The 50 Best Movie Performances of the Decade
By Jake Skubish
As the decade comes to a close, I am looking back at the best of cinema from 2010 - 2019. Check out the Best of the Decade Homepage for the rest of the lists.
50. Leslie Mann, Blockers
One of the most underrated comedic performers of the decade, Leslie Mann is the linchpin that holds together the Apatow cinematic universe. In Blockers, she shines in a leading role as a parent who goes to great lengths to prevent her daughter from having sex on prom night. Mann is a throwback comedic talent, possessing the controlled ditziness only possible from a performer much smarter than the characters she plays, akin to Marilyn Monroe. But she also has the capacity to display a deep emotional vulnerability.
49. Amy Poehler, Inside Out
Voiceover performances rarely get the praise they deserve, and Poehler’s work in Inside Out is my pick for the best voice performance of the decade. It’s a self-aware casting choice: Poehler plays a literal emotion as Joy, and her bubbly demeanor is on fully display. But Poehler weaponizes this buoyancy, making it all the more devastating when she is on the brink of giving up.
48. Tom Cruise, Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Tom Cruise is 57 years old but shows no signs of slowing down, and the stunts in this ever-improving franchise, which he does himself, would be astonishing for a performer of any age. Don’t take Cruise for granted; whether we great one more of these movies or ten, his performances will be a gift.
47. Viola Davis & Elizabeth Debicki, Widows
A perfect exercise in opposing character forces: Davis’s Veronica is a tough leader who softens to her crew, and Debicki’s Alice is the fragile femme fatale who gets stronger as the heist approaches. They form an unlikely bond in brokenness, and a final look of mutual respect in the film cements Davis’s greatness and Debicki as a rising star.
46. Adam Driver, While We’re Young
How is it possible that, at just 35 years old, I feel very comfortable in saying Adam Driver is the best actor on the planet right now? In part, it’s because whether he’s headlining a Star Wars film or mumbling through a Jarmusch gem, he exudes charm. In While We’re Young that charm is abundant, and dangerous. You know he’s probably a slimeball from the beginning, but you’d still like to hang out with him, and therein lies his power.
45. Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade
Confident, evil, crazy, distraught: the emotions most often rewarded in acting are usually the most transparently communicated. But convincingly awkward can be much harder to pull off. I cringed throughout much of Eighth Grade, which is how you know the film was working. There were few characterized I empathized with more this decade than Fisher’s Kayla.
44. Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Lupita Nyong’o was the breakout star of this film (more on her later), but Ejiofor carries the emotional weight as Solomon Northup, a freed black man sold into slavery for 12 years. Director Steve McQueen pulls no punches on the psychological toll of servitude, but much of the film’s gravity is carried in Ejiofor’s expressive eyes.
43. Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor, Tangerine
Many performances are great because they are representations of characters we recognize. Rodriguez and Taylor are a revelation in Tangerine for me because they bring you into a world with a very specific language and culture and spark an immediate tender affinity with the audience.
42. Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever, Booksmart
The greatness of Feldstein and Dever cannot be separated in Booksmart—their charm is rooted in just how much Amy and Molly love each other, and they don’t really care what anyone else thinks. Watching their antics you know you’ll never be able to love them as much as they love each other, and that’s how you know their performances are irreplaceable.
41. Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool
Is it high-brow humor? No. But Deadpool would not have become the phenomenon it did without Reynolds’ specific wit behind the mask. I can hear exactly how he sounds in my head the moment you look at him, and it’s a successful performance because no one else could have done the job nearly as well.
40. Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
How do you portray a man whose image is one of the most universally well-known in American history? Aside from inhabiting the likeness of Abraham Lincoln to a T, Day-Lewis manages this challenge by not playing the man so much as the ideals he represents. Day-Lewis’s Lincoln is defined by a steely moral anguish, something less than a hero and more than a hero because of it. Let’s hope he doesn’t really retire.
39. Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett, Carol
Carol is a delicate story about forbidden love, and its emotional gravitas is carried forward by the powerful performances from Mara and Blanchett. Blanchett plays the powerful, unfeeling partner and Mara the timid romantic dilettante. But the film is affective because in the end they both recognize what they’ve lost.
38. Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
When I think of Fiennes’ performance in The Grand Budapest Hotel, the first thing that always comes to mind is his swearing. Lightly seasoned throughout the film, the contrast between his snooty persona and his brash cussing is an absolute delight. Gustave is just as whimsical as many of Wes Anderson’s characters, but he stands a leg above many of them because he is also a loving father figure to Zero (Tony Revolori).
37. Melissa McCarthy and Richard e. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
McCarthy made her mark this decade with Bridesmaids and proceeded to portray a string a slimy characters whose socially alienating tendencies are played for laughs. In Can You Ever Forgive Me? those same tendencies culminate in a deeply sad performance, and as her counterpart Grant matches her toxic persona. It’s a dour film in which the pair finds meaning in nastiness; at least they have each other.
36. Sakura Andô, Shoplifters
In Shoplifters Andô the mother of a poor family in Japan, forced to turn to petty crimes for sustenance. They eventually take in a child in need, but when the child’s real parents want her back, things begin to unravel. Andô embodies a generous spirit in the face of uncertain times for her family, and her breakdown after things go awry at the end is heartbreaking.
35. Paul Dano, Love & Mercy
Paul Dano plays a young Brian Wilson in Love & Mercy, the biopic about The Beach Boys frontman that spans decades (John Cusack plays the older version of Wilson). Dano is tasked with showcasing Wilson’s unrivaled creative talent and his mental struggles, a combination that could have led to stereotypical tics. But Dano plays Wilson lovingly and with a deep empathy, and it’s a beautiful performance.
34. Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Tom Hanks is one of the great actors in the history of Hollywood, and it’s wild that he hasn’t been nominated for an Oscar since 2001. Captain Phillips should have been the moment it happened; Hanks plays a self-assured leader, but also showcases a profound fear in his more honest moments. As a newcomer to the screen Abdi is every bit his equal, menacing but sympathetic.
33. Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
Inside Llewyn Davis is a deceptively complex film. The Coens’ story of a struggling singer in 1960’s Greenwich Village is a character study of a man trying to make it in the world, yes, but it also conveys a sense of helplessness and meaningless in the face of historical obsolescence, as all of the Coens’ best films do. Isaac is the dutiful surrogate for this ethos in the film, personifying a melancholic, meandering path through life.
32. Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha
Gerwig has moved on from acting to become of one Hollywood’s most exciting directors, but her performance in Frances Ha should not be overlooked. She’s neurotic and self-destructive and faux intellectual in all the ways that make this performance, and film, susceptible to accusations of Woody Allen parody. But she carries a faith in humanity that Allen’s films always lacked, and for all her problems, at the end of the day Frances just wants to find love and security.
31. Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
Shannon’s performance in Take Shelter is unsettling on a couple of levels. On the one hand, he’s an apocalypse truther who thinks the end of the world is imminent. On the other hand…he might be right? We’ve seen many performances over the years from men who are mentally unraveling, but the possibility of Shannon’s veracity elevates his above the norm.
30. Regina Hall, Haley Lu Richardson, and Shayna McHale, Support the Girls
Not much happens in Support the Girls, it seems: Lisa (Regina Hall) manages a Texas sports bar akin to Hooters, and nothing seems to be going right. But the film feels like a miracle for its evocation of the mundane struggles of daily life in a capitalist state. Lisa makes it through the day only with the support of two of her coworkers, Danyelle (Shayna McHale) and Maci (Haley Lu Richardson), who offer her different sorts of love: no-bullshit insights from Danyelle and unfettered optimism from Maci. In the end this trio makes it through an overbearing system by screaming into the void together, and it’s a beautiful moment of togetherness.
29. Sasha Lane, American Honey
One of the hardest things to capture in a film is genuine aimlessness, a sense of an uncertain future that creates a tenuous present. Lane’s performance in American Honey manages to capture this state. As part of a ragtag group of nomadic magazine hawkers, she strives to find her place in the world while navigating a tumultuous love affair. She comes to learn that what looks like freedom isn’t always so, and to escape a destructive community, sometimes you just have to spend some time at peace with yourself.
28. Brooklyn Prince, The Florida Project
Brooklyn Prince’s performance in The Florida Project is not great because it rises above the typical child performance, but because it is firmly and knowingly a child performance. Prince captures the care free joys of childhood in the face of poverty, and she’s a delight every second she’s on screen. The film’s final scene reveals what is bubbling under the surface all along, that despite her joyous attitude her situation is taking a toll on her, and her emotional ruin is crushing.
27. Ethan Hawke, First Reformed
For much of First Reformed, Reverend Toller (Hawke) is a stoic figure. He patiently helps his congregants work through difficult questions, not just about faith but about climate change and the future of humanity. But as things begin to unravel and the full scope of the world’s failures become apparent to Toller, Hawke dials it up perfectly, finding the perfect blend of indignant outrage and depressed resignation. Somebody has to do something.
26. Lupita Nyong’o, Us
Us was released in March, which is a lifetime ago for the Academy Awards, so the odds are slim that Nyong’o will earn recognition for her dual performance. If there were any justice at the Oscars, though, Nyong’o would be one of the leading contenders. She has to play two roles in Us, one human but traumatized, the other demonic yet trying to be human. She carries a real hurt as Adelaide, but her performance as Red is the standout; it’s disturbing and empathetic like nothing else I’ve ever seen. Both characters are also trying to hide something, and Nyong’o plays that mystery to perfection.
25. Robert Pattinson, Good Time
Pattinson has had one of the most interesting decades of any actor, going from teen stardom and critical skepticism to being one of the most consistently interesting actors working today. Good Time remains his peak, a disturbed heist movie where nothing can go right. Pattinson is manipulative, sleazy, and unhinged, and his frenetic energy carries the film.
24. Michael B. Jordan, Creed
Boxing movies are the ideal sports film because they boil sports down to their most basic structure: one person versus one person in a bout of strength, in a setting that requires mental fortitude just as much as physical. Adonis Creed’s rise as a boxer is gripping because of Jordan’s uncontainable swagger, but his character is full because of the intimacy he develops with Bianca (Tessa Thompson) and Rocky (Sylvester Stallone).
23. Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, A Star Is born
A Star Is Born kicks off with an electric first 45 minutes and then wavers. The movie still holds weight in its latter half, though, because of the chemistry between Gaga and Cooper. Gaga delivers a natural performance, and although it’s highly meme-able, Cooper’s gravel-voiced mess of a man is a captivating turn.
22. Anton Yelchin, Green Room
Yelchin’s death at the age of 27 in 2016 was one of the great Hollywood tragedies; he was a skilled performer who brought a unique energy to every role he took on. He excels in Green Room for his encapsulation what happens to a person entrenched in absolute fear. It’s an emotional chord often overplayed in horror films, but Yelchin’s performance rings true, as did all of his work in his too-short career.
21. Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Woodley walks a fine line in The Descendants, playing at once the detached above-it-all teenager and the daughter broken by her family’s trauma. Her love for her family wins out in the end, and her growth over the course of the film is a wonder to watch.
20. Tiffany Haddish, Girls Trip
I never thought screwing a grapefruit or hiding weed in your butthole could be high art, but here we are, and Tiffany Haddish has made it so. Haddish gives the comedic performance of the decade in Girls Trip, an out-of-contol confidence rocket who’s unpredictable from scene to scene.
19. Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Yes, I did exclude Bradley Cooper from this slot on purpose. Unlike some of my other cheats on this list this slot is not for a duo performance. Cooper is good but Lawrence far outshines him. She has classic movie star charisma, and her vulnerability in Silver Linings Playbook carries the film.
18. Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
I could watch Saoirse Ronan paint a wall for two hours and I’m pretty sure it would still be one of the ten best movies I saw that year. Ronan is incredible in everything she does but Lady Bird remains her best work. It’s an eccentric, honest performance that captures the searching nature of adolescence better than any other high school movie I’ve seen.
17. Quevenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Wallis announced herself to the world as a prodigy with her performance in Beasts of the Southern Wild. It’s both a naturalistic performance and one that’s mature beyond her years. Wallis has an indelible ability to hold the screen without doing much at all, and I can’t wait to see what she does in the coming decade.
16. Vicky Krieps, Phantom Thread
It’s no small task to go toe-to-toe with Daniel Day-Lewis, but Krieps more than keeps up in Phantom Thread. As Woodcock’s (Day-Lewis) muse and eventual lover, Krieps would seem to be an inferior position to her male counterpart. But over the course of the film her luminous demeanor gives way to a domineering side, and she very subtly lets us know who has been in control the whole time.
15. JK Simmons, Whiplash
“Were you rushing or were you dragging?” Simmons delivers one of the most chillingly ruthless performances I’ve ever seen as Fletcher, the feared leader of a jazz school in New York who expects nothing short of greatness from his students. The magic of Simmons’s performance isn’t that he’s terrifying, but that he’s terrifying and you still think his ethos might be correct.
14. Timothee Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name
Chalamet has achieved such a meteoric rise to stardom that I can feel the backlash coming already, but while we are still basking in the glow of his greatness, I’d like to celebrate his muted performance in Call Me By Your Name. Elio desperately tries to play it cool during his tryst with Oliver (Armie Hammer), but before he knows it he’s consumed by something between lust and love. His earlier reticence to engage in romance is why his later emotional outburst is so crushing.
13. Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
I, Tonya has its issues as a film, particularly in its suggestion that Tonya Harding might be a victim. But it is held up by a stellar performance from Robbie, and one shot in particular near the end of the film, when Harding looks herself in the mirror, is stunning work.
12. Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea
I can hardly even bear to think about the performances at the heart of Manchester by the Sea—they are deeply steeped in sadness, and it’s a hard film to revisit. Affleck and Williams convey the effects of trauma in a unique way on the big screen. It can be showy at times, but mostly it’s bottled up, an inescapable baggage they can never quite figure out how to shed.
11. Andy Serkis, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
It’s an absolute travesty Serkis never earned the proper praise for his turn as Caesar in this revitalized franchise. Yes, it’s masked by the motion capture technology, but that only makes his work more impressive: his expressions had to be crystal clear to communicate to the audience within that context. It’s a physically challenging role that would have been dull with any other actor at the helm.
10. Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
In True Grit, Steinfeld possesses a steely resolve that most adult performances couldn’t dream of reaching. Her line deliveries are completely confident, yet it never descends into caricature—she’s a fully developed character with an admirable spirit. Since this breakout performance Steinfeld has been mired in dreck like Bumblebee, so here’s to hoping she starts turning out more incredible performances again like this one.
9. Denzel Washington, Flight
Denzel is the most naturally charismatic actor alive; he could roll out of bed, mumble through his lines, and still deliver an Oscar-worthy performance. As a heroic, and tragic, pilot in Flight he tunes that charm to the max and delivers a classic movie star performance for the ages.
8. Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Hoffman was one of the truly great performers of this century, and before his tragic death he delivered one final all-time performance as Lancaster Dodd, a cult leader who ropes a veteran (Phoenix) into his organization. The two performances together are immensely unsettling, and unforgettable.
7. Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Eisenberg is the perfect motormouth for writer Aaron Sorkin’s unrelenting pace. In the thrilling opening scene of The Social Network Mark Zuckerberg (Eisenberg) is dumped by his college girlfriend. He’s obviously devastated, but in his neurotic nature he’s also barely aware of what’s going on. It perfectly lays out the performance to come: a man driven by rejection and a desire to belong, but too self-involved to consider the consequences of his actions.
6. Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Zero Dark Thirty is a problematic, propagandistic movie, but Chastain’s performance remains stunning seven years later. She’s reserved when she needs to be but always ready to explode, and the contrast between seeing her neck veins straining while yelling at Kyle Chandler and her quietly weeping in the back of a military airplane are all you need to know about this performance’s range.
5. Mahershala Ali, The Moonlight
We’ve seen roles like Ali’s in Moonlight before, the drug dealer (or insert ethically compromised profession here) with a heart of gold. What elevates this performance above the trope is Ali’s conveyance that he knows he’s not always a great person, but can bestow a deep love to perfect strangers all the same. He’s only in the first third of the movie, but his scenes are still what I remember most.
4. Emma Stone, La La Land
There’s a moment in La La Land where Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) tells Mia (Stone) that she needs to show up for an audition the next day. Stone’s reaction is marvelous, shifting from incredulity to deep sadness in an instant. It’s a snapshot of a performance throughout the whole film that is always shifting and always captivating.
3. Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
The most celebrated acting performances are usually notable for their emotional range, but Pike accomplishes something else: a chilling performance that rarely varies in its emotional tenor. Her cryptic mood is essential to the film’s story, which is fundamentally about the public roles we play every day in our lives. Gone Girl might position Amy Dunne as its villain, but Pike makes her a hero.
2. Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
My first best-of list without Kaluuya in the #1 spot, although he comes damn close. As Chris, Kaluuya must embody a wide array of statuses in Get Out: skeptical of his girlfriend’s family, but naive enough to not see the full scope of terror to come; code-switching between his communications with white and black characters; utterly defeated and shocked, and also defiant and angry. Between this performance and his frightening turn in Widows, Kaluuya is the performer I took most notice of the last few years, and I can’t wait to see what he does next.
1. Elisabeth Moss, Her Smell
Elisabeth Moss takes the top spot with a performance in a movie that came out this year. You probably didn’t see it, but you should: Moss delivers nothing short of a virtuoso performance as an aging punk star trying to make a career comeback. It’s a forceful performance on the level of Pacino grandiosity that finds moments of gentleness later in the film, and she’s on screen nearly every minute of Her Smell. I could have watched this performance for three more hours and been totally happy.