10 best Oscar Isaac performances to watch right now

If charisma were a currency, then Oscar Isaac would be every billionaire's worst nightmare. He is a Guatemalan-American heartthrob who can play an emotionally broken folk singer, a deranged villain, a brooding genius, a charming pilot, and an Egyptian God, all before lunch.

This becomes a problem for fans when they can't choose which role to crush on hard. Oscar Isaac can read a grocery list and still make his fans cry by the time he reaches the dairy section. That's the kind of electric energy that he brings to every role. His screen presence can make you fall in love with his character.

Whether Oscar Isaac is playing Poe Dameron in Star Wars or Nathan Bateman from Ex Machina, his range knows no bounds. His filmography is a refreshing cocktail; he isn't here to act but to emotionally devastate with his acting, killer looks, and the perfect amount of chaos.

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10 best Oscar Isaac performances to watch right now

If you are in the mood to binge-watch different versions of Oscar Isaac, then no need to scroll the entire internet to find his top performances. Here is a list for you to show how good and criminally underrated this handsome hunk has been.

1) Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

If you can only watch an Oscar Isaac film, then it should be this one. Inside Llewyn Davis was directed by the Coen Brothers and is the mother of all hipster movies. It follows the story of a talented but struggling folk singer in the 1960s who tends to be self-sabotaging. Maybe that's because his only friend in the world is his guitar.

His inner chaos turns up a notch when his cat dies tragically. Isaac portrays Llewyn's brilliance and resentment so accurately that it looks like you are watching a real guy spiral.

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2) Ex Machina (2014)

If you thought the techies in real life are bad people, then wait till you meet Nathan Bateman (no one with this surname has been a good person in Hollywood), a genius, manipulative, and scary tech billionaire who loves building sentient robots in his backyard.

Isaac easily plays the unhinged madman who is laughing with you one moment and is ready to pounce the next moment. This performance will make you love him, hate him, admire him, and be scared of him in the matter of five minutes.

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3) Scenes from a Marriage (2021)

Scenes from a Marriage is an HBO miniseries that is based on a 1973 Swedish miniseries by Ingmar Bergman. It explores the complexities of love, commitment, and the emotional toll that comes with the long-term marriage of Jonathan and Mira over the years.

What starts as a stable, happy marriage gradually exposes the resentment, miscommunication, infidelity, and changing desires. Oscar Isaac's role as a husband who is witnessing his marriage falling apart will make you want to pause and rethink all your relationships. You may end up texting your ex.

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4) A Most Violent Year (2014)

This movie is Oscar Isaac's Godfather, but the other way round. Isaac plays Abel Morales, an ambitious heating oil businessman in 1980s New York who is trying to stay honest in a corrupt world. Isaac is intense and proves the notion that sometimes the most dangerous guy in the room isn't the one who is yelling.

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5) Dune (2021)

In a movie full of massive worms, space witches, Zendaya, and Timothee Chalamet, Oscar Isaac manages to leave an impact. He plays Duke Leto Atreides, a grand noble and a doting space dad. His role was small, but he left a lasting impression; his death was a major plot twist and turning point in the story.

Isaac managed to give an outstanding performance with his emotional depth, commanding presence, and killer looks. His scene with Timothee set major dad goals.

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6) The Card Counter (2021)

Isaac plays William Tell, an ex-military interrogator turned gambler who is seeking redemption by keeping Cirk (Tye Sheridan) away from a life of violence. The movie is riddled with violence, guilt, and loads of lonely hotel rooms, and Isaac does a brilliant job of turning Tell's suffering into a Shakespearean tragedy.

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7) Moon Knight (2022)

If you think Oscar Isaac is only good at playing brooding, slow characters, then you haven't watched Moon Knight. It's the best answer to whoever is asking for his range. He plays different personalities with different accents, attitudes, and levels of trauma.

And the cool part is that he manages all these personalities while fighting Egyptian demons. One minute is a silly British museum worker, and the next, he is a ghostly mercenary with a death stare. If that's not talent, then what is?

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8) Drive (2011)

If 'small role but big impact' can be described in one performance, then Drive is the best example. Oscar Isaac plays a supporting character, a recently released ex-con who wants to do good by his family. Although Ryan Gosling was the star of the film, Isaac did not get overshadowed by him; his minor role, coupled with his great acting, had a huge impact on the story.

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9) Operation Finale (2018)

Operation Finale is a real-life story of the capture of the Nazi war criminal and one of the major organizers of the Holocaust, Adolf Eichmann. Isaac played Peter Malkin, a Mossad agent and one of the members of the team that captured Eichmann.

The movie is a complete spy thriller, but Isaac's performance brings emotional depth to the story. His scenes with Ben Kingsley, who plays Eichmann, bring out the raw emotions that the real officers must have felt while being in the same room.

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10) Balibo (2009)

Balibo is an Australian war film, a story about the Balibo Five, a group of journalists who were captured and killed reporting on operations before the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in 1975. Isaac plays the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Jose Ramos-Horta, and successfully drives the film forward without being the lead.

He does not glamorize the role; instead gives a sincere and grounded performance. It's one of his early works and one of his best, proving that he had the talent right from the start.

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Oscar Isaac is one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood, and that is one of the main reasons for his success, the other being his Greek God looks. He can play an American, a Latino, and an Arab, and pull off each role with perfection.

He has perfected every emotion and thus can fit in any role. It also shows in his filmography, where you can see a long list of indie flicks and major blockbuster hits. So, if you are looking to binge-watch any genre, Isaac has at least one movie for you.