The 100 Best Movie Performances of 2021

I’ve already counted down my favorite films of the year (if you missed that list, check it out HERE!) but what about performances? In one of my most compulsive activities, I’ve spent all year keeping track of my favorite film performances, and have whittled the list down to my 100 favorites. Did yours make the list? Find out below!

 

100) Sandra Hüller as The Employee—I’m Your Man

 

99) Bradley Cooper as Stanton Carlisle—Nightmare Alley

 

98) Brenda Deiss as Lil—Red Rocket

 

97) David Rysdahl as Mike—Nine Days

 

96) Jim Broadbent as The King—A Boy Called Christmas

 

95) David Marsais as Jean-Gab—Mandibles

 

94) Jila Shahi as Zaman—There Is No Evil

 

93) Lynn Cohen as Mrs. Litvak—The Vigil

 

92) Sienna Sayer as Rachel—Martyrs Lane

 

91) Rachel Zegler as Maria—West Side Story

90) Denzel Washington as Macbeth—The Tragedy of Macbeth

 

89) Jesse Plemons as George Burbank—The Power of the Dog

 

88) LaKeith Stanfield as Cherokee Bill—The Harder They Fall

 

87) Max Harwood as Jamie New—Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

 

86) Kotone Furukawa as Meiko—Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

 

85) André Holland as Brian Redfield—Passing

 

84) Jude Hill as Buddy—Belfast

 

83) Adarsh Gourav as Balram Halwai—The White Tiger

 

82) Alana Haim as Alana Kane—Licorice Pizza

 

81) Robin de Jesús as Michael—tick, tick…BOOM!

80) Mohammad Valizadegan as Javad—There Is No Evil

 

79) Amy Seimetz as Mary Wertz—No Sudden Move

 

78) Amir Jadidi as Rahim Soltani—A Hero

 

77) Grégoire Ludig as Manu—Mandibles

 

76) Gillian Wallace Horvat as Gillian Wallace Horvat—I Blame Society

 

75) Marion Cotillard as Ann Defrasnoux—Annette

 

74) Jayne Houdyshell as Deirdre Blake—The Humans

 

73) Jessie Buckley as Leda Caruso—The Lost Daughter

 

72) Jesse Plemons as Roy Mitchell—Judas and the Black Messiah

 

71) Danielle Deadwyler as Cuffee—The Harder They Fall

70) Richard Jenkins as Erik Blake—The Humans

 

69) Jerry Mofokeng Wa Makhetha as The Lesiba Player—This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection

 

68) Mahtab Servati as Nana—There Is No Evil

 

67) Katsuki Mori as Nao—Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

 

66) Ciarán Hinds as Pop—Belfast

 

65) Colman Domingo as Abegunde “X” Olawale—Zola

 

64) Katja Herbers as Femke Boot—The Columnist

 

63) Mike Faist as Riff—West Side Story

 

62) Adèle Exarchopoulos as Agnès—Mandibles

 

61) Jim Cummings as Jordan Hines—The Beta Test

60) Clayne Crawford as David—The Killing of Two Lovers

 

59) Beanie Feldstein as Brigid—The Humans

 

58) Isabelle Fuhrman as Alex Dall—The Novice

 

57) Regina King as Trudy Smith—The Harder They Fall

 

56) Jeffrey Wright as Roebuck Wright—The French Dispatch

 

55) Dakota Johnson as Nina—The Lost Daughter

 

54) Suzanna Son as Raylee—Red Rocket

 

53) Ariana De Bose as Anita—West Side Story

 

52) Anders Danielsen Lie as Aksel—The Worst Person in the World

 

51) David Strathairn as Pete Krumbein—Nightmare Alley

50) Gaby Hoffmann as Viv—C’mon C’mon

 

49) Alec Utgoff as Zhenia—Never Gonna Snow Again

 

48) Kirsten Dunst as Rose Gordon—The Power of the Dog

 

47) Ehsan Mirhosseini as Heshmat—There Is No Evil

 

46) Dominique Fishback as Deborah Johnson—Judas and the Black Messiah

 

45) Dev Patel as Gawain—The Green Knight

 

44) Vikash Bhai as Farhad—Limbo

 

43) Troy Kotsur as Frank Rossi—CODA

 

42) Kiera Thompson as Leah—Martyrs Lane

 

41) Aris Servetalis as Aris—Apples

40) Zazie Beetz as Emma—Nine Days

 

39) Aoba Kawai as Nana Aya—Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

 

38) Mads Mikkelsen as Markus—Riders of Justice

 

37) Ann Dowd as Linda—Mass

 

36) Jasna Đuričić as Aida Selmanagić—Quo Vadis, Aida?

 

35) Olga Merediz as “Abuela” Claudia—In the Heights

 

34) Olivia Colman as Anne—The Father

 

33) Reed Birney as Richard—Mass

 

32) Haley Bennett as Roxanne—Cyrano

 

31) Amir El-Masry as Omar—Limbo

30) Valerie Mahaffey as Mme. Reynard—French Exit

 

29) Aitana Sánchez-Gijón as Teresa Ferreras—Parallel Mothers

 

28) Woody Norman as Jesse—C’mon C’mon

 

27) Mohammad Seddighimehr as Bahram—There Is No Evil

 

26) Winston Duke as Will—Nine Days

 

25) Léa Seydoux as France de Meurs—France

 

24) Hidetoshi Nishijima as Yūsuke Kafuku—Drive My Car

 

23) Tessa Thompson as Irene “Reenie” Redfield—Passing

 

22) Renate Reinsve as Julie—The Worst Person in the World

 

21) Penélope Cruz as Janis Martinez—Parallel Mothers

20) Fusako Urabe as Moka Natsuko—Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

 

19) Michelle Pfeiffer as Frances Price—French Exit

 

18) Maren Eggert as Dr. Alma Felser—I’m Your Man

 

17) Peter Dinklage as Cyrano de Bergerac—Cyrano

 

16) Jason Isaacs as Jay Perry—Mass

 

15) Agathe Rousselle as Alexia—Titane

 

14) Adam Driver as Henry McHenry—Annette

 

13) Patti Harrison as Anna—Together Together

 

12) Ruth Negga as Clare Bellew—Passing

 

11) Magdalena Koleśnik as Sylwia Zajac—Sweat

10) Anthony Hopkins as Anthony—The Father

9) Dan Stevens as Tom—I’m Your Man

8) Martha Plimpton as Gail Perry—Mass

7) LaKeith Stanfield as Bill O’Neal—Judas and the Black Messiah

6) Simon Rex as Mikey Davies/Mikey Saber—Red Rocket

5) Olivia Colman as Leda Caruso—The Lost Daughter

4) Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny—C’mon C’mon

3) Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton—Judas and the Black Messiah

2) Kathryn Hunter as The Witches—The Tragedy of Macbeth

 

And my pick for the best performance of 2021 is...

1) Mary Twala as Mantoa—This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection

 

 

A couple of notable statistics:

 

The only actors to make more than one appearance are Olivia Colman, LaKeith Stanfield, and Jesse Plemons, with two appearances apiece.

 

With 5 performances mentioned, There Is No Evil is the film with the most entries on my list. That's followed by Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, Judas and the Black Messiah, and Mass, with 4 apiece.

 

But that's my list. What does yours look like? What performances do you think I overlooked? Which ones do you agree with. Which ones are you yet to see? Let me know in the comments!