Leonardo DiCaprio’s 10 Most Incredible Performances

2) Shutter Island

Though it has its pulpy charms, the horror-noir Shutter Island is one of Martin Scorsese’s lesser efforts, a well-crafted B-side in a career full of solid As. Still, there’s a tortured performance at its core that stands as one of DiCaprio’s very best. He is disturbed war veteran-turned-cop Teddy Daniels, investigating the disappearance of a woman on Shutter Island, home to an asylum for the criminally insane.

Only he isn’t really. Shutter Island is really about a man coming to terms with his own violent, confused past; it’s a platform for DiCaprio to display his skill as a performer, being wound up like a spring for much of the film before he finally crumbles. The stage is set for the actor to expose his soul as he does in no other film: Teddy’s final moments are, thanks to DiCaprio, terrifying and tragic all at once.