Welcome to MovieJawn’s Split Decision! Each week, Ryan will pose a question to our staff of knowledgeable and passionate film lovers and share the responses. Chime in on Twitter, Facebook, our Instagram, or in the comments below.

This week’s question:

In honor of his birthday, today, what is your favorite Oscar Isaac performance so far?

Ex Machina (2014). Pure evil genius. –Melissa Strong, Contributor

There is a lot to be unsettled by in Alex Garland’s debut feature Ex Machina, but Isaac’s turn as tech bro billionaire Nathan Bateman absolutely takes the cake. It’s a performance that has only gotten more interesting since the film’s early 2015 release as it runs so counter to the public image of Isaac that’s developed since the first of the most recent Star Wars sequels dropped later that year. Plus, tech bro billionaires have only become more a part of pop culture since then? –Clayton Hayes, Staff Writer

I somehow missed Isaac’s auspicious film debut as the Pool Boy in Illtown, and oddly my first exposure to him was as Joseph in the Nativity Story, but as I started seen him do really interesting things in good films like At Eternity’s Gate, and bad films like The Two Faces of January, Mojave, and Big Gold Brick, he struck me as an actor to watch. The performance that stands out for me is his title role as The Card Counter, from last year. Isaac, who is on screen in every scene, makes his protagonist, William Tell, a compelling, and, at times, imposing figure—someone to watch and listen to. A scene in a diner where he performs a card trick while recounting a poker game he once saw, is hypnotic, and Tell is no less mesmeric as when he launches into a story from his past. For me, this film captures Isaac’s magic and star quality. –Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer

Inside Llewyn Davis was my favorite movie of the last decade, and it isn’t difficult to say it’s also my favorite Oscar Isaac performance so far. The film was the most solitary thing the Coens had made in a while (even A Serious Man cuts away to Danny Gopnik’s perspective every once in a while) and Isaac makes you feel it. And it’s his fault! He’s so coarse to everybody he meets that Inside never threatens to become an ensemble, even when Carey Mulligan shows up and beautifully puts him in his place. It’s one of those perfect pieces of art that works because everybody brings what they have to bring, and Oscar Isaac has to bring the most in front of the camera. –Alex Rudolph, Staff Writer

I’m going to have to echo Alex and toss my lot in for Inside Llewyn Davis. For as much as the character is an unlikeable curmudgeon who keeps everyone away, Isaac makes the misanthropy captivating. Similarly, though I wasn’t gaga over the flick itself, the gravitas he brought to his Duke Leto performance in Dune was a genuine anchorpoint for my attention. I quite like Oscar Isaac, turns out, and am therefore cautiously optimistic for this Moon Knight series (which starts this month).  - “Doc” Hunter Bush, Staff Writer

Oscar Isaac’s underplayed performance in A Most Violent Year put him on the map for me.  A striking intensity came through even as he pulled back.  His ability to portray contradictory feelings at the same time- a man filled with confidence who fears his empire is on the cusp of crumbling, loyalty tinged with suspicion- brings forth a realness that sticks with you. –Stacey Osbeck, Staff Writer

While I’m not sure if it’s my favorite of his performances, I agree with Hunter that his turn as Duke Leto in Dune is certainly something. I think it’s hard to play that kind of ruler, and to play him with such kindness and strength? Even harder. But it makes people’s unending loyalty to Duke Leto make a real kind of sense. And that’s nothing for the absolute revelation of him playing Duke Leto as a very good father. I might go to my grave thinking about that scene between him and Timothee Chalamet (that kid gets lots of really good, emotional dad stuff - it’s wild!) and that’s not even to mention how absolutely, bananas hot Oscar Issac looks in Dune. What the actual fuck?! –Emily Maesar, Staff Writer

I am totally in the bag for Inside Llewyn Davis, but I also can’t let this occasion pass without shouting out sexy flyboy Poe Dameron, Oscar Isaac’s character in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. While he was supposed to be killed off at the beginning of The Force Awakens, how could you waste Oscar Isaac like that? While he also gets the iconic(?) line “Somehow, Palpatine has returned” in Rise of Skywalker, he gets a full character arc in The Last Jedi, learning how to become a hero for a cause and not for the personal glory. Now, permission to jump in an X-Wing and blow something up? –Ryan Silberstein, Managing Editor