Ralph Fiennes: His Best Genre Movies, Ranked

One of Fiennes' earlier roles was in Kathryn Bigelow's Strange Days, marking him as an actor unafraid to dabble in challenging stories from the get-go.

In the dystopian sci-fi thriller, Fiennes plays Lenny Nero, a former police officer who dabbles in black market trading of SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device), an illegal electronic device that records the memories and physical sensations of those who wear it.

Due to its themes of voyeurism and consent violation, Strange Days is a pretty tough watch, with Fiennes perfectly able to capture the sleazy, morally-questionable tone of the film and its narrative.

Hey, even the cutest and most innocent of gateway horrors count as horror, so we're including Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit on this list, especially because Fiennes gives such a delectably dastardly performance without even showing his face.

As pretentious posho Lord Victor Quartermaine, Fiennes serves as the foil to lovable everyman Wallace and his plasticine pooch Gromit, with the star's natural eloquence adding to the authenticity of the role in what directors Nick Park and Steve Box call “the first vegetarian horror movie”. If you want to introduce your young ‘uns to Ralph's work, here's the perfect place to start.

Something of a hidden gem in the filmographies of both Fiennes and director David Cronenberg, the psychological thriller Spider sees Fiennes play a mentally disturbed man trying to piece together an ominous childhood event, or, as Rolling Stone described him, a “freak man-child who struggles to order his confused memories into a kind of truth”.

While far from his goriest or grisliest offering, Spider is easily one of Cronenberg's darkest films, thanks in huge part to Fiennes' haunting performance as the titular troubled lead. There's a sadness to Spider that Fiennes captures perfectly, and a reserved melancholy to the character that serves in contrast to some of his more outlandish roles.

According to Cronenberg, Fiennes was among those who gave up his salary so that Spider could receive adequate funding, proving beyond doubt that he's an actor who truly lives for the art of it above all else.

When news broke that Danny Boyle would be returning to helm a sequel to his game-changing zombie classic 28 Days Later, hype was heightened tenfold by the reveal that Ralph Fiennes would be part of the cast. In 28 Years Later, we're introduced to Fiennes as Dr. Ian Kelson, a former NHS GP who has been honoring the dead by building his own ossuary known as the Bone Temple.

As Kelson, Fiennes brings a human heart to the horror of post-apocalyptic Britain, giving one of his most touching performances, helping survivors Spike (Alfie Williams) and Isla (Jodie Comer) as they navigate the latter's mysterious sickness.

Kelson only appears in the latter half of 28 Years Later, but fear not – we'll soon be seeing much, more more of him…

From Anthony Hopkins to Mads Mikkelsen, there's no shortage of incredible performances within the canon of Hannibal adaptations, and Fiennes role as the terrifying Francis Dolarhyde in Brett Ratner's Red Dragon stands easily among the best of them.

As the unhinged serial killer known as the Tooth Fairy, Fiennes feels truly dangerous, a psychopath teetering on the edge of total violent annihilation. Rather than try to imitate the performance of Tom Noonan, who played Dolarhyde in 1986's Manhunter, Fiennes bought his own flavor to the role, a tone far more desperate than Noonan's anemic chill.

We also firmly believe Fiennes would rock that gigantic back tat in real life, should he so choose to.

As Chef Julian Slowik in Mark Mylod's horror-comedy The Menu, Fiennes ate and left no crumbs (pun very much intended). The eat-the-rich satire sees Fiennes flex those dry humor chops while bringing depth to a character who, in lesser hands, could become something of a caricature.

Simultaneously intense and tragic, Slowik is a Ralph role at its purest, one that is skeptical and forgiving of the human condition all at once. Plus, we genuinely end up believing that Fiennes can make a mean cheeseburger.

For his return to the 28 Years Later world in Nia DaCosta's The Bone Temple, Dr. Kelson turns from supporting character into the whole damn show. A beacon of hope in a world that has forgotten its humanity, Kelson's tender empathy for his fellow man (and fellow Infected) is the reminder we need now more than ever that we are all just living beings, trying to get by in the world.

Fiennes' performance is truly magnetic, demonstrating his Shakespearean mastery of the craft and seemingly effortless ability to tap into the deepest of emotions with sincere subtlety, while his interactions with Chi Lewis-Parry's gargantuan Samson show that genre boundaries mean nothing to an actor of his skill.

That's not to say he doesn't chow down on the scene chewing though – there are sequences in The Bone Temple that prove Fiennes is a born showman just as much as he is a thespian. Better get out there now and catch it in theaters.