20 Best Movie Performances Of 2019

2. Joaquin Phoenix - Joker

Following up Heath Ledger's Oscar-winning performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight was a totally thankless task, and so it's to Joaquin Phoenix's enormous credit that he managed to make this alternate rendition of the character entirely his own.

His turn as social outcast Arthur Fleck is so expertly calibrated that even the film's many detractors couldn't stop themselves from lavishing praise on it, a deeply unpredictable, dynamic, and physical performance that pinballs the audience between sympathy and fear.

Phoenix takes the risky material and makes it shine, smoothing down most of the rougher edges and creating surely the most debated movie character of the entire year.

Whether you view Joker as a devastating examination of social ill or an unfortunate emboldening of angry white men, Phoenix's sublime performance is entirely beyond reproach.