The 7 Best Movies with Timothee Chalamet

Whenever the subject of Timothee Chalamet comes up with my friends, I try really hard to pretend that I don’t find him just as attractive as everyone else in my friend group does, because it just feels like it’s too easy. Like, yeah, he’s adorable. He’s got sharp features that could easily cut the nice French cheese he probably eats on a daily basis. Got it, nice, moving on—what else?

Well, thankfully, there’s a lot else. While it’s fair to point out that he, like many young actors, is a product of nepotism, however mild, I truly acknowledge him as one of the most talented actors in our age group. He’s got a very distinct style and range, and he picks really interesting projects to work with. These are the projects highlighted in this list, in order of release date.

And no, Interstellar and A Rainy Day in New York aren’t in here, because the former is overrated and I’m tired of pretending it isn’t (although Young Timmy was very good in it), and the latter is by Woody Allen.

Call Me By Your Name

In the years since Call Me By Your Name was released, there’s been a lot of negative dialogue surrounding it, and for valid reasons. It does romanticize a relationship with an unhealthy age gap, and, consequently, an uncomfortable power dynamic. The days of gawking at “the peach scene” have passed and given way to a more critical analysis, and I understand where it’s coming from. Not even gonna get into all the Armie Hammer stuff, blech.

However, there still remains something to be said about just how authentically and beautifully Timmy sold this performance. It was his first major role in a film as an adult, and he took to it like a fish to water (or, rather, like a young Italian boy to disco). When I was younger, I was mainly excited for this movie because of Sufjan Stevens’ work on its soundtrack, but Timmy was the reason it stayed with me for so many years. He was able to come into his role so tenderly, it made you feel like you were the one in a riverside field, trying to articulate your feelings to someone for the first time.

Lady Bird

I have a lot of love for Lady Bird, because it was my own Boyhood—i.e. it was my younger life to a T, almost unsettlingly so. And while I wasn’t brazen enough to pursue the pretty boy that made my inner thoughts a persistent nightmare to endure, I could definitely recognize who Timmy’s character in this movie was trying to be.

As soon as Lady Bird went into his bedroom, I found myself shaking my head, saying, “No, no, bad idea, he’s gonna wreck your shit.” And then he did. But as horrible a plot point as that whole situation was, it’s a testament to Timmy’s acting skills that he was able to play into the art-hoe-douche stereotype so bloody well.

(Especially since he high-key looks the part, but hey, don’t we all dress for some sort of role?)

Beautiful Boy

My god, this movie made me weep. It’s arguably the campiest movie on this entire list, and at times it feels a little heavy-handed in its emotional beats, but as someone who has experienced personal tragedies similar to the ones at the center of this film, I have to say that Beautiful Boy is as beautiful as its name implies.

And Timothee is at the heart of it all. While credit must absolutely go to Steve Carrell for his role as Timmy’s father, Timmy himself is able to play his role in an almost invasively accurate way. I had to pause the movie a couple times, just to collect myself, and even though I had a personal connection to the subject matter, I don’t believe it would have felt so devastating if it weren’t for how well Timothee embodied his role as Nic.

The King

Yes, yes, Robert Pattinson was a meme in this movie, and the movie itself was kind of a meme (albeit a damn good movie, don’t get me wrong). But where Timothee really shone was in how seamlessly he transitioned from his more typical roles (a somewhat feminine and sensitive character) into King Fucking Henry.

I say this as someone who hated reading Shakespeare in high school, and still finds conversations about Shakespeare annoying: Timmy nailed this shit and made this movie infinitely more interesting than it would have been otherwise. He was a subtle badass all the way through, and even from the very beginning, you could see his character’s potential to grow into the king he was meant to be. He just made this movie so cool, my family watched it three separate times in one week.

Little Women

Gotta admit, as much as I love Greta Gerwig, I wasn’t totally sold on Little Women like everyone else seemed to be. It felt a little choppy and fast-paced for as ambitious as it was trying to be, but all the actors did a phenomenal job, every single one of them. And of course, Timmy killed it as Laurie.

Dude, I fell in love with Laurie. That scene where he and Jo slipped off? Good god, it was almost too fan-fictiony for me, but I loved it. Sometimes you just gotta let the pretty boy lean into his natural role, and Greta really lets him loose in that regard.

The French Dispatch

And sometimes, you gotta tickle a young leftie’s heartstrings a little and make the pretty boy a collegiate revolutionary. Thanks a lot, Wes Anderson, I didn’t need anyone fueling my already woeful attraction towards these types of dudes. And thanks a lot, Timmy, for once again playing the part so damn well.

But in all seriousness, thank you Wes Anderson for giving the boy a chance to speak in his native tongue. There’s a lot to love about The French Dispatch and it feels unfair to call out just one good role amongst many, but Timmy did phone home with this one, and was only elevated further by Anderson’s superbly sophisticated writing.

Dune

Trust me on this. I have great intuition for things I know I’ll be impressed by. And part of why I haven’t watched Dune yet is because I know it’ll occupy all the space in my brain that I’m currently reserving for work, love, and Disco Elysium.

But I already know it’s damn good, and that Timothee is damn good in it. Tell me more in the comments, why don’t ya?

Honorable Mention: Tiny Horse

I’d watch a Tiny Horse movie. In any case, Timmy, if you see this: you were excellent on SNL and your eagerness to be good at this style of comedy only made you a more endearing actor to follow. Please consider hosting again, s’il vous plait.

(Featured Image: Warner Bros)

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