18. The Talented Mr. Ripley
This gorgeously shot Anthony Minghella picture stars Matt Damon in his best, creepiest role (he's always better when he's playing a villain) and boasts a supporting cast that includes a never better Jude Law, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Cate Blanchett. Adapted from Patricia Highsmith's series of Ripley novel's, Minghella's film sees Damon, as the titular character, travel to 1950s Italy in order to retrieve playboy Dickie Greenleaf (Law) on an errand. Seduced by the lifestyle and Greenleaf himself, Ripley concocts a plan to stay, permanently. Fused with a homoerotic subtext and motored by at least three powerhouse performances, The Talented Mr. Ripley is a Hitchcockian adventure full of fakers and impostors. It's Damon who really turns this into a true psychological thriller, though, and the madness his character descends into is mirrored, sometimes literally, in the lush camerawork of Minghella and his cinematographer, John Seale (Mad Max: Fury Road).