Split Decision: Best Performances of 2021
Tessa Thompson’s multilayered work in Passing impressed the hell out of me. An early scene where she acts under a cloche hat, with just her eyes is fantastic, and yet, she is remarkable throughout the entire film. The best male performance this year was Clifton Collins, Jr.’s heartbreaking turn in Jockey. A character actor who gets a plum leading role, Collins, Jr. conveys so much of his physical and emotional pain with his body language that viewers cannot help but wince when he does. These performances show the impact of subtlety and why the best acting is never the most. –Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer
Udo Kier is a legendary figure, but his performance in Todd Stephens’ Swan Song gives him the spotlight for its entire runtime. Kier plays a gay man called “The Liberace of Sandusky,” and his day out from a nursing home for ‘one last job’ is as gratifying as it is mournful of the generation lost fo the AIDS epidemic. –Ryan Silberstein, Managing Editor
Agathe Rousselle’s performance in Titane is just flat-out mesmerizing...and this was her first acting role. Not only did she have to channel pain and darkness within the characters of Alexia and Adrien, but she had to learn stunt choreo, dance choreography, simulate sex with a mechanical object, and endure a crazyass birth scene. If she can do all this AND carry a film on her very first try, put her in EVERYTHING. Honorable mention goes to Winston Duke in Nine Days. He gives such a powerful portrayal of someone finally coming to terms with his trauma - I thought about it for days after. While we’re putting Agathe Rousselle in everything, let’s put Duke in there as well. –Jaime Davis, Staff Writer
Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar doesn’t fully hang together as a movie for me, but Vanessa Bayer’s performance as a passive-aggressive/aggressive-aggressive Talking Club tyrant is dream work. Nobody did more for me this year, and Bayer did it with only a couple scenes and one location. Movies like this can suffer when they’re wall-to-wall “hey, here’s our funny friend!” cameos, but Barb and Star does a great job choosing a few people and writing fully-formed characters around them. I have no doubt Vanessa Bayer could carry a movie by herself, and I hope she does so soon, but until that happens, I’ll be happy to watch her suck entire films into the orbit of her supporting performances. –Alex Rudolph, Staff Writer
I know I’ve doted on her before, but Andra Day in The United States vs. Billie Holiday made up for so much of what the overall movie lacked. It feels cliché to say she embodied Lady Day, but considering how much of what we know about Billie Holiday has been misconstrued, Andra Day manages to take the little we do know about this American icon and channel it to the fullest. Her performance is so effortless and harrowing that you’d never know it’s her first lead role. -Matt Crump, Staff Writer
Honor Swinton-Byrne in The Souvenir Part II is my choice of Best Actress of the year - she is extraordinary as the grief-stricken film student, channelling her emotions into her graduation film. I also want to shout out Vicky Krieps and Mia Wasikowska in Bergman Island - another film about a female filmmaker - I’m so happy that we had TWO of these this year! My choice of Best Actor of the year is a tie between Mads Mikkelsen in Riders of Justice and Nicolas Cage in Pig - both quite similar roles, of men struggling with grief and PTSD and how they choose to navigate that in very different ways. Frustrating that Mads had so much attention for Another Round last year because he’s gone totally overlooked this year (for what I think is a better film and performance). –Fiona Underhill, Contributor
I thought Dev Patel gave what was ultimately a pretty underrated performance in The Green Knight. I thought his transformation from brash, young idiot to solemn, brave adult, and everything in between, was subtly brilliant stuff. Meanwhile, Virginie Efira's scenery chewing in Benedetta was amazingly over-the-top in the best way. It was unhinged, lunatic and so, so entertaining. –Billy Russell, Staff Writer
I didn’t know anything about The Power of the Dog going in. I didn’t see any advertisements, trailers, or read any reviews. I was sort of aware that it was playing in theaters, so I watched it on Netflix. It’s a perfect film. Benedict Cumberbatch plays against type. He’s played a villain before, but a macho, mean cowboy? It’s a stretch, and he nails it. He feels and looks so dirty. You feel like you can smell him. Kirsten Dunst is great, too. –Audrey Callerstrom, Staff Writer
The first film I watched this year, I Blame Society, remains stuck in my head, and for good reason. Gillian Wallace Horvat is a powerhouse that makes this twisted, fever dream of a flick really shine. She also directed and wrote the film, but all of that adds up to her being able to give a really dialed-in performance of a character on the edge, making batshit choices. For a story about the dark, and often hilariously off kilter, things we do to achieve our dreams, Horvat’s dark caricature of herself will dance around in my brain for years to come. - Emily Maesar