Skip to content
Advertisement

Timothée Chalamet's Best Movies, Ranked: His #1 Still Beats Dune

The Bob Dylan transformation and Marty Supreme are closing in, and Dune is his biggest hit — but one early indie still tops our ranking of every major Timothée Chalamet movie.

6 min read
Stylized portrait illustration of Timothée Chalamet against a cinematic spotlight backdrop representing his best movies ranked
Wikimedia Commons

Here is the verdict up front, no teasing: the best Timothée Chalamet movie is still Call Me by Your Name. Eight years and two more Oscar nominations later, his 2017 breakout remains his finest, most critically acclaimed performance — the role that made him, at 22, the third-youngest Best Actor nominee in Academy history. That is the headline of this ranking of the best Timothée Chalamet movies ranked from his essential work down: the quiet indie romance still beats the blockbusters. Not Dune: Part Two, his biggest hit. Not his full-body Bob Dylan transformation. The breakthrough wins.

The real tension is what sits behind it. Chalamet is a three-time Best Actor nominee who has never won, and his recent run — the Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown and the buzzy A24 sports drama Marty Supreme — has narrowed the gap to a sliver. Below, we rank every major film, weighing his performance, the movie's quality, and its place in a fast-rising career.

Advertisement

Timothée Chalamet's best movies, ranked

  1. Call Me by Your Name (2017) — 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. His breakout and still his most devastating work.
  2. Dune: Part Two (2024) — 92%. The blockbuster that proved he could carry an epic.
  3. A Complete Unknown (2024) — 82%. A full-body transformation into Bob Dylan.
  4. Marty Supreme (2025) — 93%. A go-for-broke A24 sports drama and his third Oscar nod.
  5. Lady Bird (2017) — 99%. A sharp, funny supporting turn in a modern classic.
  6. Little Women (2019) — 95%. A warm, romantic Laurie opposite a stacked cast.
  7. Dune (2021) — 83%. His entry into Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi saga.
  8. Beautiful Boy (2018) — 67%. A wrenching addiction drama.
  9. Bones and All (2022) — 82%. A tender, gruesome road-trip horror romance.
  10. Wonka (2023) — 82%. Proof he can carry a family-friendly musical.
  11. The King (2019) — 71%. A brooding, underrated medieval lead.

That is the short version for anyone scanning Timothée Chalamet movies ranked worst to best — flip the list and The King anchors the bottom of the films worth your time. Now the why.

1. Call Me by Your Name — the best Timothée Chalamet performance

Luca Guadagnino's sun-drenched romance is where the legend begins. As Elio, a teenager falling for an older summer guest (Armie Hammer) in 1980s Italy, Chalamet delivers a performance so raw and unguarded that the film's final, lingering close-up became instantly iconic. The role earned him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor — making him, at 22, the third-youngest nominee the category has ever seen.

This is the best Timothée Chalamet performance, full stop, and the consensus pick across critics and most Reddit threads. It is the purest distillation of what makes him special: a willingness to let the camera sit on real, unflattering emotion without flinching. If you watch only one of his films, make it this one.

2. Dune: Part Two — the blockbuster era

If Call Me by Your Name made him a critics' darling, Dune: Part Two made him a movie star. Reprising Paul Atreides, Chalamet shoulders one of the decade's most ambitious sci-fi epics and turns Paul's slide toward dangerous, messianic power into something genuinely chilling. It is a different muscle entirely — commanding, physical, operatic.

Advertisement

It is also his biggest blockbuster and a high point of modern science fiction; for more in that register, see our best sci-fi movies streaming guide and our Dune: Part Two review. To trace how this one fits its director's run, our Denis Villeneuve movies ranked breakdown puts it in context. Essential big-screen filmmaking — and Chalamet is its beating heart.

3. A Complete Unknown — becoming Bob Dylan

James Mangold's biopic could have been a karaoke act. Instead, Chalamet disappears into a young Bob Dylan, performing the songs himself — guitar, harmonica, that unmistakable nasal drawl — across the singer's mid-'60s electric pivot. The commitment is staggering, and it earned him his second Best Actor Oscar nomination, making him the youngest two-time Best Actor nominee since James Dean. He won the SAG Award for it but lost the 2025 Oscar to Adrien Brody.

The 82% Tomatometer undersells one of his best acting showcases: he never feels like he is imitating Dylan; he is inhabiting him.

4. Marty Supreme — the A24 swing that nearly tops Dylan

Here is where the ranking gets contentious. Chalamet leads Josh Safdie's frenetic period drama as Marty, a motormouthed table-tennis hustler chasing greatness in 1950s New York — loosely inspired by real champion Marty Reisman. It is a maximalist, sweaty performance that earned him a third Best Actor nomination at the 2026 Oscars, making him the youngest male performer ever to reach that milestone.

At 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, it is the best-rated of his lead vehicles — higher than both Dune films and the Dylan biopic. For more in the studio's sensibility, browse our best A24 movies ranked and our best heist movies for kindred high-stakes hustlers. It does not quite unseat Call Me by Your Name, but it is the closest a non-romance has come.

Advertisement

5–7. Lady Bird, Little Women, and Dune

Before he carried epics, Chalamet stole scenes. In Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird (99% on Rotten Tomatoes — his highest-scoring film overall), he plays Kyle, the too-cool, vaguely insufferable teen crush, in a masterclass of comic specificity. It kicked off a fruitful run with Gerwig that continued in Little Women (95%), where his Laurie is all easy warmth and heartbreak, surrounded by the new Hollywood class — much like the company Zendaya keeps on screen.

The first Dune (83%) is more setup than payoff, but Chalamet grounds its world-building with a watchful, internal turn. Watch it first — Part Two hits twice as hard once you have sat with Paul's beginnings.

8–11. The deeper cuts worth watching

Two dramas show his range at full stretch. In Beautiful Boy, he plays a young man wrestling with addiction opposite Steve Carell, in a performance of unbearable tenderness. In Guadagnino's Bones and All, he and Taylor Russell turn a cannibal road-trip horror into an aching romance — a true cult entry among his best roles.

Then the lighter swings: Wonka is a sweet, song-filled origin story that proved he could anchor a family hit, and The King is an underrated Netflix medieval drama in which he plays a brooding young Henry V. Together they prove the breadth of his appeal — whimsy, warmth, and grim historical weight, often within the same calendar year.

Where can you watch the best Timothée Chalamet movies?

His catalog is scattered, so the best order to watch starts with the top picks:

Advertisement
  • Dune and Dune: Part Two — have streamed on HBO Max and are available for digital rental.
  • A Complete Unknown — has streamed on Hulu and Disney+ after its theatrical run.
  • Wonka — across major streamers and rental services.
  • The King — on Netflix.
  • Call Me by Your Name, Lady Bird, Little Women, Beautiful Boy, and Bones and All — rotate between subscription and digital rental, so check your platforms.

Availability shifts by region and over time. For tracking down other big titles the same way, our guide to where to watch the Harry Potter movies breaks down the same rent-versus-stream logic.

The bottom line

The best Timothée Chalamet movies ranked map a remarkable trajectory: from the aching intimacy of Call Me by Your Name to the planetary scale of Dune: Part Two, with a Bob Dylan transformation and a Marty Supreme swing closing fast behind. He is a three-time Oscar nominee who still has not won — a streak that only sharpens the anticipation. The blockbusters got bigger and the scores climbed higher, but the breakthrough still beats them all. For now, Call Me by Your Name holds the top spot — and the ranking is far from finished.

Further reading: Timothée Chalamet on Wikipedia · Where to watch on JustWatch.

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Timothée Chalamet's best movie?

Call Me by Your Name (2017). It earned him his first Best Actor Oscar nomination at 22 and remains his most acclaimed performance. A Complete Unknown and the franchise heft of Dune: Part Two are the closest challengers, but the intimate Luca Guadagnino romance still tops our ranking of the best Timothee Chalamet movies.

Which Timothée Chalamet movie won an Oscar?

None of his performances have won. Chalamet has three Best Actor nominations -- Call Me by Your Name, A Complete Unknown, and Marty Supreme -- but he has yet to win. He lost the 2025 Best Actor Oscar to Adrien Brody (for The Brutalist), despite taking the SAG Award that year for his Bob Dylan turn in A Complete Unknown.

What is Timothée Chalamet's highest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes?

Among his lead vehicles, Lady Bird holds the highest Tomatometer at 99%, though that is a supporting role. Of his starring films, Marty Supreme (93%), Little Women (95%) and Call Me by Your Name (95%) sit at the top of his best-rated movies on Rotten Tomatoes.

How many Oscar nominations does Timothée Chalamet have?

Three, all for Best Actor: Call Me by Your Name (2018 ceremony), A Complete Unknown (2025), and Marty Supreme (2026). His first nod at 22 made him the third-youngest Best Actor nominee in Academy history, and his third made him the youngest male actor ever to reach three Best Actor nominations.

What movie made Timothée Chalamet famous?

Call Me by Your Name (2017) was his breakout. He had earlier supporting parts in Interstellar and Lady Bird, but his role as Elio launched him into awards contention and his first Oscar nomination. Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024) later made him a global box-office lead as Paul Atreides.

How many Dune movies is Timothée Chalamet in?

Two so far, both directed by Denis Villeneuve. Chalamet plays Paul Atreides in Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024). The second film is his biggest hit, grossing about $715 million worldwide. A third film, Dune: Part Three (also titled Dune Messiah), is in development with Chalamet expected to return as Paul, which would make it his third outing in the franchise.

Is Call Me by Your Name better than Dune: Part Two?

In our ranking, yes. Dune: Part Two is the bigger movie -- a $715 million blockbuster with a commanding, physical Chalamet performance and a slightly higher pre-release buzz. But Call Me by Your Name (95% on Rotten Tomatoes) is the more acclaimed, more personal film and the role that defined him. The blockbuster proved his range; the indie proved his greatness, so the breakout still beats it.

What is the best order to watch Timothée Chalamet's movies?

Start with the essentials: Call Me by Your Name for his finest performance, then Dune followed by Dune: Part Two as a pair (the first sets up the second). Add A Complete Unknown and Marty Supreme for his recent Oscar-nominated run. Then fill in Lady Bird, Little Women, Beautiful Boy, Bones and All, Wonka, and The King to see his full range across drama, romance, musical, and historical epic.

The Screen Report Daily

Every story that matters in film and TV, each morning.

Free. Unsubscribe anytime. We'll email you to confirm.

More from The Screen Report

Advertisement