Summary
Jake Gyllenhaal’s latest projectPresumed Innocentis yet another great thriller in the celebrated actor’s filmography. Gyllenhaal has become one of the most recognizable movie stars on the planet who has surprisingly yet to win an Academy Award or an Emmy for his efforts.Presumed Innocentmarks Gyllenhaal’s television and streaming debut, which is shocking in and of itself considering the actor earned his first professional acting credit with 1991’sCity Slickers.Presumed Innocent’spositive Rotten Tomatoesscore continues Gyllenhaal’s recent streak of starring in critically acclaimed movies, and now, television series.
I can still remember the first time watchingDonnie Darkoand being captivated by Gyllenhaal’s embodiment of his peculiar titular character, which was fascinating to analyze. For many people who did not first discover Gyllenhaal through 1999’sOctober Sky, the classic drama that made him a rising movie star,2001’sDonnie Darkowas likely viewers' first encounter with Gyllenhaal. Through Gyllenhaal’s magnetism, audiences saw Donnie in many genuine albeit unrelatable forms, convincingly portraying the inner brilliance and sensitivity of Donnie’s true self while also enduring his crass behavior and adolescent stubbornness.The cult classic would become the first of many great Gyllenhaal thrillers.
Presumed Innocent Is Jake Gyllenhaal’s Latest Great Thriller
Gyllenhaal has starred in some exceptional modern thrillers
When people think of Gyllenhaal nowadays, his most recent blockbuster projects immediately come to mind, including Amazon’sRoad Houseremake and his role as Quentin Black / Magneto inSpider-Man: Far from Home. For me, I can’t unsee Gyllenhaal in the numerous thrillers he’s starred in, such asDavid Fincher’sZodiac, Denis Villeneuve’sPrisoners, and Dan Gilroy’sNightcrawler. Gyllenhaal has proven himself to be one of the most capable and versatile leading men in Hollywood, but his best work typically comes in dark, atmospheric thrillers that began with Richard Kelly’s incomparableDonnie Darko.
Some of Gyllenhaal’s other great thrillers includeNocturnal Animals,End of Watch,The Guilty, andEnemy, which was also directed byDunedirector Denis Villeneuve.Presumed Innocentcan now be added to that list after its first two episodes premiered exclusively on Apple TV+ on July 21, 2025. The latest series from David E. Kelly (Big Little Lies,Love & Death,The Undoing),Presumed Innocentplaces Gyllenhaal’s Rusty Sabich, an attorney who leads the investigation of the murder of a former employee, in the crosshairs as he becomes a suspect in the case. Rusty is exposed to have been engaged in an extramarital affair with the deceased, Carolyn Polhemus, played by Renate Reinsve.
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Jake Gyllenhaal Has Shined Best During His Career In Dark Thrillers
Nightcrawler, Prisoners, and Zodiac are some of his greatest movies
Nightcrawler,Zodiac,Prisoners, andDonnie Darkoare among my top Gyllenhaal movies, all of which belong in the thriller genre.Nightcrawleris arguably Gyllenhaal’s career-best performance as Louis Bloom, a desperate and isolated con man who is so full of charisma and sociopathic intelligence that he ends up becoming the perfect type of person who can succeed as a freelancing breaking news videographer.The unsettling edge that Gyllenhaal is able to give to Louis inNightcrawleris convincing and unforced, resulting in what feels like a deeply disturbed individual who finds success in one of the lowest forms of American news/entertainment.
I believe Gyllenhaal deserved an Oscar nomination forNightcrawler, a film that only received one nomination for Best Original Screenplay despite being one of the most critically acclaimed movies of 2014. InPrisoners, Gyllenhaal also provides layers of edginess and underlying aggression in his portrayal of Detective Loki, matching the explosive passion and sharp pain demonstrated by Hugh Jackson’s Keller Dover, whose young daughter has gone missing. Gyllenhaal’s proven that he can star in run-of-the-mill rom-coms (Love and Other Drugs) and formulaic action flicks (Everest,Ambulance), butPresumed Innocentreaffirms his masterful grip on dark thrillers.
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Which Thriller Is Jake Gyllenhaal’s Best?
It’s hard to choose one above the rest
The film-obsessed adolescent in me would jump to say thatDonnie Darkois Gyllenhaal’s greatest thriller, although as far as his overall performances go,Nightcrawleris simply impressive and would not be as great without him. There is almost a Christian Bale-Patrick Bateman ofAmerican Psychoquality to Louis Bloom that Gyllenhaal completely nails and that few actors would be able to pull off with as much conviction.Zodiaccertainly has a case for being the best thriller at large that Gyllenhaal has starred inbecause of the reverting story and the direction of David Fincher. The same could be said ofPrisoners. Still, I think ifNightcrawlerdidn’t exist,Donnie Darkocould make a great case for being his best and most important thriller even with the new addition ofPresumed Innocent.
Presumed Innocent
Cast
An eight-episode limited series based on the New York Times bestselling novel of the same name by Scott Turow. Starring Gyllenhaal in the lead role of chief deputy prosecutor Rusty Sabich, the series takes viewers on a gripping journey through the horrific murder that upends the Chicago Prosecuting Attorney’s office when one of its own is suspected of the crime. The series explores obsession, sex, politics, and the power and limits of love, as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.
