Best Performances from the 2018 Oscar Best Actress Nominees

Best Actress has been incredibly strong the last few years and this year is no different.  What’s great about the actresses this year is that they have all been putting sensational work for decades and now, for some of them, they are finally getting their due.  Here are my choices for the best performances from this year’s Best Actress Oscar nominees.

 

 

 

 

SALLY HAWKINS (Nominated for The Shape of Water)

BEST PERFORMANCE – THE SHAPE OF WATER (Guillermo del Toro, 2017)

Sally Hawkins has been making her way around Hollywood for years now, but she has done nothing compared to her work in The Shape of Water.  In a nearly wordless performance, Hawkins plays a mute who must convey all her emotions through sign language and facial expression.  It is a performance to marvel at, particularly the scene when she is frantically explaining her plan in an emotionally riveting scene.  If it wasn’t for McDormand, Hawkins would be my choice to win.  This is a star-making performance.

 

 

FRANCIS MCDORMAND (Nominated for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

BEST PERFORMANCE – FARGO (The Coen Brothers, 1996)

McDormand is Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri was my favorite performance in 2017 and is an absolute powerhouse.  Incredibly, it isn’t her best.  McDormand’s first Oscar win went to her performance in the Coen Brother classic, Fargo, and it was a worthy win.  Marge Gunderson is a simple woman.  She’s pregnant, likes spending time with her husband, and enjoys her job as a cop.  When she gets put on a murder case, Gunderson’s positive attitude and optimism never changes, even when facing the worst of the worst.  You can’t help but fall in love with McDormand, and be in awe of her commitment to the character and knowing everything about her.  This is one of the best performances of the last thirty years.

 

 

MARGOT ROBBIE (Nominated for I, Tonya)

BEST PERFORMANCE – Z FOR ZACHARIAH (Craig Zobel, 2015)

I had a hard time deciding between her Oscar nominated turn in I, Tonya or The Wolf of Wall Street, as I think she holds her own against some heavy weights.  But my choice is smaller film that not a lot of people saw, Z for Zachariah.  Fresh off The Wolf of Wall Street, it was unsure what kind of actress Robbie would be.  But Zachariah proved her to be an immense talent with great potential.  Acting along veterans Chewitel Ejiofor and Chris Pine, Robbie owns this post-apocalyptic love triangle, showing a wide range of emotion in a world where trusting someone is as hard as surviving.  I encourage everyone to see Z for Zachariah because it’s a great movie led by Robbie’s stellar performance.

 

 

SAOIRSE RONAN (Nominated for Lady BIrd)

BEST PERFORMANCE – ATONEMENT (Joe Wright, 2007)

She dazzled in 2016’s Brooklyn and kicked ass in Hanna (2011), but her performance in Atonement is the role I will forever remember Saoirse Ronan for.  She has the most important role in the film, as the naive Briony accuses a man of a horrific crime that changes the course of their lives forever.  Ronan gives a chilling performance, and one that, in such a short amount of time, has a full character arc.  Starring in this film at just 13 years old, Ronan rightly earned an Oscar nomination for what is one of the best performances from a child of all-time.

 

 

MERYL STREEP (Nominated for The Post)

BEST PERFORMANCE – SOPHIE’S CHOICE (Alan J. Pakula, 1982)

I mean, the options are endless.  If you put ten Meryl Streep performances on a dart board and throw a dart blindly, you will land on a performance that you could argue deserves this spot.  Arguably the greatest actress of all-time gave an all-time performance in Sophie’s Choice.  Streep was still a relatively new actress at this time, with under ten films under her belt and a couple Oscar nominations.  But after Sophie’s Choice, she became the actress that she is today.  Streep is unrecognizable and gives a committed, heartbreaking, moving performance.  In a film about a horrific, unthinkable circumstance, Streep is unquestionably beautiful and brilliant.

 

 

 

 

 

What are your favorite performances from 2018’s Best Actress Oscar nominees?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook by searching Kevflix.