David Dastmalchian’s 10 Best Movies, Ranked

David Dastmalchian is one of the most recognizable and prolific actors currently working in Hollywood with an impressive list of credits to his name. Despite his first acting gigs being as early as 2000, he largely remained a background and supporting character for many years. His first big break came in 2008, when he was given a small but important role in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. Since then, he has continued to appear prominently, but his biggest successes have been in just the past few years.

Dastmalchian currently has almost 90 credits to his name at the time of writing, and a further seven projects which are in different stages of development. Of the total currently released credits, 25 of them are from the last five years. This commitment and dedication to his craft is paying off well for Dastmalchian as many of his greatest works have also been released in that same time period.

10 Dune: Part One

First up, Dastmalchian is clearly a well liked and pleasant person to work with in Hollywood, as he has made firm friendships with several filmmakers who choose to repeatedly work alongside him. One of these directors is Denis Villeneuve, who has collaborated with Dastmalchian on three separate projects. Potentially the most popular of these is Dune: Part One, where Dastmalchian plays Piter de Vries.

Despite the movie’s huge success, Dastmalchian’s role is fairly small among a large and varied cast. However, in that short period of time, he manages to make an intense impression as the demented tormentor who is employed by House Harkonnen to exploit weaknesses in House Atreides. Dastmalchian’s role may be brief, but he is a pivotal part of the wider story, leading to destruction in House Atreides ahead of his untimely death.

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9 The Boogeyman

While he proves his ability to play a dark and sinister villain in Dune, Dastmalchian has a much broader range, which is reflected in the variety of roles and genres he tackles in his work. The horror film, The Boogeyman is based on a short story by the legendary Stephen King. Dastmalchian joins the cast here as a man in the midst of a crisis as Lester Billings.

Thanks to his performance, and the rest of the talented cast and crew, the movie was chosen to have a theatrical release, despite initially only being set to release directly to streaming on Hulu (via Radio Times). However, the positive test screenings meant the studio opted to make it a bigger release. Dastmalchian once again has a brief role in the film, but his impact is distinctly felt long after he disappears.

8 The Dark Knight

Despite Dastmalchian first appearing on TV in 2000, his next performance was when he appeared as Thomas Schiff in The Dark Knight, the role that jump started his career. His appearance was minor once again, but it did introduce some pivotal parts of the story. For example, one of the first times when Harvey Dent used his coin to wager for someone’s life. Schiff is a lunatic who is employed by the Joker, and a former resident of Arkham Asylum.

When he appears in The Dark Knight, Dastmalchian is able to convincingly play a character who is socially inept and appears to indulge in the chaos and danger of his precarious situation. Dent threatens his life in order to get information about Rachel’s whereabouts, as he is sporting a name tag with her name on it, but when Batman intervenes, he reveals it was simply a tactic to scare Schiff into revealing information.

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7 The Last Voyage Of The Demeter

Although Dastmalchian’s role in The Last Voyage of the Demeter is more prominent than those previously mentioned, it is another film where he is a supporting character who meets an unfortunate fate. The film depicts the events of a single chapter in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, it is a compelling and dark tale. Dastmalchian plays Wojchek, the quartermaster of the titular ship, and while he endures and survives much of the film’s runtime, he is cut down before the end.

This movie plays into Dastmalchian’s wheelhouse as a creepy and dark story, where he is able to play a slightly unusual and eccentric figure. The film was released in 2023, and is certainly one of the better adaptations of Stoker’s works, but Dastmalchian excels in his role within the film. Horror and supernatural stories are some of the most popular casting that Dastmalchian has gotten, but he is also an excellent addition in lighter comedy movies as well.

6 Ant-Man

For example, Ant-Man is a quirky and fun-fuelled heist story set within the wider MCU. Unlike many of the other superhero stories within that universe, the largely powerless Ant-Man is much more grounded, and relies on science, espionage, and talented thieves to bring the story together. And once again, Dastmalchian clearly impressed the director, Peyton Reed, as he continued to be cast in the two sequels for the Ant-Man series, in multiple roles.

However, Ant-Man is one of his best performances as he plays Kurt, the designated hacker of the group. Scott, Kurt, and Luis form a capable, although somewhat bumbling, criminal crew as they attempt to break into corrupt tech companies and retrieve stolen technology. Kurt is hilarious, with a dry and subtle sense of humor that adds to the whole narrative in a meaningful and entertaining way.

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5 Prisoners

In 2012, Dastmalchian began his collaboration with director Denis Villenueve when he appeared in the movie Prisoners. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman, who are both out to track down missing girls and their potential kidnappers. Early on, Dastmalchian’s character, Bob Taylor, is established as a potential suspect due to his suspicious behaviors and what appears to be clear evidence. However, he soon commits suicide, prompting the search to continue.

As it turns out, Taylor was also one of the victims of the kidnappers who was permanently scarred by his abduction years earlier, which led to his odd behavior. Dastmalchian does a tremendous job at playing this complex and layered character with all of the intrigue and pain that would be expected of such a character. Ultimately, it makes perfect sense that he and Villeneuve cemented a firm friendship which led to further collaborations.

4 Boston Strangler

Boston Strangler is a 2023 film released via streaming on Hulu. The story is based on true events from the 1960s where 13 women were killed between 1962 and 1964. While Dastmalchian does not play one of the primary cast, he is in fact cast in the role of the titular killer, also known as Albert DeSalvo. Or more accurately, the man who confessed to being the killer despite later confusion and a lack of evidence.

Dastmalchian does a great job once again playing a creepy and mysterious figure whose intentions and motivations are difficult to identify and accurately determine. His ability to deliver complex and varied performances, even while playing the same figure without becoming conflicting and bizarre, is extraordinary and engaging. And his prominence in this film affords him more opportunity to show off those impressive talents.

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3 Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer is another Christopher Nolan movie, where Dastmalchian is cast in a fairly prominent role as William L. Borden. Borden is a lawyer who conspired with Strauss in order to accuse Oppenheimer of having connections to Russian Spies and potentially being a Russian spy himself. This film is also the third on this list released in 2023, after The Boogeyman and Boston Strangler.

While this film is certainly the most critically successful, Dastmalchian’s role as a supporting character means his starring roles deserve a slightly higher spot due to his performance and the greater opportunity to showcase his talents. However, even within this brief outing, Dastmalchian embodies the role in a convincing and powerful way that proves his undeniable talents.

2 The Suicide Squad

In 2021, The Suicide Squad served as a standalone sequel to Suicide Squad, which was released several years earlier in 2016. James Gunn directed ahead of his role as one of the co-heads of the DCU. However, the movie also rewrote the history established in the original movie, replacing some characters and creating a brand-new story, just as Gunn would go on to do with the DCEU as a whole.

Dastmalchian is prominently cast as a member of the squad, Polka-Dot Man. The character is quirky and odd, but also heroic and complex. It fits in with Dastmalchian’s other roles in terms of being unique and unusual, but is also strictly different as a superpowered figure. It is also a varied role, as the character frequently changes tone throughout.

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1 Late Night With The Devil

The fourth film from 2023, and thus far, Dastchalmian’s best by far has to be his performance in the incredible Late Night with the Devil. The film is a supernatural horror film which tells the story of a late night talk show host who invites a supposedly possessed girl on the show in an attempt to boost ratings. However, the film then descends into darker and more twisted events in the style of a documentary spliced with a found footage horror film.

Dastmalchian plays the talk show host, Jack Delroy. Throughout the film, he undergoes a range of emotions and proves his impressive talents as a diverse and skilled actor. David Dastmalchian clearly has strong ties to horror and darker toned films, but his skills for comedy, exploring complex characters, and unique figures is truly outstanding, and his career appears to still be on the rise.