8 Great Acting Performances That Outshone The Horror Movie

If you ask 100 different people who their favourite actress is in contemporary Hollywood right now, chances are a good percentage of them will say Jennifer Lawrence.

Other than being a wholly likeable charmer off the screen, on-screen she is also an endearing presence with incredible range. Over the course of her career, she’s continuously impressed audiences and critics in wonderful movies such as 2013’s black-comedy American Hustle or 2017’s poignant drama Silver Linings Playbook, the latter of which earned her that year’s Oscar for Best Actress.

However, it’s safe to say that there was far less of a chance for her to win an award for her actually rather superb performance in 2017’s psychological-horror, Mother! How come? Well, because it's impenetrable, psuedo-intellectual nonsense.

Reviews were mixed across the board, with a lot of its criticism aiming at the confusing off-the-rails screenplay. Although there is, of course, a lot of intelligence and powerful concepts lurking somewhere behind its thematical outlandishness, for the average cinema-goer, it consequently failed to provide any palpable sense of entertainment.

The performances are the closet reason it came to getting a loud round of applause from inside theatres - especially Lawrence who once again proved she’s a great talent. She stuns with her gripping performance as a tormented young woman attempting to secure her home from a mysteriously intruding couple.

There’s also a lot of magnificent horror in its ideas and imagery, it’s just generally not the type of blockbusting romp you’d choose to re-watch with any sense of pleasure. Unless you’re one of the 100 people who love Jennifer Lawrence no matter what bad movie she stars in.