The Lord of the Rings propelled Elijah Wood into stardom and cemented him in fantasy’s greatest adventure as the unlikely hero, Frodo Baggins. His career started way back with a small part in the Back to the Future franchise, which seems incredible for someone who doesn’t look old enough to have been around back then (Elijah, we hope that made you smile). He’s also appeared in over 20 TV shows, including voice acting for Star Wars Resistance, and lately he has turned his hand to producing. Clearly the tropes of swords and sorcery haven’t held Wood back, and he has never once needed to cash in on that fantasy background. So take a look at these 11 essential movies that do not feature wizards or rings of power.
Come to Daddy (2019)
Norval (Wood) receives a letter from his father, who he hasn’t seen since he was 5 years old. Norval then visits the isolated cabin where his father (Stephen McHattie) welcomes him. Not long after, the mood drastically changes and father tries to kill son, but his father dies after having a heart attack. To complicate things, Norval finds a trapdoor, which leads to his real father, Brian (Martin Donovan), who has been imprisoned. Norval realizes he has opened a can of worms, and learns that his real father has stolen money and that others will come to interrogate him. Norval’s family reunion has officially gone sideways.
Low budget, dark and sadistic, Come to Daddy is a far fling from the adventures of Middle Earth. Wood's performance is tastefully macabre and immensely bold as he dominates the tone of the movie from start to finish. He is uniquely excellent as Norval, and this movie shows he is an actor that blatantly doesn’t need big budgets to shine.
The Oxford Murders (2008)
An American mathematics student, Martin (Wood), attends Oxford University in England in the hope that Professor Arthur Seldom (John Hurt) will oversee his thesis. When one day they discover a dead body and after being questioned by the police, both student and teacher begin to work together on an investigation of their own. Each new murder has a mathematic symbol, each victim almost goes unnoticed, and each death only makes Martin more suspicious of those around him, especially the man he looks up to the most.
The Oxford Murders is a clever whodunnit that takes liberty with the rules of mathematics to dramatize a theory that murder is only perfect if the wrong culprit is apprehended. The subject matter can be slightly alienating, and the plot slightly implausible, but for fans of the whodunnit genre, it’s a great movie to play along with.
Sin City (2005)
Four dark tales of crime-ridden misery are set against the backdrop of the corrupt and dangerous Basin City. First, The Salesman (Josh Hartnett) looks to make some easy cash from executing The Customer (Marley Shelton). Musclebound anti-hero, Marv (Mickey Rourke) stops at nothing and for no one as he searches for his lost love, Wendy (Jaime King). Detective John Hartigan (Bruce Willis) goes up against vile serial killer Ethan Roark Jr (Nick Stahl). And last, Dwight McCarthy (Clive Owen) helps Shellie (Brittany Murphy) avoid the clutches of pimp, "Iron Jack" Rafferty (Benicio del Toro). Wood plays Kevin, a sadistic killer who displays his victims' heads on his wall like hunting trophies.
Based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel, Sin City is a black and white, comic book style, ultra-violent thriller. It has an ensemble cast and certain plot elements (including people) are characteristically given color. This is undoubtedly a visually stunning movie, and an amazing reinterpretation of other comic book inspired movies.
Cooties (2014)
A mutant virus sweeps across the high school at Fort Chicken, Illinois. The cause, an infected chicken nugget. The outcome, a high school full of zombie children that want to eat their teachers. Teachers that include substitute teacher, Clint Hadson (Wood), on his first day of the job. There is only one thing to do. He and a small group must find a way to survive high school and its flesh eating pupils.
There hasn’t been a shortage in zombie horror, and this is Elijah Wood’s short venture into the world of commonplace tropes and jump scares. The movie was actually produced by Wood's production company, SpectreVision, and although it was never going to win a bunch of Academy Awards, Wood does earn a bunch of laughs from the limited script.
Green Street Hooligans (2005)
Matthew Buckner (Wood) is expelled from Harvard University for taking the blame for his roommate’s possession of cocaine. Now in London, visiting his sister, Shannon (Claire Forlani), Mathew meets Pete (Charlie Hunnam), a primary school teacher and the leader of a football firm, the Green Street Elite. It’s not long until Mathew is submersed into the addictive football gang violence, but the treacherous side of his new friends place his own life at stake.
Gang-related movies are always contentious creations that will either offend or glamorize rivalry culture. However, Green Street Hooligans does show the effects of death and loss, and it only depicts one real "winner" (which you will have to watch to find out). Wood doesn’t look out of place playing "The Yank" in a movie thick with British stereotypes and culture, and he does convincingly fight his way through gang battles like no Harvard student before him.
Maniac (2012)
Traumatized as a child and now an adult, Frank Zito (Wood) spends his days in his mannequin restoration shop. One day Frank meets photographer, Anna D'Antoni (Nora Arnezeder), who has taken an interest in the mannequins in Frank’s storefront. The two create an art exhibition together, and as a consequence Frank feels more relaxed with life and decides to take tablets to help with his psychotic urges. However, Frank’s killing spree and scalp collection is a hard pastime to give up.
Creepy, brilliant, and truly horrific, Maniac is a first-person perspective slasher that allows us to feel the role played by Wood instead of merely seeing him (which is only through reflections). The attention to detail is admirable with the whole movie being a very technical set of precise shots. Full credit given to director Franck Khalfounand and his team.
Everything Is Illuminated (2005)
Jewish-American, Jonathan Safran Foer (Wood) is a collector of his family's objects and keepsakes. One particular old photograph, of a woman named Augustine, takes him on an adventure of discovery through Ukraine to reconnect with long-lost relations, and to connect with his guide and new friend, Alex (Eugene Hütz). His adventure also happens to illuminate the atrocities of his family’s past.
Everything Is Illuminated was actor Liev Schreiber’s directorial debut and also his first screenplay. Addressing the ramifications of the holocaust with warm, light-hearted humor is the movie’s key to success. Wood is best as a character that learns throughout some kind of journey, and in turn, us, the viewers, naturally relate or sympathize with him on some kind of level, and are rewarded with an enjoyable movie.
Grand Piano (2013)
After a five-year hiatus, the greatest pianist of his age, Tom Selznick (Wood), returns to the stage for a packed Chicago concert. As he begins to play, Tom finds handwritten notes within his sheet music telling him that if he stops playing he will die. A sniper, Clem (John Cusack), instructs Tom to play the very piece of music that he failed to play five years ago that ended his career. Tom’s wife, watching in the audience, is now in the firing line, the music will release a hidden key which unlocks a lost fortune, and all Tom has to do is not mess up this time around.
Extremely tense in the moments Tom tries to keep himself and his wife alive, Grand Piano is a very different type of thriller that feels it could actually swing either way. Although far too short, the movie gains depth with the atmospherically shot montages encapsulating the full orchestra, beautiful theatre, and Elijah Wood’s best attempts at portraying a piano playing genius. Which he manages quite well.
I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017)
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Assistant nurse, Ruth Kimke (Melanie Lynskey), comes home to find her home burglarized. Her laptop and her deceased grandmother’s silverware have been taken. The police offer no help, and when she meets oddball Tony (Wood), she decides to take matters into her own hands with Tony as backup. They follow a trail of burglaries that leads to thieves and murders, and both Ruth and Tony only hate the world that bit more.
Melanie Lynskey plays the softly spoken and slightly ditzy Ruth as a perfect tone setter. Throughout the movie she has lost faith in fellow humanity. It’s a social commentary that also happens to be funny and shockingly accurate at the same time. Wood’s comical situations of a character feeling forced to succumb to macho Americanisms helps with the story’s feel of helplessness. It’s not too heavy, but it does strike a chord.
No Man of God (2021)
Bill Hagmaier (Wood) is tasked with profiling one of the worst serial killers in American history, Ted Bundy (Luke Kirby). Bill earns the respect and friendship, to a point, with Ted, and over the last few years of his incarceration, Bill also earns the valuable knowledge of what everyone suspects. That he really is the killer everyone knows, but more shockingly he knows why he did what he did.
It’s the infamous account of a person in history that we would all rather forget, but it is also a movie that has two excellent performances that constantly compliment each other through each scene. Like yin and yang, Wood and Kirby have a little of each other’s character to offer a very difficult biographical movie a new edge. No Man of God is the slowest movie Elijah Wood has ever made, but one of his best measured performances.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet) has the memory of her boyfriend, Joel Barish (Jim Carrey), removed and continues her life without him. Much to his confusion, Joel tries to move on, but when he finds out the truth, he decides to have the same procedure and erase the memory of Clementine. As technicians Stan (Mark Ruffalo) and Patrick (Wood) begin to erase his memories, Joel realizes that he wants to keep remembering. Paralyzed by the procedure, Joel desperately battles mentally to never forget his one true love.
An endearingly original screenplay by Charlie Kaufman exploring love and memory in a non-linear story, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of those movies that you have to sit in silence to watch. It can be hard to follow, but it’s well worth the effort to keep up with the twisting storyline. If only more movies were this meaningful.