Tom Hardy enjoys being a tough guy in tough situations. Catch him dead in a rom-com or a PG musical. Despite his choices, the British star doesn’t always walk around with a serious face in the real world. “I play characters that I am not, that I am frightened of,” he told the Irish Independent, adding, “It’s easier to mimic that which frightens me than it is that which comforts me.” That’s right. Hardy likes to play-pretend, not replicate his daily life, and that’s what makes him such a good actor.
Those looking for gritty R-rated Tom Hardy movies thus have no shortage of options. Whether he is playing a gangster or a fugitive in a post-apocalyptic world, the MobLand star can always be expected to give an amazing performance. Thanks to his great work, he has been recognized several times by award organizations, including an Oscar nomination.
Here are 10 of the grittiest and most entertaining R-rated Tom Hardy movies.
10
‘Legend’ (2015)
Tom Hardy stars in Legend as the infamous ‘60s English gangsters: the Kray Twins. Inspired by accounts detailed in John Pearson’s book The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins, the film covers their glory days as leaders of the crime syndicate known as The Firm, and their eventual downfall.
Crime Family… Literally
Shot on location in Limehouse and Greenwich, the film is gorgeous, and Hardy’s work is astoundingly nuanced, as his characters’ outlook gradually mutates from reasonableness to intolerance and enlightenment as their power increases. As a gangster movie, Legend is flawed, but as a showcase for Hardy’s talent, nothing tops it. He could have easily won an Oscar if the script had been on par with his acting. Still, he won Best Actor at the British Independent Film Awards.
9
‘Locke’ (2013)
Construction foreman Ivan Locke needs to be in Birmingham to supervise the largest non-nuclear facility and concrete pour in European history, but when he learns that the woman he had an affair with is about to give birth, he chooses to drive to London to be with her during delivery. During his 2-hour drive, he makes 36 phone calls to various people, including his associates and his wife, explaining everything, but there are signs that things will not end well for him in Locke.
Complicating His Own Life
Directed by Hardy’s frequent collaborator, Stephen Knight, this potent, psychological road drama will leave you hating phone calls when the 85 minutes are over. Never have we seen him talk this much, and it’s amazing how he holds himself together while things are falling apart. As the events unfold, it becomes clear that he should have ignored his desire to play “good daddy” and handle crucial business first, but ‘man’ makes mistakes, and he has to live with them.
8
‘Bronson’ (2008)
Bronson is the biographical story of the notorious British prisoner, Charles Arthur Salvador, who later nicknamed himself Charles Bronson, after the American action star. Bronson (portrayed by Hardy) spent a large part of his adult life detained in various high-security prisons and psychiatric hospitals and was known to be extremely violent towards guards and fellow inmates.
Like Bane… In Prison
By employing a surreal narrative of interlinked vignettes peppered by vaudeville interludes, director Nicolas Winding Refn created one of the greatest prison dramas just as the genre was starting to slip out of favor. But the most praise goes to the bulked-up Hardy, who met and impressed the real Bronson so much that the inmate shaved off his trademark moustache for it to be used as a prop for the actor to wear. “I honestly believe nobody on the planet could play me as Tom did. He is more like me than I am,” he told The Times. All aspects considered, this is a film that never lets up, or lets audiences down.
7
‘Havoc’ (2025)
In this riveting crime action thriller, Hardy plays a lawman intent on rescuing a politician’s kidnapped estranged son. While at it, Detective Patrick Walker uncovers a web of corruption and crime in the city, with a few fellow police officers involved. He faces tough choices but remains straight as an arrow, so fate takes an unpleasant turn for those not on his side in Havoc.
Best Netflix Action Movie of 2025
Havoc has enough action and tough-talk color to fill 20 movies, and has grown justly popular for featuring one of the best opening car chase scenes in cinema. That’s what you get when you have the director behind The Raid and Gangs of London handling the business. Hardy doesn’t shine alone either. He gets able support from Timothy Olyphant, Forrest Whitaker, and Luis Guzmán.
6
‘The Drop’ (2014)
Bob (Tom Hardy) from The Drop is a bartender at a neighborhood bar run by his cousin, Marv (James Gandolfini). The location secretly serves as a “drop” for mob money, so when it gets robbed, chaos ensues. A major subplot involves Bob’s evolving relationship with Nadia (Naomi Rapace), a former drug addict.
Who Robbed the Criminals?
Loosely based on screenwriter Dennis Lehane’s 2009 short story “Animal Rescue,” The Drop is an informative story of burgeoning organized crime in America’s neighborhoods. From the starting point, director Michaël R. Roskam delivers a twisty, violent, shocking, compulsively watchable film that gladly glories in its excesses and packs a lot of heat. It almost feels like an episode of The Sopranos, but make no presumptions. Hardy isn’t upstaged by Gandolfini. He stays on the legend’s wavelength.
5
‘Warrior’ (2011)
Warrior has estranged brothers Tommy Conlon (Tom Hardy) and Brendan Conlon (Joel Edgerton) chasing glory in a high-stakes mixed martial arts tournament called Sparta. Tommy, an ex-Marine with a mysterious past, is a powder keg ready to explode, and he just wants to win to honor a fallen comrade. Brendan wants more money than he gets teaching Physics. Who will be victorious when the two men eventually meet in the ring?
Brotherly Love Can Wait
Hardy gives a magnetic, electrifying lead performance, perfectly conveying his character’s boldness, drive, and take-no-prisoners approach. Nick Nolte also shines as the father of the two boys, so much so that he received an Oscar nomination. Even better, real-life MMA and combat sports legends like Roan Carneiro and Kurt Angle make appearances, giving Warrior an authentic, real-world feel.
4
‘The Bikeriders’ (2023)
Inspired by the photo book of the same name by Danny Lyon, The Bikeriders depicts the lives of members of the Vandals Motorcycle Club, a fictional version of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. We see the events through the eyes of photographer Kathy (Jodie Comer),, who falls for the loose cannon biker, Benny (Austin Butler), who is being mentored by the club’s founder, Johnny (Tom Hardy). As she watches the bikers seize control of the 1960s Chicago underworld through sheer cunning and good ol’ fashioned whacking, she starts wondering whether she is in the right place.
Rubber and Guns
Biker tales like the gory Sons of Anarchy and Willem Defoe’s The Loveless have their dirty charms, but Hardy’s vicious crime drama cannot be topped for sheer bravado and ruthlessness. Watch out for a scene where a member named Cockroach gets brutalized for expressing a desire to leave the biker gang and become a motorcycle cop. Bonus: There’s Michael Shannon as an unhinged club member boss. Don’t miss this ride!
3
‘Black Hawk Down’ (2001)
Black Hawk Down is about a mission by U.S. Army Rangers, Delta Force operators, and Air Force members to capture warlords in Mogadishu, Somalia, during a 1993 humanitarian crisis. Intended to last an hour, the mission goes wrong when two Black Hawk helicopters are shot down, leaving the servicemen stranded behind enemy lines.
No Way Out
Based on the eponymous non-fiction book by journalist Mark Bowden, Ridley Scott’s war thriller is one of the most violent Hollywood has ever seen (with 19 on-screen American soldier deaths and countless Somali militia deaths), but the visual energy he brings to the production is euphoric. We get to see some of the meanest maniacs in screen history, and also Tom Hardy (in his first film role) as kill-happy SPC Lance Twombly. He started on a high and has never allowed himself to go any lower.
2
‘The Revenant’ (2015)
The Revenant takes us back to 1823, where mild-mannered frontiersman Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is guiding a fur trapping expedition through the wilderness. After being attacked by a bear, his fellow trappers, led by John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), betray him. John not only kills Glass’s half-Pawnee son but also buries Glass alive. Luckily, Glass survives, spending the rest of the film battling Native Americans, looming insanity, and starvation.
Wild Men in the Wild
Hardy and DiCaprio work beautifully together, having previously collaborated on Inception. DiCaprio skillfully subverts his suave guy image, portraying a character forced to the rugged side of appearances by circumstances. Meanwhile, Hardy is evil personified, stealing every scene he is in. Even though it feels too long, the film is highly enjoyable. Alejandro G. Iñárritu won an Oscar for directing, Hardy received a Best Supporting Actor nomination, while DiCaprio received his long-overdue Best Actor statuette.
1
‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ (2015)
Events in Fury Road occur in a post-apocalyptic world where water and oil are scarce, and the commodities are controlled by warlord Immortan Joe (Keays-Byrne). Soon, Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) rebels, taking Joe’s five wives on the lam with her and teaming up with the drifter Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy).
Joe Must Go
This fourth franchise installment is a favorite for many, including Quentin Tarantino, who named it his best movie of 2015. Anyone who is up for a haunting, atmospheric action thriller shouldn’t miss it. The themes of feminism, oppression, and environmental collapse all hit home, but the movie would be nothing without the action, cinematography, and the incredible performances of the leads. Hardy and Theron reportedly didn’t get along on set, but you’ll hardly notice it.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
