10 Actors Who Just Gave Their Best Performance Ever

Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro's first Martin Scorsese film together was always going to be a major event, but nobody foresaw Lily Gladstone stealing the show.

DiCaprio stars as Ernest Burkhart, a fast-talkin' stooge who has returned from the battlefields of World War I to live with his uncle "King" Hale (De Niro) on Hale's large ranch, on a reservation where the oil-rich indigenous Osage people are being exploited by their white neighbours. One such Osage is Mollie Kyle (Gladstone), who Ernest can't help but fall head over heels for - a serious boon for his uncle's plan to take over the natives' oil-rich land.

Gladstone is not merely the MacGuffin of the film, but its moral and emotional core, proving equal parts strong, independent and vulnerable. There are large segments of Flower Moon where the narrative positions her as scenery to the action unfolding, and yet the First Cow actor pulls the film in around her. Her manner, accent and wholesale commitment to the role and early-century setting shine through every line of dialogue, every cocked eyebrow, and she makes herself the most interesting part of a film full of big-name greats.

Although she has already bagged a host of major awards and honours (including a Golden Globe), if she doesn't win an Oscar for this performance, the Academy has truly lost its touch.