20 Best Movie Performances Of 2019
11. Florence Pugh - Midsommar
Florence Pugh continued to cement herself as one of the finest young actors of her generation in 2019, rising to the challenge of starring in Ari Aster's deeply disturbing new horror-drama Midsommar.
True to form for Aster after putting Toni Collette through the wringer in Hereditary, Midsommar asks a hell of a lot of Pugh as she plays Dani, a traumatised young woman dealing with a family tragedy while her relationship evaporates, and she absolutely rises to the challenge.
Pugh makes all the right choices in depicting the mental breakdown a human being: an early traumatic wail is one of cinema's most authentic recent depictions of grief, and her character's uneasy arc across the film is brilliantly conveyed.
It's just a matter of time before Pugh lands her first Oscar nomination - if not the win - because she knocks it out of the park every time she goes up to bat.