45 Best Willem Defoe Movies

Who is Willem Defoe? To true movie buffs, this versatile actor is very well known. Apart from his memorable looks, 68-year-old Willem Defoe is perhaps one of the most intriguing and all-powerful actors of the present time.

Defoe can play anything, and he can be anything: funny and tragic, ugly and dazzlingly beautiful. If you haven’t heard of Willem Defoe yet, it’s time to watch one of the great movies on our list with him.

Nosferatu

• Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Drama, Detective
• Production: Czech Republic, USA / 2024
• Director: Robert Eggers
• Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Holt, Ralph Ineson, Bill Skarsgard, Willem Defoe, Emma Corrin, Simon McBurney

Europe, XIX century. Real estate agent Thomas Hutter travels to mysterious Transylvania. He intends to meet a certain Count Orlok, who is interested in buying a house in Wisborg. After arriving at the Count’s castle, Hutter begins to suspect that Orlok is a vampire.

A remake of the classic 1922 silent horror film, whose plot is similar in many ways to Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”. In 1921, the producer of the tape could not agree with the widow of the writer and decided to simply remake the plot. He gave the characters of “Dracula” other names, moved the action from England to Germany and changed the ending.

After the release of “Nosferatu” Bram Stoker’s widow appealed to the court, which won. All copies of the first adaptation of “Dracula” were destroyed, but the film itself became a legend.

Beetlejuice 2

• Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Comedy
• Production: USA / 2024
• Director: Tim Burton
• Starring: Jenna Ortega, Michael Keaton, Monica Bellucci, Winona Ryder, Justin Theroux, Willem Defoe, Catherine O’Hara, Lea Perkins, Gianni Calcetti.

A sequel to the iconic story directed by Tim Burton back in 1988. The audience will once again meet the ghost Beetlejuice and his frustrated fiancée Lydia Deetz.

One of the latest movies starring Willem Defoe. The world premiere of the comedy horror is scheduled for the fall of 2024. Details of the plot of the upcoming horror movie are still hidden.

It is only known that actress Winona Ryder will return to the role of Lydia Deetz, and Michael Keaton – in the role of Beetlejuice. The role of Lydia’s daughter will be played by “Wansday” star Jenna Ortega, and the policeman in the afterlife – Willem Defoe.

Inside

• IMDB Rating – 5.5
• Genre: Thriller, Drama
• Production: Greece, Germany, Belgium / 2022
• US box office receipts: $897,190
• Directed by Vassilis Katsoupis
• Starring: Willem Defoe, Jene Bervuts, Elise Stuyck, Andrew Blumenthal, Vincent Eaton, Daniel White, Josiah Krug, Cornelia Buch, Ava von Voigt, Yul Samaré

Nemo, a professional burglar, breaks into a posh Manhattan apartment. Nemo wants to steal three works by Egon Schiele, but has no way of finding one of them

His movements trigger the security system and the thief is trapped. The armored door is locked, the windows are bulletproof. The landlord is away, and it is not known when he will arrive.

Egon Schiele (1890-1918) was one of the brightest representatives of Austrian expressionism, a pupil of Gustav Klimt. He died of Spanish flu during the epidemic of 1918-1920.

The artist’s legacy amounted to about 300 paintings and several thousand drawings. Schiele’s paintings are highly valued among collectors. So, in 2013, his “Lovers” were sold for more than 12 million dollars.

Aquaman (2018) and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)

• IMDB Rating – 6.8
• Genre: Fantastic, Fantasy, Action, Adventure
• Production: USA, Australia / 2018
• Budget: $160,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $1,148,461,807
• Director: James Wan
• Starring: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Defoe, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Temuera Morrison, Ludi Lin, Michael Beech

Thirty years ago, Thomas Curry, a simple lighthouse keeper, and Atlantis’ princess Atlanna fell in love. Soon Atlanna became the mother of a beautiful baby boy, who was named Arthur. From childhood the boy was distinguished from his peers by his inordinate strength, speed and invulnerability. These qualities will help Arthur in the fight with his own brother Orm, the king of Atlantis, who planned to conquer mankind.

Once again mankind is threatened with imminent disaster. This time at the hands of the insidious pirate mercenary Black Manta. But the king of Atlantis Aquaman, half Atlantean and half human, stands guard over the peace of the ocean and all mankind. In addition, in the fight against villains he will have an unexpected assistant – his half-brother Orm, who came out of imprisonment.

Willem Defoe played the role of Nuidis Vulko, an Atlantean and mentor to the maturing Aquaman in the superhero dildo.

Finalmente l’alba

• Genre: Drama
• Production: Italy / 2023
• Director: Saverio Costanzo
• Starring: Rachel Sennott, Lily James, Willem Defoe, Joe Keery, Alba Rohrwacher, Anna Manuelli, Paul Bohe, Alexia Murray, Benjamin Stender

The 1950s. Italy. A young but promising actress is sent to the Cinecittà film studio, where one of the Hollywood movies is being filmed. The young starlet is engaged to a man she doesn’t love but is about to marry under pressure from her family. But an endless night at the movie studio will change everything.

The plot of the upcoming premiere is kept secret. But the director and screenwriter of the movie Saverio Costanzo hinted that he was inspired by Italian actress Vilma Montesi to create the image of the main character.

In April 1953, the girl was found dead on a public beach. Her death was linked to drugs and sexual orgies involving the Italian elite.

The Northman

• IMDB Rating – 7.0
• Genre: Fantasy, Action, Drama
• Production: USA / 2022
• Budget: $90,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $69,633,110
• Director: Robert Eggers
• Starring: Alexander Skarsgard, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Ethan Hawke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Gustav Lind, Elliott Rose, Willem Defoe, Phil Martin, Eldar Skar.

The year 895. King Aurvandil of the Jutes returns to the island of Hrafnsi to his wife Geruda and son Amleth from a distant campaign. The ruler is all wounded and intends to hand over the throne to his teenage son. But Aurvandil is treacherously murdered by his brother Fjolnir.

The usurper seizes the throne and the ruler’s wife, and orders Amleth to be killed. But the teenager manages to escape. Many years later, Amleth, raised by Vikings, returns to avenge his father’s death.

Another variation of the medieval Scandinavian legend that inspired William Shakespeare to write the legendary tragedy Hamlet.

Dead for a Dollar

• IMDB Rating – 5.4
• Genre: Thriller, Western
• Production: Canada, USA / 2022
• Worldwide Box Office: $81,815
• Director: Walter Hill
• Starring: Christoph Waltz, Willem Defoe, Rachel Brosnahan, Warren Burke, Luis Chavez, Brandon Scott, Benjamin Brett, Hamish Linklater, FiDel Gomez, Guy Burnett.

A fresh bounty hunter movie. Max Borlund gets a lucrative assignment. It is necessary to return to the legitimate husband Nathan Price his wife Rachel. The woman was kidnapped by Elijah Jones, a black deserter soldier.

A simple and easy job for a professional mercenary. But in his search, Borlund encounters his nemesis Joe Cribbens, whom he sent to prison several years ago.

The profession of “bounty hunter” appeared a long time ago and still exists today. The reason for its emergence was the peculiarities of Anglo-Saxon law.

Thus, one of its norms states that in case of delayed trial, the accused can be released on bail and return later. If a criminal escapes, the bounty hunters take over the case.

The Card Counter

• IMDB Rating – 6.2
• Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
• Production: USA, UK, China, Sweden / 2021
• Worldwide Box Office: $5,040,860
• Director: Paul Schrader
• Starring: Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan, Willem Defoe, Alexander Babar, Bobby S. King, Catherine Baker, Brian Truong, Dylan Flashner, Adrienne Lau.

Former military man William Tell served several years for abusing prisoners at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison. Now William makes money playing casino games.

One day, Tell accidentally meets Major John Gordo, who supervised the torture at Abu Ghraib. Later, the man is approached by a young man named Kirk, who tracks down and wants to kill the sadistic military man. William likes Kirk and doesn’t want the man to ruin his life. Tell invites the guy to keep him company on his casino trips.

The international scandal around Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison broke out in April 2004. It turned out that the US military not only brutally abused prisoners, but also photographed themselves against the background of their victims. The disgraceful phenomenon of the U.S. army was massive, and only 11 American guards were convicted.

Nightmare Alley

America before the Second World War. In one of the traveling circuses there is a new employee – a young man with a dark past Stanton Carlisle. Stan decides to become a “clairvoyant” and enrolls as an apprentice to Peter, a rogue hoaxer of the traveling circus.

After a few years, Stan succeeds and becomes a well-known mentalist in New York City. But one day he breaks the only rule of this fraudulent business – no counseling outside the show.

Mentalism is a type of performing art of demonstrating in public psychic abilities, namely telepathy, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, and more. In fact, mentalists usually have excellent memory, observation and the ability to make quick calculations.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

• IMDB Rating – 8.2
• Genre: Fantastic, Action, Adventure, Fantasy
• Production: USA / 2021
• Budget: $200,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $1,912,233,593
• Director: Jon Watts
• Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Marisa Tomei, Willem Defoe, Alfred Molina, Jamie Foxx, Thomas Haden Church, Rhys Ivans, Jacob Batalon.

The identity of Spider-Man is revealed, and now Peter Parker has the attention of the whole world. But mankind is not in a hurry to thank the guy for his good deeds. On the contrary, Parker and his relatives are accused of killing Mystereo.

Lawyer Matt Murdoch manages to remove the charges, but “notoriety” continues to haunt Parker. Then he turns to Dr. Strange with a request to apply a spell, after which everyone on the planet will forget about the identity of Spider-Man. Would Peter Parker know what it will lead to….

Willem Defoe’s superhero movie returns to the role of the Green Goblin that he first played in the very first Spider-Man 2002 starring Tobey Maguire.

Motherless Brooklyn

• IMDB Rating – 6.8
• Genre: Drama, Crime, Detective
• Production: USA / 2019
• Budget: $26,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $18,477,736
• Director: Edward Norton
• Starring: Edward Norton, Gugu Embata-Raw, Alec Baldwin, Willem Defoe, Bruce Willis, Ethan Sapley, Cherry Jones, Bobby Cannavale, Dallas Roberts, Josh Pace.

Detective Lionel Essrog, who suffers from Tourette’s syndrome, has been called the Weirdo since childhood. Because of the disease, he swears a lot and at the most inopportune moments. But private investigator Frank Minna was able to appreciate the phenomenal memory of the young man and took him to work.

The chief became for the young man and father, and the only friend. But Minna is suddenly killed, and Lionel becomes obsessed with the search for the killers of the only native to himself.

Tourette syndrome is a disease of the central nervous system in which multiple involuntary muscle contractions occur. The disease is characterized by nervous twitching, facial tics, strange exclamations and involuntary swearing.

Among the victims of the disease are celebrities. For example, the famous American singer Billie Eilish has suffered from Tourette’s syndrome since the age of 12.

The Lighthouse

• IMDB Rating – 7.4
• Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Drama
• Production: USA, Brazil, Canada / 2019
• Worldwide Box Office: $18,129,854
• Director: Robert Eggers
• Starring: Robert Pattinson, Willem Defoe, Valerie Karaman, Logan Hawkes, Kayla Nicolle, Sean Clark, Pierre Richard, Preston Hudson, Jeffrey Crates, Sally Segall

On a small rocky island near the coast of New England arrives a new assistant lighthouse keeper – a young man named Ephraim Winslow. The job turns out to be unbearably hard, and the chief Thomas Wake is an unpleasant and demanding man. In addition, Wake flatly refuses to let the newcomer into the lantern room where the lighthouse control is located.

Soon Winslow begins to be tormented by strange visions and memories of life on the mainland. The boy begins to think that there is something devilish going on on the island, and the old lighthouse keeper wants to kill him.

One of the best movies starring Willem Defoe. For the role of an old lighthouse keeper, actor Willem Defoe learned to knit, grew a beard and took dancing lessons. In addition, during filming, the artist did not live with the entire group in the hotel, and secluded in a small fisherman’s cottage on the shore.

Togo

• IMDB Rating – 7.9
• Genre: Drama, Adventure, Family, Biography, History
• Production: USA / 2019
• Director: Erickson Core
• Starring: Willem Defoe, Julianne Nicholson, Christopher Heyerdahl, Richard Dormer, Adrian Dorval, Madeleine Wickins, Michael Greyeyes, Niamh Nielsen, Nicolai Nicolaeff, Torbjorn Harr

1925. A terrible epidemic of diphtheria broke out in the town of Nome on the northwestern coast of Alaska. Unfortunately, there was no antitoxin in the town surrounded by the frozen sea.

So the people of Nome turn to the only man who can overcome the snow blockade – Leonard Seppala, a dog sled driver. The musher sets off on his journey, relying on the sled’s leader, the elderly dog Togo.

The dramatic movie about dogs is based on real events and is dedicated to the Great Race of Mercy in 1925. 20 mushers driving more than 300 dogs covered a distance of more than a thousand kilometers in five days. The most difficult section of 425 kilometers was covered by 48-year-old musher Leonard Seppala and his 12-year-old lead dog Togo.

At Eternity’s Gate

• IMDB Rating – 6.9
• Genre: Drama, Biography, History
• Production: Ireland, Switzerland, UK, France, USA / 2018
• Worldwide Box Office: $11,257,695
• Director: Julian Schnabel
• Starring: Willem Defoe, Rupert Friend, Oscar Isaac, Mads Mikkelsen, Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Niels Arestrup, Anne Cosigny, Amira Casar, Vincent Perez

A dramatic movie about the great painter Vincent Van Gogh, about the last years of his life, which he spent in the French city of Arles. Having settled in Provence, Van Gogh receives a powerful burst of inspiration from the local landscapes. But along with the creative upsurge, the mental illnesses of the great genius of painting become more acute.

The period of life in Arles was the most fruitful for the Dutch postimpressionist painter, where he created more than 200 paintings. It was in Arles that the peculiar creative style of the painter was finally formed.

The Florida Project

• IMDB Rating – 7.6
• Genre: Drama
• Production: USA / 2017
• Budget: $2,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $10,954,677
• Director: Sean Baker
• Starring: Brooklyn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Valeria Cotto, Christopher Rivera, Willem Defoe, Caleb Landry Jones, Macon Blair, Aiden Malick, Edward Pagan

The roadside motel “Mystic Castle” is a place where decent people don’t go. It is home to former drug addicts, prostitutes and crooks of all nationalities and stripes. Among them grows up 6-year-old Muni, whose neglectful mother earns money by begging, stealing and prostitution.

Muni and other abandoned children like her live out their childhood joys and problems. Their only friend, educator and protector is the hotel manager Bobby.

One of the best movies with Willem Defoe. The actor was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 2018 Academy Awards for his performance as the manager.

Murder on the Orient Express

• IMDB Rating – 6.5
• Genre: Detective, Crime, Drama
• Production: USA, Malta, UK / 2017
• Budget: $55,000,000
• Worldwide box office receipts: $352,789,811
• Director: Kenneth Branagh
• Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Penelope Cruz, Willem Defoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Josh Gad, Derek Jacobi, Leslie Odom Jr, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley

A new adaptation of Agatha Christie’s famous story about traveling on one of the most luxurious trains in Europe. During one of the flights of the respectable “Orient Express”, running between Istanbul and Paris, there was a mysterious murder.

All passengers are under suspicion without exception, and only Hercule Poirot himself can solve the mystery.

The Orient Express luxury passenger train first made its route from Paris to Constantinople in 1883. One day the train got stuck in the snow, ran out of food, and the men had to go hunting. This case so impressed Agatha Christie that she wrote the detective novel Murder on the Orient Express.

What Happened to Monday

• IMDB Rating – 6.8
• Genre: Fantastic, Fantasy, Action, Thriller, Crime, Detective
• Production: UK, France, USA, Belgium / 2017
• Worldwide box office receipts: $27,975,429
• Director: Tommy Wirkola
• Starring: Noomi Rapace, Glenn Close, Willem Defoe, Marwan Kenzari, Christian Rubeck, Paul Sverre Valheim Hagen, Adetomiwa Edun, Cassie Claire, Cameron Jack, Clara Reid

The near future. Planet Earth is overpopulated. Genetically modified foods have caused a mutation in humans that leads to multiple births. Due to the lack of resources, countries have started to implement the “One Family, One Child” policy.

Terrence Settman’s daughter became the mother of seven daughters at once, but died in childbirth. Hiding from the authorities, the caring grandfather raised all the girls. He named them by the day of the week, but they all have the same identity – Karen Settman. Each of the sisters can only go outside on a different day of the week. But one day Monday goes missing.

Over the past hundred years, the world’s population has more than quadrupled, reaching 8 billion by the end of 2022. Demographers now believe that the world population will peak at 10.4 billion by 2080, after which it will stabilize at that level.

The Great Wall

• IMDB Rating – 5.9
• Genre: Fantasy, Action, Thriller, Adventure
• Production: USA, China, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada / 2016
• Budget: $150,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $334,933,831
• Director: Zhang Yimou
• Starring: Matt Damon, Jing Tian, Willem Defoe, Andy Lau, Pedro Pascal, Zhang Hanyu, Luhan, Kenny Lin, Eddie Peng, Huang Xuan

China, 11th century. A group of Europeans infiltrates the Celestial Empire to steal the secret of black powder. On the way, the travelers are attacked by an unknown creature. Defending himself, archer Willam Garin cuts off the attacker’s paw.

The surviving Europeans are captured by soldiers of one of the garrisons of the Great Wall of China. From them adventurers learn that the wall serves as a defense against alien monsters that appear every 60 years. Willem Garin decides to join the garrison and help repel another attack of the monsters.

The Great Wall of China is the largest architectural monument in the world. The first sections of the wall were built to protect against nomadic raids. Subsequently, the wall, in addition to its protective function, began to fix the borders of the country, and also became a symbol of a unified state.

John Wick

• IMDB Rating – 7.4
• Genre: Action, Thriller, Crime
• Production: USA, China / 2014
• Budget: $20,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $86,013,056
• Director: Chad Stahelski, David Litch
• Starring: Keanu Reeves, Mikael Nyquist, Alfie Allen, Willem Defoe, Dean Winters, Adrianne Palicki, Omer Barnea, Toby Leonard Moore, Daniel Bernhard, Bridget Moynahan

A hitman named John Wick gave up his criminal skills after the death of his beloved wife. All he’s been doing lately is driving around aimlessly in his beloved Ford Mustang and having meaningless conversations with his dog. But when his dog is killed and his car is stolen, John is ready to remember his criminal craft in great detail.

Death catches up with Willem Defoe’s heroes in almost every movie. “John Wick”, in which Willem Defoe plays a former friend and partner of the protagonist, was no exception. In the final tape John Wick kills his former partner.

Pasolini

• IMDB Rating – 5.9
• Genre: Drama, Biography
• Production: France, Belgium, Italy / 2014
• Worldwide box office receipts: $520,435
• Director: Abel Ferrara
• Starring: Willem Defoe, Ninetto Davoli, Riccardo Scamarcio, Valerio Mastandrea, Roberto Zibetti, Andrea Bosca, Giada Colagrande, Francesco Sicigliano, Luca Lionello

A movie about the last day of the life of the controversial Italian film director, poet and novelist Paolo Pasolini. At dawn on November 2, 1975, Pasolini’s body with signs of violent death was found on the beach of Ostia.

The brutal murder of Paolo Pasolini is still one of the most mysterious secrets of twentieth-century Italy. The investigation had many versions and suspects.

According to one of them, the maestro was killed by fascists for his communist beliefs. According to another – he was killed because of some information about the oil and gas company ENI, which were obtained by the director in the course of work on the unfinished novel “Oil”

Odd Thomas

• IMDB Rating – 6.8
• Genre: Thriller, Detective, Fantasy, Action, Horror
• Production: USA, UK / 2013
• Budget: $27,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $570,168
• Director: Stephen Sommers
• Starring: Anton Yelchin, Addison Timlin, Gugu Embata-Raw, Nico Tortorella, Patton Oswalt, Willem Defoe, Ashley Sommers, Leonor Varela, Matthew Page, Casey Messer

A boy named Odd Thomas doesn’t know whether he has a gift or a curse passed down from his mother. He is visited by the ghosts of people who died violently. In addition to ghosts, Odd can also see certain entities, which he calls “bodachs”.

They usually appear around someone who is carrying death. And one day Odd notices a stranger in the town, who is literally surrounded on all sides by bodahs. The boy realizes that soon there will be a bloodbath in the town.

A screen adaptation of the novel of the same name by American science fiction writer Dean Koontz.

Daybreakers

• IMDB Rating – 6.4
• Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Action, Thriller
• Production: Australia, USA / 2009
• Budget: $20,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $51,416,464
• Director: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
• Starring: Ethan Hawke, Willem Defoe, Isabel Lucas, Sam Neill, Claudia Karwan, Michael Dorman, Harriet Minto-Day, Jay Lagaaja, Damien Garvey, Sahaj Dumpleton.

2019. As a result of a pandemic, vampires have become the dominant species on the planet. But ghouls depend on human blood, and the number of natural donors is constantly decreasing. In order not to perish, vampires conduct numerous experiments to create artificial blood.

The young vampire Edward Dalton leads the development. In his heart, the young vampire sympathizes with the people being destroyed. And fate gives him a chance to help them. Quite by chance he encounters a man who claims to be a healed vampire.

Horror belongs to the rare sub-genre of “ozploitation”. It is a low-budget movie for adult audiences, made only in Australia. The plot of such movies is full of sexual exploitation, violence and horror. A vivid representative of the genre is the 1979 action movie “Mad Max”.

This is one of the best vampire movies.

My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done

• IMDB Rating – 6.2
• Genre: Thriller, Drama
• Production: USA, Germany / 2009
• Budget: $2,000,000
• Director: Werner Herzog
• Starring: Michael Shannon, Willem Defoe, Chloë Sevigny, Udo Kier, Michael Peña, Grace Zabriskie, Brad Dourif, Irma P. Hall, Loretta Divine, Candice Kouk.

Detective Havenhurst along with his partner arrive on a call to a crime scene. A theater actor named Brad McCallum killed his own mother with an antique sword and threatens to kill the hostages. Apparently, Brad “overplayed”, because recently he got a role in a play in which his character also had to kill his mother.

Famous German film director Werner Herzog in his drama philosophically reinterpreted the events that took place in reality. On June 10, 1979, 34-year-old Mark Jaworski, participating in amateur theatrical productions, killed his mother with an ancient sword.

Antichrist

• IMDB Rating – 6.5
• Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
• Production: Denmark, Germany, France, Sweden, Italy, Poland / 2009
• Budget: $11,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $6,983,220
• Director: Lars von Trier
• Starring: Willem Defoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Storm Akeke Salström

A grim and dragging drama about an elderly couple who have lost their young child through no fault of their own. The woman is so tormented by guilt that she literally goes mad with despair. The therapist husband, wanting to help his wife, takes her to an old wooden house called “Eden”. Left alone with each other and their pain, the heroes go mad.

One of the most odious and controversial films of Willem Defoe’s career. Director Lars von Trier considers “Antichrist” to be his best movie.

Fireflies in the Garden

• IMDB Rating – 6.4
• Genre: Drama
• Production: USA / 2008
• Budget: $8,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $3,393,161
• Director: Dennis Lee
• Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Willem Defoe, Emily Watson, Carrie-Anne Moss, Julia Roberts, Ioan Griffith, Hayden Panettiere, Shannon Lucio, Kaden Boyd, George Newbern.

Charles, an English professor, has never been close to his son Michael. The discord in the family worsened after Charles caused Michael’s mother to die in a car accident. To sort himself out, Michael plans to write a book about his childhood, but literally every member of his family is against the idea.

The title of the psychological drama was the title of one of the poems by American poet Robert Lee Frost.

Spider-Man

• IMDB Rating – 7.4
• Genre: Fantasy, Action, Adventure
• Production: USA / 2002
• Budget: $139,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $821,708,551
• Director: Sam Raimi
• Starring: Tobey Maguire, Willem Defoe, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Cliff Robertson, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons, Joe Manganiello, Michael Papajohn, Bill Nunn.

During a school field trip to the genetic laboratory of Columbia University, an ordinary schoolboy Peter Parker is bitten by a laboratory spider. The next morning, the boy wakes up with superpowers.

In addition to the acquired superpowers and speed, all of Peter’s reflexes are multiplied. The boy decides to use his new qualities for the benefit of his hometown and, wearing a special suit, goes out on the streets to fight crime.

The superhero picture became the first movie that managed to collect at the box office in the first week of more than 100 million dollars.

Manderlay

• IMDB Rating – 7.2
• Genre: Drama
• Production: Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, France, Germany, UK, Italy, USA / 2005
• Budget: $14,200,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $604,918
• Director: Lars von Trier
• Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Isaac De Bankole, Danny Glover, Willem Defoe, Mikael Abitboul, Lauren Bacall, Jean-Marc Barr, Jeffrey Bateman, Virgil Bramley, Ruben Brinkman.

The second part of Lars von Trier’s unfinished trilogy “USA – Land of Opportunity”. Two months after the burning of Dogville, Grace travels with her father through the southern United States. Accidentally stopping at a plantation called Manderlay, Grace learns that the local black workers do not know about the abolition of slavery.

A sequel to the 2003 film Dogville. One of the most controversial and controversial movies with Willem Defoe. Lars von Trier expressed himself about his movie as follows: “I expect my film to unite the Ku Klux Klan and people of color, because both will want to kill me afterwards.”

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

• IMDB Rating – 7.2
• Genre: Action, Drama, Melodrama, Comedy, Adventure
• Production: USA / 2004
• Budget: $50,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $34,808,403
• Director: Wes Anderson
• Starring: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, Willem Defoe, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon, Noah Taylor, Bud Cort, Seu Jorgi.

Famous oceanologist Steve Zissou and his team make research expeditions on a schooner called “Belafonte”. But the last trip of the explorer ended in tragedy.

Esteban du Plantier, Zissou’s best friend and colleague, was eaten by a “jaguar shark”, the existence of which mankind does not yet know. The oceanologist plots to find the animal and kill it. To do this, he begins to prepare for a new expedition.

This American tragicomedy is dedicated to the famous oceanologist Jacques-Yves Cousteau. The plot is a very free interpretation of Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick.

Control

• IMDB Rating – 6.2
• Genre: Thriller, Crime, Drama
• Production: Germany, USA, Aruba / 2004
• Budget: $6,800,000
• Director: Tim Hunter
• Starring: Ray Liotta, Willem Defoe, Michelle Rodriguez, Stephen Rea, Polly Walker, Kathleen Robertson, Tim DK, Mark Pickard, Stuart Alexander, Glenn Rage.

Lee Ray Oliver, a notorious scoundrel and dangerous criminal, is sentenced to death. But instead of a lethal injection Oliver is offered to participate in a secret medical experiment.

He will need to take a drug that suppresses aggression. Under the influence of drugs Oliver repents, wants to make amends and live a peaceful life. But the sins committed in the past do not allow him to do this.

Executing one criminal costs the United States 20 times more than keeping him for life. It is all about the convict’s numerous appeals, which have to be considered by numerous authorities.

The Reckoning

• IMDB Rating – 6.4
• Genre: Drama, Detective
• Production: UK, Spain / 2001
• Worldwide box office receipts: $1,152,528
• Director: Paul McGuigan
• Starring: Paul Bettany, Willem Defoe, Vincent Cassel, Gina McKee, Brian Cox, Matthew McFadyen, Elvira Minges, Ewan Bremner, Tom Hardy, Trevor Steadman.

Medieval England. Nicholas, a priest who has broken the holy commandments, is forced to flee and join a troupe of traveling actors. Arriving in a British village, the actors learn that the execution of a local deaf-mute witch doctor is about to take place. The young girl is accused of murdering a teenager.

Wanting to entertain the audience, the comedians decide to play out the tragedy on stage. Unexpectedly, the play turns into an investigation of the crime.

The screenplay is based on the historical detective novel “Moralite” by English writer and Booker Prize winner Barry Unsworth.

Edges of the Lord

• IMDB Rating – 6.7
• Genre: Drama, Melodrama, Crime, Military
• Production: USA, Poland / 2001
• Budget: $7,500,000
• Director: Jurek Bogajevich
• Starring: Haley Joel Osment, Willem Defoe, Richard Banel, Liam Hess, Olaf Lubashenko, Malgorzata Foremniak, Andrzej Grabowski, Ciril Vaonin, Olga Frych, Dorota Piasecka.

What does war look like in the eyes of a child? World War II. A 12-year-old Jewish boy, Romek, manages to leave Krakow and take refuge in the countryside with his relatives. The local priest wants to protect the boy from reprisals and teaches him how to pretend to be a Catholic. Soon Romek will have to grow up prematurely and face betrayal and death.

Although the Roman Catholic Church pursued a policy of neutrality during World War II, there were many people among Catholic priests who performed real feats during that difficult time.

Thus, on July 31, 1943, in the Belarusian town of Novogrudok, the Germans shot 11 Nazarene nuns who had voluntarily replaced civilians.

American Psycho

• IMDB Rating – 7.6
• Genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller
• Production: USA, Canada / 2000
• Budget: $7,000,000
• Worldwide box office receipts: $34,266,564
• Director: Mary Harron
• Starring: Christian Bale, Willem Defoe, Josh Lucas, Reese Witherspoon, Cara Seymour, Justin Theroux, Jared Leto, Chloe Sevigny, Samantha Mathis, Matt Ross.

Patrick Bateman is the very embodiment of the American dream. He is young, handsome and rich. By day he increases his fortune on Wall Street, and in the evenings he meets the same perfect people in restaurants. But Patrick has a second, secret life. His nights are spent killing innocent people.

The plot of the movie, which has become a cult favorite, is taken from the novel of the same name by Bret Easton Ellis. The film’s director Mary Harron admitted that she was inspired by Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment.

Animal Factory

• IMDB Rating – 6.6
• Genre: Drama, Crime
• Production: USA / 2000
• Budget: $3,600,000
• US box office receipts: $43,805
• Director: Steve Buscemi
• Starring: Willem Defoe, Edward Furlong, Danny Trejo, Mark Boone Jr., Seymour Cassel, Mickey Rourke, Tom Arnold, John Hurd, Christopher Bauer, Rockets Redglare.

One of the best prison movies ever made. A kid from a well-to-do family named Ronnie Decker went to prison for drug possession. It’s no secret that prison is a special world with its own set of rules and laws, and those who break them are severely punished. But Dekker is lucky. Upon arrival, he encounters local authority Earl Copen, who takes the newcomer under his wing.

The writer Edward Banker, whose novel of the same name became the literary basis of the drama, knew firsthand about the prison system.

Banker’s criminal career began in the 50s of last century. He was the youngest inmate of San Quentin prison, and at one time was even on the FBI’s Most Wanted List.

Shadow of the Vampire

• IMDB Rating – 6.9
• Genre: Horror, Drama
• Production: UK, Luxembourg, USA / 2000
• Budget: $8,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $11,155,214
• Director: E. Elias Merage
• Starring: John Malkovich, Willem Defoe, Udo Kier, Cary Elwes, Catherine McCormack, Eddie Izzard, Ronan Weibert, Aden Gillette, Nicholas Elliott, Sophie Langevin.

In 1921, German director Friedrich Murnau began filming a silent movie based on Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula”. In order not to conflict with the writer’s widow, the director decides to slightly change the plot and rename the characters.

The horror movie decided to call “Nosferatu”. For the role of the vampire Count Orloka is invited actor Max Schreck, who is preparing for the role according to the Stanislavsky system. But strange and frightening things happening around Shrek, begin to push the crew to the idea that they are facing a real vampire.

While vampire-themed movies are not uncommon in Hollywood, Willem Defoe is the only actor to be nominated for an Oscar for embodying the image of a vampire on screen.

The Boondock Saints

• IMDB Rating – 7.7
• Genre: Action, Thriller, Drama, Comedy, Crime
• Production: USA, Canada / 1999
• Budget: $6,000,000
• US box office receipts: $30,471
• Director: Troy Duffy
• Starring: Willem Defoe, Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, David Della Rocco, Billy Connolly, David Ferry, Brian Mahoney, Bob Marley, Richard Fitzpatrick, William Young.

Irish brothers Connor and Murphy McManus have a divine epiphany. They must punish all those who violate God’s commandments. The brothers begin mercilessly exterminating mobsters. They fulfill their destiny so fervently that they begin to be interested in special services. FBI agent Paul Smecker takes up the search for the new saints.

The jewelry of the crime thriller is actor Willem Defoe in the role of FBI agent Paul Smecker. Critics are convinced that this is one of the best roles of the actor in his career.

The English Patient

• IMDB Rating – 7.4
• Genre: Drama, Melodrama, Military
• Production: USA, UK / 1996
• Budget: $27,000,000
• Worldwide box office receipts: $231,976,425
• Director: Anthony Minghella
• Starring: Rafe Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas, Juliette Binoche, Colin Firth, Willem Defoe, Naveen Andrews, Julian Wadham, Jurgen Prochnow, Kevin Whatley, Clive Merrison.

World War II. In Italy, an unknown pilot dies in a villa after a plane crash in the Sahara Desert. The young nurse Hannah takes care of the pilot who has lost his memory. Before his death the man’s memory returns to him and he tells the girl the sad story of his love and the betrayal associated with it.

The war drama is based on the book of the same name by Michael Ondaatje, for which the writer won the Booker Prize.

The hero of “The English Patient” had a real prototype – the Hungarian Count Laszlo Almasy. However, historians say that the biography of the Hungarian aristocrat is far from the events described in the book and the movie.

Tom & Viv

• IMDB Rating – 6.3
• Genre: Drama, Melodrama, Biography
• Production: UK / 1994
• US box office receipts: $538,534
• Director: Brian Gilbert
• Starring: Willem Defoe, Miranda Richardson, Rosemary Harris, Tim Dutton, Nicholas Grace, Geoffrey Bayldon, Claire Holman, Philip Lock, Joanna McCallum, Joseph O’Conor

A poor poet named Tom Eliot is in love with a lovely girl named Vivien Hay-Wood. Since the girl’s father is against marriage with Eliot, the young couple elope and marry in secret.

To support his beloved, Tom gets a job, while continuing to create. Very soon Tom expects the first success. But the joys of family life are overshadowed by the severe psychological state of Vivien, which relatives decide to place in a psychiatric clinic.

The movie is based on real events and focuses on the relationship between the famous poet and playwright Thomas Stearns Eliot and his first wife Vivien Hay-Wood.

White Sands

• IMDB Rating – 6.0
• Genre: Action, Thriller, Drama, Crime
• Production: USA / 1992
• US box office receipts: $9,011,574
• Director: Roger Donaldson
• Starring: Willem Defoe, Mickey Rourke, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Samuel L. Jackson, M. Emmet Walsh, James Rebhorn, Maura Tierney, Beth Grant, Alexander Nixey, Fredrick Lopez.

Torrance County Sheriff Ray Dolezal discovers a man’s corpse in the desert. A briefcase full of cash is found next to the body. During the autopsy, a piece of paper with a phone number is found in his stomach.

Sheriff Dolezal decides to call the number and pretend to be an unknown person. It turns out that the man’s name was Spencer, and he was to take part in a deal to resell a large shipment of guns.

During his career in the film industry, which lasts more than 40 years, Willem Defoe starred in 150 roles. The actor has been nominated for an Oscar three times, but has never won it.

Light Sleeper

• IMDB Rating – 6.9
• Genre: Drama, Crime
• Production: USA / 1992
• Budget: $5,000,000
• Worldwide box office receipts: $1,050,861
• Director: Paul Schrader
• Starring: Willem Defoe, Susan Sarandon, Dana Delaney, David Clennon, Mary Beth Hurt, Victor Garber, Jane Adams, Paul Jabara, Robert Cicchini, Sam Rockwell.

40-year-old drug dealer John Letour delivers drugs exclusively to wealthy clients. But the man is tired of the endless string of identical days and clients demanding one thing from him – drugs.

John dreams of a normal and quiet life. One evening the man meets his former lover Marianne and decides once and for all to put an end to the criminal trade.

To adequately play the role of a drug dealer, Willem Defoe went on a couple of deals with a real drug dealer.

Off Limits

• IMDB Rating – 6.2
• Genre: Action, Thriller, Drama, Military
• Production: USA / 1988
• US box office receipts: $7,242,035
• Director: Christopher Crowe
• Starring: Willem Defoe, Gregory Hines, Fred Ward, Amanda Pace, Lim Kai Tong, Scott Glenn, David Alan Greer, Keith David, Raymond O’Connor, Richard Brooks.

The year is 1968. The Vietnam War is in full swing. In Saigon, an unknown man massacres Vietnamese prostitutes who have children with American soldiers. When the number of murdered women reaches six, two military police officers take over the investigation. They suspect that a high-ranking American military officer is involved in the crimes.

The Vietnam War, in which the United States was one of the participants, is the longest war in modern history. It lasted almost twenty years, from 1955 to 1975. On the U.S. side, 2.5 million people participated in the war, one in ten of whom were either killed or wounded.

Mississippi Burning

• IMDB Rating – 7.8
• Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Detective, History
• Production: USA / 1988
• Budget: $15,000,000
• US box office receipts: $34,603,943
• Director: Alan Parker
• Starring: Gene Hackman, Willem Defoe, Frances McDormand, Brad Dourif, R. Lee Ermey, Gaylard Sartain, Stephen Tobolowsky, Michael Rooker, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Baja Jola

1964. The events of the drama unfold in the heart of the American South – the state of Mississippi. Even though a hundred years have passed since the Civil War, here, among the blossoming magnolias and swamps, blacks are still not considered human beings.

Two FBI agents are sent to Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of three civil rights workers. The work of the partners does not go well. The special agents have very different views on the methods of investigation. In addition, the local authorities are in no hurry to help them.

The dramatic movie is based on real events. On June 22, 1964 in Neshoba County, Mississippi, civil rights activists Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Mickey Schwerner were murdered. During the investigation it was proved that members of the local Ku Klux Klan, as well as the county sheriff and his deputy, were involved in the massacre.

Platoon