When you think of the greatest actors of all time, a few names are sure to spring to mind. Orson Welles. Marlon Brando. Laurence Olivier. All of whom deserve the fame and acclaim they already have, but if one other actor could and should join the pantheon of the greats, it’s Daniel Day-Lewis. While he’s become more selective in choosing his roles over the years, when he does appear in a new project, he delivers such a comprehensive and powerful performance that it’s simply masterful.
With his most recent film, Anemone (2025), and with Daniel Day-Lewis once again the talk of the town, now is the perfect time to go over his best movies. These performances have such care and attention to detail that it makes sense how a method actor like him could become completely lost in each character he inhabits. For the record, while I’m going to take the overall film into account for its placement, I’m mostly going to determine each film’s ranking by the power of Daniel Day-Lewis’ acting abilities within it. So if you’re browsing services like Prime Video or AppleTV+ and want to understand why Daniel Day-Lewis is such a remarkable actor, here are his five best movies that stand heads and shoulders above the rest.
5. Phantom Thread (2017)
As the second collaboration between Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Thomas Anderson, there were high expectations for Phantom Thread. After all, the last time they worked together produced the masterpiece that is There Will Be Blood (2007). While Phantom Thread may not be as immediately satisfying as their last project, it’s still a showcase for why Day-Lewis is as acclaimed as he is.
What makes his portrayal of Reynolds Woodcock so fascinating is how self-absorbed the character is. Day-Lewis is no stranger to playing unsympathetic leads, but there’s a certain amount of snobbish entitlement he brings to the role that makes you love to hate him. The film is still an effective romance, as well as a well-researched period piece channeling several bits of artistry and beauty that fans of films like Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) will surely adore. There’s an air of refined elegance that Phantom Thread exudes so effortlessly that lovers of art, romance, and toxic lead characters will appreciate if they decide to endure Woodcock’s petty remarks for two hours and ten minutes.
4. Gangs of New York (2002)
It makes sense that Martin Scorsese, arguably the most critically acclaimed director alive today, would want to work with Daniel Day-Lewis. The two had previously worked together on The Age of Innocence (1993), and while that role may be good, his appearance in Gangs of New York is simply better in every way.
While Reynolds Woodcock may be rude and self-absorbed, he’s not a villain—not in the strictest sense, at least. Bill the Butcher is. Day-Lewis relishes being a heinous and violent man, going so far as to take joy in every fight he gets into. There’s a certain theatricality to how he plays William Cutting, including having dramatic duels, openly gloating about how evil he is, and even a little bit of torture just because. It helps make the film a wonderful blend of mob drama and revenge epic, like a cross between Once Upon A Time In The West (1968) and The Godfather (1972). We want to see Bill receive his comeuppance, and when we do, it’s beyond cathartic. You’ll be in heaven with Gangs of New York if you love a good revenge thriller and deliciously evil antagonists.
3. In The Name of the Father (1993)
Period movies are an acquired taste. You’ll either be interested in the time period and setting, or it’ll bounce right off you. Even if you know nothing about the state of Ireland in the 1970s, there’s a strong chance you’ll become enamored with In The Name of the Father solely thanks to Day-Lewis.
In a lot of ways, In the Name of the Father deserves to be considered one of the great courtroom dramas, right alongside 12 Angry Men (1957) and To Kill A Mockingbird (1962). While Day-Lewis presents Gerry in a sympathetic light, especially whenever he interacts with his father, the courtroom scenes completely make this movie. The final scene, in particular, is such an effectively shot, written, and performed scene that it alone justifies the film’s placement on this list. In the Name of the Father is a film that reminds viewers of the importance of blind justice and how, when the courts aren’t fair, innocent people can suffer gross and inhuman punishments, a timely message that is needed now more than ever.
2. Lincoln (2012)
Lincoln had an inevitable task. Despite being one of the most important figures in American history, Abraham Lincoln is often boiled down to a mere caricature of himself. Leave it to Daniel Day-Lewis and Steven Spielberg to depict Lincoln not as a larger-than-life figure, but as a humble and quiet man.
Out of all the characters that Day-Lewis has played over his storied career, there’s a certain relatability in how he embodies Lincoln that is unlike most of his other performances. He rarely, if ever, raises his voice, yet he still commands an entire room solely from how he delivers his lines with emotion, wit, and buckets of empathy. This is a thinking man’s historical epic, much like Oppenheimer (2023) or Schindler’s List (1993), where the impact doesn't come from violence or bloodshed, but rather the heightened stakes the cast so effortlessly convey, and no one conveys it better than Daniel Day-Lewis.
1. There Will Be Blood (2007)
There are movies about greed, and then there’s There Will Be Blood. The film is a haunting picture of the American dream at its most reprehensible, filled with rage, resentment, and a palpable desire to achieve success at any cost. And all of that is best embodied in Daniel Plainview.
Day-Lewis is usually at his best when he’s allowed to play morally or ethically questionable characters, and while you can argue that Bill the Butcher may be more despicable, he’s not as believable as Plainview. Plainview is the kind of character who feels all too real as a ludicrously wealthy man who would rather die than lose his wealth. His mansion is a mausoleum to his ambitions; hollow and sad, yet a status symbol for his life. It’s not hard to see shades of Charles Foster Kane from Citizen Kane (1941), and if you enjoy stories about morally reprehensible people, like in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), There Will Be Blood will impress you and then some. There’s a reason Daniel Day-Lewis won his second Oscar for this film. It’s the best thing he’s ever done as an actor.
