The A.V. Club's favorite film performances of 2021

Jason Momoa, Ben Affleck, Nicolas Cage, and more deliver our favorite performances of the year

Katie Rife,

Baraka Kaseko,

Alex McLevy,

A.A. Dowd,

and Gabrielle Sanchez

12/20/21 1:00AM

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Clockwise from top: Jason Momoa in Dune (Photo: Chiabella James/Warner Bros.), Nicolas Cage in Pig (Screenshot), Rachel Sennott in Shiva Baby (Screenshot) — Clockwise from top: Jason Momoa in *Dune* (Photo: Chiabella James/Warner Bros.), Nicolas Cage in *Pig* (Screenshot), Rachel Sennott in *Shiva Baby* (Screenshot)

We’re continuing our ongoing year in review coverage with a look back at some of our favorite film performances of 2021 with this week’s AVQ&A:

Who gave your favorite film performance this year?

2 / 10

Simon Rex, Red Rocket

The director Sean Baker has a gift for casting, whether he’s pulling from a pool of established talents or discovering new ones far outside the Hollywood ecosystem. But he really outdoes himself in Red Rocket, lining up a perfect comic vehicle for the one-time model, rapper, Scary Movie star, and MTV anchor Simon Rex. I don’t think Rex would be offended at the suggestion that his own waxing and waning showbiz fortunes—and his winding career path, which relevantly stretches back to a start in the adult film industry—makes him automatically ideal for the role of Mikey Saber, a washed-up porn star crawling back to his Texas hometown to lay low and drum up the money he needs to get back on his feet. But beyond any useful parallels between life and art, Rex delivers a craftily funny and ingratiating performance, charming us via the same boyish fool routine Mikey has always used to get away with being an amoral leech. Red Rocket’s risky balancing act on the edge of love and hate only works with an actor who can disguise manipulation as hapless buffoonery. Dirt Nasty delivers. [A.A. Dowd]

3 / 10

Rebecca Hall, The Night House

I wasn’t high on the movie as a whole, but Rebecca Hall in The Night House was the most captivating film performance I watched all year. Beyond acting against an unseen scene partner on a level that rivals Elisabeth Moss in The Invisible Man, Hall’s work in The Night House challenges assumptions about how someone in mourning “should” act. Expressing a complex mix of sadness, anger, bitterness, and resignation, often wordlessly, Hall’s performance embodies all the stages of grief at once. Watch it just for the scene where Hall’s character informs her late husband’s mistress about his death—a scene featuring a line reading so withering, you may never fully recover. [Katie Rife]

4 / 10

Jason Momoa, Dune

On any sort of tangible level, I don’t believe that Jason Momoa’s performance as Duncan Idaho in Dune is really any different from his performance as Aquaman, but there is something fascinating and impressive about the fact that characters constantly address him by his full name—which, again, is Duncan Idaho—and it never feels silly. There’s just something about Momoa’s ultimate bro energy that makes you want to trust and support him, even if his name is Duncan Idaho… or maybe because his name is Duncan Idaho. [Sam Barsanti]

5 / 10

Nicolas Cage and David Knell, Pig

My pick is a twofer: Nicolas Cage and David Knell in Michael Sarnoski’s Pig. The two come together in my favorite film scene of the year, as Cage—who’s been deliberately sleepwalking through a story of calcified grief (that just happens to be dressed up like a porcine-themed revenge thriller)—quietly and steadily amps up his irresistible star power, pushing Knell’s arrogant head chef to just tell him where his damn pig is already. A dumber movie would have staged this confrontation with violence; it’s far more brutal, though, to watch every layer of Knell’s pretentious armor get stripped away by Cage’s calm surety, until he finally flop sweats himself into anxious capitulation. [William Hughes]

6 / 10

Rachel Sennott, Shiva Baby

While leading performances from Kristen Stewart in Spencer, Alana Haim in Licorice Pizza, and Agatha Rouselle in Titane will undoubtedly receive their due (and well deserved) praise in the forthcoming award season and beyond, Rachel Sennott’s work on Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby rocked my socks off. Messy, witty, and all around anxiety-inducing, Sennott brought this queer Judaic nightmare to life. Her performance as Danielle in the claustrophobic feature carefully balances the childish moodiness that arises under the watchful eye of overbearing parents with the desire to be an adult who has their shit together. It was a surprising job well done from a comedian plucked from Twitter with only one previous film and a handful of television experiences under her belt. Plus, her delivery of the “girlboss” line had me cackling. [Gabrielle Sanchez]

7 / 10

Ben Affleck, The Last Duel

Was there anyone having more fun this year than Ben Affleck in The Last Duel? Hot off a successful PR tour that saw him get Bennifer back together, Affleck wormed his way back into our hearts one Dunkin’ delivery at a time. After years of Argo f-ing around, he finally got a chance to bring back the smarm incarnate douchebag we know from Dazed And Confused. Transported to medieval France as Count Pierre d’Alençon, the actor wears the hell out of that blonde undercut, holds that stupid chin puff high, and exudes the star quality he’s been hiding for the last decade or so. As the bored Count who really just wants to get back to his orgies, he brought much-needed lightness to The Last Duel, which scared millennials off by being much more fun than anyone could’ve anticipated. Welcome back, Ben. More of this, please. [Matt Schimkowitz]

8 / 10

Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick...Boom!

There’s just something about Andrew Garfield in Tick, Tick...Boom! I can’t stop thinking about. He so perfectly embodies the spirit of every desperate theater kid I’ve ever met—that strange admixture of absolute confidence, profound social awkwardness, and an almost frantic need to live for your art, man. Garfield doesn’t so much depict that spirit as he does let it emanate from his very bones. The question of whether or not you like his aspiring musical theater composer Jonathan Larson is almost laughably beside the point; the big, messy, open-hearted drive to do something, anything, in an effort to connect creatively with others is what radiates from the performance, and Garfield’s unabashed passion in the portrayal shines so bright, it almost overtakes the film itself. Talk about a show-stopper. [Alex McLevy]

9 / 10

Adarsh Gourav, The White Tiger

Adarsh Gourav set the screen on fire in a breakout performance in The White Tiger. The actor is a joy to watch as an unbridled force of nature. He surrenders himself completely to the role of Balram Halwai, an ambitious young boy who begins working for a rich Indian couple in Delhi as their driver. The actor is adept at displaying Balram’s aching vulnerabilities, especially his indignation because he belongs to a lower socioeconomic class. From the quiet realization after an accident that poverty makes him disposable to a rage-induced breakdown on a crowded street, Adarsh delivers on every level. But he is, quite literally, killer as Balram transforms into a wily (and eventually successful) businessman with an agenda. His memorable performance has put him in a global spotlight, and I’m excited to see how he steals the show in all upcoming projects. [Saloni Gajjar]

10 / 10