Ranking the Best Performances from Benicio del Toro So Far

Benicio del Toro is having a very nice 2025. Hell, he should make it a point to work with filmmakers named Anderson. Between getting to star in his own Wes Anderson movie earlier this year with The Phoenician Scheme and now his supporting role in Paul Thomas Anderson‘s One Battle After Another, the year has been very kind to him. As the latter film is just days away from release, it felt like a nice time to pay tribute to the Oscar winner and rank his best performances to date.

In my review of One Battle After Another (here), I said the following about the cast, including del Toro:

Leonardo DiCaprio is an underrated comic actor, as seen in The Wolf of Wall Street. Here, he gets to play perpetually stoned and continually finds ways to make it hilarious. Whether it’s physical comedy or his tendency to forget the group’s code words, you’re laughing at Bob throughout. DiCaprio is a reliably great presence in the center of the film, though the women in his life really shine brightest. Teyana Taylor is a force of nature, owning the first act of the movie, while Chase Infiniti is the really the star of the final act, announcing herself in a very exciting manner. Taylor gets to literally fuel a revolution, while Infiniti gives one of the more noteworthy breakthrough turns of the year. Then, there’s Sean Penn, who hasn’t been this good in some time, playing Lockjaw as funny, pitiful, and scary in equal measure. You hate the vile man, to be sure, but you’re constantly compelled by him, given the way Penn plays him. Regina Hall has a solid and somber part as one of the former revolutionaries, while Benicio del Toro is having a lot of fun as Willa’s martial arts instructor. His scenes assisting Bob are very enjoyable, while also building to some actual action set-pieces. 

Below, you can see how del Toro stacks up for me. His Academy Award winning turn in Traffic is tops for me, though your mileage may vary. I also think that his work in Things We Lost in the Fire is some of his most underrated, as is Sicario, which deserved more prestige, despite its genre trappings. I’m lower on The Usual Suspects than most, but that doesn’t mean you have to be. Where do I fall on One Battle After Another and The Phoenician Scheme? Find out next…

Here now is my ranking of the best of Benicio del Toro so far. Behold:

10. The Fan

9. One Battle After Another

8. 21 Grams

7. The Usual Suspects

6. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

5. The Phoenician Scheme

4. Che

3. Sicario

2. Things We Lost in the Fire

1. Traffic

What are your favorite performances from Benicio del Toro? Let us know!