AwardsWatch Forums’ 50 Favourite Performances of 2017

– 111 ballots were received (99 in 2016)
– 20 male and 30 female performances made it to the final list (21 vs 29 in 2016)
– 46 performances received #1 placement (44 in 2016)

Before we begin, here are the top 10 lists from 2013-2016.

AW’s 50 Favourite Performances of 2016
1. Isabelle Huppert, Elle
2. Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
3. Amy Adams, Arrival
4. Sandra Hüller, Toni Erdmann
5. Annette Bening, 20th Century Women
6. Isabelle Huppert, Things to Come
7. Sonia Braga, Aquarius
8. Trevante Rhodes, Moonlight
9. Natalie Portman, Jackie
10. Ashton Sanders, Moonlight

AW’s 50 Favourite Performances of 2015
1. Rooney Mara, Carol
2. Cate Blanchett, Carol
3. Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
4. Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
5. Oscar Isaac, Ex Machina
6. Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road
7. Nina Hoss, Phoenix
8. Juliette Binoche, Clouds of Sils Maria
9. Emory Cohen, Brooklyn
10. Brie Larson, Room

AW’s 50 Favourite Performances of 2014
1. Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
2. Marion Cotillard, Two Days One Night
3. Julianne Moore, Still Alice
4. Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
5. Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Beyond the Lights
6. Julianne Moore, Maps to the Stars
7. Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant
8. Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
9. Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
10. Essie Davis, The Babadook

AW’s 50 Favourite Performances of 2013
1. Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
2. Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
3. Adele Exarchopoulos, Blue is the Warmest Color
4. Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
5. Suzanne Clement, Laurence Anyways
6. Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha
7. Juliette Binoche, Camille Claudel 1915
8. James Franco, Spring Breakers
9. Mads Mikkelsen, The Hunt
10. Brie Larson, Short Term 12

THE 2017 LIST…50-41

• Author
• Recent Posts

Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

Latest posts by Erik Anderson (see all)

• 2026 Critics Choice Awards Land Early January 2026 Date - April 25, 2025
• Adam Sandler in ‘Happy Gilmore 2,’ ‘KPop Demon Hunters,’ Double Tyler Perry Headed to Netflix This Summer - April 25, 2025
• 2025 Outer Critics Circle Award Nominations: ‘Death Becomes Her’ Leads with 12 - April 25, 2025