# The 20 Best Willem Dafoe Movies of All Time

> Four Oscar nominations, one Green Goblin and a lighthouse keeper losing an argument with a seagull. No consensus pick anywhere in the filmography.

*By YPB Team · Published August 9, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-20-best-willem-dafoe-movies-of-all-time*

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## Current results (0 votes)

1. **Platoon**
   Oliver Stone's 1986 Vietnam drama in which Dafoe's Sergeant Elias dies with his arms raised to the sky.
2. **The Last Temptation of Christ**
   Martin Scorsese's 1988 adaptation of the Kazantzakis novel, with Dafoe as a doubting, human Jesus.
3. **Spider-Man**
   Sam Raimi's 2002 blockbuster where Dafoe's Norman Osborn talks himself into becoming the Green Goblin.
4. **The Florida Project**
   Sean Baker's 2017 film about kids living in a budget motel, with Dafoe as its quietly decent manager.
5. **The Lighthouse**
   Robert Eggers' 1890s two-hander in which Dafoe's keeper drinks, curses and guards his lamp.
6. **Shadow of the Vampire**
   A 2000 fiction about the making of Nosferatu, with Dafoe as an actor who may really be a vampire.
7. **At Eternity's Gate**
   Julian Schnabel's 2018 portrait of Vincent van Gogh's final years, carried by Dafoe's face.
8. **Wild at Heart**
   David Lynch's 1990 road movie featuring Bobby Peru, one of the most repellent characters Dafoe ever played.
9. **Mississippi Burning**
   Alan Parker's 1988 civil-rights thriller with Dafoe as the by-the-book FBI agent opposite Gene Hackman.
10. **To Live and Die in L.A.**
   William Friedkin's 1985 crime thriller that gave Dafoe his first great villain, a counterfeiter with taste.
11. **The English Patient**
   The 1996 Best Picture winner, where Dafoe's thief turns up with a secret and no thumbs.
12. **Antichrist**
   Lars von Trier's 2009 grief horror, a punishing two-hander with Charlotte Gainsbourg.
13. **Poor Things**
   Yorgos Lanthimos' 2023 fable with Dafoe as the scarred surgeon who stitches Bella Baxter into being.
14. **The Grand Budapest Hotel**
   Wes Anderson's 2014 comedy, with Dafoe as the knuckle-dustered enforcer Jopling.
15. **Nosferatu**
   Robert Eggers' 2024 remake, with Dafoe as the occultist who knows what is stalking the house.
16. **Finding Nemo**
   Pixar's 2003 hit, in which Dafoe voices Gill, the scarred fish plotting escape from a dentist's tank.
17. **John Wick**
   The 2014 action film that restarted a franchise, with Dafoe as the sniper who owes Wick a favour.
18. **Nightmare Alley**
   Guillermo del Toro's 2021 noir, with Dafoe running the carnival's least wholesome attraction.
19. **American Psycho**
   The 2000 satire in which Dafoe's detective circles Patrick Bateman without ever quite landing.
20. **The Boondock Saints**
   The 1999 cult vigilante thriller that fans quote endlessly and critics mostly did not.

Tags: movies, actors, classics, performances, willem dafoe