The 15 best performances that won't get Oscar recognition (but should)

In a good film year — and all chaos aside, 2021 really was one of them — there are always more great performances than the five nominees each acting category allows. Some of them suffered from bad timing or poor pandemic turnout; others just gave performances that were subtler or stranger or less Academy-friendly than the (also very deserving) frontrunners. Some of them might even still surprise us (pulling for you, Dev Patel!)

But while the last ballots are tallied before voting ends this Tuesday at 5 p.m. PT, here are 15 under-the-radar turns — or if you count a double-dipped Mahershala, 16 — we'd love to see rewarded when nominations are announced on Feb. 8.

Jodie Comer, The Last Duel

Medieval mullets, dismal box office, and Ridley Scott's other Oscar contender ended up overshadowing Duel, which is unfortunate because the woman at the center of the Rashomon-like tale delivered one of the most quietly devastating performances of the year. As Marguerite — a nobleman's wife who accuses his frenemy of rape — Comer expertly calibrates her performance for the three chapters of the film, each depicting a version of the crime. She's stoic, heartbreaking, human — and makes it clear that there is only one truth. — Clarissa Cruz

Dakota Johnson, The Lost Daughter

Part of the appeal of Maggie Gyllenhaal's accomplished directorial debut The Lost Daughter is how well all the parts work together; it's almost cruel to single out any of the elements. But even within a cast that includes Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, and Ed Harris, Dakota Johnson summons at least 50 new shades of subtlety, first as a frazzled mother on the beach, losing her identity in constant childcare emergencies, then as a more complex creation, stealing away for private moments of independence. If she's evolving into a new Kristen Stewart, this is her pivotal transition. — Joshua Rothkopf

Oscar Isaac, The Card Counter

Along with Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac was the most approachable thing about Dune; they were a space mom and dad who supplied parental warmth to the grander plot trajectories. But it's his hollow-eyed, haunted turn in Paul Schrader's gambling thriller that we love the most. When Schrader does these kinds of characters — taxi drivers, tortured pastors, lonely men all — a lot of the work is on the page, with the performer dialing down his expressiveness. But Isaac finds a new way to illuminate from within, especially after Tiffany Haddish enters the picture. — JR

Penélope Cruz, Parallel Mothers

We take Pedro Almodóvar for granted, turning out his exquisite dramedies like clockwork, always with a palette of primary colors that sizzle the eyes. Reuniting with his longtime muse for another victory lap, the director wrote a part for Penélope Cruz that taps into everything we love about her, particularly the impulsiveness, hints of guilt and boldness intermingling. Playing a character dealt blows and blessings in roughly equal measure, the actress has never been better, and it's only due to Oscar's longtime struggle with subtitles that she's not more in the conversation. — JR

Ben Affleck, The Last Duel

In a year full of stellar turns — Benedict Cumberbatch, please report to the podium — some were bound to fall through the cracks. Like Ben Affleck in Last Duel, whose take on a libertine count in Ridley Scott's medieval drama was marred by poor box office and unfortunate boy-band hair. But for a supposedly lightweight role, he's a low-key revelation: funny, layered, and surprisingly soulful. — Leah Greenblatt

Hidetoshi Nishijima, Drive My Car

Yes, this is the three-hour Japanese movie all the critics went crazy for. And yes, it really is that good — not least because of Hidetoshi Nishijima's central performance as a tightly controlled Tokyo theater director who finds his way through a devastating loss, counterintuitively, by taking his hands off the wheel. You may not think you're up for several hours of grief and subtitles but trust us, it flies by. — LG

Anders Danielsen Lie, The Worst Person in the World

Norwegian actor Anders Danielsen Lie has worked for years with director Joachim Trier, but his turn in Trier's luminous romantic drama — already a frontrunner for Best International Feature this year — is such a profound emotional journey, you might need actual medical attention by the end. (Which Lie can provide for you; he's also a practicing MD). — LG

Dev Patel, The Green Knight

Dev Patel is both the hero and the antihero of David Lowery's dreamy, disorienting medieval fantasy The Green Knight, a young aristocrat forced to prove his mettle in a film whose unabashed artiness might have felt hollow without the anchoring presence of an actor as grounded and gorgeously empathetic as the 31-year-old Brit. — LG

Simon Rex, Red Rocket

This season, Oscar should've stood upright, at attention for Simon Rex's career-best turn in Sean Baker's new dramedy about a porn-star–turned–cunning-schmoozeball conning his way through rural Texas. The (typically supporting) comedian sprints with this rare opportunity to sink his teeth into a lead role. From the moment he slithers onscreen, Rex makes it easy to lap up his character's grimy grunge with a wink and a sweet promise that there's treasure in trash — if you surrender to its charms. — Joey Nolfi

Nicolas Cage, Pig

Nicolas Cage's IMDb page has tilted more toward quantity than quality in the past decade (or let's be real, a while longer than that). So it feels like a gift to stumble on a small, wonderful surprise like Pig, in which he plays an exiled Oregon chef forced to join the world again when his beloved truffle pig is stolen by poachers. Chops? He's still got 'em. — LG

Alana Haim, Licorice Pizza

As dependable as Paul Thomas Anderson is for acting triumphs, no one anticipated the charm offensive mounted by the youngest Haim sister, who took a role custom-fitted to her Valley cadences, and invested it with uniqueness. Her character is floating in that singular way you do in your twenties. She doesn't quite know what she wants. Maybe it's a fawning partner in crime (Cooper Hoffman). Maybe it's an over-the-hill celeb (Sean Penn). Maybe it's a job that doesn't involve ass-grabbing. Watching her wobble between options was one of the year's distinct pleasures. — JR

Clifton Collins Jr., Jockey

Horse movies tend to follow certain contours — there's usually a scrappy upstart, a special foal, a Big Race — and Jockey (which bowed to acclaim on the festival circuit, though it hardly played in theaters) isn't really an exception. But Clint Bentley's spare, meditative drama carves out a lovely space for veteran character actor Clifton Collins Jr. (Capote, Westworld): As an aging rider reckoning with past mistakes and missed chances, he's prickly, hopeful, and quietly devastating. — LG

Kathryn Hunter, The Tragedy of Macbeth

Which witch? She's the whole coven in Joel Cohen's lushly stylized black-and-white Macbeth: a 64-year-old British theater veteran not shy to be stealing thunder from the likes of Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand with an eerie, otherworldly performance whose wicked impact lingers long after its few minutes are up. — LG

Peter Dinklage, Cyrano

He may have won four Emmys for Game of Thrones, but the House Lannister never asked him to add song and dance to his repertoire. As the titular swashbuckler in this sunny Mediterranean-set musical adaptation from director Joe Wright (Darkest Hour, Atonement), Peter Dinklage clearly knows his way around the swordplay; it's the tender, damaged poetry of his performance, though, that wins the day. — LG

Mahershala Ali, Swan Song

Two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali doesn't need another accolade to prove his soulfulness, but Benjamin Cleary's sleek sci-fi drama is the perfect showcase for it. Playing both Cameron, an affluent designer secretly grappling with terminal illness, and Jack, the clone he commissioned so his beloved wife and son won't have to deal with life without him, Ali is a marvel. He somehow manages to convey the exquisite torture of knowing too much — and not enough — in an impossible situation. Twice. — CC

Follow EW's ongoing coverage out of Sundance here.

Related content:

• See adorable throwback photos of stars at past Sundance Film Festivals
• How Michelle Williams' dream about Heath Ledger inspired a Sundance Special Jury Prize winner
• See the full Sundance 2022 festival lineup
• 2022 awards season calendar: Oscars, Grammys, Golden Globes, and more
• The Sundance Must List: 12 titles to catch at the digital indie fest