ON THE RADAR

CAILEE SPAENY AND ZOE LISTER-JONES IN “HOW IT ENDS”

The best film acting moments of 2021 that demand your attention

To call 2021 a great year for cinema is an understatement. With so many choices to consider, we’re singling out individual scenes that demonstrate the kind of filmmaking artistry that deserves attention come awards season. Let’s take a look at the acting moments that may have flown under the radar this year. For SAG Award nominators’ consideration: these examples of acting excellence.

Zoe Lister-Jones talks to her younger self in “How It Ends”

Picture this: The world as we know it has come to an end, and life rolls to a standstill. We’re isolated, alone, and losing track of the things that used to make us happy, and the end is nigh. Considering the last year and a half, that’s either a too-close-to-home pitch or a story that’s just a little too depressing to have audiences flocking to it. Somehow, though, Zoe Lister-Jones’ pandemic-created comedy “How It Ends” makes it all work while also eliciting laughs.

Stuck in Los Angeles in summer 2020 with little to do—and even less certainty about what the future might hold—Lister-Jones got a bunch of her Hollywood friends together to film quick and quippy vignettes dramatizing what it might look like if we knew the world was ending in 24 hours. What interactions would we have over the course of that day? The filmmaker stars as Liza, a cynical Californian with more than a few skeletons in her closet. Will she choose to clear her conscience and reconnect with old friends before all is lost? There’s a tempting end-of-the-world party on her calendar that may be her ticket to salvation—if only she cared enough.

The movie features a who’s-who of cameos—including Lister-Jones’ buds Nick Kroll, Fred Armisen, Paul W. Downs, Olivia Wilde, and musician Sharon Van Etten. But the film’s heart comes from Lister-Jones grappling with her younger self (played by Cailee Spaeny of “Mare of Easttown”) over mortality’s biggest questions. Their conversations about regret and growth, shared while strolling down barren suburban roads, capture the weight and introspection we’ve all experienced at one time or another this year. The light’s at the end of the tunnel and the credits have rolled, but the questions the film raises during its slim

80-minute runtime have stuck with me for months. —Benjamin Lindsay

Ruby’s family watches her recital in “CODA”

While many scenes in Sian Heder’s Apple TV+ feature “CODA” will bring a tear to the eye, there’s one in particular that exemplifies the film’s central quandary: Ruby, played by Emilia Jones, is the sole hearing member of an otherwise deaf family; she is also a gifted singer.

Late in the film, though having wavered in their support of their daughter, Ruby’s mother, father, and brother—played exquisitely by deaf actors Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, and Daniel Durant, respectively—attend her recital. We as the audience watch and listen as she nails her solo. Then, with jarring swiftness, the sound cuts out, and we experience the performance through the eyes and ears of Ruby’s father.

As he scans the auditorium, his emotions are visible on his face: The rest of the audience gets to hear his daughter share her talents with the world, and all he can do is look on and try to pick up on cues of when to applaud. It isn’t a flashy film moment, but it’s a deeply affecting display of how the Deaf community is ostracized from the experiences of a hearing society. It also underscores the power of showing up for your family, even when the world has given you every reason not to. —Casey Mink

Patti Harrison and Ed Helms have a baby in “Together Together”

There are elements of both comedy and romance in Nikole Beckwith’s “Together Together,” but the film can’t be categorized as a rom-com. The comedy comes courtesy of stars Ed Helms and Patti Harrison as Matt and Anna, a 40-something father-to-be and the 20-something woman who agrees to be his surrogate. The romance, though, is far less straightforward—and far more original than most guy-meets-girl stories.

That’s because, over the course of nine months, Matt and Anna develop a true friendship. We traverse all the typical ups and downs of a love that’s meant to be, but this romance is platonic rather than amorous. By the time their baby is due, Helms and Harrison have put us through the emotional wringer, conveying the kind of hard-won partnership that’s difficult to accomplish in only two hours.

It all crescendos with Anna giving birth. Harrison fills the screen in closeup, sweatdrenched, tear-soaked, and panting. Off camera, we hear a newborn cry and Matt exclaim, “Welcome to the world!” Cut to black. Roll credits. (I’m sobbing.) It’s a moment of cinematic catharsis that reminds us why we watch movies, right when you least expect it. —Jack Smart

ED HELMS AND PATTI HARRISON IN “TOGETHER TOGETHER” DANIEL DURANT, MARLEE MATLIN, AND TROY KOTSUR IN “CODA”

The family hostage sequence in “No Sudden Move”

One of the downsides of a film debuting early in the year is that by the time awards season rolls around, it has often been forgotten. But Steven Soderbergh’s HBO Max film “No Sudden Move,” a period thriller about a heist gone wrong, deserves to be remembered.

The story starts when Curt (longtime Soderbergh collaborator Don Cheadle) is hired to blackmail a man and hold his family hostage. He enlists Ronald (Benicio Del Toro) and Charley (Kieran Culkin) to help him with the job, and it doesn’t take long for things to go awry. Curt slowly begins to suspect something is up and has to make a split-second decision, which I won’t spoil here.

JESSICA CHASTAIN AND ANDREW GARFIELD IN “THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE”

DEV PATEL AND ALICIA VIKANDER IN “THE GREEN KNIGHT”

Soderbergh masterfully ratchets up the tension with anxiety-inducing cuts of back-andforths, the constant ringing of a phone that’s as hypnotic as it is annoying, and a beautiful score composed by David Holmes. Aspiring filmmakers should watch this scene to learn how to push people to the edge of their seats and keep them there. —Jalen Michael

The faceoff in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”

One could argue that three-time Emmy-winning makeup artist Linda Dowds steals the show in Searchlight Pictures’ “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.” However, all that transformative artistry would fall flat if Jessica Chastain weren’t giving it life. Tammy Faye Bakker was a walking, talking caricature, and she was relentlessly made fun of for it. But Chastain evokes an empathy and sweetness that win us over.

Beneath the makeup, hair, and clothes, she brings out the courage of the televangelist in a time and place characterized by bigotry and misogyny. The scene that most stands out showcases Tammy Faye’s authentic love for people. She boldly inserts herself into a men’s-only luncheon at Jerry Falwell’s (Vincent D’Onofrio) mansion. When the conversation turns to politics, Tammy Faye jumps in to remind the room that religion isn’t political, and that as spiritual leaders, their job is to love all people. Oh, how I wish they had listened! The late Bakker was nothing if not fully herself each and every day, and watching Chastain embody that fearlessness is a treat. —Kasey Howe

Dev Patel tells an old tale told anew in “The Green Knight”

In “The Green Knight,” David Lowery’s off-thewall adaptation of an enigmatic 14th-century poem, Dev Patel gives arguably his most accomplished performance to date. As Sir Gawain, he travels the mythical lands of Arthurian England after beheading the Green Knight (Ralph Ineson) at the king’s (Sean Harris) Christmas banquet. Although the act confirms Gawain’s hero status, it comes at a price: In a year’s time, he must present his own neck to the knight and allow him to take vengeance.

The role enables Patel to showcase his impressive dramatic and comedic range. From the bawdy early scenes with his lover (Alicia Vikander, who later appears in the film in a different role) to encounters with giants, a talking fox, and a range of lords, ladies, and ne’er-do-wells, the eminently likable Patel proves to be the perfect journeyman. And in the film’s moving climactic sequence, when Gawain must confront his fate, he captures the existential crisis at the character’s heart. Patel is a sympathetic Arthurian knight for our age. —Theo Bosanquet

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE

BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE ROONEY MARA OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE

BY A FEMALE ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE CATE BLANCHETT TONI COLLETTE MARY STEENBURGEN