Considering his father is the legendary Brendan Gleeson, there was always going to be a foot in the acting door for Domhnall. However, what people didn’t expect was for him to enter the door with such grandeur and ferocity. Way back in 2006 he landed himself a Tony nomination for his part in The Lieutenant Of Inishmore, but it was around 2015 that his career really took off.
However, every career has its ups and downs. We’ve taken the five films Gleeson has been a (significant) part of that have the lowest IMDb score and put them up against the five with the highest.
Worst: The Kitchen (5.3)
You might think that as Gleeson’s career was just getting started, he’d be landing himself in some pretty poor films, just for exposure and a bit of cash. Strangely, the lowest scored film on IMDb that places Gleeson in a prominent position is The Kitchen from 2019.
Despite starring alongside the likes of Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss, the crime drama failed to make an impact, even if Gleeson was rather well-received as the stern, intense Vietnam veteran Gabriel.
Best: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 (8.1)
Even if his father’s role of Mad-Eye Moody was gone by this point (he had died in the previous entry to the franchise) Domhnall remained around for the final Harry Potter film.
Two hours of almost non-stop fighting didn’t give Gleeson’s Bill Weasley much room to breathe, but he proved his ability to wave a wand with the best of Hogwarts alumni.
Worst: The Little Stranger (5.5)
As the star of this strange gothic film set in the mid-20th century, Gleeson was basically given an entire two hour period to show off his range. Having just come off the set of both Harry Potter and Star Wars, the opportunity to sit back and dive head-on into a dark, but certainly not thrilling, drama must have seemed too good to miss.
Unfortunately, the crowd at IMDb didn’t think it hit on the right side of the gothic spectrum, with too much reliance on atmosphere over plot, visuals, and writing.
Best: The Revenant (8.0)
Being billed third after Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy must have been a moment of pure joy for the relatively young actor. In the multi-award-winning film, Gleeson portrays the fictional version of the very real Andrew Henry.
He delivers an incredibly powerful performance as the troubled, conflicted army officer, leading Hugh Glass’s expedition through Dakota, while managing to pull off a disturbingly convincing death at the end.
Worst: Crash Pad (5.7)
Another relatively recent film to bomb considering Gleeson’s current in-demand nature. The 2017 comedy, directed by Kevin Tent, follows Stensland as he thinks he has fallen in love with an older lady who is merely using his as revenge against her husband.
As a film of relatively low budget, it only had a very limited theatrical run and was met with totally average reviews from critics, effectively making it one of the most forgettable films of Gleeson’s career.
Best: Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens (7.9)
Even if the most recent Star Wars film did sort of act to retcon the entire importance of General Hux as a character by revealing him as a spy and then killing him off, his presence in the first two sequel films cannot be understated.
He pulls off the role of a ruthless killer motivated only by evil very well while delivering the really quite hilarious opening scene from The Last Jediwith just as much poise.
Worst: A Dog Year (6.1)
This is one of those films that just doesn’t sound like it was ever going to be good. You can’t imagine going, ‘ooh did you see A Dog Year is up for Best Picture’, can you?
It might have been nominated for a primetime Emmy, but IMDb wasn’t so keen, averaging it out at just 6.1. Of course, Gleeson took a back seat all the way back in 2009, but his performance as Anthony Armstrong was still rather impressive, even if it was overshadowed by Jeff Bridges’s starring role.
Best: About Time (7.8)
With Ben Folds’ masterpiece ‘The Luckiest’ playing underneath and a beautiful love story at center stage, it was no surprise that About Time would make it onto the good side of this list. Gleeson stars opposite Rachel McAdams as Tim Lake, a man with the inherited ability to travel back in time and change the outcome of moments from his past.
While there are moments that are heart-breaking, such as the death of Tim’s father, the ability to go back in time to relive moments gives a sense of uncanny happiness. Both sides of the spectrum are played perfectly by Gleeson.
Worst: Sensation (6.1)
This 2010 film ended up staying firmly under the radar ever since its release. Gleeson himself is the star of the comedy, playing Donal, a very strange role indeed. Donal starts up a relationship with a call girl, and they plan to open a brothel with money made from a farm they own… yeah, it was never destined for big things.
Considering its bizarre, low-budget existence, Gleeson does okay, but pretty weak writing really doesn’t help him out.
Best: Ex Machina (7.7)
Moving to the other end of the spectrum, Ex Machina is a stunning work of cinema. Just Oscar Isaac (who Gleeson would also work with on Star Wars) and Domhnall Gleeson performed opposite relatively unknown Swedish actress Alicia Vikander, turning the independent film into something truly special.
It exists like an episode of Black Mirror (which Gleeson has also appeared in), with tension building and futuristic technology sitting in the foreground, while spooky twists and clever turns whir the cogs in the background. While this is only the fifth-highest rated on IMDb, Ex Machina may well be Gleeson’s greatest performance.
