble Gyllenhaal family, Jake was set up from the very beginning to succeed as an actor due to the continued industry influence of his parents: director Stephen Gyllenhaal and feature screenwriter Naomi Foner. In fact, Gyllenhaal debuted in one of his father's standout films, City Slickers , in which a ten-year-old Jake plays the son of Billy Crystal's ( Here Today ) Mitch Robbins. Following the release of the new Jake Gyllenhall movie Ambulance on Netflix, it's high time to look back at the actor's work once more.

Although initially typecast as a brooding, moody teen in angsty pictures such as Highway and the cult classic Donnie Darko , Gyllenhaal has since aggressively diversified his acting portfolio. In addition to taking on a wide breadth of challenging roles that have cemented his status as an undoubted A-lister, Gyllenhaal has also performed on Broadway, while picking up a mammoth 30 awards for his various portrayals.

Pulling together a definitive list of Gyllenhaal's movies requires a comprehensive view of his 23 years featuring in no less than 34 starring roles. For expediency, Gyllenhaal's childhood performances will not be considered here, with his turns in City Slickers and A Dangerous Woman at ages ten and thirteen, respectively making his parts in these films rather minor. As a result, here's every Jake Gyllenhaal movie ranked from worst to best, including the most recent releases in the actor's roster.

#34 - Highway

James Cox's failure of an independent drama amounts to little more than an exercise in gathering a group of beautiful actors and then watching them do absolutely nothing memorable across Highway 's 97-minute runtime. At its core, Highway attempts to be a coming-of-age movie about three twenty-somethings on the open road who encounter a series of violent and life-changing scenarios along the way. Gyllenhaal plays the incredibly bland Pilot Nelson, whose character amounts to little more than a teen heartthrob devoid of compelling motivation. Even Cox's decision to throw other burgeoning starlets Jared Leto (the DCEU's Joker) and Selma Blair into the mix could not save Highway from its ultimate and unmemorable straight to DVD fate.

#33 - Bubble Boy

The 2001 dark comedy Bubble Boy is only spared the ignominy of rock bottom spot on this list due to the fact Blair Hayes' film tries to do something in a way Highway does not. Unfortunately, what Bubble Boy presents is a tableau of tasteless and crude jokes that only serve to highlight the paper-thin premise of the film. In it, Jake Gyllenhaal plays Jimmy Livingston, a boy forced to live his life in a protective bubble due to his compromised immune system. Based on the 1976 John Travolta-led TV drama The Boy in the Plastic Bubble , Bubble Boy attempts to skew the story in a much lighter direction akin to Seinfeld 's classic "Bubble Boy" episode but ends up falling flat on its face with very little wit behind any of its slapstick-inspired comedy.

#32 - Accidental Love

Accidental Love 's premise is, on a tertiary level, one that could have been riotous. Alice, a waitress in small-town Indiana, is accidentally shot in the head by a nail gun, but her lack of health insurance renders her unable to have the nail removed, leading to mood swings and hypersexual behavior resulting from brain damage. Alice then heads to Washington, D.C. to campaign for those with bizarre injuries, with the support of Jake Gyllenhaal's unprincipled Congressman Howard Birdwell in tow. Yet, Accidental Love was plagued from the start with issues directly relating to the 2008 financial collapse, with the film's production shut down an unprecedented 14 times due to a series of union and restitution issues. As a result, Accidental Love 's final cut was submitted incomplete and missing a series of canceled scenes that conspire to make the film a jarring mess of a satire with little by the way of redeeming qualities.

#31 - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Everything was set up to make Disney's The Prince of Persia videogame adaptation a successful venture, with producer Jerry Bruckheimer stating the film was supposed to be " the new Pirates of the Caribbean." However, lofty ambitions need to be backed up by a product worthy of kickstarting a franchise, and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time certainly did not deliver on its Disney overseers' vision. It is hard to put a finger on what exactly is wrong with the Prince of Persia film, with a rousing score and well-crafted action scenes making the film at least entertaining upon the first watch. However, Prince of Persia 's story has very little soul behind its immense CGI budget, making the narrative's stakes feel so hollow and forced. Gyllenhaal himself addressed the disappointment surrounding the final Prince of Persia product, with the actor candidly stating that he did not " fit perfectly " with the role of Dastan, despite his best efforts.

#30 - Love & Other Drugs

The Jake Gyllenhall movie Love and Other Drugs is certainly a bold film that cheekily pushes the boundaries of an often prudish American romantic comedy genre. The decision to include a series of relatively graphic sex scenes between two A-list stars in Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway must be commended for its brazen nature, with the film also tackling the topic of both illegal and prescription drug abuse. It is unfortunate then that the movie writer-director Edward Zwick does not do more with Love and Other Drugs ' bold scenes as the film descends into a free-for-all that crudely makes jokes at the sexually inept, repressed, and America's homeless population alike. It must also be said that, despite both actors' pedigree, Gyllenhaal and Hathaway do not have any genuine chemistry on-screen with each other, which makes Love and Other Drugs more of a shock-value project than the romantic comedy it was intended as.

#29 - The Sisters Brothers

The Sisters Brothers is the first film on this list not to be universally panned, with the Western itself being a thoroughly enjoyable romp across America's 1851 landscape. However, The Sisters Brothers constitutes a costly box office bomb for its distributor, Mirror Releasing, with the film failing to capture the attention of both domestic and foreign moviegoing markets alike. This is perhaps best explained by The Sisters Brothers ' adamant refusal to pick a narrative lane, with the film neither intense enough to be considered a drama nor funny enough to be considered a comedy, which is also the issue Gyllenhaal's character John Morris suffers from throughout the movie.

#28 - Rendition

The mid-2000s saw Gyllenhaal star in a series of military-based dramas that had decidedly mixed impacts. Rendition is undoubtedly the worst of these as the film centers on the controversial CIA practice of "extraordinary rendition" or, in layman's terms, the transfer and torture of those deemed threats to the United States. The series of sub-plots that run parallel with Rendition 's main story actually undermine the film's impact and confuse the viewer simultaneously, making Rendition an anti-war film whose best moments ironically become the taut action sequences associated with America's war on terror.

#27 - Brothers

Brothers is another of Gyllenhaal's aforementioned anti-war drama movies that instead centers around the continued psychological impact of military conflicts on American soldiers. Brothers' leads, Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire deserve huge praise for their compelling performances as the casualties-of-war Cahill siblings, but Brothers ' finale still falls flat regardless. Brothers makes the crucial mistake of buying too heavily into its own societal importance, meaning its impact as a compelling piece of cinema becomes heavily diminished and appears melodramatic as a result.

#26 - Moonlight Mile

Brad Silberling's romantic drama draws gravitas from the fact it is loosely inspired on his own life experiences, with his girlfriend Rebecca Schaeffer tragically killed by an obsessed fan in 1989. This sobering undercurrent of tragedy leads Moonlight Mile to be a far harder watch than the romance-laden script perhaps suggests, but the film still compels through a series of terrific performances from its lead cast. A young Jake Gyllenhaal ( Spider-Man 's Mysterio) shines as the bereaved Joe Nast, while Dustin Hoffman and Susan Sarandon lend genuine stardust to Moonlight Mile 's slightly contrived story that ensures the film remains a successful piece of cinema to this day.

#25 - The Good Girl

While Jake Gyllenhaal is somewhat typecast in his familiar element of a sullen, troubled, reserved, and enigmatic character in Holden, this is exactly what The Good Girl needs him to be. Jennifer Aniston's role as the depressed Justine Last is a revelation as she moves away from the shroud of Friends ' Rachel Green, and Gyllenhaal dovetails with her portrait of a dangerously bored and unsatisfied wife to great effect. Critics roundly praised The Good Girl at the time of its release, and the film's impact as an emotional satire of middle America has not diminished since 2002.

#24 - Wildlife

Paul Dano's ( Swiss Army Man ) directorial debut is a well-crafted look at a family in crisis that acts as a microcosm for the problems that many married couples continually face. While the story's unassuming scale and slow pace may not appeal to those looking for a more grandiose love story, Gyllenhaal and co-star Carey Mulligan's performances as the heads of the Brinson family demand attention and emotional attachment from audiences. Critics have widely stated Wildlife is Mulligan's strongest performance to date, rivaled only by her enthralling turn in Promising Young Woman .

#23 - Demolition

Though Demolition received a more mixed critical response than other films lower on this list, it is still a hugely compelling examination of the toxic cultures within the bravado-driven world of investment banking. Gyllenhaal's Demolition takes a marriage apart in an often profound portrait of repressed emotion, given life by a standout performance from Gyllenhaal as the unnecessarily stoic Davis Mitchell. While the film's end scene feels like a backward step into contrived territory as Davis watches a physical demolition (that ham-fistedly mirrors the destruction of his emotional barriers), Demolition remains a fascinating piece of work nonetheless.

#22 - Source Code

Source Code is undoubtedly one of 2011's standout films that transcends the familiar trappings of the sci-fi genre and creates a dazzling mind game between its director Duncan Jones and the film's prospective audiences. Gyllenhaal plays Colter Stevens, a U.S. Army captain who is sent into a digital recreation of a real-life train explosion and tasked with figuring out the identity of the terrorist who bombed the train. Source Code 's reviews drew high praise from critics upon release, with several citing the plot's close ties to other mind-bending thrillers such as Tony Scott's lauded thriller Déjà Vu .

#21 - Proof

Based on David Auburn's Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name, Proof was always destined to be a challenging, yet gratifying piece of cinema. Proof artfully tackles the thin, oft-invisible line between intelligence and madness, evidenced in a series of gripping flashbacks of a brilliant mathematician, Robert Llewellyn (Anthony Hopkins), whose genius is undone by his fast-deteriorating state of mental health. Jake Gyllenhaal's turn as Hal Dobbs is particularly nuanced here, with Hal acting as both confidante and counterbalance to the equally deteriorating Llewellyn sisters (Robert's daughters) and contributing heavily to a balanced and exciting take on psychological pressures of academia.

#20 - Lovely & Amazing

Despite being cast on the bill as a comedy-drama movie , Nicole Holofcener's film translates as far more of an unflinching and accurate look at the personal struggles of the four Marks women in a post-millennium landscape. Lovely and Amazing is such a refreshing piece of cinema as the film often feels chaotic and unbalanced in the same way that real life does, lending further credence to the emotional struggles of its core characters. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times summed Lovely and Amazing up best with his statement that the movie " is both marvelously observed and completely individual. There is no film like this film ." This is high praise indeed and a completely accurate assessment of a movie that often feels more like a fly-on-the-wall look at real people's lives than a film built for viewing en masse.

#19 - The Day After Tomorrow

After his brooding, ferocious breakout in the movie Donnie Darko , Gyllenhaal needed one more film to truly establish himself as a star of the early 2000s amidst a glut of similarly handsome, sullen faces such as Skeet Ulrich and Josh Hartnett. This break materialized as the sci-fi disaster The Day After Tomorrow , in which Gyllenhaal plays Sam Hall, a teen attending an academic decathlon who finds himself trapped in a frozen, apocalyptic New York City after a superstorm heralds in a new ice age in a matter of hours. Gyllenhaal's turn opposite Hollywood stalwarts Dennis Quaid and Ian Holm cemented his place among the big actors of the 21st century and would signal the dawn of a very successful, multi-faceted career. The Day After Tomorrow itself is also the best kind of disaster film, ratcheting up the dread presence of climate change and focusing heavily on the human survival stories that a second ice age would inevitably force into play.

#18 - Everest

In another movie that showcases the fearsome powers of mother nature, Jake Gyllenhaal plays Scott Fischer, an American expedition leader looking to scale Mount Everest ahead of his rival commercial climbing company. Everest tautly, yet faithfully, reenacts the harrowing true story of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, in which the majority of both the Adventure Consultants' and Mountain Madness' climbing teams perished following an ill-fated ascent to the summit. Everest is as tense as it gets, with director Baltasar Kormákur's dizzying cinematography aiding the sense of dread that quickly envelops this bleakest of true story films.

While critical approval was far from unanimous for 2017 sci-fi horror Life , the film is a rampant success in exerting pressure and tension in a constantly hushed production akin to silent theatre. Taking place above a futuristic version of the international space station, the film's setting means there is little sound in the film's opening sequences that translates into a pervading sense of dread as Life progresses. Although Life does not necessarily bring any new ideas to the fairly linear narrative of being trapped in space with a malicious life-form, the film feels inspired by, and therefore very akin to, Ridley Scott's masterpiece Alien - and that is a very good thing indeed.

#16 - Ambulance

Ambulance, the new Jake Gyllenhaal movie in which the actor serves as the main antagonist, is proof positive that Michael Bay still has what it takes to make truly compelling blockbusters, even in the era of social justice politics. Indeed, there are several reasons why Ambulance is one of Bay's best movies . Brought to life by the chemistry between Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Eiza González, Ambulance is Bayhem at its best, but with its sights set on Gen-Z audiences. Amid impossible car chases and a plot that can only be reasonably described as ridiculous, Ambulance successfully satirizes Bay's own filmography, dives into the ethics of justice, and even tackles how the U.S. government treats its veterans. It's certainly a tall order for what audiences typically expect from a Michael Bay film, but somehow, it never feels like Bay is out of his element. That said, there's a reason for why Ambulance is this far down on a list of the best and worst Jake Gyllenhaal movies: Ambulance is basically just Bayhem 101, except it's aimed at the more socially-tuned-in new adults of the 21st century.

#15 - End Of Watch

Nestled right at the end of the glut of "hidden camera footage" movies spawned from The Blair Witch Project movie's success , End of Watch delivers a refreshing and radically different take on the first-person filming style. Despite the film's rampant action sequences, End of Watch is a carefully planned affair in which writer and director David Ayer is adamant not to fall into any of the usual police movie tropes, with the most obvious being the "buddy cop" dynamic. The gritty and intimate performances delivered by Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña are wholly committed and form the cornerstone of End of Watch 's success, even if their respective stories ultimately try a little too hard to memorialize the police work shown on-screen.

#14 - Nocturnal Animals

Nocturnal Animals is a blistering psychological thriller that expertly handles two parallel storylines, with one being in the "real" world and the other focusing on a dark story contained within a mysterious manuscript. The raw emotion of the manuscript delivered to Susan Morrow ( The Woman In The Window 's Amy Adams ) is purposefully translated in a series of visceral tableaus that tell the story of Tony Hastings (Jake Gyllenhaal), a motorist forced into a violent confrontation with a sadistic gang. Gyllenhaal's performance as Tony was singled out for particular praise by critics, who cited the weighting of romanticism and bleakness he imbues the manuscript character with.

#13 - Southpaw

Although Antoine Fuqua's first team-up with Gyllenhaal marks the lesser of the men's two projects together, Southpaw is still an unrelenting tale that hits as hard and fast as its plucky protagonist. Southpaw is not attempting to reinvent the wheel as far as sports dramas go, instead more than content to hit each note of a classic script akin to De Niro's iconic movie Raging Bull . Southpaw also represents one of Gyllenhaal's biggest physical transformations to date, with the actor's absolute commitment to the role of Billy Hope translating into a powerhouse sporting performance.

#12 - Spider-Man: Far From Home

Jon Watts' Spider-Man: Far From Home is the perfect coda to phase 3 of the MCU, wrapping up the events of Avengers: Endgame while also cementing Tom Holland's Peter Parker as arguably the most popular Spidey to date. The beauty of Far From Home is that it feels less like a high-stakes superhero movie and more like a teen romance flick with smatterings of action and loss to elevate the film's emotionally driven plot. Gyllenhaal is perfect for the role of Quentin Beck (and later Mysterio), a superhero who eventually reveals his true, sinister machinations, making Far From Home a must-see for any Marvel fans, whether chronologically viewing the MCU or not.

#11 - Prisoners

Before Arrival , Blade Runner 2049 , and Dune , Denis Villeneuve directed the gritty Prisoners , which focuses on the abduction of two young girls in Pennsylvania and the subsequent search for the suspected abductor by the police. Prisoners ' plot is interesting enough, yet the layered and often polarizing character development woven into the film makes Prisoners such a compelling watch. The casting for Prisoners is also spot on, with Hugh Jackman and Gyllenhaal both cited for their Oscar-worthy performances at the time of the film's release.

#10 - Enemy

Denis Villeneuve clearly felt he was onto a winning relationship with Gyllenhaal, bringing the actor back for Enemy in 2013 just one year after the pair enjoyed such success with the taut thriller Prisoners . Yet, Enemy is a vast step up from the pair's already fine work and a truly haunting film to boot. Enemy 's style is unsettling and lurid as it harks to the work of a David Lynch movie from yesteryear, but the film cements itself as a modern classic due to its genuinely terrifying ending that lingers in the mind long after Villeneuve's thriller comes to a close.

Now moving into classic territory, number nine on this list is reserved for the surreal-yet-touching story of super-pig Okja, the subject of malicious intentions from doctors and butchers alike. Director Bong Joon-Ho has little to prove after a series of masterfully emotional stories (the epitome being Memories of Murder ), yet Okja 's tug-on-your-heartstrings commentary on animal cruelty undoubtedly makes it a truly unique piece of cinema that forces introspection amongst its audiences. The film's initial narrative question of whether Okja possesses a soul quickly becomes no query at all as this Bong Joon-Ho movie renders the viewer at his mercy before going about telling a grippy story of contemporary corruption and greed.

#8 - Zodiac

The true genius of David Fincher's Zodiac is that it lures the viewer into a carefully crafted 1970s imitation before ratcheting up the anxiety surrounding the seemingly spectral Zodiac killer. Fincher's attention to detail around the true-life crimes is spine-tingling, with Zodiac 's ambiguous ending mirroring the confusion that still surrounds the killer's true identity today. Gyllenhaal's performance as the obsessive Robert Graysmith is outstanding as he navigates the labyrinth of facts that made the real Zodiac killer so elusive all those years ago, making Zodiac a chiller of the highest order as a result.

#7 - October Sky

October Sky is a major movie , home to Jake Gyllenhaal's breakout role and an incredibly moving tale rooted in deep, wholesome values. The brilliance of October Sky is that it resists the tendency to make a villain of its paternal figures, instead painting characters like John Hickam as caring yet unable to understand the entire emotional spectrum that his teenage son is experiencing. This limited paternal vision makes October Sky 's premise land amongst any demographic, engendering an emotional connection with parents worldwide that transcends the bounds of a normal film to audience relationship.

#6 - Jarhead

Jarhead carries with it an emotional gravitas befitting the 2003 memoir from which Sam Mendes' war movie was adapted, with Jake Gyllenhaal thrust to the fore as U.S. Marine Anthony Swofford. This film, above most others, exemplifies Gyllenhaal's ability to act a foil for the talents of the other actors around him, with Swofford's story at times becoming a prism that shines a light on the other Marines he served with in the Gulf War. Jarhead is stirring stuff, and translates as a modern war drama that highlights the ultimate redundancies of human troops on the ground in the modern age while also displaying the harrowing psychological effects war has on many of its surviving veterans.

#5 - Brokeback Mountain

It is not understating Ang Lee's neo-western romance to say that Brokeback Mountain is a watershed film that marks the turning point for the advancement of queer cinema into mainstream consideration in 2005. This timeless Ang Lee movie of forbidden romance and unrequited love took home a landslide of three Academy Awards and four Golden Globes, with several owed to the virtuoso performances of Heath Ledger and Gyllenhaal as the passionate, yet conflicted Del Mar and Twist. Brokeback Mountain has since been selected for preservation in the United States' National Film Registry by the Library of Congress after being rightfully marked as " culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant. "

#4 - Velvet Buzzsaw

Dan Gilroy returns five years after his explosive collaboration with Gyllenhaal ( Nightcrawler ) to deliver Velvet Buzzsaw , a film that is simply the epitome of everything a satirical sideswipe should be. The film's fictitious Vetril Dease paintings are enthralling even as their own entities, yet it is the way Netflix's Velvet Buzzsaw establishes taste as the only valuable commodity in a vapid send-up of Los Angeles' art culture that truly makes the movie transcendent. Gyllenhaal's Morf and Toni Collette's Gretchen epitomize this idea, trading art and slander in equal measure. While Velvet Buzzsaw 's horror tag feels largely unearned, viewing the film as a commentary on the soulless nature of modern artistic tendencies guarantees Velvet Buzzsaw lingers long in the memory as a unique piece of cinema from Dan Gilroy.

#3 - The Guilty

If End of Watch places the police force on a pedestal, then The Guilty tears it down in the most compelling fashion while being wholly designed to capture the vitriol within the current zeitgeist. A remake of the 2018 Danish film of the same name, Antoine Fuqua's The Guilty is the perfect platform for Gyllenhaal to loudly voice his well-publicized political views. Gyllenhaal's performance as troubled and disgraced dispatch officer Joe Baylor is as emphatic as it is appalling as the audience is forced to confront the dire consequences of Joe's rash and reckless behavior time and again.

#2 - Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko is a heady blend of menace and teen angst that combines into a deeply emotional and dizzying film. The movie that put Jake Gyllenhaal on the proverbial map for good, Donnie Darko is such an enigmatic film due to the fact it inspires different emotions in each audience that views it, leading Richard Kelly's film to be considered as much a work of art think-piece as a suburban psychological thriller. The highest praise for Donnie Darko is the film's timeline , which saw the film struggling commercially upon release before becoming an ultimate cult classic whose relevance fails to diminish after each viewing. The mind twists differently each time Frank compels Donnie to commit terrible acts in Middlesex to create a truly outstanding and timeless piece of cinema.

#1 - Nightcrawler

Dan Gilroy's directorial debut is mesmerizing, not least because his vision for the film was adapted to the screen completely untarnished by studio meddling or narrative tweaks. The "Stringer" profession of Gyllenhaal's Lou Bloom belies a symbiotic relationship between unethical journalism and consumer demand that is repeatedly driven home over the course of Nightcrawler 's story. Nightcrawler demands introspection of the most uncomfortable order, with every snap of Bloom's camera further querying the bloodthirsty nature of the modern news media cycle. Gyllenhaal, in particular, was singled out for his performance that has been compared to the towering Robert DeNiro in Taxi Driver and cited as a " bravura, career-changing tour-de-force " for the actor. The violence that bubbles under the surface of Nightcrawler 's narrative aggressively seeks attention from start to finish, making the Jake Gyllenhaal -led thriller a near-perfect and chilling film for the ages.

Next: Nightcrawler’s Ending Explained: What Lou’s Final Scene Really Means

Jake Gyllenhaal's Movies in Order

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100 Movies That All True Movie Fans Have Seen

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Films: Jake Gyllenhaal

Jake Gyllenhaal

Strange World

This family are legendary explorers. Everything that makes them different, threatens the success of their latest mission.

Big budget thriller about two brothers who steal an ambulance when a heist goes wrong.

Spirit Untamed

A rebellious youngster, Lucky Prescott (Isabela Merced) finds a kindred spirit in a wild mustang, Spirit. When a wrangler threatens Spirit and his herd, Lucky and her new friends set out to save the horses.

A police officer is shocked to receive a call from a kidnapped woman.

Spider-Man: Far From Home

After the events of Endgame, Peter Parker (Holland) is dealing with the loss of his mentor when he and his schoolmates find themselves fighting the Elementals. An enjoyable mix of storming special effects and road trip silliness which manages to work in the believable development in the relationship between Peter and MJ…

Velvet Buzzsaw

The modern art world is rocked by a series of deaths in this satirical horror comedy.

In Montana in 1960, Joe (Oxenbould) watches his parents’ marriage dissolve after they run into money troubles. Dano’s debut as a director is an impressive adaptation (co-written with Zoe Kazan) of Richard Ford’s novel, with a fiery and mesmerising performance from Mulligan as a woman on the edge. Haunting and elegantly…

The Sisters Brothers

In 1850s Oregon, brothers Charlie and Eli Sisters (Phoenix and Reilly) are guns for hire who have conflicting ambitions in life. Although the body count is extensive, Audiard is more concerned with reflection and introspection, and the film resounds with both hopeful optimism and resigned melancholy.

Jeff Bauman (Gyllenhaal) is waiting for on-off girlfriend Erin (Maslany) at the finish line of the Boston Marathon in 2013 when a bomb goes off, resulting in the amputation of his legs. Biographical drama with fine work from Gyllenhaal and Maslany and from Richardson as Jeff’s mother, although it becomes crowdpleasing and…

Lucy (Swinton) is the CEO of a vast agrochemical company which is developing an environmentally friendly super-pig, but 13-year-old Mija (Ahn, endearingly understated) befriends one. Brash, cartoonish satire with great special effects but mannered performances from Swinton and Gyllenhaal, which uneasily tries to mix an ET…

A Mars mission docks with the ISS bearing a single-celled alien organism, which then bursts out of containment. Derivative sci-fi drama which feels like a blend / rip-off of Alien and Gravity; you spend most of it wondering who’ll die next. Reasonably effective but inessential.

Nocturnal Animals

Susan (Adams) is a successful but bored LA gallery owner who is sent the manuscript of a book by her ex Edward (Gyllenhall), the titular Nocturnal Animals, which we see unfolding along with Susan's story. Ambitious, ravishingly shot tale exploring the engrossing impact of fiction; tense, intriguing and strange.

Professional climbers Rob Hall (Clarke) and Scott Fischer (Gyllenhaal) lead rival groups of extreme sports tourists up the world's highest mountain, with disastrous consequences. The actors are so bundled up that the dialogue is at times incomprehensible and the characters hard to tell apart, but despite a dragging first…

Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Billy Hope, a once successful boxer trying to get his life back on track and his daughter out of child protection services.

Accidental Love

When waitress Alice (Biel) gets a nail lodged in her brain, her life spins out of control. Writer/director Russell shot this back in 2008, but it was never completed and he's removed his name from this rush-release. Biel has seldom had a better role but you can see why Russell washed his hands of this half-baked mess.

Crumpled history lecturer Adam (Gyllenhaal) spots his exact double in a film, and becomes obsessed with finding out who the man is. Surreal and disorientating voyage into the psyche of a man cracking up, with many layers of meaning; a bold and striking examination of identity, responsibility and desire.

New York investment banker Davis (Gyllenhaal) starts behaving erratically after the death of his wife in a car crash, but then he becomes friends with customer service operator Karen (Watts). Earnest but trite look at bereavement with a clichéd script and uniformly overwrought performances.

Nightcrawler

Lou (Gyllenhaal) is a young man in LA who finds work as a freelance cameraman, feeding grisly news footage to the sensationalistic networks. A characterful satire of the cynicism, manipulation and inhumanity prevalent in TV news, with showstopping work from Gyllenhaal as the motor-mouthed protagonist.

When two young girls go missing and the police release the only suspect, the father of one of the girls takes the law into his own hands. Guzikowski's intense, twisting script and excellent performances from Jackman and Gyllenhaal drive a complex and gripping thriller which asks pertinent questions about violence and the…

End of Watch

Training Day scribe Ayer handles this thriller about two LAPD cops bending the rules to protect the people.

Source Code

Jones' follow-up to dazzling debut Moon can't quite match up but it does ensure the director's career remains on the right track. Source Code is an intriguing race against time thriller with sci-fi and philosophical elements. While undoubtedly silly, it grips by virtue of its sharply drawn characters and its mix of wider…

Love and Other Drugs

When Gyllenhaal's flashy young pharmaceutical sales rep meets sassy independent waitress Maggie (Hathaway) the stage is set for a formulaic romance tinged with the special poignancy that can only arise when one of the protagonists is suffering from a debilitating disease. Yawn.

Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time

This video game adaptation sees Gyllenhaal star as a prince who must keep a powerful, mythical object called the Sands of Time out of the hands of villains. Tedious, zero chemistry big budget adventure.

Susanne Bier and Anders Thomas Jensen's 2004 Danish drama is given a prestige Hollywood makeover, resulting in an engrossing, if flawed drama. Maguire plays Marine captain Sam Cahill, who leaves wife Grace (Portman) and their children to fight in Afghanistan. Erroneously reported missing, Sam's irresponsible brother…

Films for kids

Family films in cinemas this week include Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Personal Info

Known For Acting

Known Credits 109

Gender Male

Birthday 1980-12-19 (42 years old)

Place of Birth Los Angeles, California, USA

Also Known As

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Jake Gyllenhaal

Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal (born December 19, 1980) is an American actor and producer. Born into the Gyllenhaal family, he is the son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner; his older sister is actress Maggie Gyllenhaal.

He began acting as a child, making his acting debut in City Slickers (1991), followed by roles in his father's films A Dangerous Woman (1993) and Homegrown (1998). His breakthrough roles were as Homer Hickam in October Sky (1999) and as a psychologically troubled teenager in Donnie Darko (2001). In 2004, Gyllenhaal starred in the science fiction disaster film The Day After Tomorrow. In 2005, he played Jack Twist in Ang Lee's romantic drama Brokeback Mountain, for which Gyllenhaal won a BAFTA Award and was nominated for an Academy Award. His career progressed with starring roles in the thriller Zodiac (2007), the romantic comedy Love & Other Drugs (2010), and the science fiction film Source Code (2011). Further acclaim came with his roles in Denis Villeneuve's thrillers Prisoners (2013) and Enemy (2013), and he received nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performances as a manipulative journalist in Nightcrawler (2014) and a troubled writer in Nocturnal Animals (2016). His highest-grossing release came with the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), in which he portrayed Quentin Beck / Mysterio. Gyllenhaal has also performed on stage, starring in Broadway productions of the musical Sunday in the Park with George as well as the plays Constellations and Sea Wall/A Life, the lattermost of which earned him a Tony Award nomination. Aside from acting, he is vocal about political and social issues. Description above from the Wikipedia article Jake Gyllenhaal, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Donnie Darko

Nightcrawler

Source Code

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

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10 Best Jake Gyllenhaal Movies, Ranked According to Rotten Tomatoes

The chameleonic Oscar nominee regularly garners huge critical praise...

Since the 1990s, Jake Gyllenhaal has consistently graced the silver screen in a variety of films such as Donnie Darko , The Day After Tomorrow and Jarhead. Gyllenhaal made his first big-screen debut playing Billy Crystal's son in the 1991 comedy City Slickers and his career took off several years later after appearing in October Sky .

Gyllenhaal has surprisingly only received one Oscar nomination, but he continues to showcase his talent and worth with each new role he takes on. From Nightcrawler to Zodiac , these are Gyllenhaal's highest-rated movies, ranked according to Rotten Tomatoes .

10 'Donnie Darko' (2001)

One night, high schooler, Donnie Darko sleepwalks out of his house and meets a giant, demonic rabbit named Frank who tells him that the world's going to end in 28 days. As Donnie continues seeing Frank, his parents send him to see a psychiatrist begging the question, is Donnie living in a parallel universe, or is this all in his head?

Donnie Darko is a chilling sci-fi feature that not only explores the theory of alternate universes but also the alternate lives that some manage to lead behind closed doors. This psychological thriller stars Gyllenhaal alongside his sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal as well as Drew Barrymore , Patrick Swayze and an unknown Seth Rogen . In 2021, director and writer, Richard Kelly , announced that he has plans for a sequel that will expand on the film's universe.

9 'The Sisters Brothers' (2018)

During the Gold Rush, Eli ( John C. Reilly ) and Charlie ( Joaquin Phoenix ) Sisters are infamous gunslingers who are hired to track down and kill a chemist traveling to California. As the brothers venture through the Northwest, they encounter unpredictable dangers and experience setbacks that put their brotherly bond to the test.

The Sisters Brothers is a modern Western that remains true to the genre with dark humor and an excellent lineup of leading men. While the film was unsuccessful at the box office, it's worth seeing just for the overall captivating performances that carry this refreshing new tale of the Wild West.

8 'Brokeback Mountain' (2005)

Jack, a rodeo cowboy and ranch hand, Ennis ( Heath Ledger ) are hired to herd sheep for the summer grazing the herd on Brokeback Mountain . The two men realize they have deeper feelings for one another and develop a relationship but when they return home, they try to go their separate ways. Despite trying to move on, they are unsuccessful and secretly continue their relationship for two decades.

Directed by Ang Lee , Brokeback Mountain is a romantic Western that highlights the beautiful and heartbreaking aspect of star-crossed lovers. Before Gyllenhaal and Ledger signed on, casting approached other notable stars including Brad Pitt , Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon but despite all loving the script, no one could commit. The movie earned several Oscar nominations and went on to win Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score.

7 'Stronger' (2017)

Jeff is cheering for his girlfriend who is running in the Boston Marathon, but before she can cross the finish line, a bomb explodes knocking Jeff out. When he wakes up, he learns that he's in the hospital and that they had to amputate both of his legs. On top of the strenuous road ahead of him, Jeff manages to remember enough of the bombing to describe the suspect resulting in the arrest of one of the bombers.

Stronger is based on the true story of Jeff Bauman who survived the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and was hailed a hero after assisting authorities in the arrest of one of the bombers. The movie is an emotional and raw view into the aftermath of not only Bauman's life but also others who were impacted by the attack.

6 'Zodiac' (2007)

In 1969, San Francisco's terrified of an unknown killer known as the Zodiac who communicates with authorities and the media through cryptic letters. As the madman continues collecting victims, cartoonist, Robert Graysmith, manages to decipher one of the letters and dives head-first into a decades-long search for the killer's identity.

Directed by David Fincher , Zodiac is an adaptation of the novel written by Graysmith who spent years working extensively on the case. Gyllenhaal delivers a brilliant performance alongside Robert Downey, Jr. , Mark Ruffalo , Brian Cox and Dermot Mulroney . While the case remains unsolved, Fincher compensates with a detailed layout of facts that are enough to satisfy audiences in the end.

5 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' (2019)

Peter Parker ( Tom Holland ) was hoping to enjoy his school vacation abroad, but when entities from another universe start to terrorize our world, Nick Fury arrives to ask for the young hero's help. Despite still mourning the loss of Tony Stark, Spider-Man eventually teams up with new S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Mysterio only to learn that there is more to the new superhero and his origin story.

Spider-Man: Far From Home is the final film in phase three of the MCU and was Gyllenhaal's first appearance in the franchise . During an interview on The Howard Stern Show , Gyllenhaal said he was overwhelmed on the first day of filming and struggled to remember his lines. The actor managed to gain his composure and relax after reassuring words from Holland.

4 'October Sky' (1999)

In West Virginia, Homer Hickman's expected to follow in his father's footsteps as a coal miner but after seeing the launch of Sputnik 1 , he becomes interested in rock science. His father disapproves of his son's new interest but with the help of his friends and a supportive teacher ( Laura Dern ) he pursues his dream of earning a science scholarship and a ticket to a better life.

October Sky marked Gyllenhaal's first time playing a lead role and was universally praised for his performance. The movie's an adaptation of the novel Rocket Boys written by Homer Hickman Jr . The title of the film is unique as it's an anagram of the novel's title as well as a nod to the original broadcast description of Sputnik 1.

3 'Source Code' (2011)

After a train explosion, Colter must figure out the identity of the bomber to prevent the possibility of another attack. He joins a top-secret military operation that allows him to live the last few minutes of a man who was killed in the event. As Colter unravels the final moments, he knows he can complete his mission but only if he has enough time.

Source Code is a science-fiction thriller directed by Duncan Jones who was approached by Gyllenhaal to direct the movie after seeing Jones' film, Moon . The movie has been compared to Tony Scott's Déjá Vu but Source Code takes the complex concept of dreams and time traveling to a whole different level in this fractured storytelling feature.

2 'Wildlife' (2018)

Jerry and his wife, Jeanette ( Carey Mulligan ) and their son, Joe have recently moved to a small town in Montana near the Canadian border. When Jerry loses his job, tensions rise between the couple and come to head when he decides to join firefighters tending to a forest fire leaving his family to fend for themselves.

Directed by The Batman's Paul Dano , Wildlife is a beautiful adaptation of the 1990 novel of the same title written by Richard Ford . Gyllenhaal co-produced with Dano who also co-wrote the script with actress and partner, Zoe Kazan . The movie earned positive feedback from critics including Rogerebert.com's Brian Tallerico, who considered it to be a moving piece of filmmaking that embodies the lost art of dramatic storytelling.

1 'Nightcrawler' (2014)

Lou, a petty thief, makes a career change and pursues a job as a cameraman. With a camcorder and police scanner, he scours the streets at night shooting content that eventually catches the attention of a local news station. The station hires the aspiring cameraman but is oblivious to how far he's willing to go to make the front page.

Nightcrawler is a neo-noir and recent cult classic that serves as a reminder to audiences of Gyllenhaal's incredible range and talent. The movie also stars Rene Russo and Bill Paxton and went on to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

NEXT: 7 Twisted Thrillers Starring Jake Gyllenhaal at His Best

The 15 Best Jake Gyllenhaal Movies Ranked

One of the rare child stars who became just as successful as an adult, Jake Gyllenhaal is one of the best actors working today. Gyllenhaal had a leg up getting his career started thanks to his Hollywood parents, director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, but established himself as a talented performer in his own right with a series of acclaimed performances throughout the '90s.

Gyllenhaal continues to deliver interesting turns in beloved films, earning his first Academy Award nomination for "Brokeback Mountain." After video game adaptation "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" became a box office bomb and earned Gyllenhaal criticism for whitewashing the character Prince Dastan, the actor apologized for taking the part. Gyllenhaal rebounded from that failure by taking on smaller projects from some of the industry's best directors. Although he likes the freedom of independent films, Gyllenhaal returned to tentpoles with a performance as the Marvel villain Mysterio in "Spider-Man: Far from Home." Next, he will star in Michael Bay's action-thriller "Ambulance" and the adaptation of Robert Kirkman's graphic novel "Oblivion Song."

Narrowing down Gyllenhaal's best work is a challenge, as he gives wildly different performances across many genres. Here are the 15 greatest Jake Gyllenhaal movies, ranked.

15. The Sisters Brothers

"The Sisters Brothers" is a realistic western that examines male sensitivity through four troubled men who form a hasty alliance. The titular outlaw brothers Eli (John C. Reilly) and Charlie (Joaquin Phoenix) hunt for an inventor named Hermann (Riz Ahmed), who created a device that can locate treasure and plans to build a utopia. Hermann is also pursued by Gyllenhaal's character, Detective John Morris, who befriends the warm-hearted man and decides to assist him.

Gyllenhaal captures a softness in Morris, who despite his expertise, is kinder than most lawman of the time. It's fascinating to see Gyllenhaal re-teaming with his "Nightcrawler" co-star Ahmed for a much more pleasant relationship; the two men respect each other's ambitions and plan to create a society outside that will let them escape their harsh reality. While the story ultimately goes in a darker direction, watching Morris and Hermann team up with the Eli and Charlie and share their collective experience is delightful.

14. Nocturnal Animals

Gyllenhaal took on an interesting dual role in "Nocturnal Animals." The arthouse thriller follows reclusive novelist Edward (Gyllenhaal) as he briefly reunites with his estranged ex-wife Susan (Amy Adams), giving her a copy of his latest novel. Although "Nocturnal Animals" centers Susan's perspective, she's moved by his twisted book and discovers that many events in Edward's story mirror those from their actual marriage. Gyllenhaal, Adams, and the other people in the "real" world also play the characters in the book.

Edward's stand-in character is troubled father Tony, whose wife and daughter are kidnapped by a vile criminal (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). As Edward turns to a brutal local sheriff (Michael Shannon) for help, his soft personality becomes corrupted as they uncover a web of crime. Gyllenhaal subtly hints at Edward's pent-up anger towards Susan through the story, and expertly builds parallels between the movie's facts and its fiction.

13. Demolition

"Demolition" is a bold film that succeeds thanks to the committed performance by Gyllenhaal. He stars as perpetually nervous investment banker Davis Mitchell, whose wife Julia (Heather Lind) is killed in a sudden car accident. Davis has a strained relationship with Julia's father Phil (Chris Cooper), who is also his boss. Phil bullies Davis on a daily basis, taking out his anger and his grief on his son-in-law. Not sure how to cope, Davis strikes up an unusual romance with a friendly customer service representative, Karen (Naomi Watts).

Davis is a quirky character, and Gyllenhaal makes the less-than-subtle metaphor of him physically deconstructing his home feel sincere. While Davis' neurotic fixation on strange details and unusual observations risk being irritating, Gyllenhaal makes them endearing. Davis' development is well-handled as he finds ways to honor Julia's memory by aiding Karen's son and building an honorary memorial for his wife.

12. Brothers

"Brothers" features an unusually dark central performance from Tobey Maguire, who sheds his "boy next door" persona for a tortured performance as Afghanistan veteran Captain Sam Cahill. Gyllenhaal co-stars as his irresponsible brother Tommy, who is forced to take on added responsibility when Sam is presumed killed in action. Tommy feels like he needs to honor his brother's legacy by caring for his wife Grace (Natalie Portman) and her young children. Both Tommy and Grace are conflicted when romance blossoms, but they soon discover that, as friends, they're able to cope with Tommy's absence together.

The situation grows complex more when Tommy ends up alive; Gyllenhaal shows both Sam's relief and his shock at his brother's post-traumatic stress disorder. Gyllenhaal captures the anxiety of a changed man who isn't sure how to help, and he's tormented by Sam's fixation on Grace's infidelity. The complex process of healing is explored as Sam patiently allows Tommy to recount his experiences.

11. Jarhead

"Jarhead" is an unusual war film, as it is both satirical and realistic. The film adapts the biographical account of Lance Corporal Anthony Swofford's tenure in the Gulf War, with Gyllenhaal starring as the lead character and narrator. Gyllenhaal makes the voiceover feel personal, as Swofford's perspective on his military service and the conflict itself change over time. Swofford's father is a Vietnam veteran and he wants to honor his family legacy, but he is instantly uncomfortable with the laid-back attitude of his corporal, Alan Troy (Peter Sarsgaard).

Swofford gradually realizes that the men are at war without a purpose, and they're left to pass time in the middle of the desert. Gyllenhaal shows how Swofford slowly begins to adopt the eccentric, wild behavior of his squad as they descend into madness. Gyllenhaal also explores Swofford's regrets and trauma when he returns home, not sure if his service was worth anything.

10. End of Watch

"End of Watch" is not your standard buddy cop movie. Shot by writer-director David Ayer as a documentary-style account by Gyllenhaal's character, officer Bryan Taylor, and his partner Miguel Zavala (Michael Pena), the film explores the everyday responsibilities that the two cops face on the job. The film is full of banter, and Gyllenhaal and Pena have terrific chemistry. They're believable as longtime partners who've grown accustomed to each other's quirks, and their playful arguments are the heart of the film.

Although he likes to lampoon Miguel for his eccentric family, Bryan begins to desire the life that his partner enjoys, and discusses his romantic encounters with Miguel. However, their responsibilities as police officers strain their relationships outside of the force. "End of Watch" never shies away from showing the danger of the job, and its gripping climax is emotional thanks largely to Gyllenhaal's nuanced performances.

"Enemy" is already one of the most complex films ever made, and playing the dual lead roles presented Gyllenhaal with a unique challenge. He stars in the film as Adam Bell, a reclusive college professor who discovers that he has a doppelgänger in local actor Anthony Claire. After Adam tracks Anthony down, the two twins become obsessed with learning about each other's lives, each one yearning for what the other has. Gyllenhaal shares many scenes with himself as Adam and Anthony converse, argue, and eventually brawl.

Many have interpreted "Enemy" as the story of one man at odds with himself . In this reading, Adam and Anthony are the same person, a man struggling with his secret infidelities and exploits. He starts hiding things from his wife (Melanie Laurent), but he's also lying to himself and has become delusional as a result. Gyllenhaal subtly plays up this interpretation throughout the film — both Adam and Anthony realize they're denying their own reality.

8. Wildlife

"Wildlife" is an understated character drama that shows a crumbling marriage through the eyes of a child. Based on the classic novel by Robert Ford, "Wildlife" is the directorial debut of actor Paul Dano, who clearly understands how to get intimate performances out of his cast. Set in the Great Falls of Montana in the '60s, "Wildlife" follows a soft-hearted teenager named Joe (Ed Oxenbould) as he watches his parents Jerry (Gyllenhaal) and Jeanette (Carey Mulligan) grow apart over many years.

Jerry is a proud man who is embarrassed when he's fired from his job, and refuses to let his family down. Gyllenhaal captures Jerry's old-fashioned pride without making him haughty, and he's sensitive when interacting with his impressionable son. As Joe spends more and more time with his mother while his father is away looking for work, Gyllenhaal appears less frequently — but, like his character, he makes the most of his visits. It's heartbreaking to watch Gyllenhaal show affection for a son who has grown up in his absence.

7. Source Code

In "Source Code," Gyllenhaal brought emotional earnestness to a complex science fiction premise. The film's high concept is only successful if its characters are as compelling as its twists, and Gyllenhaal serves as a great gateway through which the audience can explore this time-travel story. "Source Code" opens with U.S. Captain Colter Stevens (Gyllenhaal) waking up on a train with only fleeting memories of surviving a mission to Afghanistan. Stevens is shocked to learn that he's in another man's body — that of school teacher Sean Fentress. Fentress' girlfriend Christina (Michelle Monaghan) can't see the difference, and talks to Steven about a life he didn't lead.

Stevens realizes that he's in a virtual reality simulator designed to show what happened to a train in the minutes before a bomb blows it up. Stevens' body was lost, but his consciousness remains; in a twist on the "Groundhog Day" formula, Stevens experiences the events on a loop while he tries to piece together clues and find the culprit.

Gyllenhaal shows how Stevens is conflicted about his various responsibilities. He doesn't want to upset Christina by changing Sean's personality, yet he also wants to find the bomber so the police can stop future crimes. Stevens also has things from his own life he wants to address — in an emotional phone call to his father, Stevens poses as a fellow soldier, ultimately reconciling with his estranged parent.

6. Stronger

"Stronger" depicts the aftermath of the Boston Marathon Bombing with graceful nuance, following a survivor as he struggles to cope with lasting trauma. Jeff Bauman (Gyllenhaal) had shown up at the race to support his ex-girlfriend Erin (Tatiana Maslany) and lost both of his legs in the explosion; not only must he learn to walk with prosthetic legs, but he talks to other survivors as he struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Stronger" excels by depicting Jeff as a well-intentioned but irresponsible character. While he's charming and entertaining, Jeff's relationship with Erin was in shambles before the tragic event took place. He's instantly sympathetic, but Jeff's debilitating injuries combined with his own initial refusal to improve put stress on both Erin and his family. Gyllenhaal shows Jeff's growth; he learns that he must put in the work to get better, and that he must take responsibility for the things he can control. His awareness grows as he meets other victims and learns that his story is just one of many.

"Stronger" shows the complexity of heroism. Jeff doesn't view himself as a hero, but he realizes how his recovery can be an inspiration to others who are struggling. In the film's most powerful scene, Gyllenhaal attends an emotional Boston Red Socks game and is overwhelmed when he sees how many lives his story has touched.

5. Nightcrawler

With "Nightcrawler," Gyllenhaal created one of his most memorable characters: idiosyncratic ambulance chaser Lou Bloom. Bloom is both darkly funny and absolutely terrifying. Dan Gilroy's directorial debut relies on having an adaptable star who can capture Bloom's dynamic personality, and Gyllenhaal delivered, turning in one of his bravest performances.

Bloom is a mischievous Los Angeles-based thief who is convinced that he can talk himself out of any situation. He has developed a talent for digging through seedy environments, and is fascinated with crime. Although Lou tries to put on a warm front, Lou doesn't feel normal emotions, and finds that stringing together news footage of crimes in action may be his ideal career. Even if he doesn't feel empathy, Lou is intensely competitive and aims to best local stringer Joe Loder (Bill Paxton) by getting a recurring gig working for a television news station. Lou only imagines that television audiences have the same aptitude for brutality that he does.

Gyllenhaal only occasionally shows the extent of Lou's rage, teasing the extremes he will go to find depraved situations. When Lou recruits his assistant Rick (Riz Ahmed), he grows scarier as it becomes clear that Rick's life is in danger. Gyllenhaal and Ahmed have an awkward dynamic that begins with humor, yet ends in gripping tragedy.

4. Prisoners

"Prisoners" is both a tightly wound investigative mystery and a thought-provoking morality tale. The film questions the lengths taken to rescue kidnapped children by both their families and law enforcement, and explores how the emotional stakes and responsibilities vary across different parties. Despite its 153-minute runtime, director Denis Villenueve keeps the tension high as the danger to the young lives grows more severe.

While celebrating Thanksgiving, an austere woodsman Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) and his loving wife Grace (Maria Dover) are shocked when their daughter and her friend go missing. Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal) becomes involved in the case after finding a potential suspect, and eventually begins talking to both families. Loki is put in a challenging situation, and Gyllenhaal revels in the strain felt by the talented detective. Loki knows that the families are in indescribable pain, but he can't express empathy without violating his professionalism.

But Loki is a good detective, and Gyllenhaal captures Loki's expertise as well as his growing emotional investment in the case. He's both angry about and terrified of what Keller is capable of, and fears the consequences he will face if he takes the law into his own hands.

3. Brokeback Mountain

Gyllenhaal's lone Oscar win was for a deserving role. "Brokeback Mountain" bravely shatters stereotypes surrounding western masculinity with a touching love story featuring two cowboys. While the film never shies away from the hardships these men face as they endure bigotry and struggle to keep their romance secret, director Ang Lee seems most interested in the beauty of their love.

"Brokeback Mountain" wouldn't have had the same impact if it wasn't for the two towering performances at its center. Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Gyllenhaal) are assigned to work for an entire summer on a sheepherding task, and Gyllenhaal and Ledger show how the intimate nature of the job blossoms into attraction. Twist is the first to express his feelings, and Gyllenhaal's openness makes Ennis feel conflicted — he knows that their romance can't leave the isolated mountain.

Even when they don't share the screen together, Gyllenhaal and Ledger play up the painstaking trauma of the men's separation. Ennis only gradually learns about Jack's difficult home life and the discrimination he faces from his parents, making Gyllenhaal's pursuit of love even braver. Both men are shackled by the restrictive gender stereotypes they're expected to abide by, but Gyllenhaal still shows Twist's softer, charismatic side.

"Zodiac" is no standard serial killer film. The famously unsolved case of the Zodiac Killer haunted San Francisco Bay for decades, but rather than focusing on the depravity of the murders, director David Fincher chooses to track the obsessions of the men pursuing the criminal. Political cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Gyllenhaal) initially spars with veteran crime reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.), but they ultimately begin working together to unravel the enigmatic messages that the killer sends to their newspaper. Graysmith's aptitude for solving puzzles sparks the interest of Inspector Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo), who suspects that an untraditional investigation may be the only way to track down the killer's identity.

As time passes, Graysmith's relationship with the case changes. He's not a crime reporter, but unsolved mysteries fascinate him. Gyllenhaal shows how Graysmith's good-natured curiosity transforms into obsession.

A heartfelt romance between Graysmith and Melanie (Chloe Sevigny) develops; Gyllenhaal and Sevigny have great chemistry as two earnest puzzle solvers, but the charming relationship is shattered as Graysmith refuses to set aside his fixations. It's heartbreaking to watch Graysmith slip into madness, but he's relatable enough that the climax, during which he's trapped with the presumed killer, is still a nail-biter.

1. Donnie Darko

Richard Kelly's landmark science fiction thriller "Donnie Darko" is one of the most impressive directorial debuts of all time. Kelly weaves an intricate time travel narrative through the eyes of a lonely teenager who is visited by a masked figure known only as "Frank." The film requires serious attention from audiences, but its satire of suburban communities and its relatable central character make "Donnie Darko" totally unique.

Gyllenhaal's performance is essential to the film's success, and a major reason why it persists as a favorite. The film needs an engaging character to guide viewers as they unravel the mystery at the film's core. With his dismissive attitude, Donnie could've been unlikable, but Gyllenhaal captures his isolation in a way that makes him sympathetic, not annoying. As the suspense builds, Gyllenhaal does an excellent job portraying Donnie's increasing paranoia.

"Donnie Darko" is also hilarious, thanks largely to Donnie's odd philosophical ramblings and his observations about the strange inhabitants of his home town. Gyllenhaal creates an amusing character, but he also sells the emotional weight of Donnie's key decisions, ensuring that the climax of "Donnie Darko" is one you'll never forget.

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All 30 Jake Gyllenhaal Movies Ranked From Worst To Best
10 best Jake Gyllenhaal movies
Movie Review: In 'Prisoners' Gyllenhaal's roling along
Ranking the Top Five Jake Gyllenhaal Performances in Movies
Jake Gyllenhaal
The 10 Best Jake Gyllenhaal Movies

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Jake Gyllenhaal • Then Now 2022
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Top 10 movies of Jake Gyllenhaal

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“Ambulance” Review: Michael Bay Will Stress You out with New Jake Gyllenhaal Movie
Rating: 6/10 I was on edge all day following a noon press screening of Michael Bay’s Ambulance — the new adrenaline-fueled movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Eiza González that debuted in theaters on April 8 and is av...
The 27 Most Anticipated Movies of 2022
We can’t believe it’s already almost April either. But there’s still a lot of 2022 ahead of us and we thought about taking a renewed look at our selection of some of 2022’s most anticipated films, especially considering the calendar of rele...
How Do You Find a Movie Using a Description of the Movie?
Visit IMDb.com to do an advanced search to find a movie based on just a few details. The site allows users to search its database of 3,367,748 titles and 6,636,954 names, as of December 2015, based on actors in the film or keywords.
Jake Gyllenhaal
He followed up w/ roles in Bubble Boy (2001), The Good Girl (2002), Moonlight Mile (2002) & The Day After Tomorrow (2004). He made his theater debut in a
Jake Gyllenhaal Movies
Jake Gyllenhaal Movies · 1. City Slickers (1991). PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Western · 2. Donnie Darko (2001). R | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi · 3. The Good
Jake Gyllenhaal Movies Ranked by Tomatometer
Nightcrawler (2014) 95% · Wildlife (2018) 94% · Source Code (2011) 92% · October Sky (1999) 91% · Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) 90% · Zodiac (2007) 90% · Stronger
Jake Gyllenhaal on screen and stage
The following year, he
Jake Gyllenhaal movies: 16 greatest films ranked from worst to best
16. STRONGER (2017) · 15. OCTOBER SKY (1999) · 14. SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (2019) · 13. WILDLIFE (2018) · 12. THE GOOD GIRL (2002) · 11. JARHEAD (
Every Jake Gyllenhaal Movie, Ranked From Worst To Best
Every Jake Gyllenhaal Movie, Ranked From Worst To Best · #34 - Highway · #33 - Bubble Boy · #32 - Accidental Love · #31 - Prince of Persia: The
Jake Gyllenhaal's Movies in Order
1. City Slickers (1991) ; 2. A Dangerous Woman (1993) ; 3. Josh and S.A.M. (1993) ; 4. Homegrown (1998) ; 5. October Sky (1999).
List of Jake Gyllenhaal films
Films: Jake Gyllenhaal · Strange World · Ambulance · Spirit Untamed · The Guilty · Spider-Man: Far From Home · Velvet Buzzsaw · Wildlife · The Sisters Brothers.
Jake Gyllenhaal
Further acclaim came with his roles in Denis Villeneuve's thrillers Prisoners (2013) and Enemy (2013), and he received nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best
10 Best Jake Gyllenhaal Movies, Ranked According to Rotten
10 'Donnie Darko' (2001) · 9 'The Sisters Brothers' (2018) · 8 'Brokeback Mountain' (2005) · 7 'Stronger' (2017) · 6 'Zodiac' (2007) · 5 'Spider-...
The 15 Best Jake Gyllenhaal Movies Ranked
Gyllenhaal's lone Oscar win was for a deserving role. "Brokeback Mountain" bravely shatters stereotypes surrounding western masculinity with a