My introduction to Tom Sturridge was the announcement that he would play the lead in the Sandman cast for Netflix’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s influential comic book. However, the British actor did such a terrific job portraying the lord of all dreams, Morpheus (or, simply, “Dream”), that I immediately became interested in seeking out what else he is known for. If you can relate, allow us to help point you in the right direction to find the best Tom Sturridge movies and TV shows available on streaming now — starting with one of his first major roles in a motion picture.
Vanity Fair (2004)
The orphaned and impoverished Becky Sharp (Reese Witherspoon) manages to defy expectations and achieve a high-class status in 19th-Century London’s social scene.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Tom Sturridge: Years after making his acting debut in NBC’s Gulliver’s Travels miniseries in 1996 and being cast in FairyTale: A True Story (directed by his father, Charles Sturridge) the following year, Tom Sturridge appeared in Mira Nair’s adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s 1894 novel Vanity Fair as a younger version of Jonathan Rhys Meyers’ character, George Osborne.
Rent/Buy Vanity Fair on Amazon.
Pirate Radio (2009)
In the 1960s, an American DJ (Philip Seymour Hoffman) teams up with a group of rogue, British broadcasters to defy the U.K. government’s banning of rock music by launching their own radio station on a ship in the North Sea.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Tom Sturridge: Also known as The Boat That Rocked outside of North America, Pirate Radio is a charming comedy from writer and director Richard Curtis (of Love Actually fame) in which Tom Sturridge plays a lovesick young man sent to live on the film’s centerpiece ship with his godfather (Bill Nighy).
Rent/Buy Pirate Radio on Amazon.
Effie Gray (2014)
In Victorian-era London, a 19-year-old woman (Dakota Fanning) seeking to escape her loveless marriage to a renowned art historian (Greg Wise) finds herself falling for a young, renegade painter (Tom Sturridge).
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Tom Sturridge: Said young, pre-Raphaelite artist whom Sturridge plays in Effie Gray is Sir John Everett Millais in writer and star Emma Thompson and director Richard Laxton’s dramatization of the scandalous true story of a love triangle that shocked the U.K.
Stream Effie Gray on Netflix.
Rent/Buy Effie Gray on Amazon.
Mary Shelley (2017)
Accepting a bet from a renowned poet (Tom Sturridge) to see who can pen the scariest novel, a young writer (Elle Fanning) looks to her own tragic relationship with her husband (Douglas Booth) and growing obsession with reanimating the dead for inspiration.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Tom Sturridge: Years after sharing an onscreen romance with Dakota Fanning in Effie Gray, Sturridge (as influential satirist Lord Byron) shared a combative onscreen dynamic with Elle Fanning (sister to Dakota) in the title role of Mary Shelley — a revealing biopic about the author of Frankenstein.
Stream Mary Shelley on Tubi.
Rent/Buy Mary Shelley on Amazon.
Far From The Madding Crowd (2015)
While running her aunt’s farm in southwestern England, a strong-willed woman (Academy Award nominee Carey Mulligan) is romantically pursued by a charming sheep farmer who works for her (Matthias Schoenaerts), her wealthy neighbor (Michael Sheen), and a rebellious sergeant of the British Army (Tom Sturridge) in the 1870s.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Tom Sturridge: Sturridge played one of the three very different gentlemen vying for the affections of Mulligan’s character in Far from the Madding Crowd — Oscar-nominated Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg’s acclaimed adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s classic romance novel.
Rent/Buy Far from the Madding Crowd on Amazon.
Journey’s End (2017)
In 1918, a young man (Asa Butterfield) joins the British Army seeking to reunite with an old friend who has been promoted to the rank of captain (Sam Claflin), only to see that the hardships of war have taken a degrading psychological toll on him.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Tom Sturridge: A couple years after starring in Far from the Madding Crowd, Tom Sturridge played a less confident British soldier who is also one of many dreading the fate that befalls them during the First World War in director Saul Dibb’s mesmerizing take on R.C. Sherriff’s novel, Journey’s End.
Stream Journey’s End on Amazon Prime.
Stream Journey’s End on Tubi.
Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
A series of paintings left behind by a dead, unknown artist begin to have a strange and deadly effect on the greed-stricken art enthusiasts they come into possession of.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Tom Sturridge: In writer and director Dan Gilroy’s vastly different follow-up to Nightcrawler, Tom Sturridge joins the star-studded cast of Velvet Buzzsaw as a snooty art gallery owner in this irreverent and creepy, Netflix original horror satire.
Stream Velvet Buzzsaw on Netflix.
Sweetbitter (2018-2019)
A young woman (Ella Purnell), new to New York City, finds herself drawn into the turbulent, high-stakes, behind-the-scenes world of fine dining after getting hired as a server at a high class local restaurant.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Tom Sturridge: For his first starring role on a TV show, Tom Sturridge played Jake — a bartender who strikes up a relationship with future Yellowjackets cast member Purnell’s central character, Tess, in Starz’s series adaptation of Stephanie Dander’s semi-autobiographical novel, Sweetbitter.
Stream Sweetbitter on Starz.
Buy Sweetbitter on Amazon.
Irma Vep (2022)
Dissatisfied by the direction her career is going and still reeling from a recent breakup, an American actor (Academy Award winner Alicia Vikander) struggles to appease a demanding director (Vincent Macaigne) while shooting an eight-episode miniseries based on a silent French horror classic.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Tom Sturridge: In this cleverly meta, satirical, eight-episode HBO original miniseries based on creator Olivier Assayas’ 1996 French film, Irma Vep, Tom Sturridge appears in three episodes as a former lover of Vikander’s character.
Stream Irma Vep on HBO Max.
Buy Irma Vep on Amazon.
Morpheus on Netflix's adaptation of The Sandman — one of the best new DC TV shows — might be Tom Sturridge's biggest role to date, but is it his best performance yet? Check out the titles above and decide for yourself.
