Leonardo DiCaprio has dazzled audiences for decades with his raw talent and dedication, cementing his place among the great Hollywood leading men.
While he has taken on diverse roles, some have stood out even among his impressive filmographies.
Here are my picks for best Leonardo DiCaprio movies.
Best Leonardo DiCaprio Movies (Ranked)
If you are a huge fan of Leonardo DiCaprio, you must watch these best Leonardo DiCaprio movies of all time at least once.
10. Catch Me If You Can
Kicking off the list is a film, Catch Me if You Can, that shows Leo’s underrated comedic abilities. Portraying the conman Frank Abagnale Jr., Leo breezes through various identities and scams with an infectious charm.
Even when you want him to get caught, you can’t help but root for him a little. Leo captures both Abagnale’s arrogance and vulnerability beautifully. While the film is solid, Leo’s star power elevates it to one of the top Leonardo DiCaprio movies.
The cat-and-mouse game with Agent Hanratty keeps you thoroughly engaged. Leo fans will certainly enjoy watching him outwit the FBI with such bravado.
9. Django Unchained
In Tarantino’s slavery-era Western Django Unchained, Leo completely shredded his leading man image with his terrifying performance as plantation owner Calvin Candie.
Sporting stringy hair and rotten teeth, Leo disappears into the racist, violent character in scenes that are hard to stomach. His mercurial mood swings between genteel Southern gentleman and flat-out horrifying show why he is such an adept actor.
While Jamie Foxx is technically the lead as a former slave turned bounty hunter Django, Leo’s supporting turn still manages to steal the film in places.
It takes courage for a sought-after actor to take on such an ugly role, and Leo clearly relishes the challenge.
8. The Departed
In Martin Scorsese’s tense thriller The Departed, DiCaprio holds his own against a stellar cast with his performance as police officer Billy Costigan.
This role finally awarded Leo his long-awaited Academy Award for good reason. He convincingly portrays the stress and anxiety of being undercover, his mental state deteriorating throughout the film as the lines between good and evil blur.
Leo shows off some excellent range here as his squeaky clean image gives way to a more hardened detective forced into the criminal underworld.
The film marks his first collaboration with Scorsese, who inspires superb work from his lead actor. The Departed remains one of the best Leonardo DiCaprio movies for displaying his dramatic talents.
7. Inception
Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending sci-fi caper rests heavily on Leo’s credibility as emotionally tortured extractor Dom Cobb.
Haunted by a tragic past, Cobb leads a skilled team of dream-hackers, smoothly unfolding the film’s ambitious premise. Leo grounds the complex plot with a solid emotional core, his inner turmoil perfectly selling the high stakes.
Audiences root for Dom to reconcile with his family amidst the visually stunning sequences of folding cities and gravity-free combat. And Leo makes it all feel believable with powerful acting that never dips into melodrama.
6. Shutter Island
Re-teaming with Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio creates another multifaceted character with a fractured mind.
Teddy Daniels, a U.S. marshal investigating an asylum, starts succumbing to terrifying visions that blur fact from fiction. Leo runs the whole gamut here, from violent rage and paranoia to earnest dedication, fading to confusion and vulnerability.
Scorsese masterfully keeps the audience as disoriented as Teddy, with Leo portraying him with such authenticity you suffer the nightmare along with him. The revelation at the end packs a huge emotional blow, thanks largely to Leo.
He keeps us invested when so much feels off-kilter and unreliable. Shutter Island is considered one of the best Leonardo DiCaprio movies for its psychological intensity and Leo’s captivating performance.
5. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Leo smoothly channels old Hollywood heartthrobs like Rock Hudson as fading TV cowboy Rick Dalton in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, who feels outdated in a changing 1969 Los Angeles.
Wallowing amusingly in whiskey-soaked self-pity, Dalton ponders his glory days alongside faithful stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Leo plays Dalton with humorous melodrama and then demonstrates impressive range when Dalton impresses on set or breaks down, working through personal demons.
Quentin Tarantino revives Leo’s career as he did for John Travolta in Pulp Fiction, allowing him to show comedy chops and dedication to performance often overlooked nowadays.
4. The Wolf of Wall Street
Working with Martin Scorsese for the fifth time in The Wolf of Wall Street, Leo got the role he was born to play in hedonistic stockbroker Jordan Belfort. Exuberant and unhinged, it remains one of Leo’s most gleefully off-the-wall performances.
He’s clearly having a blast portraying Belfort’s meteoric rise fueled by greed and excess, eventually leading to his downfall. DiCaprio perfectly captures the rock star lifestyle as Belfort motivates his team to commit fraudulent acts with electric speeches.
Jordan would be thoroughly detestable in less capable hands, but Leo infuses him with an odd charm. He fully inhabits the fast-talking swindler who feels on top of the world and makes sure the audience feels it, too, constantly mesmerizing despite the 3-hour runtime.
The Wolf of Wall Street is considered one of the top Leonardo DiCaprio movies for its no-holds-barred portrayal of American excess.
3. The Revenant
Leonardo’s collaboration with acclaimed director Alejandro Inarritu in The Revenant earned him his first Oscar for acting, and it’s easy to see why. As 19th-century fur trapper Hugh Glass, he delivers an unbelievable physical performance that charted new territory even for the committed actor.
Mauled by a bear and then left for dead by his own hunting team, Glass endures a brutal odyssey of survival in frigid nature. Leo conveys Glass‘ determination largely without dialogue in lonely snow-blanketed landscapes.
Undoubtedly his most grueling role, he exposes the raw tenacity of the human spirit through Glass’ teeth-gritting perseverance. The word “intense” barely covers it, and at times, you ache right along with Glass, thanks to Leo’s ferocious commitment.
2. Titanic
James Cameron’s epic romantic tragedy Titanic rocketed young Leo to global superstardom thanks to his charming star-making turn.
His portrayal of free-spirited artist Jack won the hearts of millions, including his leading lady Rose. Their ill-fated romance remains one of cinema’s greatest love stories, and Leo deftly handles both youthful exuberance and passionate drama.
Given Jack’s tragic fate, he infuses every moment with an infectious joy for life that makes their brief time together all the more poignant. It’s still Leo’s most iconic role, especially that flying scene on the ship’s bow.
Generations have swooned over Leo in Titanic, one of the best Leonardo DiCaprio movies, and he deserves all the same Oscar glory as Kate Winslet.
1. The Aviator
While Leo has undergone stunning transformations throughout his career, none top his spot-on embodiment of billionaire entrepreneur Howard Hughes in Martin Scorsese’s biopic The Aviator.
Leo plays younger Hughes as dashing and ambitious, then insightfully depicts his phobias and compulsions taking hold. It’s tragic to watch his rapid descent, paranoid and disconnected from reality. Yet Caprio’ generates empathy for such an oddball legend, grounding his quirks in understandable motivation.
This remains Leo’s most impressive chameleon act to date out of his stellar roles. Scorsese and DiCaprio proved an enduring dream team when creating biopics like The Aviator, one of the best Leonardo DiCaprio movies.
