A great movie doesn’t need many actors as long as the script, the storyline, and the production are of a high caliber, and all you need is one good actor to perform it. Here are 21 movies that have only one main character but are still brilliant.
I Am Legend
Will Smith is a lone wolf in this epic movie, which sees him surviving alone in a post-apocalyptic world with only his dog for company—unless you count zombies as company.
Cast Away
Tom Hanks is the solo character in this famously brilliant movie, which shows him playing a plane crash survivor stranded on a desert island.
Bronson
Tom Hardy gives a fantastic performance in this film as Charles Bronson, a young man sentenced to jail who ends up spending three decades in solitary confinement.
Moon
An astronaut on a three-year solo mission manning a space station has an extra-terrestrial encounter which he must decipher if he wants to return to Earth.
Gravity
Starring Sandra Bullock, this movie is about two astronauts who have to survive in outer space after they are cut adrift by floating debris. The movie documents Dr. Ryan Stone’s (Sandra Bullock) plan to return to Earth alive.
All is Lost
Robert Redford plays a sailor who finds himself lost at sea. He must use his sailing skills and wit to make it out of the ocean alive.
Grand Piano
A pianist is forced to play on stage while under the watch of a sniper who threatens to shoot him if he plays one wrong note. Talk about performance anxiety.
Buried
Ryan Reynolds plays a U.S. truck driver who wakes up buried underground in a coffin with only a cell phone and a lighter to help him escape his tragic fate.
Life of Pi
This is a fantastical movie about a young boy who is marooned at sea with only a Bengal Tiger for company. The movie plot focuses on the boy’s journey and adventures as he explores the meaning of life.
Wrecked
Adrien Brody plays a man who wakes up after a car crash at the bottom of a large ravine. The film follows his battle for survival as he overcomes some extraordinary hurdles.
127 Hours
It is the true story of a solo mountain climber who gets trapped by a massive boulder while alone in Utah and is forced to go to extraordinary lengths to survive. A very harrowing yet brilliant movie.
Brake
Most of this movie features a man who has been kidnapped and locked in the trunk of a car. Stephen Dorff plays a Secret Service agent who is tortured by terrorists who are plotting against the President of the United States.
The Noah
After a nuclear war kills everyone, the only man left on Earth decides to create an imaginary world to help him cope with his feelings of loneliness and isolation.
Monster in a Box
In this first-person account, Spalding Gray showcases the reality of trying to write a novel and what it is like to live and work as an author.
The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
Sometimes referred to as more of a documentary, this film showcases the successful one-woman comedy show of Lily Tomlin.
Locke
Tom Hardy gives a stellar performance as Ivan Locke, a man facing multiple moral and ethical dilemmas. He talks himself through them during a solo car ride on the way to witness the birth of his child.
Wild
Reese Witherspoon takes us on the journey of one woman’s 1,100-mile solo hike across the Pacific Crest Trail, which sees her embark on an adventure of heartbreak and healing.
No One Will Save You
This horror, sci-fi thriller features one woman’s battle against aliens who have broken into her home.
Inside
When one of his heists goes wrong, an art thief finds himself trapped in a New York penthouse. He must use his intelligence and wit to find a way to escape.
Flipped
A famous model finds herself trapped upside down in her car after a crash and is only able to reach an unknown stranger via her cell phone, but things take an unexpected turn.
The Shallows
A surfer (Blake Lively) is attacked by a Great White shark only meters from the shoreline. In her injured state, trying to make the short journey to safety becomes the biggest fight of her life.
