The 10 Best Streaming Performances of 2017

It seems like it’s been a long while since Carey Mulligan’s been able to show what she can do on screen to the degree that she does in Mudbound, but it’s such a blessing to see her doing it now. As Laura, the wife of an unimpressive man, who moves her and their kids down to a Mississippi farm where she must get used to the life of a farmwife. Mulligan’s usually bright and bubbly demeanor makes it all the more effective as Laura narrates her new life, now bound to the land they own. Mulligan paints Laura in shades of dust and dirt, then emerges as something stronger and sturdier (and far more complicated) as the film moves along.

Where to stream Mudbound

The Oscar-winning actress tore into her role as mother to a comatose daughter, bringing with it the most un-histrionic show of devotion I’ve seen in forever. She and Ray Romano make for a great pair, and the scene where they both end up popping off in a comedy club is cathartic and very funny in equal measure. Hunter coming around to Kumail by the end of the movie is in many ways the film’s central romantic triumph, and as one of the great difficult women of cinema, she plays very hard to get.

Where to stream The Big Sick

Fed up by the awfulness of the people she encounters on a daily basis, Ruth responds to the aftermath of a burglary at her home by attempting to track the perpetrators down. Paired up with her weirdo neighbor, Ruth tumbles down a rabbit hole into a situation that’s equal parts violent and inept. It’s a tricky genre balance — crime drama and dark comedy — that Lynskey expertly keeps throughout the film. She’s quietly emerged as one of our best and most relatable actresses, offering the audience accessibility with a barbed twist.

Where to stream I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore

After breaking through in such a scorching way as Easy E in Straight Outta Compton, Jason Mitchell was give the opportunity to stretch significantly in Dee Rees’ WWII-era family saga. As a black soldier returning from service in the war, Mitchell cuts to the heart of a character betrayed by the country he fought for. Having risked his life and subjected himself to so many horrors, he’s no longer content to use colored-only entrances and quietly defer to awful white people anymore. Mudbound benefits greatly from Mitchell’s ability to blend strength and devastation into every take.

Where to stream Mudbound

The “Thanksgiving” episode of Master of None was one of the best half-hours of anything all year. Aziz Ansari and Lena Waithe won a well-deserved Emmy for writing that episode, but the secret weapon (or as secret as an Oscar-nominated actress can be) was Angela Bassett as Denise’s mom. She brought so many shades to a woman grappling with her feelings about her lesbian daughter, moving from stubbornness to introspection to irritation and around and back again in a way that felt fresh but most importantly compelling. I’d watch an entire TV show about this woman.

Where to stream Master of None

Say what you will about real people in documentaries not giving true “performances,” but just try not to get blown away by Hersh in the finale episode of Wormwood. Though he doesn’t show up on camera until the sixth episode, legendary investigative reporter Sy Hersh serves to shake the Wormwood audience awake and make them consider everything they’ve seen from a different angle. Hersh gives an almost combative interview with Erroll Morris — two old dogs used to digging for the truth — as he explains his role in uncovering the government’s deceptions regarding the death of Frank Olson and then defends the fact that he knows more than he can say.

Where to stream Wormwood

Justly rewarded by the Emmys and likely many more awards-giving organizations, Elisabeth Moss puts Hulu’s greatest success to date upon her shoulders and carries it. Her performance is a simmering cauldron of anger and fear bubbling under the surface of a cagey and crafty woman who we all desperately need to see take this repressive society down.

Where to stream The Handmaid's Tale

Betty Gilpin took me by surprise in GLOW. Part of that is because the last role I saw her in — the frustratingly incapable Dr. Roman on Nurse Jackie — was not a great showcase. But in 2017, Gilpin truly came into her own. There was her small role on American Gods as he vengeful widow of an unfaithful man, but it was GLOW that brought out her strength and personality. She was the secret weapon on a show that never shortchanged her.

Where to stream GLOW

Having made dozens of low-effort comedies featuring barely committed farts in the place of actual performances, there’s a temptation to give Adam Sandler a low bar to clear when he decides to give a damn in a real movie. But his performance in Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories is the real deal, playing a wrestling conflict within a man who feels betrayed by his father but also jealously stakes out whatever position he can in his father’s good graces at every opportunity. And that’s not even getting into the equally complex relationships he has with his daughter and siblings. There’s sweetness in this performance; there’s regret and stubbornness and a kind of uncertainty that feels very genuine. It’s a real accomplishment that clears a high bar indeed.

Where to stream The Meyerowitz Stories

No argument should be entertained that anyone besides Maya Rudolph gave the comedic performance of the year, because she gave both of the top two. As the Hormone Monstress to Big Mouth‘s confused pubescent Jessi, Rudolph’s every line-reading was a thing of luxurious bombast. And as Dionne Warwick in the flashbacks to Titus Andromedon’s flashbacks to his harrowing cruise experience, Rudolph was an undulating wave of lunacy. By the time we get to Xi Jinping flooding her basement and rusting her Bowflex, it’s a wonder we ever let anyone else perform comedy in this country.

Where to stream Big Mouth

Where to stream Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt