by Idris Elba’s best 12 films have the discussion below. Idris Elba has accomplished a lot in his life, whether it is as an R&B singer, a skilled kickboxer, or a world-class DJ (mixing under the name DJ Big Driis). Oh, and almost forgot to mention that he is a celebrated actor.
From his first significant role in a 1995 episode of “Absolutely Fabulous,” Idris Elba started his illustrious career steadily working in television. This work led to two iconic roles, as drug dealer Stringer Bell on HBO’s “The Wire” and as tenacious police detective John Luther in BBC’s “Luther,” which earned Elba the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards as well as four Primetime Emmy nominations. In the Netflix original movie “Luther: The Fallen Sun” from 2023, he plays the part again.
Elba soon transitioned to acting in films, first grabbing the attention of global audiences with his 2013 biopic “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,” for which he also garnered a Golden Globe nomination. With his performance in “Beasts of No Nation,” for which he won the SAG Award and Independent Spirit Award and received nominations for the BAFTAs and Golden Globes (though, astonishingly, not for the Oscar), he attracted additional notice from the awards community. Since then, Elba has managed to pull off the extraordinary feat of becoming a member of both the Marvel and DC Comics Universes. He has also succeeded in creating a significant antagonist for a “Fast & Furious” spinoff.
So let’s raise a glass and salute Idris Elba’s best 12 films, listed from worst to finest.
12. THE LONGING OF THREE THOUSAND YEARS (2022)
George Miller is the director.
Based on the book “The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye” by A.S. Byatt, the writers of the film are George Miller and Augusta Gore.
starring Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton.
In George Miller’s “Three Thousand Years of Longing,” an intimate fable with just two main characters, Elba takes on a particularly difficult role. Fortunately, Elba was able to secure Tilda Swinton as his scene partner. Swinton portrays a British scholar who purchases a little bottle in Turkey that conceals a massive Djinn (Elba) who granted her three wishes. Elba’s Djinn is not some sarcastic genie; rather, it is a being that is able to experience human emotions, including the ability to fall in love. Elba handles the conflict between Djinn’s mythological and human parts with elegance and grace, despite the fact that it is a difficult role to portray.
11. HOBBS & SHAW’S FAST AND FURIOUS PRESENTS (2019)
David Leitch is the director.
Chris Morgan and Drew Pearce are the authors.
including Idris Elba, Jason Statham, Vanessa Kirby, Eiza Gonzalez, Cliff Curtis, Helen Mirren, and Eddie Marsan.
In this “Fast and the Furious” spinoff action buddy comedy, Elba plays the deadliest of the bad guys. When he faces out against the good characters Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), who are attempting to halt a lethal virus, Brixton Lore (Elba) is an ex-MI6 agent who has switched sides and joined a terrorist gang. His implants have given him superhuman abilities. Elba gets to play the macho role in the “Fast and Furious” universe, and it’s all in good fun.
10. BEAST (2022) Baltasar Kormákur is the director of Universal Pictures.
Ryan Engle is the author.
Idris Elba, Sharlito Copley, Iyana Halley, and Leah Sava Jeffries are the main actors.
In the action/survival movie “Beast,” widower Dr. Nate Samuels (Elba) takes his daughters Meredith (Iyana Halley) and Nora (Leah Sava Jeffries) on vacation to a South African game reserve in an effort to rekindle their relationship. When they arrive, their plans for a happy holiday are dashed when they are forced to flee for their life after being pursued and attacked by a huge man-eating lion. Elba is ideal for the character of Nate because it allows him to show off his incredible action prowess while also exercising his acting abilities as Nate makes a last-ditch effort to reunite his family.
9. The 2013 film MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM
Justin Chadwick is the director.
Based on a book by Nelson Mandela by William Nicholson.
starring Riaad Moosa, Tony Kgorage, Naomie Harris, and Idris Elba.
While reviews of the sincere movie biopic of Nelson Mandela by director Justin Chadwick were divided, they were almost universally complimentary of actor Idris Elba’s portrayal of Mandela. Elba perfectly captures Mandela’s South African accent and, more crucially, the tone of his voice, giving him a friendly aura of tranquillity that conceals a man of resolute determination. In his stirring performance, Elba successfully depicts all sides of Mandela, which earned him his first taste of movie stardom. Elba received his fourth Golden Globe nomination and his first for a film for his portrayal of Mandela.
8. Justin Lin directed the 2016 film STAR TREK BEYOND.
Authors: Doug Jung and Simon Pegg.
starring Idris Elba, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, and Chris Pine.
Elba joined this 13th installment of the “Star Trek” movie franchise as the most recent of several series villains with a tragic backstory. Captain Balthazar Edison (Elba), who was in charge of the USS Franklin, an early Starfleet ship that had been reported lost more than a century before, transformed into the supervillain Krall after feeling abandoned by the Federation. Edison vowed to destroy his former colleagues. Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk has a lot on his plate this time around with Elba as his foe.
7. The Fallen Sun by Luther (2023)
Jamie Payne is the director.
Neil Cross wrote the book based on the TV show.
Idris Elba, Cynthia Erivo, Dermot Crowley, and Andy Serkis are the stars.
Elba’s portrayal in the popular BBC TV series, John Luther, in which he plays a detective who specializes in solving England’s most difficult murder cases, earned him his second Screen Actors Guild Award and his first Golden Globe. In the first full-length installment of the series, “The Fallen Sun,” Luther—who has been imprisoned after being falsely accused of past crimes—breaks out of jail in order to find the serial murderer David Robey (Andy Serkis), who set him up. Even though the movie “The Fallen Sun” received significantly mixed reviews, Elba’s performance was consistently praised by critics.
6. In the MCU’s “Thor” (2011), “Thor: The Dark World” (2013), “Avengers: The Age of Ultron” (2015), “Thor: Ragnarok” (2017), and “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018), as Heimdall.
Elba entered the Marvel Comic Universe in 2011 along with what seems like half of the SAG, as Heimdall, Thor’s closest friend and protector of the Bifröst Bridge, in five films. Heimdall is based on a Norse mythological figure. There are few opportunities for an actor to change a Norse legend, but if you’re playing a Norse god’s best buddy, you really must have chemistry with your scene partner. Fortunately, Elba and Chris Hemsworth have a lot of chemistry together, making their combination one of the most memorable in the entire MCU.
5. STRUCTURAL COWBOY (2021)
Ricky Staub is the director.
writers: Dan Walser and Ricky Staub.
starring Lorraine Toussant, Byron Bowers, Jharrel Jerome, Caleb McLaughlin, and Idris Elba.
In a certain sense, “Concrete Cowboy” may be viewed as a traditional father and son tale, with a young child being abandoned by his mother and sent to live with his estranged father while the latter tries to rebuild their broken relationship. Two essential components— is setting (the African-American horse-riding community of Philadelphia) and its star, Idris Elba, who gives one of his most alluring performances—make this movie unique and new. The way Elba plays Harp, an ex-con who must instill in his rebellious son the importance of hard labor that Harp himself had to learn the hard way, is out of love and a desire to win back his son’s respect. An excellent piece of work.
4. The Suicide Squad (2021)
Director and writer: James Gunn.
starring Pete Davidson, Viola Davis, Sylvester Stallone, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, and David Dastmalchian.
Someone has to be the responsible leader when one of your superhero team’s members is a talking land shark (Sylvester Stallone), and in the Suicide Squad, that duty falls to Bloodsport (Idris Elba), a technologically advanced mercenary who once shot Superman with a kryptonite bullet. He fits that description. Elba must delicately balance being the group’s cool, deadly center and going along with the antics of the oddballs in this DC Comics adventure in James Gunn’s critically praised superhero comedy. Elba provides a beautifully deadpan performance that is one of his most seductive by playing it droll.
3. MOLLY’S GAME (2017)
Aaron Sorkin is the author and director.
starring Graham Greene, Idris Elba, Jeremy Strong, Chris O’Dowd, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, and Jessica Chastain.
Elba plays high-priced New York lawyer Charlie Jaffey, who accepts Molly Bloom’s (Jessica Chastain) request to represent her in Aaron Sorkin’s feature film debut. Molly Bloom is a former Olympian who currently oversees an underground gambling network for wealthy celebrities and is under FBI investigation. Being an Aaron Sorkin script, the banter is witty, and Elba instantly connects with Chastain. This chemistry could, in a different movie, ignite love sparks. But they keep it purely professional, and the drama in this unappreciated movie is fueled by this undercurrent of tension.
2. IN 2021, THE HARDER THEY FALL
Director and writer: Jeymes Samuel.
starring Delroy Lindo, Lakeith Stanfield, Danielle Deadwyler, Zazie Beetz, Jonathan Majors, and Idris Elba.
Elba plays bandit leader Rufus Buck, who is loosely based on historical personalities from the Old West. Rufus Buck once shot Nat Love’s father, who later grew up to become a gunfighter (Jonathan Majors), and has vowed to exact revenge ever since. Nat must contend with Rufus’ renowned gang to accomplish this, which includes Oscar candidate LaKeith Stanfield’s fast-firing Cherokee Bill and Oscar winner Regina King as the murderous Trudy Smith. No one seems to be having more fun than Elba in the film, which is one of the few significant Black Westerns in Hollywood history.
1. The 2015 film BEASTS OF NO NATION
Cary Joji Fukunaga is the author and director.
including Emmanuel Nii Adom Quaye, Kobina Amissa-Sam, Ama K. Abebrese, Abraham Attah, and Idris Elba.
Elba’s acting debut came in the war film “Beasts of No Nation” as the Commandant of a West African rebel group who mentors a young kid (Abraham Attah) to become a fighter in both warfare and in life. Elba’s various talents were displayed in its entirety, and it was a performance that was both ferocious and tender. Elba as a result dominated the awards season, taking up the Best Supporting Actor prizes from the Independent Spirit Awards and the Screen Actors Guild but, perplexingly, not even receiving an Academy Award nomination. Elba hasn’t looked back since “Beasts of No Nation” established him as a legitimate Hollywood star.
FAQs
- What makes Idris Elba so prosperous?
His rapid success is the result of his tenacious drive for success, clever business tactics, connections, and hard work. The advice is there for people who are reading and who are trying to achieve career success like Idris Elba, but what you do after reading is what matters most.
2. Idris Elba, the next James Bond?
Idris Elba Distracted From Role as James Bond Due to Racist… Well-liked on Variety. Idris Elba has been the subject of numerous Bond rumors over the years, but the actor recently said during an episode of the “SmartLess” podcast that he became disinterested in the role of 007 when the discussion turned racially charged.
3. Who was behind Hijack?
Idris Elba stars in the seven-part thriller miniseries Hijack (stylized as H/JACK), which was created by George Kay and Jim Field Smith. It debuted on Apple TV+ on June 28, 2023.
4. At the Oscars did Idris Elba attend?
Idris Elba, 49, joins his stunning 33-year-old wife Sabrina.
In attendance at the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood with Idris Elba was his stunning wife Sabrina. The stunning British actor, 49, grinned as he posed with his 33-year-old wife, who stole the show in a figure-hugging emerald gown.
