The 10 greatest movies of the 1990s, according to Jacob Elordi
Whether you think of him as Gen Z’s answer to James Dean or an overhyped would-be heartthrob, Jacob Elordi has racked up an impressive filmography in only a small handful of years.
He became a teen sensation with his roles in The Kissing Booth and Euphoria, and thawed the hearts of cinema geeks when he dove into the deep end with Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn and, more recently, Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein. In the latter film, he concealed his annoyingly symmetrical features with layer upon layer of makeup to become a (admittedly still hot) version of the famous monster.
All of these experimentations point to the fact that Elordi is open to all kinds of assignments. He’s neither angling for a starring role in the MCU nor desperately trying to align himself with Martin Scorsese, at least as far as we know. He’s willing to take risks, and he doesn’t seem to have the sort of white-knuckle grip on his own legacy the way Brando-enthusiasts like Timothée Chalamet seem to. In short, he might actually be our next great hope for a good old-fashioned movie star.
All of this is elegantly reflected in his favourite movies of the 1990s. Maybe this is reading too much into it, but anyone who can loop Three Colors: Blue in with The Nightmare Before Christmas has to have a certain amount of playfulness and humility. The ‘90s left us spoiled for choice, obviously, but Elordi’s list still stands out for being wonderfully eclectic.
Alongside the classics, Elordi also name-dropped the ever-relevant black comedy The Truman Show and the perennial tearjerker Good Will Hunting. Another key pick on his must-watch list is Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho – the film that properly introduced the world to the raw talent of River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves. These days it’s a cult classic, but at the time, it ruffled more than a few feathers.
Phoenix and Reeves played hustlers making their way across the country in an arthouse road movie that explored queerness, sex work, and friendship in a way that few films had or have since. There are parallels to Euphoria, at least when it comes to youthful explorations of identity, sex, and drugs, but the sensitivity and nuance that Van Sant found go far beyond anything that the HBO series tried to do.
On a lighter note, Elordi also gave a nod to The Player – the 1992 Hollywood satire about a hotshot producer whose life starts to properly unravel after he’s hit with anonymous death threats from a disgruntled screenwriter. It’s essential viewing for film lovers, especially anyone who still gets a bit misty-eyed about the magic of the industry.
Although the actor’s list mostly features well-loved (or at least well-known) movies like Bottle Rocket, Magnolia, and Before Sunrise, one is slightly more obscure. Geoffrey Wright’s 1992 thriller Romper Stomper might not be the most famous film in Elordi’s line-up, but it has its place in the history of Australian cinema. Not only did it give a young Russell Crowe one of his breakthrough roles, but took a serious look at the explosion of Neo-Nazism that terrorised Melbourne.
All in all, what we have is a pretty robust list for any film lover looking to dive into the 1990s and find out the plethora of great movies it had to offer.
Jacob Elordi’s favourite ’90s films:
- Bottle Rocket
- Romper Stomper
- Magnolia
- Before Sunrise
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- The Player
- My Own Private Idaho
- Three Colors: Blue
- Good Will Hunting
- The Truman Show
