4 Unmissable Matthias Schoenaerts Movies

by Helen Earnshaw | 22 March 2016

Matthias Schoenaerts is one of the most in-demand actors around and is set to return to the big screen this week with Disorder, a film that sees him team up with Diane Kruger and director Alice Winocour.

Matthias Schoenaerts in Disorder

The movie sees Schoenaerts take on the central role of Vincent, an ex-soldier with PTSD who is hired to project the wife and child of a wealthy Lebanese businessman.

The last couple of years has seen Schoenaerts' star rocket as he has worked with some of the biggest actors and directors in the business. We take a look at some of his movies that you really cannot afford to miss.

- Bullhead (2011)

In 2011, Schoenaerts teamed up with filmmaker Michaël R. Roskam for crime/drama Bullhead. The movie marked the feature film directorial debut for Roskam and this was to be the first of two collaborations between the actor and director.

Schoenaerts took on the central role of Jacky Vanmarsenille. Jacky's steroid-fuelled life as a cattle farmer eventually leads him to making a deal with a shady meat trader.

Jacky must face the consequences of an assonated federal agent and a woman from his traumatic past. Jeroen Perceval, Jeanne Dandoy, and Barbara Sarafian joined Schoenaerts on the cast list.

Bullhead is a compelling film from start to finish and Schoenaerts delivers a terrific central performance as Jacky. This movie really did show that Schoenaerts was a terrific leading man.

Jacky may not be a particularly nice character, but Schoenaerts plays him in a way that makes the audience sympathetic to his plight - in lesser hands, Jacky could have been a man that we didn't really care for. This was a movie that really did help propel Schoenaerts on to bigger and better things.

Bullhead is a dark and complex film that is wonderfully crafted by first-time filmmaker Roskam - it is hard to believe that this was his feature film directorial debut.

Bullhead was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year at the 2012 Oscars and won numerous awards at film festivals around the world.

- Rust and Bone (2012)

It was Rust and Bone in 2012 that made me aware of Schoenaerts, as he teamed up with Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard and director Jacques Audiard. The movie was based on the short story collection of the same name by Craig Davidson.

The movie follows Stephanie (Cotillard), a killer whale trainer who late one night meets Alain (Schoenaerts) in a fracas at the nightclub where he works as a bouncer.

Put in charge of his young son, Alain has come from Belgium to Antibes to live with his sister and her husband as a family. Alain's bond with Stephanie grows deeper after she suffers a horrible accident, bringing the two together once more.

Rust and Bone was the first collaboration between Cotillard and Schoenaerts and the pair craft a tender and very real relationship that drives this film forward.

Both are struggling with problems in their own lives, but together they manage to face them head on and build a new and better life for themselves.

Rust and Bone is a movie with many layers and levels as it follows a handicapped women who gets her life back on track, a man on the operates at the shady end of society as well as complex and difficult family dynamic and all these plates are kept spinning perfectly by the director.

Rust and Bone competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and was a critical hit upon release and went on to pick a whole host of awards and nominations; including two Golden Globe nods. For me, Rust and Bone was one of the best films to hit the big screen in 2012.

- The Drop (2014)

In 2014, Schoenaerts reunited with director Michael R. Roskam as he starred alongside Tom Hardy, James Gandolfini, and Noomi Rapace in the adaptation of the short story Animal Rescue by Dennis Lehane.

The Drop follows lonely bartender Bob Saginowski (Hardy) through a covert scheme of funnelling cash to local gangsters - 'money drops' - in the underworld of Brooklyn bars. Under the heavy hand of his employer and cousin Marv (Gandolfini), Bob finds himself at the centre of a robbery gone awry and entwined in an investigation that digs deep into the neighbourhood's past where friends, families, and foes all work together to make a living - no matter the cost.

Schoenaerts takes on the role of local thug Eric Deeds and proved that he could be a threatening villain - showing off a very different side to him as an actor.

The Drop was one of the finest crime dramas of 2014 as it is driven by a smartly written script and terrific performances from a wonderful cast. Of course, this was a movie that was tinged with sadness as it was to be the last time that we would see Gandolfini on the big screen.

Hardy and Gandolfini work wonderfully together, while Schoenaerts and Rapace provide terrific support. The Drop is a bit of a slow-burner, but when it does get going it is hard to take your eyes off.

The Drop played well on the festival circuit and deserved to be a much bigger hit than it was - it is always a shame when a film as good as this goes almost unnoticed by a mainstream audience.

- Far From The Madding Crowd (2015)

Schoenaerts turned his hand to period drama last year as a new adaptation of Far From The Madding Crowd was brought to the big screen.

The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Hardy and saw Thomas Vinterberg back in the director's chair. This was the first film for Vinterberg since The Hunt and saw Schoenaerts star alongside Carey Mulligan, Michael Sheen, and Tom Sturridge.

Far From The Madding Crowd is the story of independent, beautiful and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene (Mulligan), who attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak (Schoenaerts), a sheep farmer, captivated by her fetching wilfulness; Frank Troy (Sturridge), a handsome and reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood (Sheen), a prosperous and mature bachelor. This timeless story of Bathsheba's choices and passions explores the nature of relationships and love - as well as the human ability to overcome hardships through resilience and perseverance.

Far From The Madding Crowd is up there as one of the best adaptations of this much-loved novel - that is largely thanks to the direction of Vinterberg and the performances from a wonderful cast.

There is a strength and a vulnerability to Bathsheba and Carey Mulligan captures this two conflicting personality traits beautifully. This may be a movie that is based on 1874 novel, but there is something fresh and modern about the way Mulligan has portrayed the central character.

There is a wonderful chemistry between Mulligan and Schoenaerts from the moment that these two characters meet and I would love to see these two actors share the screen again in the future.