1. Edward Scissorhands - Edward Scissorhands
This performance may have flown under the radar of Oscar voters, but for me it is unquestionably Depp's strongest work to date, as well as his best film overall. So fruitful was Depp's initial collaboration with Burton here that it kick-started the well-known partnership between the two, with Depp playing the titular character, a deformed young man who lives on the outskirts of a sleepy suburban town, and upon being "discovered" by a kindly local, is taken in by her family. The film works on so many levels, most specifically as a satire on middle-class suburban life, but the real treat is Depp's quietly composed performance as the scarred, timid man who has spent years without any human contact, instead living alone in a castle in the hills. Seeing Edward be exploited by the locals is genuinely heartbreaking to watch thanks to Depp's nuanced turn, which doesn't explode into fierce emotion but instead turns inward, his face displaying much confusion and anguish at his predicament. Depp also nails the countless moments of comic relief, specifically when his surrogate "father" (played by Alan Arkin) gives him a drink of "lemonade" (it's actually alcohol).