His name is Tom Holland. And, for the last ten years, he has been the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s one and only Spider-Man – soon to return in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. But while the world at large loves and knows Holland best as the friendly neighbourhood superhero, there’s far more to the British star than Peter Parker.
So, before Brand New Day dawns in cinemas next week – and as we continue to, well, marvel at his work in The Odyssey – Empire’s experts have dug into the Holland archives to pull out his three best non-Spidey movies. From astonishing true-story inspired tales of survival to Southern Gothic thrillers, these three movies remind us Tom Holland isn’t just a great Spider-Man (though he’s obviously a star there, too). He’s a great actor, period.
The Impossible (2012)
Director: J.A. Bayona | Runtime: 1hr 54m | Buy/Rent on: Amazon, Apple TV, Sky Store
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts, Tom Holland
Closer to his Billy Elliot days, a young Tom Holland starred in this gripping (and gruelling) true story of a British family caught up in the Boxing Day tsunami that struck Thailand in 2004. In director JA Bayona’s hands, it’s a touching and terrifying film – with Holland as 12-year-old Lucas, clinging to survival with his mum Maria (Naomi Watts) and the pair try and reunite with dad Henry (Ewan McGregor) and Lucas’ two little brothers amid the devastation wrought by the natural disaster. The sheer cinematic impact of the tsunami sequence is masterful – and Holland more than holds his own with true screen greats, delivering a family story that lingers long after the credits roll. BT
The Lost City Of Z (2016)
Director: James Gray | Runtime: 2hrs 21m | Streaming on: Now TV, StudioCanal Presents
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller, Tom Holland, Ian McDiarmid
Before swinging through the New York City skyline, Tom Holland was cutting his way through the rainforest in James Gray’s underappreciated The Lost City Of Z. Taking his place at the side of his father, Percy Fawcett (a never-better Charlie Hunnam), he sets out to prove to 1920s polite society that Indigenous people were far more advanced than they believed, having already created a complex civilization in the Amazon.
Gray’s film is a showcase for Holland’s range as a son who expresses deep resentment towards his father’s obsession before slowly starting to see the world through his eyes. It’s as grounded as adventure movies come, taking in the beauty of discovery but also the perils of disease, starvation, and merciless weather. Through it all, Hunnam and Holland make for a compelling father-and-son pairing in the kind of good old-fashioned epic scarcely seen these days. Plus! It also marks the first time Holland and Robert Pattinson shared the screen together. HS
The Devil All The Time (2020)
Director: Antonio Campos | Runtime: 2hrs 18m | Streaming on: Netflix
Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland, Sebastian Stan, Riley Keough, Jason Clarke
Despite having gotten his big-screen break in a disaster movie, featured in a solid half-dozen or so MCU movies, and flexed his dramatic muscles in a James Gray joint by the time The Devil All The Time landed on Netflix in 2020, it took Antonio Campos’ bleak-as-heck, underrated Southern Gothic gem to break audiences’ squeaky clean, forever-teenaged perception of Tom Holland. And the way Holland handles the violence, intensity, and overwhelming darkness both surrounding and stirring within his Arvin Russell — a screwed-up young man willing to do the unspeakable to avenge the unspeakable in a lawless backwoods town at the mercy of false faith leaders and serial killers — remains truly jaw-slackening. It also must be noted that this movie also features an absolutely unhinged Robert Pattinson as a predatory preacherman and the single most intense Tom Holland car scene this side of Spider-Man Homecoming. Banging film. Banging performance. Get it seen. JK
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Finished with our list of Tom Holland’s 3 best non-Spidey movies? Why not check out our guides to the best movies on Netflix and what to watch on Apple TV? Or, for those with an even bigger appetite, our lists of the 100 best movies and 100 best TV shows ever made have got you covered. And if you really can’t resist the pull of Spider-Man, our worst-to-best ranking of all the webhead’s movies will see you right.
