Summary
- Some movies have successfully used a single actor to carry the entire story, creating a more intimate and engaging experience.
- Films like Cast Away and 127 Hours showcase the power of a focused approach, allowing the actor to deliver their best performance.
- These movies often provide thought-provoking narratives and explore themes of survival and isolation, highlighting the talent of the actor in captivating the audience.
Not every movie needs a large ensemble cast to tell a great story, there are plenty of movies that have just one major character that are incredible. Movies rely on dozens of different teams and individuals to deliver a coherent picture, from the writers who outline events, to the director who brings everything together and the editors who apply the finishing touches and everyone in between. However, most movies also tend to feature a varied cast with actors who interact with one another and drive the narrative forward.
There have been several notable films that decided to take a more focused approach with just one actor in the hot seat, driving the story forward. Films like Tom Hanks' Cast Away and 127 Hours became incredibly popular, but there are plenty of other films that also used this technique with great success. Often, focusing on just one actor cuts out other distractions and creates a much more intimate and engaging story when all of those creatives behind the camera come together and help the actor deliver their best possible performance.
12 No One Will Save You (2023)
Kaitlyn Dever Is Brynn Adams
No One Will Save You from writer/director Brian Duffield is a thrilling story of a girl whose home is invaded by aliens. The entire 90-minute film features very little dialogue and the story is carried by the main character, Brynn Adams, played by Kaitlyn Dever. There are flashbacks and brief interactions with other characters, but for the most part, this is a one-woman show that Dever carries with her ability to deliver emotion through her facial expressions and body language. Brynn's dark past is uncovered while she tries to desperately evade the aliens who threaten her quiet existence.
11 127 Hours (2010)
James Franco Is Aron Ralston
Based on the incredible and harrowing true story of a man who gets trapped by a boulder in a vast mountain range, James Franco delivers an outstanding performance as Aron Rolston in 127 Hours. The film is largely told through the perspective of Rolston recording a video diary of himself on a dangerous hike alone through canyons in Moab, Utah. As the title suggests, he becomes trapped for a total of 127 hours, slowly suffering extreme hunger and thirst and desperately trying a variety of methods to free himself before the harrowing conclusion.
10 Drama Movies With One Horrific Scene That Changes The Tone Completely
Drama movies are often down-to-earth and can deal with the bad side of reality shockingly, delivering horrifying scenes that are hard to watch.
10 Cast Away (2000)
Tom Hanks Is Chuck Noland
Potentially the most famous solo character film, Cast Away features Tom Hanks as a plane crash survivor who washes up on a small uninhabited island. Much of the story focuses on his attempts to stay sane on a beautiful Pacific island completely separated from his life and family back home and all of society. Chuck spends four years trapped on the island before reliably building a raft, sailing off, and eventually being rescued, but the journey throughout is deeply engaging and thought-provoking.
9 Buried (2010)
Ryan Reynolds Is Paul Conroy
When an American truck driver working in Iraq is captured by terrorists, he wakes up in a in Buried with a few assorted items including a lighter, a phone, and a pocket knife. Reynolds delivers a captivating performance in an extremely tight space as he communicates with the outside world and tries helplessly to get rescued. The story has twists and turns as the events leading up to this incident are slowly revealed and the parties deciding Conroy's fate are hard at work while he remains completely trapped.
8 I Am Legend (2007)
Will Smith Is Robert Neville
Smith plays a scientist who is immune from a terrible virus that turned most of humankind into terrifying, violent monsters. The film is based on a novel by Richard Matheson and follows Neville's isolated journey through a completely desolate New York City. Much of the film features Neville going about his daily routines, working hard to find some sort of cure, and trying to find any other survivors in the city that never awakens. Smith does a great job performing opposite a dog and mannequins for his main source of company and still delivering a hopeful story.
7 Life Of Pi (2012)
Suraj Sharma Is Pi Patel
This movie from Ang Lee is visually stunning with a majestic Bengal Tiger playing opposite the lead actor and some stunning settings throughout. Pi is a young boy traveling with his family to Canada before the ship sinks. He is the lone human survivor and becomes stranded on a lifeboat for over 200 days. While on his escape boat, Pi finds himself trapped with some beastly companions who also survived the crash, wild animals from his father's zoo. Ultimately, it comes down to just Pi and a tiger, traveling together desperate to find land and civilization. The story is deeply thought-provoking and complex as themes of survival are explored and reality is put into question.
Life Of Pi Ending Explained
Life Of Pi is a celebrated movie, but many are confused by the ending. Here's an explanation of what really happened in the film (and the book).
6 Gravity (2013)
Sandra Bullock Is Ryan Stone
For the first 30 minutes of Gravity, it appears that the film will follow two astronauts on their mission aboard a small spacecraft, however, right around the 30-minute mark, Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) sacrifices himself to save his younger colleague. The rest of the film follows Bullock's character as she attempts to safely get back to Earth after their space shuttle is severely damaged. Bullock delivers an emotional performance experiencing highs and lows set against the breathtaking backdrop of space.
5 Moon (2009)
Sam Rockwell Is Sam Bell
Another solo adventure story set in space sees Rockwell portray an isolated astronaut who is on a three-year mission on the moon to help farm a precious resource. When nearing the end of his contract, Bell discovers a dark secret of his employers. Sam is a clone and the company he works for has been using multiple copies of the same original astronaut to carry out work on the Moon without ever needing to train, hire, and transport new astronauts to replace the original. Rockwell does an incredible job performing opposite himself and making a high sci-fi concept into something grounded and emotional.
4 All Is Lost (2013)
Robert Redford Is Our Man
All is Lost is likely the most focused film on this list as Robert Redford is the sole character in the film with no flashbacks or external stories being explored. Redford is a sailor who wakes up to find his boat punctured by an abandoned shipping container. In true MacGyver fashion, Redford relies on his wits and clever innovations to repair his boat, before a storm overtakes him, and he is forced into a life raft. Throughout, Redford cleverly pieces together ways to overcome the insurmountable challenges, and ultimately, through his will and determination, All is Lost ends on a hopeful note.
3 Inside (2023)
Willem Dafoe Is Nemo
Dafoe plays an art thief in this dramatic thriller where a job goes awry, and he finds himself trapped for weeks on end in an expensive Manhattan penthouse filled with priceless works of art. Dafoe delivers an outstanding performance as a man slowly losing his grip on reality as he endures isolation and mental and physical anguish thanks to his failed escape attempts which only injure him further. Nemo reveals some of his early childhood and creates increasingly elaborate methods to try and escape, but ultimately, his story concludes in the penthouse accompanied by introspective messages to the owner.
6 Hints Willem Dafoe's Inside Character Is A Piece Of Art - Theory Explained
Willem Dafoe's Inside is a thought-provoking thriller that revolves around art, and his character becomes part of one giant installation.
