What Is the Greatest Movie Performance of the 21st Century?

It’s been a slow week. With July 4 just a few days away, some folks have already headed off on vacation. Not me. Instead, I’m going to share a project I’ve been working on, on and off, for the better part of a year.

Since 2024 (!), I’ve collected well over 400 critics’ ballots—and counting—asking a simple question: What is the greatest, most towering screen performance, male or female, of the 21st century? I figured we’ve had so many 21st-century film polls, yet barely any, if any at all, focused exclusively on performances.

I won’t be publishing the results just yet—my goal is to reach 500 ballots—but I will post the 30 most-voted performances, unranked, as the choices for a readers’ poll, which you can find below this write-up, just above the comments section.

Personally, my twin peaks would be Daniel Day-Lewis’ Daniel Plainview in “There Will Be Blood” and Joaquin Phoenix’s Freddie Quell in “The Master.” Both are landmark performances—ticking time-bomb creations from Paul Thomas Anderson.

Beyond those, there are plenty of performances that have come to define 21st-century acting. Isabelle Huppert’s unnerving work in “The Piano Teacher” remains one of the boldest, most psychologically uncompromising portrayals ever put on screen, while Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh in “No Country for Old Men” belongs in the pantheon of great movie villains. One can make the case for another Day-Lewis performance, his volcanic turn as Bill the Butcher in “Gangs of New York,” a performance so commanding that it threatens to consume the film around it.

More: Naomi Watts with one of the most emotionally demanding and astonishing performances of the century in “Mulholland Drive,” and Denis Lavant’s brilliant turn in “Holy Motors” which felt like an entire history of cinema distilled into a single actor.

Each of these performances pushed the boundaries of what screen acting can accomplish, which is precisely what made narrowing this poll down such a fascinating challenge. Below are the 30 most voted by critics — some of which I agree with, others I don’t. C’est la vie. Your turn to vote.