BEST OF 2015 – The Leading Ladies

In one of the best years for women acting in a long, long time, this list was loaded with great performances.  So here are the five best lead actress performances of 2015.

5  – CAREY MULLIGAN in “SUFFRAGETTE”

“Suffragette” was one of the most overlooked movies of the year, and undeservedly so, as it is a gripping and interesting look at the women’s rights movement in London.  Leading the charge is Carey Mulligan, who gives one of her best performances.  As a woman struggling with her family life and being a staple in the movement, Mulligan is emotionally raw and powerful.  We see her get knocked down and then fight her way back consistently.  It is great work from a great, young actress and one everyone should check out.

4 – AMY SCHUMER in “TRAINWRECK”

2015 was the year of Amy Schumer, and “Trainwreck” was her crowning achievement.  Besides being one of the great comedians we have working today, Schumer also showed her range as an actress by flexing her dramatic chops through out “Trainwreck”, particularly the funeral scene, which is really sad and authentic.  I have no doubt we will be seeing more great work from Schumer for years to come.

3 – CHARLIZE THERON in “MAD MAX: FURY ROAD”

It is called “Mad Max”, but it is all about Furiosa.  Charlize Theron gives an captivating, intense, badass performance as the rebellious solider of Immortan Joe.  She commands the screen and steals the movie from the titular character.  She shows she can do action and gives what could have been a simple character more layers and depth than we anticipated. It was a performance I never expected to get from an action movie and one that elevates “Mad Max: Fury Road” from a fun action movie to great cinema.

2 – EMILY BLUNT in “SICARIO”

Blunt has been doing consistently good work for a decade now, and really broke out big last year in “Live. Die. Repeat.”  In “Sicario”, Blunt has never been this stripped down and exposed in a performance before.  As F.B.I agent Kate Mercer sent on a vague task helping a U.S. task force with the drug cartels in Mexico, Blunt shows the idealism and the confusion that also plagues the audience throughout the movie.  Blunt is the audience, and she takes us along the confusing and shocking journey and reacts just as we do.  She also can wield a gun and kick some ass along the way.  It is a taut, searing performance that moves Blunt up the ranks as one of Hollywood’s best.

1 – BRIE LARSON in “ROOM”

When watching Brie Larson in “Room”, I was just awe-struck by everything that I saw.  Larson, playing a mother who has been kidnapped in a room with her son and then is freed, gives a fully realized, emotionally riveting performance.  She has to play the caring mother, then stay strong when the kidnapper is around, and then readjust to life when she is out of the room, which is hard to watch, as she has to assimilate to a life she once knew.  It is a heartbreaking, stirring, brilliant performance and one of the best of the decade.

What do you think of these performances?  What were your favorite lead actress performances of 2015?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter @kevflix or on Facebook at Kevflix.

Images courtesy of YouTube.