AFT Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role

This is the second category of the 14th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. I’m drawing only from films that were either released or playing at a film festival in the 2020 calendar year. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them.. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Laure Calamy (My Donkey, My Lover and I), Kiera Allen (Run), Zora Howard (Premature), Emily Skeggs (Dinner in America), Frances McDormand (Nomadland), Jessie Buckley (I'm Thinking of Ending Things), Jo Ellen Pellman (The Prom), Madeline Grey DeFreece (Tahara), Rachel Brosnahan (I'm Your Woman), Saltanat Nauruz (Welcome to the USA), Sarah Paulson (Run), Sophia Loren (The Life Ahead), Sophie Hawkshaw (Ellie and Abbie (and Ellie’s Dead Aunt)), Tessa Thompson (Sylvie's Love), Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman), Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Runners-up:
Avigail Harari (Honeymood)
Aubrey Plaza (Black Bear)
Radha Blank (The 40-Year-Old Version)
Alena Yiv (Asia)
Cristin Milioti (Palm Springs)

The winner:
Clare Dunne (Herself) delivered a wonderfully endearing portrait of a young mother desperate to do whatever she could to protect her family. You can watch my great interview with her here.

Other nominees:
Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)
Anne Celestino Mota (Alice Junior)
Lola Petticrew (Dating Amber)
Micaela Ramazzotti (The Best Years)

AFT Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role

This is the second category of the 13th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 233 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Adèle Haenel (Portrait of a Lady on Fire), Alexi Pappas (Olympic Dreams), Avigail Kovari (Red Cow), Beanie Feldstein (Booksmart), Carol Duarte (Invisible Life), Julia Stockler (Invisible Life), Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart), Mia Wasikowska (Judy and Punch), Natalia Dyer (Yes, God, Yes), Saoirse Ronan (Little Women), Tiffany Chu (Ms. Purple)

Runners-up:
Anna Margaret Hollyman (Sister Aimee)
Tatiana Maslany (Pink Wall)
Emma Thompson (Late Night)
Stav Strashko (Flawless)
Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story)

The winner:
Holliday Grainger (Animals) delivered a fully unhinged and then appropriately retrospective performance as a partier who never gave being serious a second thought.

Other nominees:
Jessie Buckley (Wild Rose)
Maya Erskine (Plus One)
Renee Zellweger (Judy)
Awkwafina (The Farewell)

AFT Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role

This is the second category of the 12th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 200 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Alia Shawkat (Duck Butter), Cami Morrone (Never Goin' Back), Daniela Vega (A Fantastic Woman), Elvire Emanuelle (First Match), Glenn Close (The Wife), Maia Mitchell (Never Goin' Back), Vera Farmiga (Boundaries)

Runners-up:
Keira Knightley (Colette)
Rose Byrne (Juliet, Naked)
Lady Gaga (A Star is Born)
Jessica Barden (The New Romantic)
Kiersey Clemons (Hearts Beat Loud)

The winner:
Thomasin McKenzie (Leave No Trace) conveyed exceptional maturity as a young girl raised by a father eager to be removed from society, negotiating natural impulses for human companionship with a loyalty to her parent.

Other nominees:
Mary Elizabeth Winstead (All About Nina) grabbed the microphone in her film and took full control, inviting audiences along to watch the incredible rollercoaster of her professional and personal life. Rachel Weisz (The Favourite), Olivia Colman (The Favourite), and Emma Stone (The Favourite) shared the spotlight as three women who all used each other for different things, fashioning the hilarious and wicked environment around them with their truly terrific turns.

AFT Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role

This is the second category of the 11th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 149 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Amanda Seyfried (The Last Word), Amy Ryan (Abundant Acreage Available), Anna Kendrick (Table 19), Annette Bening (Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool), Ariel Winter (The Last Movie Star), Ashleigh Murray (Deidra and Laney Rob a Train), Aubrey Plaza (Ingrid Goes West), Britt Robertson (The Space Between Us), Céline Bonnier (The Passion of Augustine), Diane Kruger (In the Fade), Ela Thier (Tomorrow Ever After), Emma Watson (Beauty and the Beast), Erika Linder (Below Her Mouth), Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Gemma Arterton (Their Finest), Jasna Fritzi Bauer (Axolotl Overkill), Jenny Slate (Aardvark), Jenny Slate (Landline), Jessica Chastain (Molly's Game), Jessica Chastain (The Zookeeper's Wife), Judi Dench (Victoria and Abdul), Julia Garner (One Percent More Humid), Juliette Binoche (Let the Sun Shine In), Juno Temple (One Percent More Humid), Kate Winslet (Wonder Wheel), Lena Olin (Maya Dardel), Lily James (The Exception), Lily Mae Harrington (Some Freaks), Lois Smith (Marjorie Prime), Margot Robbie (I, Tonya), Melanie Lynskey (I Don't Feel at Home in this World Anymore), Meryl Streep (The Post), Michelle Morgan (It Happened in L.A.), Millicent Simonds (Wonderstruck), Natalie Krill (Below Her Mouth), Quinn Shephard (Blame), Rachel Crow (Deidra and Laney Rob a Train), Rebecca Ferguson (Despite the Falling Snow), Rebecca Hall (Permission), Rebecca Spence (Princess Cyd), Rooney Mara (Una), Rosamund Pike (A United Kingdom), Shaden Kanboura (In Between), Shirley MacLaine (The Last Word), Taraneh Alidoosti (The Salesman), Taylor Schilling (Take Me), Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread), Zoe Lister-Jones (Band Aid), Zosia Mamet (The Boy Downstairs)

Runners-up:
Brooklynn Prince (The Florida Project)
Jessie Pinnick (Princess Cyd)
Nadia Alexander (Blame)
Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water)
Emma Stone (Battle of the Sexes)

The winner:
Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird) was perfectly reminiscent of her director Greta Gerwig on screen, making a precocious teenage rebel found in so many films distinctly her own.

Other nominees:
Olivia Cooke (Thoroughbreds) and Anya Taylor-Joy (Thoroughbreds) shared top billing as two outcast teenagers united by their discomfort in the world and their dark fascinations. Zoe Kazan (The Big Sick) was immediately sweet and sophisticated, making her presence count during each of her scenes. Noa Koler (The Wedding Plan) expressed such a wonderful sense of unflappable positivity about her future despite all events indicating eternal loneliness.

AFT Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role

This is the second category of the 10th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 117 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Alice Braga (Aquarius), Alicia Vikander (The Light Between Oceans), Andrea Anders (Is That a Gun in Your Pocket?), Caitlin FitzGerald (Always Shine), Greta Gerwig (Maggie's Plan), Ingrid Jungermann (Women Who Kill), Isabelle Huppert (Things to Come), Kristen Stewart (Equals), Lily Rabe (Miss Stevens), Lola Kirke (AWOL), Mackenzie Davis (Always Shine), Margherita Buy (Me Myself and Her), Margherita Buy (Mia Madre), Melanie Lynskey (Little Boxes), Mélanie Thierry (An Eye for Beauty), Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins), Moran Rosenblatt (Wedding Doll), Natalie Portman (A Tale of Love and Darkness), Natalie Portman (Jackie), Nelly Tagar (Past Life), Rachel Weisz (Complete Unknown), Rachel Weisz (Denial), Ruth Negga (Loving), Sabrina Ferilli (Me Myself and Her), Taraji P. Henson (Hidden Figures), Tilda Swinton (A Bigger Splash), Victoria Summer (Game of Aces)

Runners-up:
Isabelle Huppert (Elle)
Amy Adams (Arrival)
Annette Bening (20th Century Women)
Lamis Ammar (Sand Storm)
Ruba Blal-Asfor (Sand Storm)

The winner:
Emma Stone (La La Land) was charming, sincere, and believable as an actress trying to make it in the business and encountering an epic love story with sweet song and dance.

Other nominees:
Emma Suarez (Julieta) and Adriana Ugarte (Julieta) were two parts of one incredible whole, a film-defining character with deep complexity and two unifying portrayals. Sasha Lane (American Honey) expressed an incredible lust for adventure and excitement as a young woman with her whole life ahead of her. Jodie Whittaker (Adult Life Skills) delivered a refreshingly honest and humorously endearing performance as a grieving sister unable to motivate herself to truly achieve anything.

AFT Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role

This is the second category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 122 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Alice Braga (Kill Me Three Times), Brooke Bloom (She's Lost Control), Cate Blanchett (Carol), Charlotte Rampling (45 Years), Geraldine Chaplin (Sand Dollars), Giulia Salerno (Misunderstood), Greta Gerwig (Mistress America), Günes Sensoy (Mustang), Hadas Yaron (Felix and Meira), Hannah Murray (Bridgend), Helen Mirren (Woman in Gold), Jennifer Aniston (Cake), Jennifer Prediger (Apartment Troubles), Jess Weixler (Apartment Troubles), Joséphine Japy (Breathe), Julianne Moore (Freeheld), Juliette Binoche (Clouds of Sils Maria), Lola Kirke (Mistress America), Lou de Laâge (Breathe), Margot Robbie (Z for Zachariah), Melissa Rauch (The Bronze), Regina Casé (The Second Mother), Yanet Mojica (Sand Dollars)

Runners-up:
Alison Brie (Sleeping with Other People)
Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
Rooney Mara (Carol)
Taylor Schilling (The Overnight)
Maggie Smith (The Lady in the Van)

The winner:
Brie Larson (Room) molded a mother with literally nothing besides her son in her life, creating a character so strong and full of happiness that in no way matched the horror of her reality.

Other nominees:
Jennifer Lawrence (Joy) teamed up with David O. Russell for another immensely successful collaboration, this time playing a real person defined by perseverance against all odds and a fantastic driven lead for a superb film. Ronit Elkabetz (Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem) was an inspiring emblem of fruitless efforts, constantly crying out for freedom and being repeatedly denied any rights. Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) stole her film from her costar with a more enticing role as a spirited, opinionated wife not content to be relegated to the shadows in any part of her relationship. Lily Tomlin (Grandma) walked all over every single other person in her film, creating a nightmare of a grandmother who actually has more heart than she cares to admit.

AFT Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role

This is the second category of the 8th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 156 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Analeigh Tipton (Two Night Stand), Anne Hathaway (Interstellar), Anne Hathaway (Song One), Audrey Tautou (Chinese Puzzle), Cheng Pei Pei (Lilting), Claudia Bassols (Tasting Menu), Dana Ivgy (Zero Motivation), Del Herbert-Jane (52 Tuesdays), Desiree Akhavan (Appropriate Behavior), Eleanor Wyld (Frequencies), Ellen Dorrit Petersen (Blind), Emily Baldoni (Coherence), Emily Blunt (Into the Woods), Florence Loiret Caille (The Little Bedroom), Jenny Slate (Obvious Child), Katherine Waterston (Manhattan Romance), Keira Knightley (Begin Again), Leighton Meester (Life Partners), Lindsay Duncan (Le Week-End), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Frank), Mari Kitia (Brides), Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night), Meredith Hagner (Hits), Meron Getnet (Difret), Nelly Tagar (Zero Motivation), Quvenzhane Wallis (Annie), Tess Amorim (The Way He Looks), Tilda Cobham-Hervey (52 Tuesdays), Tizita Hagere (Difret)

Runners-up:
Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
Noel Wells (Forev)
Anna Kendrick (Happy Christmas)
Shailene Woodley (White Bird in a Blizzard)
Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)

The winner:
Reese Witherspoon (Wild) delivered her best performance in years, stripping away ever part of her cutesy personality that has made her so familiar and loveable and leaving a hardened but equally compelling figure in her place.

Other nominees:
Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything) had the tough job of acting opposite someone with a showier role and still managed to deliver a heartfelt and emotional depiction of a wife eternally dedicated to her husband. Jessica Chastain (The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby) kept her character from truly disappearing, saying a great deal without uttering many words and wearing heartbreak all over her face. Elisabeth Moss (Listen Up Philip) exhibited such true creativity and individuality next to someone who couldn’t hope to acknowledge how smart she really was. Paulina Garcia (Gloria) was full of life and determination as a woman navigating love and other challenges of getting older.

AFT Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role

This is the second category of the 7th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 100 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Carmen Maura (Let My People Go!), Brit Marling (The East), Sandra Bullock (Gravity), Emmanuelle Devos (Just a Sigh), Cherien Dabis (May in the Summer), Teresa Palmer (Warm Bodies), Felicity Price (Wish You Were Here)

Runners-up:
Berenice Bejo (The Past)
Sofia Oria (Blancanieves)
Shailene Woodley (The Spectacular Now)
Trine Dyrholm (Love Is All You Need)
Judi Dench (Philomena)

The winner:
Adèle Exarchupoulos (Blue is the Warmest Color) was so incredibly naïve and curious as a young lesbian beginning an intense romance, and her amazed attitude is part of what made the film work so well.

Other nominees:
Scarlett Johansson (Her) gave an out-of-body performance that felt realer than almost anything else in the film (in a good way). Robin Weigert (Concussion) exuded an nervous but optimistic attitude about the new line of work her character finds herself in, and smartly underplayed what could have been an over-the-top role. Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Enough Said) was neurotic as usual but put a good sweet-natured twist on her typical character. Hadas Yaron (Fill the Void) was highly emotional but so marvelously composed as a devout young woman put into an impossible situation.

AFT Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role

This is the second category of the 6th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 95 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Valeria Bertuccelli (All In ), Keira Knightley (Anna Karenina ), Sonia Nassery Cole (The Black Tulip), Bitsie Tulloch (Caroline and Jackie ), Marguerite Moreau (Caroline and Jackie ), Michelle Jenner (Extraterrestrial), Emily Blunt (The Five-Year Engagement), Jenna Fischer (The Giant Mechanical Man), Lola Creton (Goodbye First Love), Elizabeth Banks (People Like Us), Eva Green (Perfect Sense), Noomi Rapace (Prometheus), Maggie Smith (Quartet), Melanie Laurent (La Rafle), Aubrey Plaza (Safety Not Guaranteed), Astrid Bergès-Frisbey (The Well-Digger’s Daughter), Emily Blunt (Your Sister’s Sister)

Runners-up:
Zoe Kazan (Ruby Sparks)
Rosemarie DeWitt (Your Sister’s Sister)
Kara Hayward (Moonrise Kingdom)
Ashley Hinshaw (About Cherry)
Linda Cardellini (Return)

The winner:
Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) stole every scene in which she appeared as the sardonic, fire-cracking widow with specific goals and little patience for anyone who got in her way.

Other nominees:
Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) proved that last year wasn’t a fluke by turning in a focused performance as the tireless CIA agent who helped take down Osama Bin Laden. Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) displayed an infectious energy as the spirited Hushpuppy, living in her own magical world and owning every moment of it. Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone) returned to her native language for a difficult and heart-wrenching performance as a victim whose life will never again be the same. Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) fully inhabited the role of an elderly woman whose health sharply declines, perfectly capturing every joyous and painful moment.

AFT Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role

This is the second category of the 5th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 138 Films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions (in alphabetical order):
Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids), Jodie Foster (Carnage), Juliette Binoche (Certified Copy), Jessica Chastain (The Debt), Helen Mirren (The Debt), Harmony Santana (Gun Hill Road), Viola Davis (The Help), Zana Marjanovic (In the Land of Blood and Honey), Judy Marte (Maria My Love), Alana Kearns-Green (Mary Marie), Alexandra Roxo (Mary Marie), Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Melancholia), Anne Hathaway (One Day), Elena Anaya (The Skin I Live In), Isabelle Huppert (Special Treatment), Yasmin Paige (Submarine), Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin), Rachel Weisz (The Whistleblower), Charlize Theron (Young Adult)

Runners-up:
Isabelle Carré (Romantics Anonymous), Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin (Incendies), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Leila Hatami (A Separation), Sibel Kekilli (When We Leave

The winner:
Agnes Kittelsen (Happy, Happy) projected an image of energetic joy in her portrayal of an unhappily married but perky woman.

Other nominees:
Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) was firm, fiery, and fully immersed in her interpretation of Margaret Thatcher. Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) added an unexpected comic tone to her antisocial hacker protagonist. Helene Bergsholm (Turn Me On, Goddamit) was nuanced and subtle in her portrayal of a deeply rebellious teen. Charlize Theron (Young Adult) was hilarious as the world’s biggest bitch, never remotely ashamed in her delivery.

AFT Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role

This is the second category of the 4th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 177 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions (in alphabetical order):
Gemma Arterton (The Disappearance of Alice Creed), Gemma Arterton (Tamara Drewe), Alicja Bachleda (Ondine), Annette Bening (Mother and Child), Madeline Caroll (Flipped), Chiara Caselli (The Father of My Children), Julia Deakin (Down Terrace), Emilie Dequenne (The Girl on the Train), Cameron Diaz (Knight and Day), Portia Doubleday (Youth in Revolt), Greta Gerwig (Greenberg), Anne Hathaway (Love and Other Drugs), Sally Hawkins (Made in Dagenham), Isabelle Huppert (White Material), Catherine Keener (Please Give), Demi Moore (The Joneses), Julianne Moore (The Kids Are All Right), Kelly O’Neill (Kisses), Vanessa Paradis (Heartbreaker), Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Emma Stone (Paper Man), Kristin Scott Thomas (Leaving), Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland), Naomi Watts (Mother and Child), Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World)

Runners-up:
KIM HYE-JA (Mother)
NICOLE KIDMAN (Rabbit Hole)
TILDA SWINTON (I Am Love)
EMMA STONE (Easy A)
KATIE ASELTON (The Freebie)

The winner:
Lesley Manville (Another Year) buried herself into this year’s strongest Mike Leigh-directed performance, authentically and mesmerizingly playing an ordinary woman who couldn’t hope to recognize her dependence on others.

Other nominees:
Katie Jarvis (Fish Tank) delivered a raw, magnetic turn in her film debut. Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone) acted much older than her age as she played a teenager desperately to be an adult. Naomi Watts (Fair Game) embodied a real-life CIA agent and made her seem brave, tough, and strong without resorting to action-oriented tricks. Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right) perfected her high-strung, sardonic archetype to hilariously and dramatically portray an atypical wife and mother.

AFT Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role

This is the second category of the 3rd Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 92 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions (in alphabetical order):
Amy Adams (Julie & Julia), Marion Cotillard (Nine), Zooey Deschanel (500 Days of Summer), Helen Mirren (The Last Station), Julia Roberts (Duplicity), Meg Ryan (Serious Moonlight), Gabourey Sidibe (Precious), Audrey Tautou (Coco Before Chanel)

Runners-up:
ABBIE CORNISH (Bright Star)
MICHELLE MONAGHAN (Trucker)
MAYA RUDOLPH (Away We Go)
ELLEN PAGE (Whip It)
EMILY BLUNT (The Young Victoria)

The winner:
Carey Mulligan (An Education) was wonderfully charming and delightful as a young girl with a bright future ahead of her and an adventurous desire to see and experience the world.

Other nominees:
Tilda Swinton (Julia) held nothing back as an alcoholic woman actively working to mess her life up and provided a mesmerizing portrait of someone dealing with bad decisions. Penelope Cruz (Broken Embraces) lit up the screen the moment she appeared as an aspiring actress with two men with an eternally sunny disposition. Meryl Streep (Julia & Julia) let loose and had fun cooking up a storm in a commendable imitation of the incomparable Julia Child. Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) gave a tour de force performance at age 15 as a murdered girl who has far more to experience than just her life, and anchored a movie far beneath her talents.

AFT Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role

This is the second category of the 2nd Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them.

Runners-up:
KATE WINSLET, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
ANNASOPHIA ROBB, SLEEPWALKING
RONIT ELKABETZ, THE BAND’S VISIT
KRISTIN BELL, FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS, I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG

The winner:
Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky) embodied the bubbliest, most unflappable cinematic character ever to grace the screen. Nothing could get her down, and it was a perfectly lived-in performance.

Other nominees:
Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married) impressed me for the first time and blew me away with her honest turn as a fresh-out-of-rehab druggie crashing her sister’s wedding. Melissa Leo (Frozen River) conveyed the desperation of her single mother’s situation, and charted a magnificent and unexpected course for her character. Angelina Jolie (Changeling) kept her emotions in check while fighting against corruption and lies, and stayed strong doing it. Meryl Streep (Doubt) took on indecency and less-talked about horrors with a fierce vengeance that was both humorous and never for a second showed signs of letting up.

AFT Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role

This is the second category of the 1st Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are listed in alphabetical order by film title. Winners will be announced in late February.

Runners-up:
KERI RUSSELL, WAITRESS
KATHERINE HEIGL, KNOCKED UP
JULIE CHRISTIE, AWAY FROM HER
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY, ATONEMENT
LAURA LINNEY, THE SAVAGES

The nominees:
CECILE DE FRANCE, AVENUE MONTAIGNE
This is one those films that intertwines dozens of characters in fun and inventive ways, and de France is the glue holding them all together. Her genuine excitement every time she meets someone and her obedient acceptance to waitress under perhaps less-than-desirable conditions are integral parts of her cheerful performance. This is one of those performances that can hardly be described but needs to be seen in its entirety to really get the effect.

LOREN HORSLEY, EAGLE VS. SHARK
The first and most obviously difficult thing for Horsley is the fact that she had to play opposite “Flight of the Conchords” frontman Jemaine Clement. Yet Horsley defies all expectations and responds with perfect subtlety to every one of his outrageous indignations and selfish behavior. She cannot be disturbed and is willing to go the distance for a guy who clearly cannot healthily express his feelings for her the same way she can for him. The entire movie is her showcase.

ELLEN PAGE, JUNO
Page is the only returning nominee from my awards last year (prior to the existence of “Movies with Abe”). I already knew that she had it in her to give an awe-inspiring performance and be so delightfully creepy. I could only have hoped that her comedic skills would be as sharp and tremendous as her dramatic chops, and my expectations were more than fully met. Page breathes every word of Diablo Cody’s script and transforms it into reality. Her interactions with any and all of her castmates are the most fun.

ANGELINA JOLIE, A MIGHTY HEART
I have never been a huge fan of Jolie’s acting ability, but she really surprised me here. Despite the presence of a thick accent, Jolie pulled off a believable impersonation of a distressed but steadfast journalist searching for her missing husband. Jolie’s Mariane Pearl never loses her composure in the search for her husband, staying strong up until the end, genuinely appreciate of everyone’s efforts to locate him. That is what makes her breakdown at the end of the film all the more powerful.

MARION COTILLARD, LA VIE EN ROSE
I hardly realized that I had actually seen Cotillard in a number of films before this one, including “Big Fish” and “A Good Year”. As with Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood”, Cotillard completely throws herself unconditionally into the role. This is one of the most remarkable transformations I have ever seen in my life. Cotillard is absolutely unrecognizable and fully convincing as French singer Edith Piaf, and as the character ages the performance gets even better. She carries the movie completely with her performance.