Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is an award-winning actor and producer. In a short span of 6 years, the young star has taken Hollywood by storm. The actor, who holds a degree of Master of Fine Arts from Yale has started in many hit films. What’s more, he has racked up an impressive rack of awards. These include an Emmy Award (for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his performance in HBO’s Watchmen) and a Screen Actors Guild Award (as part of the ensemble of Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7).
His latest film, titled Ambulance, sees him star opposite Jake Gyllenhaal. The Michael Bay action movie released recently has made him the talk of the town. We take a look at 5 of the best films of Abdul-Mateen and rank them. What do you think about the list? Share your opinion in the comments section below!
5. First Match
This Netflix movie solidified Abdul-Mateen’s place as a top actor. His performance was very good in the movie. First Match follows the life of Monique, who was raised in foster care. She believes that the only way to get back to her father is to join an all-boys wrestling team. This rough, yet emotional movie is a gem. The father-daughter relationship theme is shown beautifully. The characters are complicated and nuanced, yet the film is a great watch and lists as number 5 on our list.
4. Ambulance
The latest film to star Abdul-Mateen, it has one of the best ratings on this list. This fast-paced action movie was directed by Michael Bay and has released recently. The director, fresh from a few misfires in the Transformers series, looks poised to come back with a hit. The film stars Abdul-Mateen and Jake Gyllenhaal as the Sharp brothers. The action of the film looks quite promising.
3. Candyman
This film has two broad themes: horror and social commentary. It manages to excel in both. This reboot also has a stellar group of writers who crafted a gripping tale. Abdul-Mateen’s role is also quite thrilling as a person whose obsession with the Candyman legend puts him in peril. This film was a worthy successor to the original. It kept quite a few elements from the original and parted ways in many aspects. This sits as the 3rd film on our list.
2. The Trial of The Chicago 7
Based on true events, this film has a great ensemble cast. They include Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, Frank Langella, John Carroll Lynch, Eddie Redmayne, Mark Rylance, Jeremy Strong, Damian Young, and Ben Shenkman. They played the real Chicago 7 in their role in inciting the riots at the 1968 Democratic convention. The film was well-liked by the audiences and remains one of the great films to have come out in the recent past. It also won several awards in 2020.
1. Us
This film, in our opinion, was the best film Abdul-Mateen starred in. It explores themes of race, family, and capitalism that went bad. Yet in all this, its message is open to interpretation. This film propelled Abdul-Mateen’s career in 2019. This horror/ thriller film has a particularly chilling plot. A family is attacked by a group of shadowy figures clad in red. On a closer inspection, it turns out that the attackers are their lookalikes. Yikes!
