Ralph Ineson’s deep Yorkshire voice is useful for frightening people, but we value him more when he sounds frightened himself. Give him someone who will not listen and he becomes considerably more interesting than a distant monster.
Fi1m perspective
In The First Omen (2024), Ralph Ineson’s Father Brennan warns a young novice away from a girl in an orphanage and sounds frightened enough to need help himself. His deep voice makes the priest hard to dismiss, but it does not make him sound safe. Arkasha Stevenson gives him the familiar horror-film task of knowing the danger and failing to make anyone listen. We felt uneasy listening to him because the hoarse warning carries so little reassurance for the man delivering it.
Recognition as Chris Finch in The Office (2001) brought a long spell of being offered unpleasant men. Robert Eggers’ The Witch (2015) changed that, giving him William, the head of a Puritan family, and enough time to develop the character’s desperation. It was a substantial film breakthrough for an actor who had spent years in television and smaller film parts. His title role in The Green Knight (2021) also allowed some playfulness beneath the menace. Horror and fantasy have proved useful places for him to do more than turn up and sound forbidding.
Eggers asks for something smaller in Nosferatu (2024), casting him as Dr. Wilhelm Sievers. Ineson is solid, which matters in a film whose male performances are uneven. Willem Dafoe’s relish as the occultist von Franz is more conspicuous and gives some relief from the solemnity, but Ineson does not need to compete with it. We would not recommend the film principally for him; it is dependable supporting work, while Lily-Rose Depp gives us the stronger reason to go.
The limitations are clearer in Matt Shakman’s The Fantastic 4: First Steps (2025), where Ineson plays Galactus. The voice is fine, deep enough for the planet-eater, but the film keeps him far off for much of its running time. There is too little for the performance to work against, and the threat never feels close enough to trouble us for long. We recommend the film for the family rather than its villain. For a better use of Ineson, choose The First Omen: the frightened priest is more unsettling than the planet-eater.
Biography
Ralph Ineson is an English actor. Born on 15 December 1969 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, he trained at Lancaster University after attending Pocklington School.
He is known for television roles including Chris Finch in The Office (2001) and Dagmer Cleftjaw in Game of Thrones (2012), and film roles such as Amycus Carrow in the final three Harry Potter films (2009–2011). Later credits include William in The Witch (2015), the title character in The Green Knight (2021), General Andrews in The Creator (2023), Dr Wilhelm Sievers in Nosferatu (2024), Father Brennan in The First Omen (2024), and Galactus in The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025).
