Krisha Fairchild as Krisha in “Krisha”
Amid a list characterised elsewhere by the delicacy and subtlety of many of the performances, there is one utterly ferocious turn, and it is by a 65 year-old actress whose CV prior is mostly composed of nameless bit-parts — “The Mother,” “Truck-stop Cook,” “Sturdy Woman” etc. But then, Krisha Fairchild’s breakout role could only really have been played by her, as it was designed specially around her by her nephew, first time director Trey Edward Shults. In “Krisha,” the sanctimonious punchline of the fractious Thanksgiving dinner is exploded into a woozy, experimental quasi-horror movie, simply by locating its perspective mostly within the troubled, resentful mind of Krisha, the estranged sister of the hostess who is trying with heartbreaking desperation to keep her addictions at bay long enough to effect various reunions. Shults shoots the striking, hawklike Fairchild mercilessly, his unsparing camera picking up on every flicker –pain, disgust, shame — that crosses her face until it’s almost like we can actually see the demons that haunt her. And Fairchild, wild-haired and beautiful in a frightening, elemental way, is riveting, a colossal portrait of a woman determined to fight the darker impulses of her nature, at exactly the moment the tide of battle starts to turn against her.
Tom Bennett as Sir James in “Love and Friendship”
Something of a British TV stalwart at this stage, Tom Bennett really sprang onto everyone’s radars this year, with his delectable turn in Whit Stillman‘s crisp, witty and deeply enjoyable Jane Austen adaptation. Aside from Kate Beckinsale‘s tremendous performance as the deviously charming and amoral Lady Susan, the lion’s share of the laugh lines belong to him, though in direct contrast to Lady Susan’s brittle snappish wit, Bennett’s Sir James is one of the most delightfully dim characters of the year, forever hovering in doorways uncertainly and blithering malapropism after misstatement. It’s the kind of foppish dolt role that Hugh Grant might have played, only Bennett’s Sir James has nothing of the would-be heartthrob about him. And though his intense silliness makes him ridiculous of course, and he becomes the plaything of far more intelligent schemers than himself, somehow there’s no meanness in the portrayal. So while he may ultimately be condemned to a life of cuckoldry, the well-meaning Sir James is so dim it’s all but guaranteed that he’ll never notice, so not only do we get to laugh at Bennett’s perfect comic timing, we also get that supremely Austen-ian satisfaction of knowing nobody suffers a worse fate than they deserve.
Janelle Monáe as Teresa in “Moonlight”/Mary in “Hidden Figures”
Triple threat Monáe only graduated from being a double threat (musician and model) in 2016, but her two supporting roles in two presumptive Oscar heavy-hitters are a great introduction. Because it’s more our speed, it’s fair to say Monáe would have landed on this list for “Moonlight” alone, even though the role of Teresa, the girlfriend of Mahershala Ali‘s Juan, who becomes a surrogate mother to Chiron as his own descends further into addiction, has scant screen time. With the alchemy that touches every one of the characters in Barry Jenkins‘ miraculous film Monáe’s portrayal of what could be a cliched trophy-girlfriend-with-a-heart-of-gold becomes much more complex and melancholic than that: in just a few scenes you get a sense of Teresa’s sad-eyed intelligence and a sensitivity that runs counter to the surface details of her life. By contrast, her based-in-fact role in Theodroe Melfi‘s upcoming crowdpleaser is broader: she gets a lot of the best lines as Mary, one of three African-American women (the others played by Taraji P Henson and Octavia Spencer) who were pivotal in developing the pioneering NASA mathematics that sent John Glenn into space. We’ve a clear preference, but these two films releasing so close together does nothing if not showcase this new star’s impressive range.
Wyatt Russell as Charlie in “Everybody Wants Some”/Cooper in “Black Mirror”
As close as we get to Hollywood royalty these days — he’s the son of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, and the younger half-brother of Kate Hudson — Wyatt Russell has been popping up here and there in films like “22 Jump Street” and “Cold In July,” but really showed that he got the family genes with an impressive 2016. First, he was something of a scene-stealer among the ensemble of “Everybody Wants Some!!” As Charlie, he’s perhaps the most classically Linklaterian archetype in his stoned philosophizing, while putting his own jockish spin on the character — with Glen Powell, he’s perhaps the best thing in the movie. Then he headlined — and virtually carried solo — the terrifying “Playtest” episode of “Black Mirror.” It’s a tough role — almost a one-hander, essentially in a haunted house ride, albeit one that peeks into the character’s psyche with every jump scare. But Russell was utterly superb — charismatic, funny, vulnerable, sad and utterly deserving of our empathy. That the episode’s cruel twist feels effective, rather than cheap, is largely down to him. At this rate, he’ll likely go on to be just as famous as his dad.
Kika Magalhaes as Francisca in “The Eyes Of My Mother”
There’s nothing like a great movie monster, and in a year that provided some good ones — the shark from “The Shallows,” Black Philip from “The Witch,” Diana from “Lights Out,” Anthony Weiner — the most terrifying might be Francisca, the lead of Nicolas Pesce’s utterly terrifying “The Eyes Of My Mother,” as played by Kika Magalhaes. The actress was on the verge of leaving L.A. to return to Portugal when she met the director on a music video shoot. He partly wrote the role of Francisca — a half-Portuguese woman raised on a remote farm in America who reacts to the horrifying murder of her mother by becoming a serial killer — directly for her, and you can see why. Magalhaes is an unforgettable presence, like a sort of rural, deeply disturbed female Norman Bates whose loneliness and longing leads to some unimaginably brutal acts. Magalhaes brings out a deep pathos and vulnerability in the character, but smartly stops short of making her sympathetic, and the result is one of the most terrifying movie characters in years. Fortunately, it’s led to her sticking around in the U.S, and we look forward to seeing what she does next.
Between the shifting goaposts of what can be considered “breakout,” the vagaries of personal preference and the fact this felt like an extremely strong year in performance (and our main-brand Best Performances of 2016 feature is still yet to come, remember), there are more worthy additional turns than we could possibly list here. But the ones that caused us greatest argument, aside from those we’ve cheated by mentioning in passing in the list above are Angourie Rice in Shane Black’s “The Nice Guys,” who will be joining Tom Holland in “Spider-Man: Homecoming”; Sofia Boutella who followed up her eyecatching “Kingsman” role with a spikily memorable turn in “Star Trek Beyond,” despite layers of make up; Morgan Saylor who was very strong in both “White Girl” and “Being Charlie“; Kim Tae-Ri in “The Handmaiden“; Madina Nalwanga in “Queen of Katwe“; Narges Rashidi in “Under the Shadow“; newcomers Lucas Jade Zumann in Mike Mills’ “20th Century Women” and 8-year-old Sunny Pawar from “Lion“; while Gillian Jacobs also had a good year in TV show “Love” and loose-limbed Mike Birbiglia comedy “Don’t Think Twice.”
Ben Schnetzer impressed in frat-hazing drama “Goat“; both Devon Terrell in “Barry” and Parker Sawyers in “Southside With You” turned in thoughtful interpretations of Barack Obama in his younger years; English actors Callum Turner and George Mackay had strong showcases in indie favorites “Green Room” and “Captain Fantastic” respectively; Agyness Deyn managed the model-to-actress transition convincingly in “Sunset Song“; and Lucy Boynton enlivened the already lively “Sing Street.” Our greatest omission from the list above is, however obvious, glaring and unforgivable: Steven Seagull‘s naturalistic turn in Blake Lively shark-attack vehicle “The Shallows.” Aside from that terrible oversight, what do you feel we’ve missed? Let us know below, but do remember that there if they’re a borderline case they may well figure in the upcoming Best Performances of the Year feature, so look out for that one too.