Harrington was back at Sundance in 2001 in the featured role of a angry twentysomething in the festival's opening night offering "My First Mister", directed by Christine Lahti. Later that same year, he was seen as a British rugby-playing teen trapped with three others in "The Hole" and was featured as Brittany Murphy's soldier boyfriend in "Riding in Cars With Boys". The rising talent next was seen in the ensemble of the Vietnam War drama "We Were Soldiers" and the horror thriller "Ghost Ship" (both in 2002). The following year, he took on the Rob Schmidt indie thriller "Wrong Turn," which also co-starred Eliza Dushka.