The 100 Best Movie Performances of 2024

Here are my picks for the 100 Best Movie Performances of 2024! This is always one of my favorite lists to keep track of as the year goes on. My list includes some performances with vast critical acclaim, and some that have not gotten nearly enough attention. It includes leading performances, supporting performances, and in three instances, performances that made an impression with only one scene. There's performances from around the world and across multiple genres. You can see their pictures above, but my guess is it might be hard to recognize all 100 of these pictures. So, which actors and movies made the cut? See my selections below!

100) Jim Cummings as the knife salesman—The Last Stop in Yuma County

99) Ethan Herisse as Elwood Curtis—Nickel Boys

98) Melissa Barrera as Laura Franco—Your Monster

97) Adam David Thompson as Joseph—Things Will Be Different

96) Ralph Fiennes as Thomas Cardinal Lawrence—Conclave

95) AnnaSophia Robb as Summer McBride—Rebel Ridge

94) Willa Fitzgerald as The Lady—Strange Darling

93) Jay O. Sanders as Vincent—His Three Daughters

92) Lesley Manville as Dr. Cotter—Queer

91) Safia Oakley-Green as Beyah—Out of Darkness    

 

 

90) Tara Mallen as Sharon Mueller—Ghostlight

89) Pierfrancesco Favino as Ferruccio—Maria

88) Izaac Wang as Chris Wang—Dìdi

87) Deniz Dumanli as Evrin—Crossing

86) Park Bo-young as Joo Myeong-hwa—Concrete Utopia 

85) Nykiya Adams as Bailey—Bird

84) Juliette Gariépy as Kelly-Anne—Red Rooms

83) David W. Thompson as Forbes—It's What's Inside

82) Jesse Plemons as Robert/Daniel/Andrew—Kinds of Kindness

81) David Jonsson as Andy—Alien: Romulus

 

    

80) Kacey Mottet Klein as Marquis Jacques Antoine Saturnin d’Urfe—The Vourdalak

79) Tilda Swinton as Mother—The End

78) Richard Brake as Beau—The Last Stop in Yuma County

77) Danielle Deadwyler as Berniece Charles—The Piano Lesson

76) David Dastmalchian as Jack Delroy—Late Night with the Devil

75) Craig Tate as Chickie Pete—Nickel Boys

74) Lara Flynn Boyle as Linda—Mother, Couch

73) Jung Yu-mi as Soo-jin—Sleep

72) Mirai Moriyama as the vendor—Shadow of Fire

71) Kane Distler as Mr. J—The People's Joker

70) F. Murray Abraham as Marcus/Marco—Mother, Couch

69) Ryland Brickson Cole Tews as Jean Kayak—Hundreds of Beavers

68) Jurnee Smollett as Dolores Johnson—We Grown Now

67) Ariane Labed as Sdenka—The Vourdalak

66) Yura Borisov as Igor—Anora

65) Hugh Grant as Mr. Reed—Heretic

64) Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas—Maria

63) Jesse Plemons as the militia leader—Civil War

62) Jordan Cowan as woman—You'll Never Find Me

61) Sebastian Stan as Edward Lemuel—A Different Man

 

60) Rhys Ifans as Gruffudd—Mother, Couch

59) Mia Goth as Maxine Minx—MaXXXine

58) Divya Prabha as Anu—All We Imagine as Light

57) Glen Powell as Gary Johnson—Hit Man

56) Michael Potts as Wining Boy Charles—The Piano Lesson

55) Laura Linney as Regina Cline—Wildcat

54) Elizabeth Banks as Hope Goldman—Skincare

53) Moses Ingram as Girl—The End

52) Vicky Knight as Franky—Silver Haze

51) Aaron Pierre as Terry Richmond—Rebel Ridge

50) Shuri as the woman—Shadow of Fire

49) Julianne Nicholson as Janet—Janet Planet

48) Jeon Yeo-been as Shin Mi-do—Cobweb

47) Brendan Rock as Patrick—You'll Never Find Me

46) LaKeith Stanfield as Clarence/Thomas—The Book of Clarence

45) Richard Roundtree as Ben Halpern—Thelma

44) Brandon Wilson as Turner—Nickel Boys

43) Keith Kupferer as Dan Mueller—Ghostlight

42) Lee Byung-hun as Kim Young-tak—Concrete Utopia

41) Samuel L. Jackson as Doaker Charles—The Piano Lesson 

40) Laurie Pavy as Anaïs—MadS

39) Sophie Okonedo as Regina—Janet Planet

38) Vera Drew as Joker the Harlequin—The People's Joker

37) Riko Fujitani as Mikoto—River

36) Michael Shannon as Father—The End

35) Trine Dyrholm as Dagmar Overby—The Girl with the Needle

34) Mahsa Rostami as Rezvan—The Seed of the Sacred Fig

33) Stephen McKinley Henderson as Sammy—Civil War

32) Kani Kusruti as Prabha—All We Imagine as Light

31) Elizabeth Olsen as Christina—His Three Daughters

 

30) Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Hattie Johnson—Nickel Boys

29) Nicolas Cage as Dale Kobble—Longlegs

28) André Holland as Tarrell Rodin—Exhibiting Forgiveness

27) Léa Seydoux as Gabrielle Monnier—The Beast  

26) Missagh Zareh as Iman—The Seed of the Sacred Fig

25) Ellen Burstyn as Mother—Mother, Couch

24) Jodie Comer as Kathy Bauer—The Bikeriders

23) Dolly de Leon as Rita—Ghostlight

22) Dave Bautista as Eddie—The Last Showgirl            

21) Michele Austin as Chantelle—Hard Truths

 

 

20) Joan Chen as Chungsing Wang—Dìdi 

19) Song Kang-ho as Kim Ki-yeol—Cobweb

18) June Squibb as Thelma Post—Thelma

17) Soheila Golestani as Najmeh—The Seed of the Sacred Fig

16) Pamela Anderson as Shelly Gardner—The Last Showgirl

15) Adam Pearson as Oswald—A Different Man

14) Ewan McGregor as David—Mother, Couch

13) Mónica Villa as Rita Lopez—Chronicles of a Wandering Saint

12) Clarence Maclin as Clarence "Divine Eye" Maclin—Sing Sing

11) Zoe Ziegler as Lacy—Janet Planet

 

And now, my top ten performances of the year!!!

10) Eli Skorcheva as Blaga Naumova—Blaga's Lessons

9) John Earl Jelks as La'Ron Rodin—Exhibiting Forgiveness

8) Carrie Coon as Katie—His Three Daughters

7) Kieran Culkin as Benji Kaplan—A Real Pain

6) Ilinca Manolache as Angela—Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World

5) Kirsten Dunst as Lee Smith—Civil War

4) Natasha Lyonne as Rachel—His Three Daughters

3) Colman Domingo as John "Divine G" Whitfield—Sing Sing

2) Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle—The Substance

1) Mzia Arabuli as Lia—Crossing

 

A couple of statistics from this list: Mother, Couch has the most appearances on this list, with 5 performances represented, followed by His Three Daughters and Nickel Boys with 4. Jesse Plemons is the only actor to appear on this list twice.

 

Something that amuses me is that Eli Skorcheva and June Squibb both appear in my top 20 performances for playing an elderly person who gets conned into giving away their money by phone scammers. Both movies are very good, and also these performances and movies could not be more different. There was a third movie this year with the same exact subject matter called Starring Jerry as Himself that also could not have been more different from either film, and despite not having any performances on my Top 100 list, I actually think that was my favorite movie out of all three.

 

So, did your favorite performances of the year make my list? Who do you think I missed? Let me know, and be sure to check out my list of The 30 Best Films of 2024 if you missed it!