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Standout Performances of 2025: Who We Were Mesmerized by This Year
Whether part of an ensemble or on their own, these actors wowed us.
By Ananda Dillon
Dec. 16, 2025
Impressive Netflix Movie and TV Performances of 2025 - Netflix Tudum
As 2025 comes to a close, it feels like a blur. It’s hard to remember where we were 12 months ago, let alone what movies and shows we were watching. Amid the many great offerings presented to us, what stands out beyond a storyline or a shocking onscreen moment are the actors who transported us with memorable performances.
Whether through subtlety and nuance or boldness and originality, we perked up, paid attention, and had visceral reactions to these portrayals. Of course, there were so many more performances this year deserving of mention, but if you’re looking for a primer on where to start — especially if you missed any of the movies and shows below — let this be your guide. Prepare to laugh, cry, gasp, fume, and maybe even give a standing ovation when you behold these standout performances of 2025 on Netflix.
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Adolescence
Owen Cooper had never acted before taking on the role of Jamie Miller, the 13-year-old boy accused of murder in this four-part series. That’s shocking, because he exhibits total control as he deftly takes us through roller-coaster stages of shock, sadness, anger, and vulnerability. What could have been a straightforward crime story becomes a cautionary tale and a nuanced and insightful look at how misogyny takes root in the very young. This is, in part, because of Owen’s well-executed vacillation between a boy who’s still a child and a teen who has already been corrupted by an insidious adult worldview.
Ballad of a Small Player
A gambler, a liar, and a con man is tough to love, but in this visually stimulating film from Edward Berger, Colin Farrell somehow elicits our sympathy. When he’s not donning his lavish facade, faking wealth and charm, we see the desperation and stubborn hope Lord Doyle feels amid his dire situation. Farrell uses his full body, sweating, bleeding, and soaking in the Macao downpours while the casinos’ neon lights shine off his oiled hair. We willingly join Lord Doyle on the roller coaster of his gambling addiction, hoping for the best while the odds stack up against him.
The Beast in Me
In a battle of wits, it can be hard to choose who’s making us more tense, especially in this thriller about a writer and a mogul who’s also maybe a murderer. Matthew Rhys delivers one of the creepiest performances of the year as the overconfident developer Nile Jarvis, but it’s Claire Danes as the grieving writer Aggie Wiggs who holds our morbid attention. Danes balances Aggie’s intellectual curiosity and her obsession with the mysterious Nile. Her vacillation between feeling unnerved by him while also holding her own in their verbal parrying sustains the tension. Is she in danger? Can she outsmart this powerful and possibly sociopathic tycoon?
Exterritorial
A protective mother, a badass soldier, and a PTSD-afflicted survivor — Sara Wulf is all of these in this German thriller. Sara is played by Jeanne Goursaud, whose sustained energy makes this performance an explosive gem. Goursaud gives Sara the gritty determination unique to a mother on the edge, and her commitment to the physicality of the role is impressive. In a film with so many twists and turns — and stakes so high — Goursaud gives us a fully realized action hero with emotional depth, centering the story and keeping the audience fully engaged.
Frankenstein
It’s hard to choose just one actor’s performance in Guillermo del Toro’s romantically gothic vision of Mary Shelley’s novel, but of the many actors who have taken on the role of the Creature, Jacob Elordi stands out. From his beginnings as a composite of body parts with a heartbeat and a simple mind, he transforms into a real person with curiosity, instinct, and emotion. Elordi portrays the Creature as both a pure being with human potential and one tortured by the doomed existence his creator bestowed on him. Plus, not many could make the creature an object of desire, but the internet has plenty to say about that.
The Hunting Wives
In just one season, Sophie O’Neil (Brittany Snow) went from a wounded, doe-eyed city girl in over her head among the rich, gun-toting housewives of East Texas to a vilified scapegoat willing to do what it takes to prove her innocence. Margo (Malin Akerman) seduces us alongside Sophie with her own powerful performance, but Snow sells us from the start on Sophie as a fractured, timid wreck. Her dark past and her desire to be a better wife and mother collide with the freedom and agency these new women present. It’s the sort of tug and pull that keeps us guessing and rooting for Sophie despite her questionable choices. Snow’s had a busy year as she also gave us a riveting turn as wealthy housewife Nina Jarvis in the thriller series, The Beast in Me.
Jay Kelly
George Clooney and Adam Sandler, already both Golden Globe-nominated for their roles, are exemplary as longtime client and agent — and ultimately best friends — Jay Kelly and Ron Sukenick. While Clooney’s Kelly questions his celebrity life and career choices, it’s Sandler’s arc that offers a slightly more relatable journey: that of a man realizing the energy he’s put into others may not have yielded the returns he thought it would. Sandler gives Sukenick a lovable empathy as he juggles his devotion to his family and his devotion to his clients. Clearly, in Sukenick’s mind, there’s little difference between the two — to the point that, when he suspects his devotion isn’t reciprocated, it tears down his very identity. Sandler plays quiet devastation and personal hurt with a nuance that makes us want to jump into the film and hold his hand.
Monster: The Ed Gein Story
It takes a brave actor to say yes to a role based on a historical figure who inspired the worst villains in pop culture. Charlie Hunnam was up for the challenge, portraying serial killer Ed Gein, the Butcher of Plainfield, with a thoughtful touch. Hunnam, a hulk of a human, convinces us he’s a simple soul, raised by a strict, religious, and abusive mother and somehow both gentle and brutal in his actions. He’s a thoughtful friend and romantic, even if he’s a product of the sexism of the ’50s. But he’s also deeply scarred and mentally unsound at a time before proper diagnoses, which manifests in the unspeakable violence Gein is known for. The series capitalizes on and denounces the sensational nature of true crime, and Hunnam skillfully elicits sympathy for a monster.
Stranger Things
We’re just four episodes into Stranger Things 5 and we’ve already been given solid performances from this ensemble cast: Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is ready to fight on her own; Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) is mourning a friend while standing up to his bullies; and Max (Sadie Sink) is returning with a bang, ready to be the hero Holly (Nell Fisher) needs. But it’s Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) who had us gasping at Episode 4’s final moments. Schnapp brings Will from Season 1’s consistently tortured kid to a young man who refuses to be Vecna’s victim any longer in Season 5. From standing up to his overprotective mother (Winona Ryder) to tapping into the power of his oppressor to save the day, Will, as played by Schnapp, demonstrates a formidable confidence, giving his friends and family (plus all us fans) renewed hope for the final showdown.
STRAW
Representing the collective pain and dire circumstances of the working poor, Taraji P. Henson plays Janiyah Wiltkinson with unrestrained emotional abandon. In this Tyler Perry film, Janiyah has the worst day imaginable while already just scraping by, leading to what feels like a justified mental break. Henson has the pain of a thousand mothers pushed to their limits etched into her face as she jumps from one desperate move to the next. Because of her vulnerability, it's impossible not to feel empathy, even as Janiyah is forced to make one bad decision after another.
Squid Game
Season 3 of this wildly popular Korean series saw Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) defeated and devastated by the death of his best friend after a failed rebellion. He now knows the man he thought was his ally last season is actually the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun). Lee Jung-jae has taken Gi-hun from a desperate, impoverished man with nothing to lose to a man on a mission, determined to avenge the atrocities he’s witnessed. In Season 3, he transforms once again, from confident leader to broken man. By the end of the season, Gi-hun’s defeated nature has kept him less involved in the gameplay, but he still refuses to give the Front Man what he wants: an entertaining show. Lee imbues Gi-hun with a quieter, more resigned fury, and the crazy series ending is only possible because we’ve believed so completely in Gi-hun’s transformation.
Train Dreams
If life is in the details, then Train Dreams is the story of a life — Robert Grainier’s (Joel Edgerton), to be specific. His small observations and moments of joy and pain make up the whole of who he is while also embodying America’s rapid expansion in the early 20th century. Edgerton is our eyes into this world, and his delicate acting invites us to feel alongside him. He shows us that life is made up of simple moments that can also be the most beautiful. Edgerton excels here by not getting in his own way or pulling too much focus away from the lush greenery and natural landscapes that make up the setting — and add to the meaning — of Grainier’s life.
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