In the last 10 years,A24has become a film production and distribution company that’s synonymous with quality, giving its first chances to new and promising directors, who will find great new actors who do movies that are very different from everything else on the multiplex. Those bets have been paying off, as now A24 is a brand in itself, and many of their directors and actors have become the new stars of Hollywood, earning awards and recognition.
Update July 27, 2025: It could be seen as A(ugust) 24 Day, so in honor of that, this list has been updated with even more great films from the production company that has taken the film world by storm.
A24 has a fanbase similar to that of Marvel Studios, a production company whose name alone inspires interest. Audiences who see the name A24 attached to it can likely expect something special. Here are the best performances in A24 films, ranked.
15Brendan Fraser – The Whale
Brendan Fraser’s big comeback was consolidated withThe Whale. Darren Aronofsky’s intimate story explores themes of depression and repressed sexuality in a man who has decided to let life go after losing everything he loves. Life has a way of throwing irony his way as a committed missionary for the New Life Church tries to save his soul. In the final days of his life, he struggles to connect with her estranged daughter and get all his affairs in order before passing away. Fraser won an Academy Award for his role in the movie, although it was a controversial film as many took issues with it, from using a fatsuit to how itdepicted overweight people.
14Morfydd Clark – Saint Maud
Morfydd Clarkdoes a number on the audience by carryingSaint Maudalone. In the story, she plays Maud, a reclusive nurse prone to be impressionable. A traumatic event leads her down the path of Catholicism.With her skills and devotion aligned, she’s charged with the hospice care of a woman named Amanda, a former dancer slowly consumed by Cancer. We explore Maud’s faith as her driven obsession leads her to do whatever is needed to save Amanda’s soul from eternal damnation.
13Tom Hardy – Locke
Lockeis a movie that happens in real-time, while Ivan (Tom Hardy) is in his car on the way to the hospital for the birth of his child with a woman that it’s not his wife. During the whole movie, we only see Hardy, as his character is throwing his family life and job away to be a different father than what he had as a kid.
Related:Best Films Produced by A24, Ranked
Not many actors could hold our attention alone for 90 minutes, but that’s the power of Tom Hardy. During the movie, his character makes 36 phone calls that change his life forever, and as such is a tour-de-force performance for Hardy (who was sick during the shooting, so they made the character ill as well).
12Steve Yeun – Minari
InMinari,Steven Yeunplays the patriarch of a Korean family moving to rural Arkansas. After some tough times, his mother-in-law comes to live with them, and everything changes. Yeun’s performance is understated and internal, as his character is trying to follow his dreams without losing his family, while trying not to show all his worries about the future.
11Alicia Vikander – Ex Machina
InEx Machina,Alicia Vikanderplays Ava, a highly advanced humanoid A.I. Vikander’s performance shows gradually how Ava is learning more human traits and reactions as she spends more time with Caleb (Domnhall Gleeson). She goes from cold to sympathetic, from robot to almost human, creating new layers of personality and feelings every time we see her, and making us root, for once, for the victory of a robot over humans.
10Toni Collette – Hereditary
Hereditary, Ari Aster’s feature film debut, is one of the scariest things we’ve seen in a cinema ever. And that’s in big part because ofToni Collette’s Oscar-worthy performance. What starts as the story of a grieving mother and a creepy kid becomes something much more dangerous and scary, where Collette shows us all kinds of raw emotions: anguish, rage, desolation, suffering, and disdain, giving us a performance that still haunts us in our nightmares.
9Anya Taylor Joy – The Witch
The Witchwasone of the best horror movies of the 2010s, and in a big part, that’s because ofAnya Taylor-Joy’s performance. She starts with a kind heart, just wanting to help her family, but as the movie goes on, and she keeps getting accused of witchcraft by her village, and even her family, she starts to give up and accepts the darkness. We believe the whole transformation because of Taylor-Joy’s performance, the first of her career, and Robber Eggers' direction in a movie with an incredible ending.
8Mahershala Ali – Moonlight
Moonlighttells the story of a young, gay Black kid in three important moments of his life. It’sone of the most romantic LGBTQ+ movies of all timeand one whereMahershala Ali’s performance as Juan leaves a mark. Ali creates a character full of contradictions and hard truths.
Related:A24’s Highest-Grossing Movies of All Time
He is someone who can be paternal with a kid, while also selling drugs to his mother; someone who has been hardened by the drug game, but still can cry when he feels ashamed; someone who can be good and bad at the same time, and we see how that dichotomy breaks up in his last scene with the kid, Chiron. And he realizes his compartmental actions and emotions have destroyed this family. Ali won an Oscar for this twenty-minute performance, and it was more than well-deserved. In a small amount of screen time, he showed us a full life of emotions lived by his character.
7Florence Pugh – Midsommar
Another incredible female performance at the center of an Ari Aster movie. This time it isFlorence Pugh, who, inMidsommar, gives an acting masterclass. Her role as Dani is grieving, in a toxic relationship, disconnected from reality, and seeing the world as if she was underwater. During the film, she experiences fear, hate, suspicion, and sadness. So, when she finally feels supported, she breaks down, screaming, crying, and grieving, letting out everything she’s been holding inside, starting to feel every emotion while feeling relieved as she’s finally being seen. It’s a raw, incredible performance by Pugh that gives us chills only thinking about it.
6Dev Patel – The Green Knight
Dev Patelreturned to the big screen in the ambitious adaptation of the folk storyThe Green Knight. The film, written and directed by David Lowery, tells the story of Sir Gawain, a nephew to King Arthur who has no grand story to tell, which is the mark of a true knight in the round table. Gawain’s mother summons the Green Knight, who presents himself before the court and challenges anyone to strike him down with a single blow, but he will reciprocate the attack one year later. Gawain takes on the challenge, and his lifebecomes a journey of self-discoveryin a realm where fantasy and magic are a reality.
