Robert Pattinson's 9 Best Movies in the Last 10 Years, Ranked
Daniel is a 27-year-old List Writer for Collider living in the south suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. As an avid film buff, he watches and analyzes many films and TV shows, especially in the horror genre, and regularly attends movie screenings.
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From being the biggest heartthrob after The Twilight Saga to being an independent risk-taker to becoming one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood these days, Robert Pattinson is a man of many talents. This widely acclaimed English performer has dominated cinema within the last decade, praised tremendously for his fearless dedication to his craft and for creating performances modern pop culture will never forget.
Often considered the Gary Oldman of his generation, Pattinson has shone on the big screen in recent years, delivering one commanding performance after another and going beyond what is asked of him to achieve something spectacular in front of the camera. Lately, his career has notably shot up to meteoric heights of recognition thanks to his efforts in both low-budget indie hits and high-profile mainstream blockbusters. He's shown to be a jack of all trades and to bring the seats right back to theaters. From a mind-bending thriller and a gritty superhero reboot to a nail-biting horror classic and one of the biggest blockbuster adventures of all time, here are the best Robert Pattinson movies of the last ten years.
9 'Tenet' (2020)
From the Academy Award-winning auteur director Christopher Nolan comes Tenet, his 2020 sci-fi action thriller, which adds something fresh, new, and utterly one-of-a-kind in its approach to using time travel. A tensely paced, sharply written and visually flawless cult classic, it follows an unnamed CIA operative (John David Washington) who is recruited by a mysterious organization to use a secret time-altering technology to prevent an attack that could lead to World War III.
Though struggling to break even at the box office after coming out at the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Tenet went on to become a modest critical success and secured a Best Visual Effects Oscar at the 93rd Academy Awards. Though diehard Nolan fans loved it, other audience reactions were mixed due to its mostly bland characters and confusing premise, with some even considering it not one of the acclaimed director's best works. However, Robert Pattinson was the notable standout, effortlessly shining through this admittedly convoluted story with his charming and grounded role as the capable Neil, who took center stage despite not being the main character. While not entirely a perfect movie, Tenet remains a highlight of Pattinson's recent filmography.
8 'The King' (2019)
The King is a 2019 historical drama directed by David Michôd. Loosely based on several plays from William Shakespeare's Henraid, the film takes audiences on a thrilling adventure through 15th-century England, a story filled with epic sword battles, riveting drama, and standout performances. It follows Timothée Chalamet as the newly crowned King Henry V, who struggles with his new authority while trying to prevent an all-out war with France.
It's quite a remarkable film that, despite not making the biggest splash in 2019, has since become a recognizable cult favorite on Netflix. It's enjoyable, neatly paced, and perfectly acted by a stellar ensemble. Giving his most delightfully campy antagonist performance so far, Robert Pattinson is a blast as Louis, the Dauphin of France, the man who incites conflict between his country and Henry's kingdom. He is the absolute show stealer in a film full of talented stars, playing the Dauphin with so much over-the-top fun and flamboyance that you can't ignore his presence. Coupled with his character's hilariously bizarre hair choice, this is one of Pattinson's enjoyable and unforgettable roles to date.
7 'The Devil All the Time' (2020)
In this riveting indie crime drama from 2020, The Devil All the Time delivers a gripping, utterly fascinating story that's layered in so many ways. Directed by Antonio Campos, it's a deeply thoughtful film that combines action and drama with compelling themes about generational trauma and religious hypocrisy. Starring Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson, it's about a young man in a rural community struggling to do good and break his family's cycle of violence while also standing up to a predatory preacher in his area.
Though mixed with critics, The Devil All the Time became an underrated favorite for many audiences who saw it on Netflix, becoming one of the platform's most interesting hidden gems. Though it wasn't a huge success, the performances were widely praised, especially for Pattinson, who showed a different, darker side to his acting talents when playing the despicable Reverend Preston Teagardin. Slimy, sleazy, and undeniably repulsive, Rev. Teagardin is one of the actor's most unlikable villain performances, and his presence and ability to get completely lost in this monster of a character really make The Devil All the Time truly worth watching.
6 'The Drama' (2026)
In this recent A24 hit, Kristoffer Borgli's The Drama is a darkly comedic and tense rollercoaster of a film that explores the deep complexities of relationships. Robert Pattinson costars with Zendaya in a different kind of awkward love story, following the two as Charlie and Emma, young soon-to-be-weds who find their relationship and personal lives spirally out of control after Emma makes a shocking confession about her past to their friends at a food-tasting event.
It's a hilariously romantic comedy with a dark, twisted edge that completely shifts from being awkward and humorous one second to psychologically suspenseful the next. Though the story is about two people trying to overcome a shocking reveal, we largely see through Charlie's perspective on this matter. And the actor perfectly fleshes him out and makes him understandable. We easily see just how anxious and unraveling Charlie is becoming throughout the film's escalating events leading up to the wedding, all thanks to Pattinson's manic energy. Overall, The Drama is a definite highlight of 2026 so far and further cements this as both Pattinson and Zendaya's year to shine.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Iconic Fandom Should You Join? Harry Potter · Lord of the Rings · Star Wars · Star Trek
Eight honest questions about how you actually are: what you put on when you need cheering up, how deep you go into the things you love, what you argue about, what you keep on your shelf. Answer them and we will tell you where you belong. Four of the biggest fandoms on earth are taking new members, and they could not be more different from one another.
⚡Harry Potter(Wizarding World)
💍Lord of the Rings(Middle-earth)
⚔️Star Wars(A Galaxy Far Away)
🖖Star Trek(The Final Frontier)
01
What do you put on when you need cheering up? Nobody is brave about this one.
02
How deep do you go into something you love? There is no shallow end here, only different deep ends.
03
What do you and your friends actually argue about? Every fandom has one argument it has been having for years.
04
How do you feel about a room full of strangers? Every one of these comes with a very big room.
05
Where would you rather spend a week? Pick on instinct rather than on budget.
06
What do you believe about people, mostly? All four of these stories have an answer, and they disagree.
07
What is actually on your shelf? Look over at it before you answer.
08
What do you actually want from a story? Eight questions in, this is the one that picks your fandom.
Membership Confirmed Your Fandom Is…
Four of the largest communities on the planet, and four completely different reasons to belong to one. Here is yours, what it would give you, and the argument you would be having within a week.
Harry Potter
You belong to the fandom that is really about comfort. Hogwarts works on people because it is a place rather than a plot, and the pull is not the wizard war so much as the corridors, the food, the weather and the sense that somebody is expecting you.
- You are drawn to belonging, which is why this fandom sorted itself into houses within about five minutes and has never stopped.
- This is the most social of the four, and the one most likely to know which type every single person in your life would be.
- The books are built to be reread rather than analysed, and rereading is exactly what you do with things you love.
- The new HBO series is bringing the whole thing back one book at a time, which means the arguments are about to start all over again.
Lord of the Rings
You belong to the deepest fandom on this list, the one where somebody has always read further than you and is quietly delighted to say so. Middle-earth rewards patience more than any other world in popular culture.
- You like the sense that the story you are reading is only the visible part of something enormous, which is precisely how Tolkien built it.
- This fandom takes adaptation seriously to a degree that other fandoms find slightly alarming, and it has good reasons for that.
- Your favourite thing about the books is probably the bit that is not action at all, which is the walking, the songs and the long goodbyes.
- Nobody here thinks heroism belongs to the powerful, and the whole story exists to make that argument.
Star Wars
You belong to the loudest and largest tent of the four, the one where three generations are all watching the same thing and none of them agree about any of it. That disagreement is not a flaw in this fandom, it is the main activity.
- You want something you can share with absolutely everybody, from a six year old to a grandparent, and this is the only one on the list that really does that.
- Nobody argues like Star Wars fans argue, and the argument has been running since roughly 1980 with no sign of resolution.
- The pull here is sensory before it is narrative, since it is the sound design, the score and the look of a used and dented galaxy.
- You would be first in the queue, in costume, with strong opinions and a genuinely good time.
Star Trek
You belong to the thinking fandom, the one that turns up for the argument rather than the explosion. Trek has always been a series of ethical problems in space, and the people who love it love being asked what they would have done.
- You are an optimist in a way that is currently unfashionable, and this is the only major franchise still willing to say the future might be better.
- The best episodes are the ones where nobody fires anything, which is a sentence that makes perfect sense to this fandom and to nobody else.
- Starfleet Academy brought the franchise back to a classroom in 2026, which is appropriate, because Trek has always been a bit of a seminar.
- You would want the conversation afterwards more than the episode itself, and here you will always find somebody willing to have it.
5 'Good Time' (2017)
A dark, wildly thrilling crime drama from 2017, Josh and Benny Safdie's Good Time is an independent masterpiece, a film that shows how a low budget, a little creativity, and a commanding performance create something remarkable. In the role that made him an indie star, Robert Pattinson plays stressed small-time criminal Connie Nikas, a man on the run and in a race against time to save his brother from the police while on a dangerous journey through New York's criminal underworld.
Good Time is like an anxiety-fueled odyssey, following a desperate protagonist overcoming one harrowing challenge after the next on his quest to save his loved one. Pattinson is the anchor of this story, and playing Connie is arguably his most transformative performance yet. He gets lost in this unique role, which feels absolutely raw and believable. This film not only further separated him from his heartthrob status, but also established him as a capable thespian able to take on any challenging role.
4 'The Batman' (2022)
Reinventing the superhero genre in the early 2020s, Matt Reeves' The Batman has shaken up the formula, delivering a different take on the iconic Caped Crusader that no one was expecting to be so compelling. Tasked with taking up the legendary cowl after Christian Bale's run, Robert Pattinson delivers his own personal take as Batman and Bruce Wayne, playing him as a more reclusive detective who tries to stop the elusive Riddler (Paul Dano) from plunging Gotham City into chaos.
This nearly three-hour-long action thrill ride provides endless excitement and epic suspense and drama. It's much more of a detective story, following Batman as he slowly pieces together a dangerous conspiracy within Gotham's hierarchy while stopping a cryptic killer on a rampage. This whole film would have fallen apart had its lead star not brought something to the table when making Batman his own. And boy, does Pattinson do it on so many levels. He plays both sides of Batman perfectly, playing a silent protector and maintaining his mysterious daily life. The Batman showed this man's leading-man prowess and established his act for taking risky parts. We can't talk about his filmography from the last few years without mentioning this.
3 'Primetime' (2026)
2026 has become Robert Pattinson's most prolific year in his acting career. The star of so many high-profile films, his presence this year is undeniable. Case in point: his most recent appearance in Lance Oppenheim's feverish psychological thriller Primetime. Loosely based on actual events, it sees Pattinson command the screen as controversial American journalist and TV presenter Chris Hansen during his ambitious mission to turn his show To Catch a Predator into a primetime success.
Primetime truly excelled thanks to its bizarre surrealism and its versatile lead. Plus, Lance Oppenheim's documentary filmmaking background helped him create an authentic recreation of To Catch a Predator's early 2000s look. It's perfectly shot, smartly written, but really its biggest draw is Pattison's performance. It's his film to shine, playing Hansen so impressively and without any cracks, even capturing the host's speech pattern and mannerisms down to a T. What feels like a nearly two-hour fever dream has become 2026's newest talking point.
2 'The Lighthouse' (2019)
The current king of horror, Robert Eggers, truly took off in the late 2010s, thanks largely to his psychological horror slow burner The Lighthouse. Widely considered a modern classic, this eerie thriller, shot entirely in black and white, has left a considerable impression on the horror genre, standing out for the way Eggers shot it and let his actors use their incredible talents to elevate the story. Pattinson and Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe star as a pair of lighthouse keepers slowly losing their minds during months-long isolation on a remote island.
It's visually flawless, perfectly paced, eerily suspenseful, and anchored, of course, by Pattinson and Dafoe's dynamic pairing. They add to each other's performances rather than take away, and have incredible chemistry. You get a feel for both of these unique characters thanks to how these two flesh them out, getting to know their personalities and why they're there. The Lighthouse is an excellent horror film that wouldn't have worked without perfect casting.
1 'The Odyssey' (2026)
Finally, taking the top spot goes to another incredible Robert Pattinson and Christopher Nolan collaboration, 2026's The Odyssey. Not just this year's biggest blockbuster, but also one of the greatest adventure epics in years, this massive mainstream retelling of Homer's legendary poem has become a huge success at the box office, thanks to its stellar visuals and A-list cast. Matt Damon stars as Odysseus as he makes a parlous journey home after the fall of Troy.
Everything comes together to make this film another Nolan masterpiece. The Odyssey has top-notch cinematography, jaw-dropping visuals, a surprising mix of practical effects, and just nonstop action. For his part, Robert Pattinson manages to hold his own, giving one of the best performances in a cast stacked with massive stars. He plays Antinous, the despicable main antagonist who schemes his way to take over Odysseus' kingdom. Here, his talents are on full display, easily making you absolutely loathe this conniving coward. It's his incredible skills and believability in this role that have him in talks of securing an Oscar nomination. Overall, The Odyssey takes the final spot here as Robert Pattinson's best movie of the last ten years.
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