Oscars 2021: Ranking The Nominated Performances From Worst To Best

The former Crown star gives a career making performance as a grieving mother who has a catastrophic home birth. Pieces of a Woman is one of the two most difficult films of the year and there is little to no enjoyment to be had in this painful cinematic experience. None of that is a criticism as Pieces of a Woman forces you to look at all the misery and digest it fully through Vanessa Kirby's brave and relentless performance.

Kirby's range here is ever reaching, with a first half that features an unbroken extended take of the home birth that throws you into the exhaustion and anguish of Kirby's character. The devastation she feels for the rest of the film can be harrowing and Kirby rarely gets a moment when she is not asked to fully commit emotionally.

She will rip your heart out in this film but she also has no chance of winning which is a real shame. A film as difficult and challenging as this won't be everyone's cup of tea, especially those that are voting in the Academy. That doesn't change the fact that Vanessa Kirby gives the best female performance of the year.