The 15 Best Movie Performances Of 2024

Take one glance at the top-grossing movies of 2024, and you'll see cinema that is swimming in spectacle, special effects, and sequels that rely more on eye candy than star power. It's a trend that has gone on for decades, which we expect to only be exacerbated with the rise of generative AI. Even so, this year has also reminded us that it takes so much more to make a movie memorable, even great. It's the actors who are our entry point into the story. We relate to them, learn from them, feel powerful emotions, and discover something about ourselves and our shared human condition. Or, we just laugh our butts off. That counts too.

We're taking many factors into consideration when determining the 15 best movie performances of 2024. Yes, awards buzz and critics scores make a difference, but it's not all that matters to us. After all, we bet even the biggest movie buff may have a difficult time naming the best supporting actor nominees of any given year. So, for this list, we're also looking at performances that carried a film, stole the show from the other characters (and the special effects), reminded us how great an established actor is, and helped launch a new star into the stratosphere. More than anything, we're considering which movie performances from 2024 people will still be talking about long after awards season is over.

Cast: Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pescal

Director: Ridley Scott

Rating: R

Runtime: 148 minutes

Where to watch: In theaters

It's always awesome when an actor who has absolutely nothing to prove brings their A+ game to a genre picture. We're talking Michelle Pfeiffer in "Batman Returns," Javier Bardem in "Skyfall," or Willem Dafoe in "Spider-Man: No Way Home" (or basically, anything). Now we can add Denzel Washington in "Gladiator II" to the list.

The "Gladiator" sequel finds Washington re-teaming with his "American Gangster" director Ridley Scott to play Macrinus, a morally specious ancient arms dealer who becomes fabulously wealthy supplying armies with food, weapons, and wine (sounds like a good time). He's something of a third-century tech bro, only he buys gladiators instead of crypto. With a staggering ten Oscar nominations to his name, plus two wins (for "Glory" and "Training Day"), Washington could have easily phoned it in as a mustache-twirling supervillain. Instead, he steals the show from the film's star (Paul Mescal) and the awe-inspiring special effects you'd expect from the film's borderline $300 million budget.

There are many reasons why "Gladiator II" blew everyone away with its $55 million opening weekend, but as M.V. Moorhead of "Phoenix Times" puts it, "Best of all, as usual, is Denzel Washington ... he isn't hammy or over-the-top; it's a sly, subtle, carefully wrought performance. Plain and simple, the man knows how to act." Indeed he does, which is why he collects awards like his character collects gladiators.

Cast: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid

Director: Coralie Fargeat

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 140 minutes

Where to watch: Amazon

There's nothing that Hollywood loves more than a comeback story. Well, besides fame, fortune, youth, and beauty. So, it's only appropriate those "attributes" are at the center of "The Substance," writer-director Coralie Fargeat's masterful blend of show biz satire and squirm-inducing body horror — and the movie that's bringing its star, Demi Moore, back to the A-list.

Despite a decades-long career that includes hits like "St. Elmo's Fire," "Ghost," and "A Few Good Men," Moore has never been nominated for an Academy Award. We expect that to change with "The Substance," which puts Moore center stage in one of this year's buzziest movies. Moore plays Elisabeth Sparkle, a faded, former Hollywood movie star who is fired from a TV show due to her age. After suffering a car wreck, Sparkle takes the Substance, a mysterious black market serum that promises a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect version" of yourself ... a promise that turns out to be quite literal.

Make no mistake, this movie's across-the-board positive reviews do not happen without Moore's absolute commitment to the performance. The star pulls off the rare feat of playing a completely vain person while herself showing no vanity, crafting a character who has hit a moral and spiritual rock bottom. Rotten Tomatoes' critics consensus calls it "possibly Moore's finest hour," but we think there's no "possibly" about it. This is her magnum opus, and one of the best movie performances of 2024.

Cast: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega

Director: Tim Burton

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 104 minutes

Where to watch: Max

The most memorable movie performances aren't necessarily those that take home Oscar gold, but are the ones that live forever in our hearts. Okay, that was really cheesy — and yet it perfectly describes Michael Keaton's return to one of his signature roles in "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice."

It wasn't Keaton's fault that his return to his other major role — Batman in "The Flash" — was a flat-out failure, as he was the best part in an overall disappointing film. But we were still worried that what happened when he donned the cape and cowl again would also happen when he returned to the iconic black-and-white striped suit. Boy, were our fears unfounded. Despite not playing Beetlejuice for nearly forty years, Keaton embodied the role like he'd been playing it every night.

Keaton thoroughly disappears into Beetlejuice, so much so that we tend to forget we're even watching the actor and not the character. We can confidently say that there's no other actor who could play this part as well — either in 1988's original movie or in the 2024 sequel. While "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" was so-so, Keaton's performance managed to transform it into one of the most memorable legacy sequels. Despite being the main reason for the film's $450 million worldwide box office, we doubt Keaton will be getting any awards season recognition. No matter, as watching his return to Beetlejuice is a reward on its own.

Cast: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio

Director: Richard Linklater

Rating: R

Runtime: 115 minutes

Where to watch: Netflix

"There are no movie stars left" is a common complaint from moviegoers who pine for the glory days of the silver screen. Yet, it's a sentiment that's simply not true; you just have to know where to look. Take Glen Powell, who established himself as Hollywood's next big thing in the most 2024 place possible: on Netflix. His laudable leading man performance in "Hitman" is one of the only entries on our list that debuted on a streamer, and with good reason — it's one of the year's best.

Based on a true story, the film casts Powell as Gary Johnson, a cat-loving, oddball professor who pretends to be a hitman to entrap would-be criminals in "murder-for-hire" charges for the police department. Didn't know that job existed, but okay. Johnson's side gig gets him into trouble when he goes off-script to help a beautiful wife (Adria Arjona) who wants to kill her slimeball husband.

Powell plays Johnson with his singular brand of movie star charm and charisma, making what could have been a creep into a likable character you can't help but root for. Even more impressive, he does this while also portraying all of the "characters" that Johnson is pretending to be. Yet it's never Powell playing these characters; it's Powell playing Johnson playing them. It's no small feat, which is why Powell's star-making performance is one of the best of 2024.

Cast: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jeff Goldblum

Director: John M. Chu

Rating: R

Runtime: 160 minutes

Where to watch: In theaters

Cynthia Erivo's controversial response to the fan-edited "Wicked" poster that paid homage to the original stage show — calling it "deeply hurtful" and "offensive" — threatened to derail the good vibes from the fanbase. Thankfully, it speaks to the power of her performance (and the talent of her PR and management teams) that the focus is back where it belongs: on her star-making, scene-stealing world as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West.

It's a rare feat for an actor to successfully transition from Broadway to Hollywood, but Erivo does it while donning the black hat in an iconic role played by literally hundreds of other actresses. She imbues Elphaba with dignity, grace, and humanity, transforming a character ranked as the number four greatest villain by the American Film Institute (behind only Hannibal Lecter, Darth Vader, and the shark in "Jaws") into a noble, relatable heroine. Of course, the fact that she can belt out "Defying Gravity" doesn't hurt either.

Together with her on-screen rival Glinda the Good Witch, played by Ariana Grande, Erivo's Elphaba makes the daunting nearly-three-hour runtime breeze by like a witch on a broom. She also manages to steal the show from co-stars Jeff Goldblum and Peter Dinklage, a feat we would have thought was impossible. Pardon the pun, but this is a performance that defies gravity.

Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos

Director: Lee Isaac Chung

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 122 minutes

Where to watch: Peacock

Some say great acting is being able to convey the reality of the human condition in a compelling, authentic, and truthful way. Sure, that works, but we submit that great acting can also be convincing the audience that you're running away from a tornado that isn't really there. Oh, and also if you can manage to convince us you're from small-town Oklahoma when you actually hail from London, England., you get bonus points. Well, hats off to Daisy Edgar-Jones, who managed to do both.

Fresh off her starring role in 2022's "Where The Crawdads Sing," Edgar-Jones shows in 2024's "Twisters" that she can also open a Hollywood blockbuster. Sure, it was the promise of tornadic destruction that brought people to the movie theaters (well, that and Glen Powell's incredible cinematic charisma), but it was Edgar-Jones' performance that made us believe it was all real.

A lesser actor would easily get swallowed by the special effects, leaving audiences impatiently twirling their thumbs waiting for the next big action sequence. However, as meteorologist Dr. Kate Carter, Edgar-Jones keeps you invested in her character's journey throughout the entire film, whether the weather is wild or mild. Her work helps make "Twisters" more than a cheap, cash-grab legacy sequel, but one of the rare sequels released 20 or more years after the original that truly elevates the franchise.

Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East

Directors: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods

Rating: R

Runtime: 100 minutes

Where to watch: In theaters

Playing against type is one of the biggest risks a star can take. Plenty of great actors have failed terribly in against-type parts, but Hugh Grant is not one of them; he deserves your leap of faith as the diabolical Mr. Reed in "Heretic." Grant became a household name in the '90s and early aughts as the charmingly befuddled star of such classic romantic comedies as "Four Weddings & A Funeral," "Notting Hill," and "Love, Actually." 

In "Heretic," he successfully reinvents his screen persona as the slimy and scary Mr. Reed, leaving you to forget he ever played a romantic leading man. And yet, it is precisely that same innocent, naive persona that he deploys expertly as the psychopath Mr. Reed, luring two young Mormon missionaries into his home with the promise of blueberry pie before surprising them (and us) by trapping them in a twisted game of cat and mouse.

Much credit belongs to co-writer and co-directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods for the inspired choice. But we give most of our kudos to Grant, who takes what could have been another case of "stunt casting" and instead crafts a spine-chilling performance you won't forget. The only problem is you may not be able to watch Grant's romantic comedies in the same way again.

Cast: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce

Directors: Brady Corbet

Rating: R

Runtime: 205 minutes

Where to watch: In theaters

Adrien Brody became the youngest man to win the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2002, just 20 days shy of his 30th birthday, for his performance in Roman Polanski's "The Pianist." And then he kinda didn't capitalize on his promise. He starred in M. Night Shyamalan's disappointing "The Village" in 2004, competed with the titular ape for Naomi Watts' affections in Peter Jackson's "King Kong" in 2005, battled Yautjas in 2010's "The Predators," and joined Wes Anderson's ensembles in three films. But he fell far short of the potential his early Oscar win promised.

Now, more than twenty years after making history, the star reminds us that he's one of his generation's finest actors in "The Brutalist." Brody plays László Tóth, a talented Hungarian Jewish architect who escapes to America from postwar Europe only to find himself under the thumb of morally scrupulous industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce, in another of the year's best performances.). 

At three hours and 25 minutes, with a 15-minute intermission, "The Brutalist" has a runtime that some may find, well, brutal. But coursing throughout the film's epic length is a powerful, soulful performance by Brody, who infuses Tóth with humanity as he navigates the perils of the immigrant experience. "The Brutalist" needed an actor of the highest caliber at its center and found it in Adrien Brody. We're glad to have him back to being one of the best at what he does.

Cast: Angelina Jolie, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Alba Rohrwacher

Directors: Pablo Larraín

Rating: R

Runtime: 123 minutes

Where to watch: Netflix

Sometimes the greatest compliment you can give an actor is to say their performance is better than the movie it's in. Such is the case with Angelina Jolie in "Maria," which tells the tragic true story of "the world's greatest opera singer," Maria Callas, during her final years in Paris.

On paper, "Maria" seems like the kind of "Oscar-baity" biopic that arrives with every awards season that everyone talks about but few people actually see, a la "Maestro" last year and "Belfast" the year before. What saves "Maria" from that same forgettable fate is Jolie's performance, which elevates what could be a weepy melodrama into a film that is truly poignant and touching. As the critics consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads, "Angelina Jolie unveils new highs within her emotional register in Pablo Larraín's 'Maria,' keeping this tragic biopic compelling even when its theatrics go off-key." Which is a politically correct way of saying "the only reason to see this movie is for Jolie's performance."

It's a welcome return to form for Jolie, who seems to get most of her press these days for either her admirable humanitarian work or her romantic relationships. Whatever flaws it has as a film, "Maria" is also a reminder that Jolie is one of the best to do it, perhaps ever. As Tomris Laffly of RogerEbert.com put it, this is Jolie's "career-best performance," which is reason enough to watch "Maria."

Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow

Directors: Edward Berger

Rating: R

Runtime: 120 minutes

Where to watch: In theaters

For the majority of his career, Ralph Fiennes has been one of the biggest value adds in the movie business. Whether he's playing the leading man ("The Menu," "The Grand Budapest Hotel") or a supporting role (the James Bond and Harry Potter franchises), if he's in a bad movie ("Clash of the Titans") or one of the greatest ever ("Schindler's List"), you know Fiennes is going to be one of the best parts of the film. The dude is just darn good at his job. 

And he's never been better than in "Conclave," a middlebrow mystery-thriller the actor single-handedly saves from descending into anti-Catholic papal pulp through a religious-like devotion to his craft. Fiennes plays Cardinal Lawrence, a noble man tasked with running the covert papal conclave to replace the deceased, beloved Pope. Behind the scenes of this secretive ritual, Cardinal Lawrence discovers a web of deceit and buried secrets that threaten to destroy one of humanity's most enduring institutions.

If it sounds like a Dan Brown novel, you're close, as it was based on a book by Robert Harris. Fiennes' costars Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow understand the assignment and chew scenery like it's unblessed Communion wafers. But Fiennes does something different, elevating the material with his earnestness and intensity, delivering what the Rotten Tomatoes critical consensus calls "career-highlight work."

Cast: Colman Domingo, Paul Raci, Clarence Maclin

Directors: Greg Kwedar

Rating: R

Runtime: 107 minutes

Where to watch: Apple TV+

Colman Domingo has become a familiar face thanks to his strong supporting turns in "If Beale Street Could Talk," "The Color Purple," and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," in addition to his scene-stealing stints on "Law & Order" and "Fear The Walking Dead." However, after his star-making lead performance in "Sing Sing," this actor, director, and playwright — who is quickly establishing himself as one of the best at all three — may next become a household name.

In the film, which is based on a true story, Domingo plays Divine G, an embittered and broken man who has been imprisoned at Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison in New York for a crime he didn't commit. Through the prison's Rehabilitation Through The Arts program, and under the guidance of stage director Brent Buell (Paul Raci) — who also wrote one of the books the movie is based on — Divine G discovers and develops his passion for theater while also trying to prove his innocence.

"Colman Domingo is at the peak of his considerable powers," stated Wendy Ide of "The Guardian," in a performance she also hails as "magnetic." We couldn't agree more. Having received his first Academy Award nomination in 2024 for "Rustin," we fully expect him to land his second — and perhaps even the award itself — for his stellar work in "Sing Sing."

Cast: Nell Tiger Free, Maria Caballero, Nicole Sorace

Directors: Arkasha Stevenson

Rating: R

Runtime: 119 minutes

Where to watch: Hulu

Dozens of horror movies were released in 2024, as Hollywood considers it a reliable and relatively inexpensive genre for luring audiences into the theater. So you'd be forgiven for forgetting about one released back in April, but "The First Omen" is one of the best horror movies of 2024, largely thanks to its star, Nell Tiger Free.

Prequels are rarely the domain of great horror films, as we rarely care about the origins of the scares. "The First Omen," however, manages to find frights in a 50-plus-year-old film franchise thanks to director Arkasha Stevenson's ability to establish mood and atmosphere, and especially her star Free's ability to convey believability as the spiritually conflicted American novitiate, Margaret Daino.

Free's convincing authenticity is all the more impressive considering her young age (24, during filming). Harkening the arrival of evil incarnate tends to descend into camp, even with great, experienced actors. If you don't believe us, watch James Earl Jones in "The Exorcist II: The Heretic," George C. Scott in "The Exorcist III: Legion," or Sam Neill in "Omen III: The Final Conflict." Actually, better yet, don't. Your time is better spent watching Free in "The First Omen," which was underseen in its theatrical run, which ended with a so-so $50 million worldwide. You'll not only watch a solid horror movie, but one of the best performances of the year.

Cast: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov

Director: Sean Baker

Rating: R

Runtime: 149 minutes

Where to watch: In theaters

There's a chance you haven't heard of Mikey Madison unless you're a devoted fan of the most recent "Scream" movies or caught "Better Things" during its five-season run on FX. But after experiencing her captivating lead performance in "Anora," you'll never forget her. Madison plays Ani, a Brooklyn-based sex worker whose whirlwind romance with the sensitive son of a Russian oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn) results in an impulsive marriage. But before you can say "I do" in Russian, Ani finds her honeymoon interrupted by his parents' henchmen.

The Cinderella story about "a sex worker with a heart of gold" is a reliable way to mint a new movie star (just ask "Pretty Woman" Julia Roberts). However, it's also super cliché. Writer-director Sean Baker managed to breathe new life into this tired setup by deploying a breathless pace centered around the perfect star in Madison, who "mixes toughness and vulnerability in a star-making performance," according to Robin Holabird of KUNR (Reno, NV).

Madison may hail from Los Angeles, but you truly believe she comes from the mean streets of Brooklyn and would do anything she can to escape them. It's a gutsy, passionate, bravura performance that helped "Anora" net the coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. We suspect there'll be Oscar noms in Madison's future as well.

Cast: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce

Directors: Brady Corbet

Rating: R

Runtime: 205 minutes

Where to watch: In theaters

You may be shocked to discover (we certainly were) that acclaimed Australian actor Guy Pearce has not only never won an Academy Award, but he hasn't even ever been nominated — not for "L.A. Confidential," "The Proposition," or anything. Well, that's unless you count his nomination for "Memento" from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror Films, which, to be honest, we take more seriously than the Oscars anyway. But while this is just further evidence Pearce may be the most underappreciated performer in modern movies, we expect all of that to change with his performance — one of the year's best — as Harrison Lee Van Buren in "The Brutalist."

Van Buren is an ultra-rich, self-made industrialist with little appetite for art or culture, who nevertheless becomes a benefactor to Adrien Brody's Hungarian emigrant architect, László Toth. But Van Buren is only playing dumb and ultimately reveals himself to be the nightmare scenario of the American Dream, a cold-blooded, Machiavellian millionaire manipulator who puts the "brutal" in "The Brutalist."

Watching these two titanic thesps go toe-to-toe in a tour de force of tête-à-tête helps make "The Brutalist" an edge-of-your-seat ordeal, despite the film's imposing three-plus hour runtime. "The Brutalist" is Brody's movie, not Pearce's, but it is the latter's chilling portrayal of a man unburdened by the people he hurts that gives the story its dark heart.

Cast: Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez

Directors: Jacques Audiard

Rating: R

Runtime: 132 minutes

Where to watch: Netflix:

With an astounding $15.4 billion worldwide, Zoe Saldaña is a franchise unto herself. She stars in three of the six highest-grossing movies of all time — "Avatar" (#1), "Avengers: Endgame" (#2), "Avatar: The Way of Water" (#3)," and "Avengers: Infinity War" (#6) — and was also in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl." Wowza. With her box office bona fides well established, she can afford to take some artistic risks.

She does just that in "Emilia Perez," where she plays Rita Mora Castro, a Mexican attorney in a go-nowhere job, who is hired by a cartel leader — Karla Sofía Gascón as the eponymous Emilia Perez — to help her fake her own death. In addition to stretching her acting chops, "Emilia Perez" gives Saldaña the chance to speak her native Spanish, adding another layer of authenticity to her layered performance.

Given the character's screen time, there has been debate about whether Saldaña's performance counts as lead or supporting actor. We won't wade into that controversy, because however you define her performance, it's inarguably one of the year's best. While "Emilia Perez" will never join the ranks of Saldaña's biggest box office hits (it won't even earn what any of them made in an hour), it should score her first Academy Award nomination, and maybe even a win.