Cillian Murphy’s Most Underrated Performance Deserves Even More Love After His Oppenheimer Oscar Win (2025)

Cillian Murphy has quickly become one of Hollywood's most recognizable stars. His leading performance in Oppenheimer shot him into the spotlight, where he got to shine as the lead of a massive blockbuster. But despite Oppenheimer undoubtedly being his biggest role, he's featured in many other movies and series where he has delivered incredible performances. From Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later to the BBC's Peaky Blinders, Cillian Murphy has featured in dozens of great movies and TV shows. Yet even though these roles have secured his reputation, one particular performance – courtesy of another Nolan collaboration – remains criminally overlooked.

Nolan is one of the few directors whose name still sells tickets. Franchises have become increasingly prominent in modern cinema, but Nolan's name endures. His collaborations with Cillian Murphy have included Scarecrow in The Dark Knight trilogy, the Shivering Soldier in Dunkirk, and Robert Fischer in Inception. These performances often seem to fly under the radar, and supporting roles rarely get the adoration that leads do. But Murphy shines in Inception, and his character is the core of its story, despite leads like Leonardo DiCaprio and Elliot Page being more in the spotlight.

Cillian Murphy's Robert Fischer Is The Heart Of Inception

Inception presents itself as a sci-fi espionage film that delves into metaphors surrounding grief, guilt, and creativity. But what's often overlooked is the key part of the film that the whole plot revolves around; Robert Fischer. The whole film is predicated on successfully incepting Fischer, changing the direction of his family's massive conglomerate business by manipulating his relationship with his father. This relationship is the core of Fischer's decision-making, motivating his actions throughout the story. The team's plan involves changing Fischer's view on that relationship, guiding him to an epiphany.

While the main crew is on a dire adventure fighting against manifestations of the subconscious, Fischer is on a deeply spiritual and personal journey that has him face his innermost fears and most deeply held feelings. It's an emotional catharsis that makes him a surprisingly sympathetic character and Inception is much more than a simple action heist movie. Without Fischer lending this emotional depth, the movie would not work either. Its success can be put down to Cillian Murphy's extraordinary and underrated performance.

Cillian Murphy's Performance In Inception Is Deeply Underrated

For all the character's emotional potential to come off, there is immense pressure on Cillian Murphy. He has to portray a man experiencing an epiphany, as well as a man compelled to battle his subconscious. In some scenes, this is portrayed in the most subtle ways; a look of doubt or shock. But in others, the pressure is on him to own an intensely emotional moment that needs to convince audiences that everything leading up to this has paid off.

One Inception scene that truly proves Murphy's credentials is the film's conclusion. In the final moments with his father, Murphy has a complex emotional state to portray. The moment demands happiness, he's hearing what he has always wanted to hear from his father and is experiencing feeling loved by him for the first time in years. But also grief, since the tortured complexity of their relationship neglected his ability to grieve for his father. Throughout the film, especially at the start in the real world, we see him as quite cold, bitter, and emotionally stunted, but in these final moments, he finally gets to grieve and miss his dad.

Looking back at Cillian Murphy's career since his performance in Oppenheimer is enlightening. Roles like Robert Fischer show where he truly shines even in a supporting role, displaying great depth and range that enriches any film. Murphy's popularity has undoubtedly skyrocketed since Oppenheimer and, hopefully, performances like these will remind audiences that he's been one of the 21st century's most exceptional actors.

Inception

5.0

PG-13

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Director

Christopher Nolan

Release Date

July 16, 2010

Cast

Tom Hardy , Elliot Page , Joseph Gordon-Levitt , Cillian Murphy , Ken Watanabe , Marion Cotillard , Leonardo DiCaprio

Runtime

148 minutes