Nicolas Cage, the star of the National Treasure films, is one of the most unique and adored actors in the world. He has an over-the-top presence that still manages to convey humanity and vulnerability —a trait that has come to define the later parts of his career. In addition to this, he is also one of Hollywood's most prolific performers, having released 14 films in the 2020s, with another on the way later this year.

Since Nicolas Cage puts out so many films, it's easy to miss some of the truly amazing roles that he has played. Of course, not every Nicolas Cage movie is brilliant — some are even quite bad — but there are plenty of hidden gems in his modern catalog over the past decade.

10 Pig Showcases Cage's Inner Rage

Normally, the low-key world of collecting truffles wouldn't be a platform for intrigue and sorrow, but Nicolas Cage can bring intensity to any project. In Pig, released in 2021, Cage plays a former five-star chef who retreats to the woods after the death of his wife, to hunt truffles. One evening, he is attacked and his prized foraging pig is stolen, which sets off a dark mystery quest.

Cage's character is faced with confronting his former life while searching for his beloved pig, and every step brings him more misery. It's actually one of Cage's more subdued performances, but it's no less powerful. Rather than his usual stark-raving mad bouts of emotion, Cage projects an anguish so deep that it spills out on the screen and into the audience's lap.

9 Prisoners Of The Ghostland Is Pure Weirdness

Prisoners of the Ghostland is a 2021 film by Sion Sono, who is responsible for some of the strangest and most surreal Japanese movies ever made. This was Sono's first English-language film, but it was no less bizarre than his other works. The movie stars Nicolas Cage as a bank robber who is forced to enter a weird realm known as the "Ghostland" to rescue the adopted daughter of the corrupt Governor of Samurai Town.

The movie combines elements of Japanese history with the American Wild West and is a twisted allegory for something that only Sion Sono truly knows. This movie is pure weirdness, yet it is so visually stunning that it doesn't matter if it makes sense. Cage, who goes above and beyond in the lead role, commented that it is, "the wildest movie [he's] ever made," which says a lot coming from him.

8 Cage Goes Full Lovecraftian In Color Out Of Space

Nicolas Cage stars as the unhinged father in the 2019 sci-fi horror Color Out of Space, which is based on an H.P. Lovecraft short story. Like most Lovecraftian horror stories, Color Out of Space is a bizarre movie in which it's not entirely certain what is going on. Cage's character moves his family to a rural farmhouse, where, one night, a brilliantly colored meteor crashes in their front yard.

Whatever is in the meteor affects all living things in its vicinity, turning plants vibrant colors, while fusing animals and humans into freakish monstrosities. It also has a deep effect on humans' mental states, which is where Cage shines, as his character completely loses all sense of sanity. This particular Lovecraft tale has been adapted many times, including the classic Die, Monster Die! but this is the closest to the source material.

7 Cage Cleans Up Willy's Wonderland

The premise of the 2021 comedy-horror film, Willy's Wonderland, is that the tortured souls of cannibal serial killers have possessed the animatronic characters at an abandoned family entertainment center. In order to keep these possessed creatures from murdering locals, the Sheriff tricks outsiders into entering Willy's Wonderland as sacrifices to appease the serial killer spirits.

Nicolas Cage's character, known as the Janitor, is driving through town when he blows out four tires and is offered a gig to clean up the family entertainment center in exchange for his vehicle being repaired. So many had failed before and were butchered by the disturbingly cute animatronic creatures, but the Janitor has some serious butt-kicking skills. Fueled by energy drinks the Janitor beats the furry characters into oblivion. Cage doesn't have one line of dialog in Willy's Wonderland, but he still turns in one of his best performances, conveying comedy as well as intensity through his face and fists.

6 Sympathy For The Devil Harnesses Cage's Manic Nature

Nicolas Cage had no dialog in Willy's Wonderland, while Joel Kinnaman didn't speak a word in the excellent action thriller Silent Night. When they teamed up in 2023 for the psychological thriller, Sympathy for the Devil; however, there were plenty of words, most of them profane, flying around. In the film, Cage's character, a seeming stranger, kidnaps Kinnaman's character at gun point and forces him to drive around. It's impossible to summarize the plot beyond that without ruining the surprise.

Suffice it to say, there is way more to this movie than a random kidnapping, and it is nothing short of amazing. So too is Cage's performance as the gun-wielding Passenger, with some of his signature unhinged rants, delivered effectively in a Boston accent. There is a scene in a diner that, without giving away any spoilers, stands as one of the most bonkers sequences in a Cage film, with over-the-top rage, extreme violence, and a creepy musical number.

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