My Best of 2025: Lead Actor
My Best of 2025 is a series of annual lists in which I pick the best of the best from 2025, all leading up to my official picks for My Top 10 Films of 2025.
I'll be honest... any one of these top three could've ended up in that number one spot. Aside from that, I like or love them all, but the order doesn't really matter at all. I love a performance that stops me in my tracks, and many of these—especially those top three—did just that.
In Blue Moon, Ethan Hawke so completely conveys the wistful, heartbreaking delusions of the broken down Lorenz Hart as he so desperately tries to grasp one last handful of hope. He blew me away. Wow. In Train Dreams, Joel Edgerton embodies his character's quiet contentment and crippling heartbreak in a way that makes us wholly feel the simple, crushing weight of life. Jesse Plemons creates a crusader in Bugonia that's every bit as sad as they are downright terrifying in their delusions. It's a performance that's unpredictable and heartbreaking and so darkly absurd. Leonardo DiCaprio's bumbling stoner hilariously shines a light on the ridiculousness of the performative revolutionary in One Battle After Another. In Marty Supreme, Timothée Chalamet commits completely to the narcissistic drive of his character, bringing a sense of inevitability to the exceedingly over-the-top, batshit crazy situations throughout the film. Oscar Isaac understands the drive of Frankenstein on a deeply philosophical and human level, creating a flawed villain whose actions are understandable despite their inhumanity. Benicio del Toro has pitch-perfect delivery throughout The Phoenician Scheme, giving several bits (but especially the gifting of hand-grenades) all the mileage they could ever possibly get. It's a wonderfully riotous, splendidly weird performance. Wake Up Dead Man is carried by Josh O'Connor's lead performance, as he struggles with his faith in a manner that parallels the film's central mystery with such intriguing devotion. Michael B. Jordan's twins are the emotional core and narrative stimulus of Sinners, and his is a solid performance that—while admittedly grossly overrated—is still totally impressive compared to anything else Jordan has delivered, to date. And Will Arnett's complacent depression is what makes his connection with stand-up hit so hard in Is This Thing On?; it's in that therapeutic catharsis that his performance—and the film, itself—surmounts expectations.
My Top 10 Performances by a Lead Actor in 2025!
1. Ethan Hawke in Blue Moon
2. Joel Edgerton in Train Dreams
3. Jesse Plemons in Bugonia
4. Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another
5. Timothée Chalamet in Marty Supreme
6. Oscar Isaac in Frankenstein
7. Benicio del Toro in The Phoenician Scheme
8. Josh O'Connor in Wake Up Dead Man
9. Michael B. Jordan in Sinners
10. Will Arnett in Is This Thing On?
Next Up: My Top 10 Films of 2025!
More of My Best of 2025...
