Top 20 Female Performances of 2015

I’m happy to say that this list contains 20 performances, which is five more than my list of my favorite male performances from 2015. The reason is simple: I saw a lot more great roles by women than I did by men, of which I have no complaints. So instead of limiting this list to 15, I thought I’d open it up and let a few more in. Enjoy!

20. Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl

as Gerda Wegener

Simply put, The Danish Girl wasn’t for me. But as the movie slogged on, a very interesting thing happened: the performance of a wondrous new talent named Alicia Vikander kept getting better and better. As the wife of a tortured transgender person, Vikander was The Danish Girl’s emotional core. Vikander had a hell of a 2015, with notable roles in Ex Machina, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and Burnt. But with The Danish Girl, she was a saving grace for even the most ardent naysayers.

19. Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight

as Daisy Domergue

Jennifer Jason Leigh is one of our finest living character actors, and the enthusiastic vile she put into Daisy Domergue was one of her very best roles yet. Enough said.

18. Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years

as Kate Mercer

You remember him mentioning her. Your husband’s former lover, who was tragically lost decades ago. But what do you do when she’s brought up again? How long do you emotionally support your husband? When does your support evolve to fear, jealously, and shame? When do you start questioning if you’re good enough for him now, or if you ever have been? And, once you start questioning yourself, how do you stop?

17. Nina Hoss – Phoenix

as Nelly Lenz

So much of Hoss’ performance in Phoenix is dependent on the stillness of her face. Phoenix is a film all about quiet emotional discovery, and if Hoss couldn’t tell us everything with her eyes, then her performance, and the film itself, would’ve failed. Thankfully, that is not the case.

16. Elisabeth Moss – Queen of Earth

as Catherine

There were many fine films in 2015 about women on the verge of a nervous breakdown, the problem was, most of those movies were so small, they didn’t garner the amount of attention they should’ve. But the increasing emotional collapse of Elisabeth Moss’ Catherine in Queen of Earth was certainly one such breakdown worthy of praise. If you only know Moss from Mad Men, her Catherine will be unrecognizable.

15. Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn

as Eilis

“After I had dinner at your house, you told me you loved me. Well, I didn’t really know what to say. But I know what to say now. I have thought about you. And I like you. And I like being with you. And, maybe, I feel the same way. So the next time you tell me you love me – if there is a next time – I’ll say ‘I love you too.’”

And from that moment on, she had me.

14. Olivia Wilde – Meadowland

as Sarah

Another film about a woman slowly losing her mind, this time due to insurmountable grief, Reed Morano’s Meadowland boasted an Olivia Wilde performance that I, quite frankly, didn’t know the actor had in her. I don’t want to say too much about the film, but this movie, and Wilde’s revelatory work in it, certainly deserved a wider audience.

13/12. Kristen Stewart & Chloë Grace Moretz – Clouds of Sils Maria

as Valentine & Jo-Ann Ellis

I’ve said this before, and I mean it in the nicest possible way, but watching Kristen Stewart in Clouds of Sils Maria is watching her really act for the first time. Nothing she has done comes close to the depth, subtlety and confidence of her character, Valentine. I couldn’t take my eyes off her every movement. It was so fucking real.

Moretz is a performer I’ve long since loved, but nothing prepared me for her work as troubled movie star, Jo-Ann Ellis. Her gleeful coldness in her final scene literally made me gasp out loud. And that never happens.

11. Cate Blanchett – Carol

as Carol Aird

Look, once Cate Blanchett convincingly played Bob Dylan in I’m Not There, she proved that there is nothing she cannot do. I’d watch her apply wallpaper for two hours, and she’d still find a way to make it utterly captivating. Her nuanced work in Carol is yet another flawless performance she can add to her never-failing resume.

10. Laia Costa – Victoria

as Victoria

Any actor who can handle being on screen for damn near every second of a 138-minute long unbroken shot deserves to be acclaimed. But Costa’s work in Victoria goes beyond endurance. This is a performance of quiet command and frantic power. I didn’t agree with every decision Victoria made, but Costa made it impossible to not want to follow the character’s every move.

9. Marion Cotillard – Macbeth

as Lady Macbeth

As I said in my Top 15 Male Performances post, if any two people can make me appreciate Shakespeare’s vernacular it’s Marion Cotillard and Michael Fassbender. Her Lady Macbeth is the best of what we expect that character to me. Like Blanchett, I’m convinced that Cotillard is capable of anything.

8. Aomi Muyock – Love

as Electra

Her intensity and desire, her disgust and sexuality, and tenderness and love. Love is a film about being unable to let go of a raging love that left you long ago, and first time actor Aomi Muyock was the perfect choice to play such a force. I certainly hope to see more of Muyock in the future.

7. Emily Blunt – Sicario

as Kate Macer

Many of the women on this list are performers I’ve long admired, but in 2015, they showed that they are capable of much more than many of us initially thought. Kate Macer encapsulated all of Blunt’s finest attributes as an actor. She’s previously shown us that she can be still, afraid, emotive, witty and, of course, badass, but Sicario was the first time she’s been able to do it all at once. The result was one of the best, if not criminally overlooked, performances of the year.

6. Juilette Binoche – Clouds of Sils Maria

as Maria Enders

Again, like Cate Blanchett and Marion Cotillard, Juilette Binoche is an actor who can do anything, and, as a result, we (perhaps unfairly) expect more from her than other performers. And as famed actress, Maria Enders, Binoche certainly did not disappoint. As, Binoche Maria tapped into the thing she does best, that sort of unique, hopeful despondency. I’ve seen Clouds of Sils Maria a number of times now, and I am just beginning to understand what makes Maria tick.

5. Sarah Silverman – I Smile Back

as Laney Brooks

Women spiraling out of control on film in 2015 didn’t get more intense than Sarah Silverman in I Smile Back. Silverman was all but reborn as manic depressive, Laney Brooks. There wasn’t a trace of Silverman’s trademarked humor to be found here. Laney was a hopelessly lost woman, plagued with thoughts of inadequacy, fogged by booze, coke, and men. I Smile Back is a difficult movie to take. Much like Steve McQueen’s Shame, it observes its troubled subject without judgment. All we can do is sit and watch the downfall in absolute horror.

4. Rooney Mara – Carol

as Therese Belivet

How Rooney Mara is able to tap into such a profound sense of detachment is beyond me. She plays lost characters a lot; women who are confused yet fierce, vaguely hopeful yet broken. Therese Belivet (my god, whatta name) is Mara’s most mature character yet. I so desperately wanted Therese to figure out her troubles, and go on life happily. It might be Mara’s best work yet, and given that she’s only 30 years old, we happily have plenty more great performances to look forward to.

3/2. Joséphine Japy & Lou de Laâge – Breathe (Respire)

as Charlie & Sarah

Breathe was the film that came out of nowhere for me last year (it was my third favorite film of the year). I was absolutely floored by it, thanks much in part to the two profoundly confident lead performances. Japy’s longing and innocence played beautifully against Laâge’s assurance and hidden rage. I never had a clue where these two were going, up until the film’s final, breathless moment.

1. Brie Larson – Room

as Ma

What a difficult role to pull off. I can’t imagine the depths of inner solitude you would have to dig into in order to play a character like Ma so effectively. But however Brie Larson got there, the result was one of the best, most disturbing, most victorious performances I’ve seen in ages. I understood everything about Ma. I understand her fear and anger, her depression and rage. I understood that even though she should be happy, her demons will take a great long while to put to rest. I understood all of this about Ma, because she was played by such a fearless actor. If Brie Larson is set to be the frontrunner for this year’s Best Actress Oscar, then justice has certainly been issued.

2015 in Review

Top 10 Films of 2015
Top 15 Male Performances of 2015
Top 10 "Rotten" Films of 2015