--- title: The 10 Best Movie Performances of 2019 description: From Eddie Murphy to Jennifer Lopez, these are TIME's picks for the best movie performances of the year. canonical: https://time.com/5737198/best-movie-performances-2019/ author: Stephanie Zacharek article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-11-26T14:30:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:52:27.322Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: The 10 Best Movie Performances of 2019 og:description: From Eddie Murphy to Jennifer Lopez, these are TIME's picks for the best movie performances of the year. og:url: https://time.com/5737198/best-movie-performances-2019/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5ae3e7bce2687d4/698a067c929fad515dbf54f2/time-best-of-culture-2019-peformances.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: time-best-of-culture-2019-peformances og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The 10 Best Movie Performances of 2019 twitter:description: From Eddie Murphy to Jennifer Lopez, these are TIME's picks for the best movie performances of the year. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5ae3e7bce2687d4/698a067c929fad515dbf54f2/time-best-of-culture-2019-peformances.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The 10 Best Movie Performances of 2019 > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with Ally. Ally is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: July 2026. ## Ally: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Ally is a digital financial services company offering online-only banking, including checking and savings accounts, through Ally.com and its mobile apps. Launched in 2009 as an original disruptor in financial services, Ally was built to challenge outdated banking norms with a simpler, more convenient way to bank. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: Pain and Glory official trailer [Watch (HLS stream): Pain and Glory official trailer](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7zvcApNS.m3u8) (1:30)  _Published 2019-11-22. Pain and Glory official trailer_  by [Stephanie Zacharek](https://time.com/author/stephanie-zacharek/)  ## Stephanie Zacharek Film Critic Nov 26, 2019 2:30 PM UTC  Dolemite Is My Name: Netflix; Once Upon A Time In Hollywood: Sony Pictures; Pain and Glory: Sony Pictures Classics; Hustlers: STX  by [Stephanie Zacharek](https://time.com/author/stephanie-zacharek/)  ## Stephanie Zacharek Film Critic Nov 26, 2019 2:30 PM UTC Actors are the lifeblood of cinema. An amazing performance can at least partially redeem a terrible film, or nudge a good film toward perfection. Below are 10 of my top performances of the year, a mix of lead and supporting—because the sorcery a good actor can pull off can’t be defined by the number of lines he or she has. ## 10\. Kristen Stewart, _Seberg_ Stewart is a marvel as [Jean Seberg](https://time.com/5665387/kristen-stewart-exudes-the-bold-shimmering-presence-of-a-woman-in-pain-in-seberg/), the American-born actor who became a huge French star—and whose troubled life was in all likelihood cut short by the FBI’s hounding of her in the late 1960s and early ’70s. Opening herself up to this sad, lost woman, Stewart allows her spirit to rush in, filling every channel and vein. Her Seberg is not just a tragic figure but a woman full of life, restored to us for just a few precious hours. ## 9\. Eddie Murphy, _Dolemite Is My Name_ Murphy brings the spirit of Blaxploitation underdog [Rudy Ray Moore](https://time.com/5711219/dolemite-is-my-name-rudy-ray-moore-legacy/) to life, with tell-it-like-it-is radiance. His timing is, as always, cobra-strike precise; his smile is both conspiratorial and expansive. And, as an aging actor grabbing at what he knows is his last chance, he’s [deeply moving](https://time.com/5692501/dolemite-is-my-name-review-eddie-murphy/). ## 8\. Margot Robbie, _Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood_ In this [ode to the Hollywood that was](https://time.com/5593402/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-review/), Robbie plays a dream version of murdered actor Sharon Tate, and she’s the movie’s lifeblood—not an elusive vision projected on a screen but a young woman we’re granted the pleasure of knowing. It’s she who’s living—we, the unlucky ones, are only dreaming her. ## 7\. Joe Pesci, _The Irishman_ Pesci often plays the hotheaded clown, but he goes much deeper as mob boss Russell Bufalino in [_The Irishman_](https://time.com/5714758/the-irishman-netflix/). Pesci’s Russell, crumpled and bitter, longs for tenderness even as he shuts it out. It’s as if he’s willed the deep creases on his face into being, the better to obscure what’s going on behind his eyes—he’s an apple-head doll of rage. And still, he breaks us. ## 6\. Renee Zellweger, _Judy_ Judy Garland, beyond great and also too much, is the eclipse you can’t help looking at. In [_Judy_](https://time.com/5686530/judy-movie-review-renee-zellweger/)_,_ [Renée Zellweger](https://time.com/5681009/renee-zellweger-judy-interview/) is the piece of glass that allows you to gaze at her directly, to see her in new ways but also to fine-tune [all that you already know](https://time.com/5684673/judy-garland-movie-true-story/). And she sings, too. It’s a wonderful performance, as rich and alluring as a length of golden brocade, but one with appropriately ragged edges. ## 5\. Matthias Schoenaerts, _The Mustang_ Schoenaerts, one of our finest and perhaps most underappreciated actors, plays a [closed-off prison inmate](https://time.com/5551302/the-mustang-movie-review/) who’s redeemed by training a wild horse. With just a glance, he shows us a lifetime’s storehouse of resentment, or deep-rooted wariness giving way to trust—and all opposite an equine co-star whose soulful eyes might have otherwise stolen the show. ## 4\. Taylor Russell, _Waves_ Taylor Russell’s Emily—the kid sister of a star athlete gone wrong—is the first character we see in [Trey Edward Shults](https://time.com/4263626/krisha-movie-review/)’ lacerating family drama, _Waves._ Then we nearly forget about her, until she re-emerges in the movie’s superb second half. Russell’s performance is like a rush of wind on a dry, hot day, the blessing you didn’t know you needed. ## 3\. Adam Driver, _Marriage Story_ In this [portrait of a brutal divorce](https://time.com/5664305/marriage-story-review-noah-baumbach/), there’s a sequence in which Adam Driver’s Charlie hurls cruel words at his soon-to-be-ex-wife, played by Scarlett Johansson. And then, horrified, he sinks to the floor, folding his mighty frame into the tiniest jackknife. With that single, compact movement, Driver makes us feel the weight of living with every heedless thing we’ve ever said or done. ## 2\. Jennifer Lopez, _Hustlers_ We spend a great deal of time praising actors we think of as great, but we don’t always know what to do with the charming ones. In [_Hustlers_](https://time.com/5675812/hustlers-review-jennifer-lopez/), as an exotic dancer who hatches [an illegal scheme](https://time.com/5671735/hustlers-movie-true-story/) to extract money from horny Wall Street dudes’ wallets, Lopez is both charming and great—as if two translucent hues spontaneously overlapped to make a new color. ## 1\. Antonio Banderas, _Pain & Glory_ Banderas has been appearing in Pedro Almodóvar’s films since the early days of his career. How can so many years have passed? In [_Pain & Glory_](https://time.com/5592027/cannes-review-pedro-almodovar-pain-and-glory/)_,_ he gives an aching, unguarded performance as a successful filmmaker nearing the tail end of his career, graying and anxious and hampered by severe pain. Banderas gives us a glimpse into what can happen to any of us as we age. He also pays a blood-brothers tribute to Almodóvar, a man who has brought great joy and a freeing sense of abandon to his audience, making us feel young even if we’re not. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5737198/best-movie-performances-2019/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5737198/best-movie-performances-2019/"},"headline":"The 10 Best Movie Performances of 2019","datePublished":"2019-11-26T14:30:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:52:27.322Z","description":"From Eddie Murphy to Jennifer Lopez, these are TIME's picks for the best movie performances of the year.","url":"https://time.com/5737198/best-movie-performances-2019/","keywords":["movies","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5ae3e7bce2687d4/698a067c929fad515dbf54f2/time-best-of-culture-2019-peformances.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Stephanie Zacharek","jobTitle":"Film Critic","url":"https://time.com/author/stephanie-zacharek/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5ae3e7bce2687d4/698a067c929fad515dbf54f2/time-best-of-culture-2019-peformances.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"time-best-of-culture-2019-peformances","caption":"","creditText":"Dolemite Is My Name: Netflix; Once Upon A Time In Hollywood: Sony Pictures; Pain and Glory: Sony Pictures Classics; Hustlers: STX","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5737198/best-movie-performances-2019/","name":"The 10 Best Movie Performances of 2019"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Seberg - 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