20th Century Studios
Movies with only one role player slip down the medium to its essentials : one wizard and one engrossing story . These films can be especially riveting explorations of intense personal journeying that often examine closing off and selection in unique environs . While some of these movie may let in brief coming into court from supporting characters or voices , the weight unit of the narration rests entirely on one actor ’s berm .
FromCast AwaytoMoon , the well one - actor movies leaven that such intense character studies can be effectual given the right-hand performer and film producer . They offer unique cinematic experiences that rely intemperately on the audience ’ chemical reaction and connexion with a individual bearing who , more often than not , has a transformative arc that keeps viewers engaged from start to finis .
20th Century Studios
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10. I Am Legend (2007)
InI Am Legend , a virus that was ab initio developed to cure cancer has mutated into a deadly strain that wiped out most of humans . The postapocalyptic thriller in the first place adopt Robert Neville ( Will Smith ) , who is seemingly the last man awake . He spends his twenty-four hours roaming the deserted and dangerous streets of New York with his pawl , Sam . It ’s shortly expose that they have to enshroud during the night , as savage beast who were once human — now called “ Darkseekers ” — do out to run . Neville eventually stumble upon a potential find for a cure , but it does n’t come easy .
Directed by Francis Lawrence and based on Richard Matheson ’s 1954 novel , I Am Legendwas massively popular in the 2000s and was importantly boosted by Will Smith ’s ace power . It ’s still one of his best performance to date , despite the movie becoming ill-famed for take in one ofthe worst movie ending everthat countermine the source material ’s content . The 2007 blockbuster ’s CGI has also senesce ill , and was , even then , comical and dissatisfactory due to the way it made the Darkseekers look less threatening than they should be .
9. Inside (2023)
Willem Dafoe stars as an art thief name Nemo inInside , a psychological thriller that go out him trapped in a opulence New York penthouse after a holdup goes untimely . Nemo finds himself stuck in the apartment after break in trying to steal art , only to be horrified when the security system of rules malfunctions and locks him in . With no fashion to get out and communication shorten off , Nemo has to find ways to bide sane and alert as food and water run low and the once deluxe apartment metamorphose into a claustrophobic prison house .
Directed by Vasilis Katsoupis in his directorial debut , Insideis a great example of how with the right actor , a wide-eyed premise with one setting can be entertaining . The film ’s minimalist approaching has been criticized for its repetitive segments and long stretchability of humdrum moments , but there ’s no deny that for Dafoe ’s fans , it ’s a fantastical case of the actor ’s ability to embrace complex roles and deliver a really mesmerizing functioning .
8. Buried (2010)
Director Rodrigo Cortés ’ English - language Spanish survival filmBuriedfollows Paul Conroy ( Ryan Reynolds ) , an American truck number one wood working in Iraq who he is kidnapped and buried as part of a ransom demand . Paul wakes up disorientate and quickly agnise he ’s in danger , with only a lighter , a cellular phone phone , and a few other little items to keep himself alive . Having to rely on the U.S. government to negotiate his discharge , Paul ’s hope of ever run into his family again fades as he becomes more and more do-or-die .
Buriedis an incredible display ofReynolds ’ range as an doer . The film soars thanks to his emotional functioning , with Reynolds conveyance affright , frustration , and surprising moments of calm within the frantic 90 - minute runtime . Buriedalso greatly benefits from Cortés ’ originative counsel , which maximizes the limited space of the casket by incorporate unequalled angles , inflammation , and even sound design to make each moment thrilling and interesting .
7. Locke (2013)
A psychological play and route film , Lockeis centre on a construction foreman , Ivan Locke ( Venom : The Last Dance‘s Tom Hardy ) , whose life is forever changed over the course of one long Nox of driving . On the eve of a monolithic construction project , Locke receives a call informing him that a cleaning lady he had a one - night affair with is go into untimely British Labour Party . He then decides to pretermit everything and make the parkway from Birmingham to London , determined to take obligation . Along the way , he makes a serial of tense phone calls — to his construction prole , his confused married woman , and even his absent Fatherhood — with each one being more emotional than the last .
Tom Hardy is captivating as Ivan Locke , with the thespian depicting the riotous character with a nuanced constraint and painting a portraiture of a man trying to stay in ascendance as his life fall apart . While other stars like Olivia Colman and Tom Holland bestow their voices , Hardy undoubtedly suffer out as the star of the show , with writer - theatre director Steven Knight bringing out one of the sensation ’s most memorable performances .
6. 127 Hours (2010)
127 Hoursis an amazing narrative of survival base on the harrowing true tarradiddle of mountain crampon Aron Ralston . James Franco play Ralston in the biographic motion-picture show , which ascertain him confront a nearly impossible fighting to stay active after an accident in an set-apart slot canon in Bluejohn Canyon . A monumental boulder has dislodge and pinned his arm against the canon rampart , where he stays for the next five days , record video diaries , reflect on his life , essay to free himself , and even hallucinate . With food for thought and piss about to run out , Ralston repair to an extreme quantity — amputate his own limb with a deadening knife — to escape and discover aid .
Co - write , produced , and channelise by Danny Boyle,127 Hoursimmerses viewers in the mountain social climber ’s terrifying accident . Franco is impeccably cast as Ralston , with the doer conveying the care and torment , specially as he realise what he must do . While most audiences were already expecting the climactic amputation scene , it was still a shock to actually find , with its graphic visuals and Franco ’s performing make it the most unforgettable mo in what is still considered amongthe honest movies of the 2010s .
5. All Is Lost (2013)
Robert Redford act the role of a nameless man in the gripping survival dramaAll Is Lost , which range him somewhere in the Indian Ocean . While navigating alone , his sailboat collides with a shipping container , go forth a breach hole in the hull that also damages his communication equipment . His situation worsen when a severe tempest begins to gather persuasiveness in the distance , which is an even bigger menace than his dwindle down supplies and isolation .
All Is Lostis a remarkable man versus nature movie , with Redford — who was 77 twelvemonth old during filming — delivering a tour de force execution as a nameless supporter strip of everything but his will to hold up . Aside from featuring just one worker , the 2013 film is also well-nigh dialogue - free , relying entirely on Redford ’s powerful performance to assure a story of resilience and courageousness against all odds . Director J.C. Chandor masterfully employ the unforgiving ocean as both the picture ’s setting and its overpowering opposer , lead in an engrossing one - thespian movie that will have viewers rooting for its daring character .
4. Life of Pi (2012)
guide and make by Ang Lee and based on Yann Martel ’s 2001 novel , Life of Piis a visually stunningadventure - drama that orb around the unseasoned boy Pi Patel ( Suraj Sharma ) , who is stranded in the Pacific Ocean after a shipwreck . Pi survives the disaster , but find himself rudderless on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker , who becomes his unbelievable cooperator against the unpredictable elements . Pi ’s struggle to survive soon becomes a ghostly journey where he discovers more about life and belief during the process of finding land .
Though it let in digital constituent such as the figurer - generate tiger , Life of Pilargely trust on Suraj Sharma ’s performance in his introduction role . Audiences watch Pi modification from a scared boy into a resourceful subsister while learning a few object lesson about faith and Leslie Townes Hope along the way . This film has a gorgeous dreamlike setting , with the ocean read on a life of its own as both a awful foeman and a unagitated companion .
3. Gravity (2013)
An accolade - winning thriller set in outer space , Gravityfollows Dr. Ryan Stone ( Sandra Bullock ) , a medical engineer on her first outer space foreign mission , and astronaut Matt Kowalski ( George Clooney ) as they conduct a routine spacewalk that quickly turn catastrophic . After their shuttle is destroyed by debris from a satellite detonation , Stone is leave floating alone in blank , untethered and with limited oxygen . Kowalski tries to guide her , but soon , Stone must fight down for her selection completely on her own . Drifting through the vast and terrific vacancy of outer space , she must use her accomplishment to somehow return to Earth .
Gravityis a visually spectacular wonder carried mostly by a potent execution from Sandra Bullock , who is the perfect pick for the anxiety - stimulate movie . While Clooney does in brief appear , the movie mostly focuses on Bullock ’s character , whose survival instinct seems unbelievably small against the void of space . Director Alfonso Cuarón ’s film is also remember for its groundbreaking particular effects , which made the protagonist ’s closing off and several heart - pounding and dizzying import in space quite convincing .
2. Moon (2009)
On a lunar base harvest Helium-3 , Sam Bell ( Sam Rockwell ) is waiting out the final two hebdomad before his three - year contract end . Moonis centered on his time alone in the station where , as he does his duties and run operation , he begin to see unknown health return and has a feeling that something is n’t quite right . With his only companion — an AI golem called GERTY ( voiced by Kevin Spacey ) — refusing to provide him with full-strength answers , Sam sets out to calculate things out himself , only to break the startling truth about his mission and the corporation behind it .
engineer by Duncan Jones , Moonis aslow - tan 2000s sci - fi moviethat features a brilliant execution from Rockwell . Tension builds as Rockwell ’s character reference learns bit by bit exactly what his company does and why he was “ select ” as their sole employee . What stick to is an unsettling unraveling with obvious existentialist tinge that raises crucial questions about world and the inevitable borderland of advancement .
1. Cast Away (2000)
Likely the first pic most would think of when consider movies starring just one doer , Cast Awayfeatures Tom Hanks as FedEx organisation analyst Chuck Noland , who is left stranded on a remote island in the Pacific after a planer crash . With no immediate hope of delivery , Chuck uses what he can to stay active , finding food , water , and shelter as fast as he can with his limited knowledge . It soon becomes clear that it ’s his shell forlornness that will be the main source of his conflict , and he before long finish up with a volleyball game as a companion , which he names Wilson .
Director Robert Zemeckis expertly limn the requisite for primal natural selection in Chuck ’s situation , where years of being a successful pro do nothing to shelter him in the wilderness . Hanks delivers a calling - define public presentation as the increasingly unhinged Chuck , whose feat to hold on to his humanness over the year result in an absorbing graphic symbol study that would become a lasting part of dada finish .
