20 Best Movie Performances Of 2018

3. Laura Dern (The Tale)

In the "Best Performance Disqualified From Oscar Contention" stakes, we have Laura Dern's searing turn in Jennifer Fox's brutal autobiographical drama The Tale.

Aired on HBO in lieu of an awards-qualifying theatrical release - hence the disqualification - the movie is a horrifying plunge into the debilitating nature of childhood sexual abuse and the scars it leaves behind decades later.

Dern, playing Fox, gives by far the best performance of her career here as a woman in deep turmoil, making the most of Fox's almost unbearably personal script and direction.

Everyone nails it here, in fairness - especially Jason Ritter as Fox's abuser - but it's Dern's soul-stirring work that holds it all together.