Leonardo DiCaprio has a great many Hollywood movies under his belt. Most people are aware of at least a few of the films he’s starred in. But if you’re a fan, you definitely want to watch his best work. This must-see list of the 10 best Leonardo DiCaprio movies is sure to impress all fans of his career.
What Are the 10 Best Leonardo DiCaprio Movies?
This was a difficult list to put together because some people differ in their opinions on the 10 best Leonardo DiCaprio movies. However, those that made the cut are widely agreed upon, even if their order is somewhat debatable.
1. Django Unchained
This Western-comedy-action movie has something for everyone: An excellent cast, great acting, and triumphant endings to dangerous situations the protagonists get into. Here, DiCaprio plays the untrustworthy plantation owner Calvin Candie. Django is a former slave who joins a bounty hunter to trick Candie, who just so happens to have Django’s long-lost wife as a slave. Django Unchained, directed by Quentin Tarantino, is controversial due to its language and portrayal of slavery.
2. The Wolf of Wall Street
Jordan Belfort, played by DiCaprio, starts working at an entry-level position at a brokerage firm, only to found his own, Stratton Oakmont. He and his cronies commit fraud to steal millions from wealthy investors, all while engaging in a life of excess that includes drugs and risky sex. However, the big bad wolf must go down eventually.
3. Inception
How can you recognize reality when there’s a world inside another world inside another world? In this film, DiCaprio plays an extremely talented thief with the ability to enter people’s minds and steal secrets from their subconscious, granting him a career in corporate espionage. His new mission is to plant an idea in someone’s mind in an incredibly complicated crime. Even if he succeeds, he must still face a dangerous enemy.
4. The Man in the Iron Mask
The Three Musketeers are brave heroes in this film, which starts with tyrannical King Louis XIV indirectly killing the son of Athos, a former musketeer. Leonardo DiCaprio truly plays Jekyll and Hyde as twin brothers, one good and one evil, where the evil one, as King Louis XIV, imprisons the good one to be the sole heir to the crown. DiCaprio’s whole demeanor and even his eyes change as he switches from one brother to the other.
5. Gangs of New York
DiCaprio does not miss the mark of playing a fiery, passionate Irishman in the Five Points of New York in this film. He is bent on revenge after the anti-immigrant gang leader Cutting kills his father. He is also determined to secure a place for Irish immigrants in 1860s New York. But first, he must infiltrate Cutting’s circle.
6. Catch Me If You Can
Based on a true story, Catch Me If You Can is a crime-action film. DiCaprio plays Frank Abagnale, Jr., who, before his 18th birthday, successfully imposters a doctor, a lawyer, and a co-pilot. Although he was a master of deception in these roles, what made him famous was his brilliant forgery. He became the most successful bank robber in U.S. history at the age of 17. Watch as he manages to stay one step ahead of the FBI up until the end.
7. The Departed
Here is a gangster-crime film about mutual infiltration and a race to find each other’s identities. Undercover South Boston cop Billy Costigan, played by DiCaprio, infiltrates gangland chief Frank Costello’s organization. However, Colin Sullivan, a career criminal, infiltrates the police department to report to his syndicate crime bosses. Each group realizes they have a mole among them, and the moles hurry to save themselves.
8. The Revenant
Do you enjoy survival epics? Then look no further than this film, where DiCaprio plays frontiersman Hugh Glass. He is attacked by a bear while exploring uncharted wilderness in 1823 and sustains life-threatening injuries. To make things worse, a member of his hunting team kills his young son and leaves him for dead. Glass is forced to find a way back to civilization using his survival skills.
9. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
As DiCaprio’s favorite film, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is a romantic-comedy-melodrama. His role here is that of Arnie, the mentally-impaired younger brother of Gilbert Grape, who is always getting into dangerous situations. It is sentimental and made DiCaprio famous.
10. Titanic
The largest-grossing film DiCaprio has done to date, Titanic is ultimately a romantic action story that ends in tragedy, with a glimmer of hope. This was the film that made Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” famous. DiCaprio plays Jack Dawson, a poor young man who falls in love with the upper-class, engaged Rose DeWitt Bukater. Trouble arises when they begin an affair aboard a cruise ship at sea.
The 10 Best Leonardo DiCaprio Movies Give Variety
This list of 10 best Leonardo DiCaprio movies is meant to showcase not only DiCaprio’s best acting, but many different film genres. Watch the gamut of action, drama, romance, comedy, horror, survival, science fiction, and Western styles to understand the depth and flexibility of DiCaprio’s talent. And since DiCaprio is still acting — including just-released One Battle After Another — there could be more “best” movies to make the top 10.
