Here we go! These are the 50 best performances of the decade, as curated by our editorial team. They're unranked, because cutting it down to 50 was hard enough...
Riz Ahmed in THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST (2012, dir. Mira Nair)

Two years after FOUR LIONS, this was Ahmed's breakout American role, a brilliant precursor to his exciting burgeoning career.
Gemma Arterton in THEIR FINEST (2016, dir. Lone Scherfig)

Arterton plays winning heroine Catrin, managing to make Catrin's spirit feel relevant to modern women while not overly 'modernizing' her away from the period in which the film is set.

Interview: https://seventh-row.com/2017/04/07/lone-scherfig-their-finest/
Kate Beckinsale in LOVE & FRIENDSHIP (2016, dir. Whit Stillman)

A much needed reminder of the brilliance of an actress whose talents are too often ignored. Beckinsale is simply hilarious in this adaptation of a lesser known Austen novella.

Interview: https://seventh-row.com/2016/05/19/whit-stillman-love-friendship/
Gael García Bernal in NERUDA (2016, dir. Pablo Larraín)

Bernal brings a masterful silliness to the character of inspector Óscar Peluchonneau, animating the film's flattest stretches with his highly entertaining narration.

Review: https://seventh-row.com/2016/12/16/neruda-review-pablo-larrain/
Cate Blanchett & Rooney Mara in CAROL (2015, dir. Todd Haynes)

A pair of beautifully complimentary performances. Blanchett is the impossibly regal Matinée idol who slowly reveals her vulnerability; Mara is the lost young woman who gradually comes into her own.
Sonia Braga in AQUARIUS (2016, dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho)

A powerhouse of a performance. Braga commands the whole two and a half hour film as a headstrong woman refusing to let gentrification drive her out of her home.

Essay: https://seventh-row.com/2016/11/04/age-place-kleber-mendonca-filhos-aquarius-gentrification/
Timothée Chalamet & Armie Hammer in CMBYN (2017, dir. Luca Guadagnino)

Chalamet gives an impossibly detailed coming-of-age performance; Hammer uses his persona so intelligently, subtly revealing things about Oliver.

Our book on the film discusses both: https://seventh-row.com/ebooks/call-me-by-your-name-ebook/
Jessica Chastain & Mia Wasikowska in CRIMSON PEAK (2015, dir. Guillermo del Toro)

Chastain is delightfully devilish and Wasikowska is, as always, underrated. They both have great fun with Del Toro's lavishly gothic film.

Review: https://seventh-row.com/2015/10/21/crimson-peak-is-a-loving-homage-to-the-gothic/
Tom Courtenay & Charlotte Rampling in 45 YEARS (2015, dir. Andrew Haigh)

Haigh is one of the best modern directors of actors, and he has two titans on his hands here. Courtenay and Rampling do wonders with this quiet chamber drama.

Review: https://seventh-row.com/2016/01/22/45-years/
Tom Cullen & Chris New in WEEKEND (2011, dir. Andrew Haigh)

Speaking of Haigh... Cullen and New did something truly amazing in this film about conversations and connection.

We wrote about it in our Haigh book: https://seventh-row.com/ebooks/lean-on-pete/
Essie Davis in THE BABADOOK (2014, dir. Jennifer Kent)

Davis very quickly joined the canon of great horror performances, deservedly so.
Laura Dern, Lily Gladstone, Kristen Stewart, & Michelle Williams in CERTAIN WOMEN (2016, dir. Kelly Reichardt)

Because how could we pick? Some career best performances here.

Interview: https://seventh-row.com/2017/02/10/kelly-reichardt-certain-women/
Elizabeth Debicki in THE TALE (2018, dir. Jennifer Fox) and VITA & VIRGINIA (2018, dir. Chanya Button)

Two performances from a truly magnetic actress. She's chilling in THE TALE, and she's the brightest spot in VITA & VIRGINIA.

Podcast on V&V: https://seventh-row.com/2019/07/22/ep-15-vita-and-virginia-and-the-author-biopic/
Ralph Fiennes in CORIOLANUS (2011, dir. Ralph Fiennes)

We could have chosen any number of Fiennes' performances for this list, but we went with this blistering performance in his own directorial debut.
Ralph Fiennes, Dakota Johnson, Matthias Schoenaerts, & Tilda Swinton in A BIGGER SPLASH (2015, dir. Luca Guadagnino)

Although speaking of Fiennes... this quartet of actors is heavenly riotously fun. And the dancing!

Our A BIGGER SPLASH Special Issue: https://seventh-row.com/category/essays/bigger-splash/
Ben Foster & Thomasin McKenzie in LEAVE NO TRACE (2018, dir. Debra Granik)

An established great and an astonishing newcomer play a co-dependant father and daughter in this moving film.

We analysed both performances in our LEAVE NO TRACE book: https://seventh-row.com/ebooks/leave-no-trace/
Claire Foy in UNSANE (2018, dir. Steven Soderbergh)

Another great horror performance! Foy's performance articulates the many faces women put on every day, and the horror of facing misogyny.

We wrote about her in our http://feministhorrorbook.com 
Greta Gerwig in FRANCES HA (2012, dir. Noah Baumbach)

Gerwig is such a wonderful physical performer, and her screwball energy is allowed to run loose in Baumbach's films. We love watching her on screen.
Hugh Grant in PADDINGTON 2 (2017, dir. Paul King)

Who doesn't love PADDINGTON 2? And one of the reasons it's so delightful is Hugh Grant's pantomime villain performance, song and dance included.
Eva Green in PROXIMA (2019, dir. Alice Winocour)

PROXIMA won't come out until 2020 so you'll have to trust us on this. It's one of Green's best performances yet. She plays a brilliant astronaut about to separate from her daughter for a year.

Interview: https://seventh-row.com/2019/09/17/alice-winocour-proxima/
David Gulpilil in CHARLIE'S COUNTRY (2013, dir. Rolf de Heer)

A heartbreaking performance that represents the culmination of Gulpilil's long and legendary career.
Adèle Haenel & Noémie Merlant in PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (2019, Céline Sciamma)

Another perfect pairing. Merlant is a striking lead, and Haenel gives perhaps the best performance of her impressive career. They work magic together.

We'll be writing more about them soon!
Rebecca Hall in CHRISTINE (2016, dir. Antonio Campos)

Hall makes a dramatic physical transformation for CHRISTINE, moving awkwardly, arms sagging, slouching. It's a harrowing portrayal of the darkness of depression.

Analysis: https://seventh-row.com/2017/02/21/top-5-performances-2016/
Regina Hall in SUPPORT THE GIRLS (2018, dir. Andrew Bujalski)

We follow a day in the life of Hall's character, with her every moment as she puts a brave face on her growing exhaustion for the sake of the girls in her care.
Eili Harboe in THELMA (2017, dir. Joachim Trier)

In THELMA, Eili Harboe is an open book. She plays a sensitive young woman in fear of her own body and mind, her vulnerability clear in Harboe's performance.

We write about THELMA in our http://feministhorrorbook.com 
Anne Heche & Sandra Oh in CATFIGHT (2016, dir. Onur Tukel)

Nothing more joyful than watching two actresses on the top of their game battle it out — literally. Heche and Oh are hilarious in CATFIGHT, giving riotous, all-out, physically committed performances. We love them.
André Holland in MOONLIGHT (2016, dir. Barry Jenkins)

Holland quietly gives the best performance in MOONLIGHT. In the film's final segment, he provides so much for scene partner Trevante Rhodes to play off of. Moment to moment, he's fascinating to watch.
Nina Hoss in PHOENIX (2014, dir. Christian Petzold)

Hoss plays a Holocaust survivor masking her identity in this tense chamber piece. The tension in the film comes from her performance: watching her grapple with the secret we know she's hiding.

Essay: https://seventh-row.com/2015/07/30/phoenix-look-of-silence/
Anders Danielsen Lie in OSLO, AUGUST 31ST (2011, dir. Joachim Trier)

Our favourite film of the decade features one of our favourite performances of the decade, surprise surprise. Lie's portrayal of a suicidal heroin addict is heartbreaking.

Essay: https://seventh-row.com/2016/04/22/exile-joachim-trier/
Ellie Kendrick in THE LEVELLING (2016, dir. Hope Dickson Leach)

Kendrick's performance digs into the deep sadness and resentment that can come with grief.

Interview: https://seventh-row.com/2017/03/20/hope-dickson-leach-levelling/
Jennifer Lawrence in THE HUNGER GAMES (2012, dir. Gary Ross)

Lawrence's nuanced performance in THE HUNGER GAMES launched her into super-stardom and created an iconic heroine in Katniss Everdeen.
Garance Marillier & Ella Rumpf in RAW (2016, dir. Julia Ducournau)

The pair play cannibal sisters, giving incredibly physical, often animalistic performances that still get to the heart of their characters.

We wrote about them in our http://feministhorrorbook.com 
Gugu Mbatha-Raw in BELLE (2013, dir. Amma Asante)

Mbatha-Raw unforgettably brings to life the forgotten historical figure of Dido Elizabeth Belle, a mixed race woman brought up in the British aristocracy.
Samantha Mugatsia in RAFIKI (2018, dir. Wanuri Kahiu)

Kahiu's historically significant, politically vital romance is a sweet film, made all the more winning by Mugatsia's central performance. She's such a charismatic presence.

Interview: https://seventh-row.com/2018/10/23/wanuri-kahiu-rafiki/
Lupita Nyong'o in US (2019, dir. Jordan Peele)

US is Nyong'o's greatest demonstration of her miraculous range yet: she plays two characters to such different extremes that it's hard to believe they're both played by the same person.
Jack O'Connell in '71 (2014, dir. Yann Demange)

Although O’Connell is in nearly every scene of the film, he rarely speaks. Yet this is an utterly compelling, thrilling, emotionally resonant and vulnerable performance.

Review: https://seventh-row.com/2015/03/27/review-71/
Josh O'Connor in GOD'S OWN COUNTRY (2017, dir. Francis Lee)

O'Connor transforms as Johnny Saxby, the emotionally closed-off young farmer who learns to love himself and others through intimacy with farmhand Gheorghe.

We wrote about him in our GOC book: https://seventh-row.com/ebooks/gods-own-country-ebook/
Théodore Pellerin in GENÈSE (2018, Philippe Lesage)

Pellerin’s intuitive ability to unravel complex emotions wordlessly is a fantastic asset in this film, which is ostensibly about the inner lives of teens.

We wrote about him in our http://canadiancinemabook.com 
Jada Pinkett Smith in MAGIC MIKE XXL (2015, dir. Gregory Jacobs)

The matriarch amidst a group of boys, Pinkett Smith absolutely commands this film.
Rosamund Pike in GONE GIRL (2014, dir. David Fincher)

It's a testament to Pike's chilling, commanding performance that Amy Elliot-Dunne has become such an iconic character.

Review: https://seventh-row.com/2014/10/03/gone-girl/
Jack Reynor in WHAT RICHARD DID (2012, dir. Lenny Abrahamson)

A breakout for Irish actor Reynor, this Dublin-set drama is proof of his immense talent.
Haley Lu Richardson & John Cho in COLUMBUS (2017, dir. Kogonada)

Richardson is heartbreaking as an anxious and lonely young woman longing for more; The calm precision of Cho's movements is completely hypnotic.

An analysis of Cho's performance: https://seventh-row.com/2018/01/25/top-6-performances-2017/
Saoirse Ronan in BROOKLYN (2015, dir. John Crowley) & LADY BIRD (2017, dir. Greta Gerwig)

A pair of perfect coming of age performances. The way Ronan's becomes gradually more assured and sure of herself as her characters grow up is masterful.
Andrew Scott in PRIDE (2014, dir. Matthew Warchus)

One of Scott's best and quietest performances, he plays a man confronting his traumatic past when we returns to his home country of Wales.

Review: https://seventh-row.com/2014/09/26/pride-matthew-warchus/
Kristen Stewart in PERSONAL SHOPPER (2016, dir. Olivier Assayas)

Stewart never plays Maureen’s “breakdown” as hyperbolic, avoiding sweeping gestures. Every one of Stewart’s actions seems to have a secret, subliminal meaning.

We wrote about her in our http://feministhorrorbook.com 
Devon Terrell in BARRY (2016, dir. Vikram Gandhi)

Unfortunately Terrell has yet to get the multitude of roles he deserved after this, his first film role. It's amazing how he plays such a famous figure, Barack Obama, without once slipping into caricature or glorification.
Tessa Thompson in DEAR WHITE PEOPLE (2014, dir. Justin Simien)

It was clear from DWP that Thompson is a star. Her charisma is off the charts.

Review: https://seventh-row.com/2014/10/24/dear-white-people-a-must-see-biting-satire-about-so-much-more-than-race/
Karidja Touré in GIRLHOOD (2014, dir. Céline Sciamma)

Another brilliant coming of age performance. Touré goes from shy and meek to a young woman of growing confidence.
Rachel Weisz in THE DEEP BLUE SEA (2011, dir. Terence Davies)

Weisz plays the tragic heroine Hester Collyer in Davies' adaptation of the play of the same name.

Essay: https://seventh-row.com/2017/04/23/deep-blue-sea/
Zhao Tao in MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART (2015, dir. Jia Zhang-ke)

Zhao Tao communicates so much when saying nothing in this story spanning three decades, charting the consequences of youthful decisions.

Review: https://seventh-row.com/2016/03/22/mountains-may-depart/
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