10 Josh Hartnett Movies To Watch After ‘Trap’

Josh Hartnett’s new horror movie, Trap, has landed in theaters and of course, the internet has lost its damn mind. This week, people are pretending the man of our tween dreams does not have an extensive genre resume. How soon some of you forget! We let this dude get away with the Gale Weathers Scream 3 bangs in two different horror movies in 1998. We let it happen because we were all obsessed with him.

How could we not be? He’s talented, oozing coolness, and is devastatingly HOT. So, I will not stand for this resume slander of our tallest Josh. I got so fired up that I turned on my TV to do some hard-hitting investigative journalism. I present to the Midnight Society the fruits of these hours of research. Here are 10 times Josh Hartnett entered the Scream King chat and where to find them in the wild.

30 Days Of Night (2007)

Character: Sheriff Eben Oleson

Where You Can Watch: VOD

An Alaskan town is plunged into darkness for a month and then attacked by bloodthirsty vampires. Josh Hartnett had the difficult job of making vampire movies brutal and cool again in the late aughts. As a kid, I knew I didn’t like cops, but I did love looking at Eben. This is not the movie most people think of when we discuss my generation’s strongest boyfriend. However, it is one of my favorites in his filmography. I highly recommend you add it to your Halloween watchlists. 

The Black Dahlia (2006)

Character: Dwight ‘Bucky’ Bleichert

Where You Can Watch: VOD

Two detectives watch their lives fall apart as they obsess over solving the “Black Dahlia” case. Josh loved the genre so much that he signed on for a Brian De Palma thriller. This one also educated my generation about the gruesome unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short. So, this was one of the times he gave his feral fanbase a history lesson. It’s also another example of his casting as the (unfortunately) sympathetic hot cop character.

Black Mirror: “Beyond the Sea” (Season 6, Episode 3)

Character: David Ross

Where You Can Watch: Netflix

Two men on a high-tech mission in space deal with the fallout of an unimaginable tragedy. I love Black Mirror, so I avoid spoilers and binge the new seasons the day they come out. Imagine me surprise to see Josh Hartnett randomly appear in a role that made many of us wish we were in STEM. I was homeschooled, so I do not know anything about space or the futuristic science on display in this episode set in the 1960s. However, I know this role was the perfect wake-up call to all the fans who had almost forgotten what a damn good actor he is. 

The Faculty (1998)

Character: Josh Hartnett

Where You Can Watch: Paramount+ 

A small town community is being replaced by alien duplicates who evil plan starts at the local high school. This was the movie that saw Hartnett embody Zeke, the drug dealer who saved the world. Many of us dared to say yes after this one. We never batted an eye when teachers, lesbians, and even aliens could not resist Zeke’s pull because we understood all too well. This movie gave us so much, but all many of us remember is how this man rolled through with a messier version of his H20 haircut. And yet we all still swooned.

Halloween: H20 (1998)

Character: John Tate

Where You Can Watch: Pluto TV

Michael Myers finds Laurie Strode in Northern California to continue their longstanding family feud. Our man’s first feature found him playing one of the many forgotten children of Laurie Strode. What other Hollywood Heartthrob can call Michael Myers his uncle? This is a baller move and means the correct genre claimed him on day one. The movie that introduced us to Josh Hartnett is also where he invented the Gale Weathers Scream 3 haircut. 

Lucky Number Slevin (2006)

Character: Slevin Kelevra/Henry

Where You Can Watch: The Roku Channel and Tubi

Slevin accidentally finds himself in a war between two crime bosses due to mistaken identity. This film sees Hartnett joined by a cast that includes Lucy Liu, Stanley Tucci, Mykelti Williamson, and the late Danny Aiello. This comedic thriller is fun, violent, and unexpected enough to be worth the occasional rewatch. What better occasion than the fact that it’s streaming and we are all thinking about the man who put Saint Paul, Minnesota on the map?

Penny Dreadful (2014-2016)

Character: Ethan Chandler

Where You Can Watch: VOD

Four unlikely characters team up to fight supernatural threats in Victorian London. Someone made Josh Hartnett grow his hair out and report to set to play a charming gunslinger. They then surrounded him with an ensemble of equally hot and talented actors. No wonder the Showtime app melted down.

Sin City (2005)

Character: The Salesman

Where You Can Watch: Pluto TV

Three residents of Basin City find themselves caught up in violent corruption in the film adaptation of Frank Miller’s famous comic series. While Hartnett isn’t on screen for a long time, it is a deadly time. This stylized feast for the eyes also saw Josh team up again with Robert Rodriguez (who directed The Faculty). I don’t know why Rodriguez thinks our teen dream is the perfect bad boy, but I am glad he saw the vision twice.

The Virgin Suicides (1999)

Character: Trip Fontaine

Where You Can Watch:  VOD

A group of boys develop an obsession with five sisters who are basically being held captive by their strict Catholic parents. This psychological drama imprinted on my young homeschooled ass for so many reasons. However, I’m not here to unpack any of that tragedy. I’m here to ask how Sofia Coppola did this and this to us, then expected us to return to our normal lives. Possibly related to this, I discovered I enjoyed Heart’s music and brought a Steamboat Annie CD with some of my tween dollars. Kids these days will never understand!

Wicker Park (2004)

Character: Matthew

Where You Can Watch: MGM+, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, and Tubi

A young man believes a woman he sees in a café is his long-lost love. This leads him to put his life on hold as obsession takes over. I lived in Chicago for four years, and this premise does scream Wicker Park problems. This thriller sees Hartnett playing an unreliable character in the streets of one of my favorite cities. The cast also includes Rose Byrne, Diane Kruger, and Matthew Lillard. I wish I could tell you I did not enjoy this movie as much as I did.


I still need to see I Come with the Rain and Paradise Lost (2020 TV series). However, both Josh Hartnett projects seem lost as they’re not streaming anywhere. However, I think the 10 roles above are a clear reminder that our teen heartthrob has been steadily campaigning for genre daddy long before Trap hit theaters. Please put some respect on his name and help me educate the youth who seemingly forgot about the last 26 years. 

Did this streaming guide remind you that Josh Hartnett was the reason for the 90s and early aughts? Tell me which of his roles ruined all other men for you at @misssharai. As for me, I am busting out my copy of The Virgin Suicides because this is my favorite kind of research.

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