A year where the most celebrated films are as diverse as “Wicked,” “The Brutalist” and “Smile 2” is a year movie-lovers are going to remember for a long time. The industry’s and the audience’s acceptance of wildly disparate films allowed for a host of memorable, unique performances in 2024 that challenged the norms of motion picture performance and gave many actors their most iconic roles to date.
It’s hard to narrow down all the greats; by the time this retrospective was already getting out of hand, it became clear that some wonderful turns (Saoirse Ronan in “The Outrun,” Joan Chen in “Dìdi,” Alicia Witt in “Longlegs”) were somehow, despite their brilliance, not going to make the cut. But these are the performances that stood out amongst the standouts, in some of the best — and arguably one or two of the worst — movies of the 2024.
Mikey Madison, “Anora”
It’s a cliché to call actors a “force of nature,” so we won’t say that about Mikey Madison. Besides, she’s technically more of a natural force. As the title character in Sean Baker’s genre-defying romance/comedy/crime/missing persons picture “Anora,” Madison plays a sex worker who wins the heart of the young, wealthy son of a Russian oligarch. When his family finds out and tries to annul their marriage, she doesn’t go along quietly, giving them hell every step of the way. Madison adds depth to a somewhat underwritten character, infusing her with hopes and dreams that elevate the material, giving Baker’s film its huge, passionate heart.
Carol Kane, “Between the Temples”
Nathan Silver’s hilarious comedy about depression, loneliness, love and the Jewish faith stars Jason Schwartzman as a young, grieving cantor who, after a chance encounter, agrees to help his septuagenarian former music teacher prepare for a long-overdue bat mitzvah. She’s played by Carol Kane, a comedy genius who gets the juiciest role of her career, bringing a profound melange of hope and tragedy to the screen as she melts her former student’s heart — and gradually, accidentally wins it. “Between the Temples” is a little bit “The Graduate” and a little bit “Harold and Maude,” but thanks to its sharp screenplay and Kane’s knockout performance, it’s its own wonderful story.
Felicity Jones, “The Brutalist”
Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce are soaking up most of the accolades for Brady Corbet’s nearly 3 1/2-hour epic about a brilliant architect immigrating to America after the Holocaust. They’re wonderful, but Felicity Jones is the fire in “The Brutalist’s” hearth. Jones plays Erzsébet Tóth, the wife of Brody’s tortured artist László. She’s a former journalist living in constant pain from osteoporosis, who refuses to let it ruin her sex life or her career. She pushes back on the willful men who think they either run the world or know how to build it, and in the film’s incredible climax, she takes as powerful a stand as any character in any film this year. Felicity Jones carries Erzsébet’s complexity in every frame, never showing only one side of herself, always an intricate and fascinating creation.
Louise Weard, “castration movie anthology i. traps”
Independently released, with a shoestring budget and shot on grainy digital cameras, the first installment of writer/director Louise Weard’s “castration movie” is as daring and revolutionary an indie film as any crafted this decade. A lot of that is due to Weard’s ingenious eye for lo-fi cinematography, a lot of it is due to her sprawling screenplay and complex direction, but none of that would work without her centerpiece performance. She also plays Michaela “Traps” Sinclair, a transexual sex worker hiding her loneliness behind brazen, frequently off-putting confidence, whose relationship with trans artists as they build their lives and sometimes lose themselves is all the more engrossing because this installment of her “castration movie” is over four hours long. Free from the coercions of conventional plotting, Weard is able to explore her character and her relationships in astounding depth, as we see all the little moments that give Traps’ grand drama its real meaning. You didn’t see a more dangerously open performance in 2024.
Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons, “Civil War”
Alex Garland’s “Civil War” imagined a United States divided and thrust into military conflict with itself in the 21st century. That feels prescient, and Garland films the hell out of it, but his refusal to discuss or even acknowledge the political realities in this country make a lot of it seem naive. So it’s up to the performers to ground us. Kirsten Dunst leads the film as a seasoned photojournalist who seriously doubts whether her warnings to the world — images of horror that practically beg “do not let this happen here” — were all for naught. She’s carrying the weight of the world, and she wears it with grit and regret. Also, in a single, unforgettable scene Jesse Plemons comes along and symbolizes pure nationalist obtuseness, laconically asking Dunst and her associates “what kind of American” they are. The horror is that he doesn’t seem to know what the answer is either, the horror is he just knows it’s “us vs. them,” and you don’t want to be “them,” whatever that means today. A terrifying scene-stealer.
The Cast of “Conclave”
Sometimes it’s impossible to isolate one or two great performances out of a rich and capable cast. Edward Berger’s “Conclave” — a locked-room mystery taking place at the Vatican while the cardinals elect a new pope, following the sudden, mysterious death of the last one — is a great example. Ralph Fiennes gives his best dramatic performance in years as a man trying to keep everyone else moral without losing his humility in the process. Stanley Tucci is smart and complicated as a cardinal who accepts, accurately or otherwise, that he’s the best out of many bad options. John Lithgow is conniving but committed. Carlos Diehz is as plausibly saintly as Sergio Castellitto is plausibly not. And somehow Isabella Rossellini, as a nun who keeps her mouth shut most of the film, nearly runs away with the whole show.
Adam Pearson and Sebastian Stan, “A Different Man”
Adam Pearson and Sebastian Stan play doppelgängers in Aaron Schimberg’s intelligent and surreal dark comedy, about a lonely and depressed man with a pronounced facial condition who undergoes an experimental procedure to give himself a “normal” appearance. Just when he thinks his life is looking up, he meets a man who looks just like he used to, who’s happier than he ever was. Sebastian Stan is perfectly downtrodden, bitter and jealous and confused about why he doesn’t feel fulfilled. Adam Pearson is a delight, and somehow makes perfection seem human and attainable, to the point that even the person who resents his happiness can’t help but admit he’s a great guy. Schimberg’s odd and fascinating character piece gives both actors room to shine, and they both make a meal of this juicy material.
The Cast of “Exhibiting Forgiveness”
Inexplicably overlooked by critics and audiences and (so far) awards bodies alike, celebrated painter Titus Kaphar’s directorial debut features many of the most astounding performances of the year. André Holland stars as Tarrell, a successful painter whose mother, played by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, forces him to reconnect with his abusive father, played by a towering John Earl Jelks. What Tarrell can’t wrap his head around is how, after all these years, after all their trauma, his mother can find it in her heart to forgive the man who ruined their lives. Holland’s confrontational scenes with Ellis-Taylor and Jelks are psychologically intricate and emotionally overwhelming, each actor giving their all to Kaphar’s psychologically dense screenplay. Andra Day, as Tarrell’s wife, grounds him without giving up her own individuality. Not a flawed note played in the whole film.
Chris Hemsworth, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”
He’s best known for playing a hunky, happy-go-lucky superhero, but Chris Hemsworth is a natural villain. Actually, let’s clarify: He’s just really good at playing them. Hemsworth terrified as a murderous, Manson-like cult leader in “Bad Times at the El Royale,” and this year he was a different kind of scary in George Miller’s “Furiosa.” He plays Dementus, a warlord of the wasteland who coasts on charm, because he’s actually very bad at being a leader. What he’s good at is cockily failing upwards, forcing people with more competence and power to deal with his disruptions because it’s easier to give him a consolation prize than it is to fix everything he threatens to break. That’s no less frightening — sadly, we know all too well that incompetent but charismatic moral vacuums with obsessive followings are dangerous — but it’s a great take on a larger-than-life villain. Kudos to Miller and co-author Nico Lathouris for Dementus’ backstory, which paints him as a mirror image of “Mad” Max Rockatansky, and to the costume designers for going out of their way to make Hemsworth look like modern day Mel Gibson. That’s one serious burn.
The Cast of “Ghostlight”
Filmmakers Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson enlisted an entire acting dynasty for their sweet, sad, nuanced drama, about a grieving father who turns — without any pre-existing interest or aptitude — to acting in order to process his emotions. Keith Kupferer plays the lead, a man overwhelmed with sadness and anger but incapable of expressing himself, who never quite becomes a great actor but can barely contain his earnestness. Kupferer’s real-life family, Tara Mallen and Katherine Mallen Kupferer, play his wife and daughter, who are also dealing with a tragic loss and handling it very differently. They’re all trying to talk and they can’t seem to say anything. Dolly de Leon is phenomenal as a former professional actor now making do in a local amateur production of “Romeo & Juliet,” who guides them. It’s rare for a film about actors to avoid self-awareness, be it self-deprecation or self-aggrandizement, but “Ghostlight” never feels obsessed with itself. It’s a beautifully acted exploration of what acting can do for the soul.
Denzel Washington, “Gladiator II”
Denzel Washington is, and woe betide anyone who disagrees with this, one of the greatest actors of his generation. And since cinema is only a little more than 120 years old, that makes him one of the greatest actors, period. It’s no surprise when he’s amazing in a movie, even a schlocky and haphazard one like “Gladiator II,” but we should never take his work for granted. As the former slave turned Machiavellian manipulator Macrinus, Washington devours a Roman empire’s worth of scenery, to the point that one honestly wonders why he wasn’t the film’s main character in the first place. It’s been a while since he looked like he was having this much fun on camera — probably not since “Training Day,” over 20 years ago — and it’s impossible not to have fun with him. When Denzel Washington is on fire he sets the whole screen ablaze.
Marianne Jean-Baptiste, “Hard Truths”
Marianne Jean-Baptiste reunited with Mike Leigh — who directed her to an Oscar nomination with her breakout film, “Secrets & Lies,” in 1996 — for the deeply sad and powerful “Hard Truths.” It’s one of the most aptly-titled movies of the year, because it hits extremely hard, and it’s uncomfortably honest. Jean-Baptiste plays Pansy Deacon, a woman who has been living with serious and unexamined mental illness her whole life. She wakes up screaming in terror. She lashes out at her family, at total strangers, and manipulates her reality until it resembles constant persecution. Leigh’s film avoids easy platitudes and catharsis; it’s not about fixing Pansy, it’s about understanding how hard it is to be her, and how hard it is to love her. But she persists, and although it takes a toll, the people who love her persist in loving her. Marianne Jean-Baptiste gives a fearless performance as a woman who never apologizes for herself, no matter how much she’s hurting, or hurts the people who still care for her.
Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen, “His Three Daughters”
A brilliant three-hander (it’s right there in the title), Azazel Jacobs’s wisely written drama “His Three Daughters” stars Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen and Natasha Lyonne as mismatched sisters who reunite while their father deteriorates in hospice. They have little in common, even the two who actually seem to like each other. That they only come together in a time of tragedy does their relationship few wonders. Natasha Lyonne breaks out of the screen with the most force, as the put-upon sibling whose sacrifices are ignored or misinterpreted by her more successful sisters, but Elizabeth Olsen is doing challenging work as a free spirit now embracing the conventions of motherhood, and Carrie Coon’s dignified indignance — born out of decades of accepting and resenting responsibility — is both annoying and sympathetic. The actors are perfectly imperfect together, in one of the year’s most emotionally arresting films.
Glen Powell, “Hit Man”
It’s been a pretty danged good couple of years for Glen Powell, a hard-working actor who finally graduated into major leading roles and international superstardom. He’s amazing in “Twisters,” a movie nobody technically needed to be amazing in, but his greatest role of 2024 — multiple roles, actually — is in Richard Linklater’s crime drama “Hit Man.” That may be partly because Powell co-wrote the film himself, but whatever. He knew what he was doing. Powell plays a mild-mannered college professor who accepts an unlikely job impersonating hired assassins for the police department, in order to entrap would-be murderers who wish to hire one. He takes his job a little too seriously, tailoring each hit man to meet the needs and expectations of his marks, and winds up falling too deeply into a method rabbit hole, gradually becoming a new person altogether. Powell is mesmerizing and malleable as a performer, and “Hit Man” is his best work — multiple works — yet.
Brigette Lundy-Paine and Justice Smith, “I Saw the TV Glow”
Jane Schoenbrun’s hypnotic “I Saw the TV Glow” has a comfortable hold on the title of “Best Film of 2024,” telling a fascinating story about two teenagers who are obsessed with a cult TV series in the 1990s, and use it as a gateway to unexpected — and possibly unthinkable — truths. Justice Smith stars as Owen, the child of an abusive, toxic stepfather, who brushes up against an egg crack, but cannot bring himself to accept his own identity. Brigette Lundy-Paine plays Maddy, who wants nothing more than to leave their small town and be reborn. When Maddy vanishes and reappears years later with shocking revelations about their shared childhood, “I Saw the TV Glow” goes from haunting to ingenious. Smith gives one of the saddest portrayals of any modern protagonist, and Lundy-Paine acts their soul out as a person trying, and potentially failing, to save Owen from a life not-lived. Intensely powerful stuff, intricately realized and delivered with wholly modern cinematic language, with two perfect leads.
Pamela Anderson, “The Last Showgirl”
One of the most iconic performers of the 1990s, Pamela Anderson emerged as a ubiquitous supermodel and the memorable breakout star of the hugely successful (and hugely silly) TV series “Baywatch.” Her acting career never quite took off after that, thanks in part to the box office disappointment of “Barb Wire” (which was anything but her fault), but she finally gets the role of a lifetime in Gia Coppola’s bittersweet character drama “The Last Showgirl.” Anderson plays Shelly, who’s been in the cast of a glamorous, topless revue in Las Vegas for decades. When she finds out the show is finally closing in two weeks, her life starts to unravel because that was her identity, that was her self-worth. A lovely and sad turn from Anderson, playing a fascinating and wonderful and very flawed character. Anderson is incredible and deserves all the accolades she’s finally getting.
Aubrey Plaza, “Megalopolis”
Francis Ford Coppola’s expensive, independent, gonzo passion project “Megalopolis” is a lot of things. “Good” arguably isn’t one of them, but maybe “good” was never on the table. The film challenges formal dramatic conventions while harkening back to classical storytelling modes, with a larger than life world filled with characters who should match that ambition and vibe. Most of them don’t, unfortunately, but Wow Platinum does. Aubrey Plaza plays the multimedia personality-turned-Shakespearean schemer to the nines, matching Coppola’s eccentricities and adding plenty of her own. “Megalopolis” was worth building because Wow Platinum lives there. She nearly rescues the movie all by herself, and if she was on-camera more often she might have succeeded.
Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain”
Jesse Eisenberg wrote and directed the excellent, funny, heartbreaking “A Real Pain,” but in many ways it’s Kieran Culkin’s film. Eisenberg and Culkin play cousins who have grown estranged, but decide to visit their recently-deceased grandmother’s home — and the concentration camp she survived — while they tour their Jewish history in Europe. They’re very different people — David reserved and practical, Benji frank and often off-putting, but Culkin doesn’t play an outcast. Benji’s pain, very real, isn’t hidden and neither is his joy. He’s an infectious person, sharing every thought and rushing headlong into every mistake, and Eisenberg’s wise screenplay understands the power and nobility in Benji’s motivations and outsized personality. Kieran Culkin gives us one of the most captivating cinematic characters in recent memory.
Aaron Pierre, “Rebel Ridge”
Sometimes casting just works out. Aaron Pierre was brought onto “Rebel Ridge” while the film was already in mid-production, even though he’s the protagonist and in almost every scene. That sounds like a recipe for disaster but writer/director Jeremy Saulnier kept the project afloat, and Aaron Pierre emerged as a bona fide star. Pierre plays Terry Richmond, who gets legally robbed by corrupt cops while trying to bail his cousin out of jail. The clock is ticking, and Terry quickly exhausts every legal option at his disposal, until he finally has to think and act outside the box to do the right thing. As a performer, Aaron Pierre exudes a quiet confidence and uneasy pragmatism, filling the room without completely losing his cool, that rare breakout performance that doesn’t rely on outsized personalities or brash moments to make a mark. Terry Richmond is one of the best modern cinematic heroes, and Pierre is perfection in the role.
The Cast of “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
Mohammad Rasoulof is in political exile because he wrote and directed “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” — a paranoid thriller that’s deeply critical about Iranian politics — in secrecy. That Rasoulof managed to not only produce such an ambitious film under those conditions, but also led his cast to such overwhelming, harrowing performances, is an amazing achievement. Missagh Zareh plays Iman, an investigating judge for the Iranian government, whose suspicions about dangerous subversives turn inward, towards his own family, when his gun goes missing at home. Soheila Golestani is shattering as Najmeh, a mother whose conservatism is tested when she finds herself on the receiving end of her husband’s suspicions, and Mahsa Rostami and Setareh Maleki are both exceptional as the teenage daughters whose ideological leanings alienate and eventually, dangerously enrage their own father.
The Cast of “Sing Sing”
Another great ensemble drama about the healing and transformative power of acting (see also: “Ghostlight”), “Sing Sing” stars Colman Domingo as John “Divine G” Whitfield, an inmate at Sing Sing prison. For many years he’s thrown himself into their artistic rehabilitation program, performing and writing and helping develop productions for he and his fellow inmates to perform. This year a new participant — Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, playing himself — challenges his ego and commitment to the program. Colman Domingo is earning most of the accolades, and he deserves the praise. But the rest of the film’s cast, mostly comprised of former inmates also playing themselves, is every bit as talented and captivating. “Sing Sing” is proof of its own concept: that art is transformative and vital to the human condition. The performances aren’t just great pieces of acting, they’re important.
Naomi Scott, “Smile 2”
You’d be hard-pressed to find any year that wasn’t, if you know where to look, “a great year for horror.” 2024 is no exception. There was no shortage of brilliant horror performances in 2024 — Alisha Weir in “Abigail,” Lily-Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgård in “Nosferatu,” Hunter Schafer in “Cuckoo,” Hugh Grant in “Heretic,” the list goes on — but Naomi Scott is one of the standouts. Her psychologically obliterating turn in “Smile 2,” as a pop star frayed by personal tragedy, drug addiction, unreasonable expectations and also a demonic curse, is one of the most impressive feats you could have seen on-screen this year. It’s a profoundly committed performance. Scott is completely convincing as a pop superstar (something real pop superstars aren’t always good at) with a pronounced physicality that adds layers and virtuosity to a role that was probably even more exhausting to perform than it was to watch. And that’s saying something.
Demi Moore, “The Substance”
One of the other great standout horror performances of 2024 comes from Demi Moore, one of the great movie stars of the turn of the century, who returns with a devastating portrayal of a lifelong star getting tossed out to pasture by a sexist, ageist entertainment industry. When she’s offered a new treatment called “The Substance,” she jumps at the chance to become her younger, best self, even if it has to crawl out of her body every week to reclaim her dreams, and even if she doesn’t get to enjoy her success herself. Demi Moore gives a grounded performance in an outlandish situation, bringing genuine pathos to the plight of a woman who cannot accept her real age or her own self, and the literal war she wages with her ego and id takes on shocking dimensions. Coralie Fargeat tapped into something primal with “The Substance,” and it’s Demi Moore — giving an all-timer performance — who makes it possible.
Josh Hartnett, “Trap”
M. Night Shyamalan’s misunderstood thriller “Trap,” about a serial killer who discovers the pop concert he’s taken his daughter to is secretly a police sting operation, was written off by many as laughable. What those people tragically missed was that Shyamalan knows his premise is absurd. “Trap” is part horror movie but mostly black comedy, in which the audience stares in fascination at Josh Hartnett as he waffles between dippy dad and scheming supervillain, taking full advantage of a world specifically designed to protect him as a white man of privilege, and also as an amoral, opportunistic liar. It’s thrilling to watch Hartnett cook; he gives a carefully modulated performance that isn’t afraid to be outsized and kooky. “Trap” is secretly one of the best and most entertaining movies of 2024, and it gives Hartnett arguably his greatest role (so far).
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, “Wicked”
Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of the hit Broadway musical “Wicked” — or rather, the first half of it — has taken the world by storm, or possibly tornado. It’s safe to say we owe most of that to the film’s two remarkable leads: Cynthia Erivo, a powerhouse singer with a deep well of feeling, and Ariana Grande, another powerhouse singer with an impressive knack for using broad comedy to express subtle character development. They seem like an odd pairing but they’re astounding together, amplifying each other’s strengths while highlighting the differences between them. They’re a pair of witches who hate each other, then bond, and are destined to become enemies. It’s a classical, tragical dynamic, boldly presented with grand songs and grand choreography that these two performers absolutely nail.
