Image via Janus Films
Published Feb 14, 2026, 3:36 PM EST
Anja Djuricic was born in Belgrade, Serbia, in 1992. Her first interest in film started very early, as she learned to speak English by watching Disney animated movies (and many, many reruns). Anja soon became inspired to learn more foreign languages to understand more movies, so she entered the Japanese language and literature Bachelor Studies at the University of Belgrade.
Anja is also one of the founders of the DJ duo Vazda Garant, specializing in underground electronic music influenced by various electronic genres.
Anja loves to do puzzles in her spare time, pet cats wherever she meets them, and play The Sims. Anja's Letterboxd four includes Memories of Murder, Parasite, Nope, and The Road to El Dorado.
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We tend to praise great actors and applaud method acting, intense transformations, and dedicated performances. Look at any compilation of so-called "great acting," and you'll probably see the usual faces, all doing various degrees of yelling. However, less is said of a great female performance. For a woman, a performance can be as deep as delving within herself and finding a moment when she was forced to change, adapt, or stay the same when it wasn't in her nature.
Many of the most memorable female performances in cinema are somehow related to identity, staying true in the midst of forced or unpredicted change, releasing inhibitions, taking up space, and becoming fully what they're meant to be. Here are the greatest female performances of all time, the most remembered, the most talked about, and the most revered. Attempting to rank them is no easy task, which only speaks to the embarrassment of riches available throughout cinematic history.
25 Sissy Spacek - 'Carrie' (1976)
Image via United ArtistsCarrie is one of the best psychological horror/thrillers from the 1970s. It gave us a glimpse into what a great adaptation of a Stephen King novel can look like, and it gave us Sissy Spacek’s most iconic performance as the titular protagonist, Carrie White. Spacek plays Carrie with a vulnerability that makes her transformation feel relatable; she takes enough until it's no longer bearable, shedding her hunched posture, hesitant eye contact, and a lowered voice, and unleashing all the pent-up rage and emotions.
Carrie follows a high school girl, Carrie White, who lives with her strict religious mother and suffers constant bullying at school. Carrie quickly realizes that she has the power of telekinesis — moving things with her mind — and as she develops it, she gains more confidence and curiosity about the world, though still in secret. Even when the big final moment happens, Spacek still portrays Carrie as a frightened, wounded child reacting to cruelty the only way she knows how. Sissy Spacek was one of the first to show us that horror performances deserve widespread recognition, earning an Oscar nomination for her efforts.
24 Pam Grier - 'Jackie Brown' (1997)
Image via Miramax FilmsPam Grier deserves recognition for standing still on that airport conveyor belt at the start of Jackie Brown alone; still, the entire film is just as brilliant. Quentin Tarantino directs her as the badass woman she is, and even names the entire movie after her character. Tarantino adapted the screenplay from Elmore Leonard's novel Rum Punch, but decided to make the protagonist Black, being inspired by the blaxploitation films in which Grier often starred. The film itself is sort of dedicated to and revolves around Grier, despite many characters intertwining.
Jackie Brown follows the titular character, flight attendant Jackie Brown, who smuggles money for local gun peddler Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson). One day, she gets caught by the police, and Ordell bails her out, but when he comes to kill her, she one-ups him and negotiates a deal. The movie follows Jackie as she tries to get out of Ordell's business and grab some money for herself. Grier is magnetic in every scene; she has an iconic look and gives her character maturity, level-headedness, and great instincts. She is the moment, and Jackie Brown is the greatest love letter to Grier and her work.
23 Judy Garland - 'The Wizard of Oz' (1939)
Image via Loew's, Inc.Judy Garland’s Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz is one of the most iconic film characters of all time. She's a fantasy heroine, one who is also deeply emotional, driven by kindness, honesty, and integrity as an uncorrupted young person. Garland's embodiment of Dorothy's innocence is quite moving, and she's the only one who could have pulled off a role like it. Though the production of The Wizard of Oz was complex in many ways, it's still a highly influential film.
The Wizard of Oz follows a young girl from Kansas, Dorothy, who is swept by a tornado with her dog Toto, waking up in a magical world called Oz. There, she meets a Tin Man, a Cowardly Lion, and a Scarecrow, and they embark on a journey together to find the mythical Wizard of Oz, who they learn can help them. The Wizard of Oz has timeless hits, like "Over the Rainbow," which became Garland's signature song, hitting all the right notes and infusing the tune with yearning and curiosity. Her entire performance carries the film: the emotions invested into this moment alone make the entire film memorable so many decades later, cementing Garland as the true and only Dorothy.
22 Liv Ullmann - 'Autumn Sonata' (1978)
Image via Constantin FilmAutumn Sonata is Ingrid Bergman's final movie, and the first and only film she made with her namesake, Ingmar Bergman. And though she was mostly the one awarded with numerous accolades, Liv Ullmann’s performance as Eva is just as, if not even more important and powerful. Playing a woman confronting a mother who emotionally abandoned her, Ullmann delivers frustration and vulnerability to the screen, fed up with the torn relationship and her mother's ignoring of the neglect she put Eva and her sister through. Ullmann gives Eva layers she unmasks over time, showing a lot of unresolved pain.
Autumn Sonata follows Eva (Ullmann), a woman who reunites with her famous pianist mother, Charlotte (Bergman), after not seeing each other for seven years. Eva takes care of her ill younger sister, Helena, believing that their mother's neglect made Helena's health worse. What ensues is a battle of wits between two oppositely stubborn women — Eva seeks acknowledgment of her mother's neglect while Charlotte refuses to say anything. There's a lot to analyze about Eva's behavior and lifestyle in Autumn Sonata, and it's a deeply layered and emotional film that Ullmann carries through Eva's kindness, trauma, and self-sacrifice.
21 Gong Li - 'Raise the Red Lantern' (1991)
Image via Orion ClassicsZhang Yimou and Gong Li made nine films together, and Raise the Red Lantern is their fourth collaboration. Gong is quite an underestimated performer, but Zhang always knew what to get out of her that no other director could. This trust between them allowed Gong to become renowned for her incredible transformation, dedication, and appeal in this film. She was widely praised for her lead role in a movie that can best be described as a psychological drama, portraying a barely adult woman grappling with her newfound home. She's the story's emotional center, mostly because others in the film barely show affection, following a social code her character can't fathom.
Raise the Red Lantern is set in 1920s China and follows 19-year-old Songlian (Gong), who's forced by her stepmother to become the fourth wife of the wealthy Master Chen after her father dies. When Songlian arrives, she soon realizes the household dynamics and finds ways to survive and become Chen's only lover. The youth and feist in Songlian is apparent; she's also sometimes selfish and rude, which are responses to her rigid environment, not her true character traits. Gong Li delivers a beautiful and emotional performance full of contradictions that helped make Raise the Red Lantern a landmark film of the 1990s.
20 Frances McDormand - 'Fargo' (1996)
Frances McDormand is one of the few actresses who has won multiple acting Oscars, and with three wins for Best Actress, she is officially one of the greats (and has been for a while). The first time we knew McDormand was great was in Fargo by the Coen Brothers, where she plays the female lead, Marge Gunderson. Though the movie is filled with violence and a ton of morally gray characters, Gunderson stands out as a force of good, uncorrupted and true to herself and her work; after all, she is the police chief. We love Gunderson because she never doubts her instincts or pretends to be someone else.
Fargo is set in Minnesota and North Dakota and follows Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy), a car salesman who sets up his wife's kidnapping to get a good ransom award. Jerry meets two small-time criminals who decide to help him, but a lot of things go wrong. Police Chief Marge Gunderson begins investigating after that, making accurate guesses and showing a keen eye and little patience for swindlers. While the movie as a whole is a masterpiece, McDormand's performance makes it memorable and legendary—without her, it wouldn't be the same.
19 Jodie Foster - 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991)
Image via Orion PicturesJodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs is the true epitome of innocence corrupted. As an FBI rookie, her character Clarice is obviously not going to have gentle experiences, but the first case she's put on is the one that transforms her by the end. From her first appearance, Foster establishes Clarice as observant, cautious, and self-aware; she leads with curiosity and easily takes charge in every situation. Foster won the Best Actress Oscar for The Silence of the Lambs, and Clarice is her most memorable role.
The Silence of the Lambs follows FBI rookie Clarice Starling, assigned to interview a brilliant psychologist and serial killer, Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), in order to find out more about the killer that the FBI is currently chasing. Meeting Hannibal changes Clarice and shows her she's more resilient than she instantly believes, even if their relationship doesn't have strict boundaries by the end. Foster delivers one of the most iconic roles in horror, and her tenacity is what makes the film so good and so easily rewatchable.
18 Isabelle Adjani - 'Possession' (1981)
Image via Gaumont DistributionIsabelle Adjani in Possession delivers one of the most physically and emotionally extreme performances ever seen. Adjani said she had a difficult time getting over the role for years, with heavy consequences on her mental health and psyche. As Anna, Adjani throws herself into hysteria, grief, rage, and madness with a level of commitment that feels dangerous, and knowing the toll it took, it pretty much was. The result is a terrifying performance that will never leave your mind.
Possession follows a married couple living in Berlin—Anna (Adjani), a housewife, and her spy husband, Mark (Sam Elliott). Mark returns from a mission and finds out that Anna wants a divorce and that she's seeing another man. After Mark gets Anna followed by a private eye, he realizes there's more than just another man in Anna's life. Anna deals with things beyond her comprehension, yet she shows a genuine understanding and dedication. Whether possessed or acting on her own, Adjani's portrayal of Anna's mental fragmentation is unsettling but ultimately iconic. It may be a cliché to say, but it seems true that very few actors have ever gone this far, losing control and giving in to the urge.
17 Toni Collette - 'Hereditary' (2018)
Image via A24Toni Collette's performance in Hereditary was the reason people kept asking for award shows to introduce horror movies into rotation. Her performance was boosted by Ari Aster's thrilling direction and screenplay, which expertly weaves in grief, generational trauma, and anger between the elements of supernatural and folklore horror. Collette allows herself to unleash a restless rage caused by overwhelm and pushing down her true feelings for the sake of her family.
Hereditary follows the Graham family, parents Annie (Collette) and Steve (Gabriel Byrne), and teen kids Peter (Alex Wolff) and Charlie (Milly Shapiro). One day, Annie's distant mother dies, and Annie realizes a lot of strange things start happening after her funeral, including more tragedy befalling their family. As she tries to keep the family together and stay calm herself, humanity jumps out of the supernatural narrative, and she delivers a powerful monologue of a woman on edge. It's one of the most memorable monologues in recent history, and people still quote it and enjoy Hereditary because of Collette.
16 Maggie Cheung - 'In the Mood for Love' (2000)
Image via Block 2 PicturesOne of the most beautiful romantic movies ever made is Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love, starring Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung. The two have an electric chemistry on-screen, and no one could have delivered the same performances with as much restraint and emotion. Wong wanted to evoke 1960s Hong Kong in this feature, and he succeeded mainly through the behavior of the protagonists, placing them in a time when social statuses still led people's lives for them. Their closeness through distance mirrors strict social codes while evoking nostalgia.
In the Mood for Love follows Su Li-zhen (Cheung) and Chow Mo-wan (Leung), two next-door neighbors who realize that their spouses are cheating on them with each other. The two spend time together to break the solitude, but end up falling in love through shared moments that dissipate their loneliness. While Leung is great—masculine, gentlemanly, and protective—it's really Cheung who drives the emotion of the film as an ethereal, graceful woman yearning to be loved intensely once again. When we think of this movie, we think of her appearance and shy, yearning glances that help us understand the restraint and the desire.
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