Colin Farrell is easily one of Ireland's most talented and best-known exports to the world of cinema and television.

The Dublin star was born on May 31, 1976, and is one of the most versatile actors in the business, starring in every genre of film from comedy to drama to action flicks.

The sometimes controversial actor is one of the most popular actors to emerge from Ireland and he's made all the more endearing by the fact he comes across so genuine and down-to-earth. 

It is Farrell's starring roles in a number of excellent movies, however, that have made him the household name that he is and so we thought we'd compile some of our favorite Farrell films.

Without further ado, here are some of Colin Farrell's top-rated movies, according to Rotten Tomatoes:

"The Banshees of Inisherin" (2022)

In this distinctly Irish film, Farrell plays Pádraic Súilleabháin opposite fellow Irish actor Brendan Gleeson's Colm Doherty. "The Banshees of Inisherin," also starring Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon, was filmed on Ireland's spectacular west coast and scooped several Oscar nominations, including a Best Actor nom for Farrell.

"It's Not Yet Dark" (2016)

Farrell narrates "It's Not Yet Dark," the groundbreaking story of Simon Fitzmaurice, a talented young Irish filmmaker with ALS (MND), as he embarks on directing his first feature film through the use of his eyes and eye gaze technology.

"Widows" (2018)

Set in contemporary Chicago, amid a time of turmoil, four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands' criminal activities, take fate into their own hands and conspire to forge a future on their own terms.

Farrell stars as Jack Mulligan, a politician who is mixed up in the widows' plan and is one of the shining lights in the hit film.

"After Yang" (2021)

In this science fiction drama, Farrell stars as Jake, a father who has to figure out what to do when his family's robotic son Yang unexpectedly breaks down.

"Crazy Heart" (2019) 

"Crazy Heart" follows Otis "Bad" Blake (Jeff Bridges), a faded country music musician forced to reassess his dysfunctional life during a doomed romance that also inspires him.

Farrell, flexing his vocal chords, stands out in a supporting role in the hit movie as Tommy Sweet, a popular and successful country music star who forms a professional relationship with Blake.

"Minority Report" (2002)

In a future where a special police unit is able to arrest murderers before they commit their crimes, an officer from that unit is himself accused of a future murder.

Farrell stars as Department of Justice agent Danny Witwer in this futuristic sci-fi thriller.

Directed by Steven Spielberg, the film was one of the early breakthroughs in Farrell's acting career, setting the Irish actor on a path to superstardom.  

"The Lobster" (2015)

Without a doubt the most bizarre movie Farrell has featured in, the Dublin actor once again steals the show in this black comedy.

In a dystopian near future, single people, according to the laws of The City, are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in forty-five days or are transformed into beasts and sent off into The Woods.

Farrell plays David, a single man desperately trying to find love and prevent himself from being turned into a lobster, and puts in one of the standout performances of his career. 

"In Bruges" (2008)

Farrell plays a starring role as Ray, a suicidal hitman, in Martin McDonagh's hilarious dark comedy. 

The Dublin actor co-stars alongside Brendan Gleeson, perfectly blending comedy and drama in a stellar performance. 

Gleeson and Farrell play two hitmen bizarrely on the run in the Belgian city of Bruges there are moments of side-splitting laughter and utter shock aplenty in this absolute masterpiece. 

"The Batman" (2022) 

Farrell is nearly unrecognizable as Oswald Cobblepot, aka Penguin, in this take on the DC Comics character.

"Thirteen Lives"  (2022)

Farrell stars as British cave diver John Volanthen in this film that's based on the true story of the rescue mission in Thailand after a group of boys and their coach became trapped in flooding underground caves.

*Originally published in 2020.  Last updated in February 2024.