These Oscar Isaac Pictures Are The Best Thing On The Internet Right Now

For as long as humans roam on this fine planet we will debate the existence of God. The arguments – on both sides – are as diverse as they are, inevitably, inconclusive. I would typically define myself as a non-committal, curious agnostic and yet this week I had a divine experience. What happened? Ah! Well I shall tell you (over and over and over ad infinitum): these Oscar Isaac pictures came into the world.

Because what other than a divine being could have created an image as perfect as this? Isn’t costume designer Miyako Bellizzi – who showed such generosity and compassion in gifting us these behind-the-scenes candids from Scenes From A Marriage – compelling proof that God works among us? I think I speak for all of us when I say, thank you Ms. Bellizzi. If eternal paradise exists, you just earned priority boarding.

Personally, this look is so on brand for me I am having to restrain myself in writing so that this piece does not come with a ‘parental advisory: explicit content’ warning. Moody divorced dads in slightly disheveled, but very expensive, clothes are my thing (my friends, much to their dismay and bemusement will confirm this). You can keep your six packs; for me there will never be a vision more erotic than a slightly troubled middle-aged man in a cashmere sweater and glasses (my friends, again, will confirm this). You want to know what my fetish is? Bad luck, I’m going to tell you anyway: it is a lover being unavailable on Saturday because he’s giving his kid a driving lesson. But I’ll explore this particular kink in more detail with my therapist.

However, it seems this time I am not alone in my thirst for this particular divorced dad (and, yes, killjoys – thanks to my fervent and very important Google investigations this week – I know he is a happily married father of two in ‘real’ life). The whole Internet, or at least my whole Internet bubble, has gone bananas for Mr. Isaac. He is the Connell’s chain of autumn 2021. Last Christmas Regé-Jean Page had to go to all the effort of licking a spoon to give us the national horn; fast forward to thirsty girl fall and and Isaac simply just has to sit, or stand. What Jack Grealish’s curtains were to July, he is to the here and now.

But if Grealish was the definitive no-strings, guilty pleasure crush, as author Baba Babalola (@BeeBabs) puts in on Twitter : ‘Fancying Oscar Isaac feels intellectual as well as primal. A thinking person’s choice’. Rachael Krishna replied on that thread adding: ‘I love Oscar Isaac thirst, it's so particular and specific. Like finding a red wine you really like or the feel of a good used book. It feels like you're making good life choices by fancying him’. Perfectly put.

Of course, Oscar Isaac is not a newcomer. His breakthrough role, in the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis was back in 2013. He’s appeared in Star Wars, FFS. I once saw in alone in a restaurant and just thought: ‘Oh yeah. Oscar Isaac – or is it Isaac Oscar? Great actor, pretty cute’. That was it, how I kick myself now! But somehow the Bellizzi Series of photos have transformed him from a man, albeit an extraordinarily talented one, into the man.

So let’s decode the aesthetic appeal. I would like to offer the following, but you can add your own: the salt and pepper hair (mature). The beard (not overly consumed with grooming). The pensive poses (thoughtful). The mildly troubled expression (What’s wrong baby? I can fix you!). The slightly shy stance (private). The glimpse into his ‘process’ (successful). The overspilling boxes and piles of clothes in the background (busy, not precious). And, duh, the face (very handsome).

Credit, above all, must be given to Bellizzi for the clothes which are integral to the sex appeal (side note, gentlemen: if you are looking for a sexy Halloween costume, this is it. But kindly adopt for the remaining 364 days of the year as well). The wardrobe plays a central part in the divorced dad/hot professor fantasy. Muted and deliberately unflashy, they are clothes for men who don’t need a sports car to assert their masculinity thus implying a quiet confidence. Classic, there is the innate suggestion that they don’t have their heads turned by trends. Practical = busy (what better footwear for a man going places that ‘normcore’ hero piece, New Balance kicks?). Pleasingly schlubby PJ bottoms and socks = happy to spend a night in.

They are all of the above, but they are also luxe. Bellizzi has kindly shared the details of the looks, tagging them and doing a follow up post of her moodboard (do read her interview with The Cut if you want to know more about the motivations) which boast stealth wealth hero brands: we have a mustard Loro Piana sweater, Dries Van Noten checked shirt and cardigan, a slate grey Prada suit. These are indicators of supreme taste, but not of an insecure attachment to trends or labels (there are anonymous cords and tees mixed in).

Over in the UK, for over a decade now I have dubbed this the Margaret Howell Effect, which is my very particular theory that men only need to wear Margaret Howell to look ridiculously desirable. Wearing these kind of unassuming but supremely stylish clothes look like they could satisfy you sexually and cerebrally. You could go away with a man like this and he would not spend the whole time taking selfies in the bathroom, who wouldn’t spend a date night refreshing Instagram, who absolutely does ‘do’ carbs.

Of course, as with all crushes there is poignancy attached – the ‘aching pleasure’ (John Keats’ words) of the unattainable. There was life Before and life After. You are now armed with the knowledge that a man like this exists and you must continue to exist without probably ever getting to date Oscar Isaac (although thanks to years of dedicated research I can confirm the world is definitely not lacking men having midlife crises, alas, not many of them look like this). Hmm, maybe there isn’t a God.