Alternate Best Actor 2025: Jesse Plemons in Bugonia

Jesse Plemons did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for SAG and BAFTA, for portraying Teddy Gatz in Bugonia. 

Bugonia follows a conspiracy theorist who kidnaps a powerful CEO Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone) because he believes she is an alien. 

The last time I reviewed Jesse Plemons it was also for a Yorgos Lanthimos film where he successfully found his away around the peculiar nature of pure, as in written and directed, style of Lanthimos without being lost within the direction through three different vignettes in Kinds of Kindness. Plemons returns to work with him again, once again with Emma Stone, though this time to portray a directed but written by someone else Lanthimos, which always results in a different kind of film. It is still a dark comedy as all of Lanthimos is, however the comedy of this darkness isn’t without the detached alien world of pure Lanthimos, which affords an even greater opportunity for the actor who seems to be a favorite among so many talented filmmakers. Plemons here gets to play the role of Teddy Gatz who we follow in the opening of the film as he is emotionally preparing his co-conspirator, though an unfortunate follower is probably a better description, Don (Aidan Delbis). Plemons is a master of the tone for this film, which while sharing some of the DNA is no way a copy of Kind and Kindness and in many ways trickier because there’s more emotional depth allowed. Plemons in the opening scenes is amazing in his particular delivery where it isn’t exactly monotone, but almost pseudo professional as he goes about telling Don all the “truths” he knows. Although it is darkly comic, Plemons is also though convincing in not playing it with the strictest purity of that spirit. There is the sense of the drive to convince Don and maybe even a bit of the insecurity of bringing Don within this mission even as he speaks with that particular form of conviction. The key moments being when Don asks follow-up questions, and Plemons shows that Teddy stumbles more than with his monologues. I especially love the moment where Don asks if two random people are aliens, and Plemons’s essentially “oh no not them, but they’re lost” is such an artful combination of someone being shaken off their false rhythm then creating the strange momentum of trying to make any kind of recovery within the sentiment. It isn’t that Plemons plays that Teddy is lying, however his convictions are representative of an emotional mess of a mind trying to create some kind of truth as he sees it. 

Teddy and Don successfully kidnap Michelle and bring her back to Teddy’s remote and ramshackle house as a prison for the woman he believes to be an alien. Plemons’s amazing in this scene where with Don there was more of hesitation in some aspects of the conversation, despite being mixed with his strange conviction, here it is with an eerie conviction that is quite startling while also being quietly comical. Plemons’s masterful in the exact delivery he is able to find as he explains to Michelle that he had to cut off her hair in order to prevent her from contacting her ship. Plemons’s eyes capture such an unnerving mania in the moment because within those eyes we see the assertiveness that Teddy does fine when presenting it directly to Michelle. An assertiveness that will speak to more things than that, but in the opening of this conversation between the two the cold exactness of every word that Plemons brings is disturbing within the specificity of that conviction. Maybe he does have doubts related to Don but when with Michelle and directed at Michelle Plemons shows a man with a purpose, a completely demented purpose it would seem. There’s one line in particular that Plemons colors a certain way, a color that you don’t know about the first time but is chilling the second. Which is noting that “they all” deny being an alien but admit it eventually. That line has an absolute certainty in Plemons’s performance more than anything else and within that certainty he is at his most disturbing, which we later find out why he is so particularly certain that someone kidnapped by him will admit to being an alien. Plemons tells a fundamental truth about Teddy in this moment though we won’t know what this truth means precisely until much later in the film. 

We see Teddy occasionally outside of the situation directly where Plemons is also incredible in how much he does with a little at times, as really just the way he silently rides his bike a few times throughout the film is a bit of a showcase on how to do a whole lot in a performance in a theoretically simple situation. Yet the specific lack of normalcy and more readily this directed purpose of his performance in these scenes reinforces Teddy as a man with a mission, although not a mission most would consider let alone sign up for. I love Plemons even in some incidental moments such as when he’s talking with a coworker, “acting natural”, which for Teddy he never quite can act natural. But Plemons is rather fascinating when he advises a worker to get compensation for their injury and even says that things are going to change in their world soon. Plemons’s exact delusion is just so brilliantly spoken in every word because there’s this quiet unearned pride in his delivery as he eagerly presents himself to the other person essentially as a hero with a plan he can’t quite reveal to her yet. Teddy unfortunately for his plan is also frequently pestered by a local deputy sheriff Boyd (Stavros Halkias) who was also a former babysitter for Teddy. In each of these scenes they share, Plemons manages to thread a needle while playing the more surface note. The sort of quiet intensity in his eyes in these moments, the short delivery of every response as “let’s get this over with it”, speaks to a criminal not wanting to speak to the police, however Plemons puts just a bit more emotion and intensity into both of these where there feels the personal direction. Where one can sense that Teddy’s issues with Boyd go even further than just wanting to keep his kidnapping of Michelle a secret. 

Where Plemons very much excels in bringing the seemingly demented state of Teddy alive so effectively where this takes on even greater heights is bringing in what I fundamentally always appreciate in not-written-by Lanthimos, which is raw emotion. An aspect we are introduced in part, which honestly is some of my favorite radical cinematic imagery from 2025, where we see the past through the Teddy filter where his mom is literally floating within a coma due to the drug treatment by Michelle’s company. Once again outstanding silent work from Plemons, in fact if we were just giving an award for a single facial expression Plemons would be a tough one to beat with how much he does with his facial expression in the flashback. As Plemons is able to show a younger man, a more naive man, a more emotionally broken man in a pure sense where you are granted a degree of the real pain and most of all just this state of a being absolutely lost in the world as in his mind he’s literally holding onto his dying mother like a balloon. That fundamental grief is what we see fuels Teddy more than anything and this is what Plemons runs with in this performance, particularly as we get to a scene between Teddy, Michelle and Don as they dine together. Michelle plays her hand noting that she does remember Teddy and his mother. Plemons is just altogether amazing as we see in his eyes and his expression building volcanic anger in Teddy. In every moment she speaks to him about her mother, Plemons, despite playing such a bent character, honestly is even moving because he shows just the raw unmitigated grief that is just bubbling under the surface in Teddy for every second that Michelle mentions his mother’s name. Plemons so powerfully builds to every second before wholly earning the animalistic rage that takes over as Michelle’s words lead him to literally run across a table and physically attack her. 

The mess of the kidnapping becomes more rabid when Don begins to have more doubts, particularly when Teddy “tests” her by electrocuting her to get “readings”. A fascinating scene however, and one again where Plemons alludes to more than we know about Teddy though in a different arena, when he apologizes to Michelle because the “readings” note her as of royal alien lineage. Plemons’s words of reverence towards her are real and authentic as anything else he’s done and again the conviction in his eyes speaks to more than just someone saying whatever nonsense comes to their head next, there’s genuine belief there. Complicating things further is Deputy Boyd’s appearance at the house, who essentially reveals to having sexually abused Teddy when he was younger, something that is already apparent within even just Plemons’s physical work around him where he is looking away and down and out like a dog who was beaten too many times. Taken even further though when Boyd is alerted to something when Don kills himself with a shotgun, leading Teddy to stun Boyd with his bees before beating him to death with a shovel. The emotion behind that shovel beat down again made more than just a man getting rid of an obstacle rather you see Boyd as a true fixation of Teddy’s hatred. Plemons at this point somehow taking an already extreme emotional state and going further with it in a most impressive display, as Plemons’s reaction to Don’s death is filled with real emotional devastation where he is able to contain within the mess of Teddy’s mind fear, and anger towards how the situation has gone along with hints of genuine shame in culpability nagging at the back of his mind. 

Michelle is able to get Teddy to leave by essentially telling him to poison his own mother with antifreeze by telling him it is in fact a formula that will cure her. A totally insane prospect that Plemons honestly sells through every bit of his physical and verbal life where he shows a man basically mangled by his life and his plan as he rushes to enact Michelle’s fix. Where Plemons is particularly amazing is as totally insane of a situation as Teddy poisons his own mother leading to her death, the raw emotion of Teddy’s grief is absolutely real. Plemons delivers real heartbreak of the tragedy even as he presents a totally deranged person he presents that core of a real man that came to this place. A fascinating element as Plemons manages to ground the character Teddy even as he is so successful in presenting the extremes of him at the same time. An element that is pivotal in his final sequence of the film when Michelle, having discovered that Teddy is in fact a serial killer who killed many other people and “aliens” explaining his previous use of they when talking about his victims admitting their alien, Michelle then readily admits, seemingly, that she is an alien, however she presents this in a confrontational dominating way. Plemons is wholly convincing in his reaction now as someone lost but gripping onto the only reality he can know which is the one Michelle is presenting so ruthlessly to him. Plemons brings this penetrating fear in his reactions to every one of her cutting words even as he’s the one still holding the gun, believably conveying this apologetic tone to the alien in the same vein as his previous reverence. Michelle offers Teddy a trip to the mothership to negotiate, and Plemons is outstanding throughout the sequence. As he carries the underlying tension of the man still holding the hostage and still being very much dangerous in the situation as he and Michelle very conspicuously move towards her office. He also brings in the conflicting elements of his derangements, bringing even genuine warmth when asking if Don can come to the ship as well, despite being dead, but also a brilliantly realized combination of doubts. Plemons is able to create this convincing smear of emotions as there are moments where it seems like Teddy is most doubting the ideas as he’s closest to it, while also being extremely nervous at the notion of actually essentially coming face to face with his foes. Plemons not being vague but rather very particular in creating so convincingly this wholly broken state of a man as he’s at his least assured when theoretically he’s nearest to his final goal. In case the rest of the review didn’t make it clear I adore every moment of this performance which is out on a limb and thrives for every second of it. Plemons is masterful because he does sell the darkest of comedy, the most extreme bits of madness a human can muster, yet does so in a way where there is a deeply human core to all of it that manages to be both heartbreaking and bone chilling. 

RIP Robert Duvall

It sadly was around this time last year that I had to make a post for one of the other greats of the 70's Gene Hackman. Although like Hackman both really came up before then making an impression in small roles before breaking out fully as a leading men. Duvall quite frankly having one of the most amazing debuts in terms of leaving a cinematic impression with Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird, as that truly remarkable character introduction wasn't just the memorable reveal for that film but a reveal of someone who would become an essential cinematic talent. Duvall who would sweep through such unforgettable films of cinema such as The Godfathers, the Conversation, Apocalypse Now, and Network, always adding his talent and realizing the strength or elevating the nature of his material. Always being a reliable presence where so often it was the ease of his performances that were the key. Where Duvall simply said the truth in so many different roles and films. Where even if the film was faulty, Duvall always could be depended on to bring something authentic through his presence. Shame we will never have that comfort of the dependability of a given Duvall performance again, but certainly will always appreciate how much of his talent he shared with us over the years. 

Alternate Best Actor 2025: Dylan O'Brien in Twinless

Dylan O’Brien did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Rocky and Roman in Twinless. 

Twinless follows two men who meet in a support group for twins who have lost their siblings. 

That is the theoretical setup and spoiler alert right away that is fashioned as a false start for the film on purpose by writer/director and co-lead James Sweeney as Dennis, a man who claims to have a dead twin in order to meet Roman the twin of the man he had a brief romantic fling with Rocky. Dylan O’Brien obviously plays both brothers, an actor who thankfully, as I’ll always celebrate an upswing for a performer,  has steadily grown in my estimation in the past few years. As he started for me as a bit of a non-entity performer until I found him a decent likable lead in Love & Monsters, then was impressed by his take on a young Dan Aykroyd in Saturday Night with an even greater step up here in the twin roles.  The briefer of the two being Rocky which O’Brien’s work very much works in contrast to Roman who meet technically first though second chronologically and O’Brien excels in creating that contrast. His performance as Rocky is technically working within the frame of generalized traits of a homosexual character, however an instance where this approach does wholly work. The big reason why not only does O’Brien make even the certain flamboyance within his physical manner and voice feel natural to the character he also makes it extend within the overarching traits of the character. The traits being that character’s popularity and confidence. Where O’Brien carries that so innately and you get the sense of the almost breezy approach to life where Rocky can casually approach every relationship, even dealing with the result of ghosting, O’Brien brings a callous but also carefree reaction of someone who just knows he’ll be able to charisma his way out of it. O’Brien convincingly created the “legend” of Rocky as the brother who is so self-assured and seemed to be walking on air…well until being accidentally run over during the confrontation by Dennis. 

O’Brien’s work as Roman then is the “other” brother and O’Brien performance is distinctive in creating a combination of elements in Roman. His whole manner is of the submissive second combined with someone also being a bit lost in his grief and losing his twin. O’Brien has a natural sullen manner he realizes and even more so archives the difficulty which is managing to play a not particularly bright character in a way that doesn’t fall into easy stereotype. O’Brien finds a convincing delay in his speech and manner of someone who just has to think about everything with a bit more time and a little harder to get anywhere. Combined with a convincing sense of the emotional state of someone just a bit lost in life. O’Brien finds an emotional nuance because he’s able to convey the shy, almost beaten down state of being told his whole life that his brother is better, while also able to create genuine empathy for the character who really is lost and without purpose as he’s not with his brother for any kind of guidance. He makes it convincing when Dennis approaches him lying about his own brother in a strange form of trying to continue the relationship with Rocky by spending time with the not at all homosexual Roman. O’Brien excels though in the quiet warmth he gets just from seeming to have some kind of sounding board of any kind, combined though with the general sloppiness of the person. Such as when Roman even says some potentially insensitive questions and statements about homosexuals, O’Brien is able to deliver them with a convincing naivety of someone who truly just doesn't really know how to speak for himself. 

Within the relationship O’Brien is very effective in showing this quiet bit of growth in the relationship with Dennis, but just eking out this believable sense of Roman coming a bit out of his battered shell which unfortunately for Dennis leads him to connect to Dennis's coworker Marcie (Aisling Franciosi). Dennis tries to push his fantasy continually on Roman, and again a lot of these scenes wouldn’t work at all if not for how convincing O’Brien is in the role. The setups where Dennis basically wants to touch Roman potentially suggestively shouldn’t work, but O’Brien is so convincing in the certain simplicity of Roman that in his slightly confused but passively accepting manner he convinces you that Roman would allow Dennis to touch his feet…up until a point when Dennis tries to suck on them. Even then O’Brien reactions are less straight anger but rather naturally weaved in with confusion before Dennis admits to his whole deception. Where again O’Brien’s performance is key to the resolution of the entire film because even in his violent reaction the fundamental choice is that of an instinctual reaction of a man who takes things very much on the surface and the reaction is a betrayal of the man’s nature to be so trusting. An extension of this with his relationship with Marcie where the two of them mostly just work as two people loving each other in their mutual simplicity in a way. The only break in Roman letting out his frustrations with the situation with Dennis and Rocky, again as just very genuine frustrations of someone who really doesn’t even know how to broach someone trying to trick him. O’Brien makes this feel so natural just as natural as his wholly earnest apology to her when she calls him on his anger. O’Brien’s realization of the nature of Roman is honestly the only thing that at all earns the ending of Dennis and Roman becoming friends through it all. As O’Brien throughout the film has convincingly shown someone who would just let such betrayals just breeze by him at a certain point given his attitude towards life. O’Brien delivers two strong distinctive performances which facilitates the film effectively and finds genuine emotion consistently. Even more so it is a continuation of exhibiting a greater talent and growth as a performer. 

Alternate Best Actor 2025: David Jonsson & Cooper Hoffman in The Long Walk

David Jonsson did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Peter "Pete" McVries nor did Cooper Hoffman for portraying Raymond "Ray" Garraty in The Long Walk. 

The Long Walk follows a contest where young men must continue to walk at 3 miles an hour until only one of them is still left alive. 

One of the successes of the Long Walk are the performances which very much are not treating the material as an exploitative horror piece that certainly could’ve been a possibility. They are treating it with a reality which is emphasized best by the pair of leading performances of two of the most talented young actors working today. First in the primary lead role, whom we follow into the starting point of the walk as he’s left off by his emotional mother, played by Cooper Hoffman. Someone who made a striking impression through his comedic work in Licorice Pizza, showing himself not to be merely the son of a great actor, but having the potential to become a great actor himself. Hoffman stretches himself away from that comedic work there in very much taking upon the “any man” type lead as the young man choosing to join the walk despite his mother’s protests. From the outset Hoffman brought such a striking sense of the emotional weight of the decision immediately. His performance in the reaction to his mother’s horror conveying the undercurrent of his heartbreak, even as in his eyes conveying some distant determination that is in his head as he arrives at the starting point where we also meet David Jonsson as Pete McVries played by David Jonsson. Jonsson’s an actor who has already substantially impressed me first for his likable nerdy turn as the romantic lead of Rye Lane, then upped the ante through the different sides of an android in Alien Romulus which went above and beyond the calling of that film, so I was excited what more he had in the tank when it came to this role, and the answer is a lot. Jonsson’s performance is entirely new from him as his previous two turns were working some framework of nerdy in presence, here in many ways he’s the tougher confident one and while he’s got some biceps to back him up here, it is far more so brought to life by Jonsson who is wholly natural despite also being wholly new in his presence here, from his accent, demeanor and just style onscreen. Quite the accomplishment because you’d think the way he acts as Pete is just how he acts and speaks because Jonsson’s entirely natural. 

As the walk begins we instantly start getting the sense of chemistry between Jonsson and Hoffman, which is so tremendous right off the bat that it was not surprising to learn the two are teaming up again with how natural they are as a pair. There’s just this ease with them where the sense of friendship between the two just feels real and jumps out. Once they start talking to one another you see the connection and it just feels absolutely authentic. Where the two are wonderful in connecting the differences between the two within the connection. Hoffman emphasizes an interesting yet convincing combination between this certain optimism in attitude towards those around him while also presenting a very direct distaste for the very concept of the walk despite having signed up for it himself. Jonsson on the other hand presents a certain bluntness as Pete initially says he won’t save Ray if he falls before they start, yet in general brings such a positive disposition. Each offering in a way the same philosophy when you get to the heart of it yet each approaching it their own way as each is a mix of both pessimism and optimism yet present it on their own terms. Something we see as the walk begins where the two discuss what they can do with the money. Jonsson as Pete that he’ll do good is filled with such confidence and assurance in that belief. As assured though is Hoffman’s doubtful words about the nature of the walk and that it is all a falsehood that isn’t at all this random culling it is presented to be. Yet words between the words of intention create such camaraderie, along with the two of the other young men, where every little exchange builds such a palatable sense of warmth and real sense of the mutual spirit between the two guys. Hoffman and Jonsson are so good, and I love particularly Jonsson’s delivery of basically the “screw it” at the idea of not making friends on the walk. As in his eyes there’s such an appreciation for the people around him, it is absolutely wonderful work. 

Within their conversations we learn more about each man, one of the most pivotal when Ray pushes to ask about Pete’s scar across his face, the one moment where that innate positivity of the man stops, not that he becomes sorrowful yet Jonsson conveys a lot of history that he’d rather not get into in this moment as his delivery is of the quiet change of the subject. With Ray, Hoffman’s performance so much is a reflection of the character’s connection with the death of his father, which was personally performed by the chief villain of the piece the Major (Mark Hamill), and something that we watchers of cinema can’t quite separate which is Hoffman’s connection with his own father. Something that the young Hoffman even commented on as pivotal within his performance of someone reckoning with such a painful trauma. Hoffman’s incredibly moving in his portrayal of the moments of the character articulating this not through sadness, but rather this sense of very distinct pride in every word against the system and when he specifically names his father as his hero. Hoffman’s performance has such a tremendous weight within every word where you see just how fundamental the man was in his life and in who he is. Combined then with the moments where he reflects Ray’s passions to fight against the system with this certainty in belief going so far as to want to personally execute the Major if he wins the walk. Hoffman’s delivery of this intention is with such a specific and penetrating hatred that is so remarkable in the moment and you see the festering rage all bottled within a single intention that he whispers to Pete. It must be said Jonsson carries with Hoffman in every moment through his powerful reactions where you see the man genuinely taking in everything his new friend has said and factoring it into his mind. 

Within the walk itself almost all the actors, including Jonsson and Hoffman do a great job of portraying the physical weight of the walk and just creating a convincing progression of showing the phases of exhaustion throughout, including moments of dazed sleepiness, to re-finding their energy, to just getting to the point of being almost completely lost from the weight of the physical exhaustion. Of course reacting more within the walk is dealing with the violence of every “loser” in the game while also dealing with the other players. An element where again there is a great contrast between Jonsson and Hoffman. Jonsson excels in just having such a striking presence defined by confidence, where even when he’s targeted by the insults of another, Jonsson’s delivery is so great in emphasizing the way the man kind just walks right past every insult and so believably creating the resilient spirit of the man. Contrasting that Hoffman is also great in portraying a less convincing confidence. Presenting it as something that isn’t the natural state of Ray rather something he’s striving for. We see this when he tries to help the men falling behind where Ray’s encouragements are real but also have a degree of desperation. Hoffman articulates naturally the degree of vulnerability within Ray who is striving to win yet might not entirely be able to face what that means. Earning then the moment where Ray almost dies by almost falling asleep right before a long hill with his sudden outrage against Pete not as hate but rather the man being overcome by too much fear in the moment leading him to lash out at anyone. Hoffman created that unpredictable random emotion of the state of Ray in that moment. As convincing and even more powerful is the moment where Pete just goes about saving Ray, Jonsson’s performance is incredible because in his face you do see that he took in Ray’s words in the moment, yet at the same time you see that resilience and even belief in humanity as he takes charge of Ray’s walk helping him get to safety. 

The guardian for Ray aspect is where Jonsson’s work just goes above and beyond in portraying such sincerity the real friendship for Ray with the conviction not to let his friend die despite the “winner takes all” nature of the game they’re in. Jonsson’s articulation of Pete’s optimism is absolutely stunning work from Jonsson and frankly managed to give me chills by just how much emotional truth Jonsson manages to bring to a convincing belief in humanity within a nihilistic game. Jonsson’s performance is so great because he shows, as Pete says, that it’s not easy, it's hard. Jonsson describes Pete’s violent past filled with such detail where you sense every moment of the man’s horrible emotional turmoil in the nuance in Jonsson’s expression as he explains how he got his scar. His face is of a man who has been through hell, yet within that situation has come out not to hate humanity but to believe in it. Jonsson’s passionate ask of Ray to take the joy in life where and when he can has such poignancy, because Jonsson manages not to only convey that this is absolutely a fundamental belief to Pete, he convinces us as the audience to give it a chance, by showing every word coming through a man who we understand as gone through a grinder to come out still with this sense of hope. There’s nothing forced about it, it is absolutely real and Jonsson makes it real. And through that reality we believe every moment of Pete refusing to let Ray die and convinces us of the purity of his belief even as they go through one harrowing moment after another. Where Hoffman and Jonsson make you feel every loss we witness, because their reactions show both men taking in each kill deep into their souls. Whereas much as we see the physical toll of the walk, even more profound is the emotional toll that each depicts in similar yet also very specifically honest to the characters of Ray and Pete. 

At a certain point in the film it does strike you that both of them cannot survive and I love Jonsson’s subtle work in suggesting just how deeply Ray is starting to mean to him every time this comes up. We know both cannot survive and we start to feel the impending devastation before it even comes because you want to see these two survive and continue the profound friendship we’ve witnessed and brought to life so beautifully by both actors. Building up and leading to the climax where they are the final two. One pivotal moment when Ray almost dies as he stops to see his mom where Hoffman is quickly devastating in showing the intensity of his emotional distress and seeing just how painful it is to see his mom in the moment. Jonsson’s also great in the moment bringing as much passion though fashioned in Pete stressing that Ray can’t let his mom see him be executed and funneled through that specific empathy. The final scene of the film I’ll be perfectly honest, on re-watch stands as the most heartbreaking scene from 2025 for me with Cooper and Jonsson’s performances being essential to this realization. As they bring that warmth and love of friendship between every moment, as first in Jonsson’s reaction of contentment as he sits down to let Ray live, to Ray then bringing the brightest smile as he gets Pete walking again before sitting down himself to allow him to be shot. Hoffman’s final impassioned delivery that articulates his love for Pete but also even more so his belief that Pete can do good, rips my heart straight out. Particularly his delivery “that’s why I love you” that’s filled with that love but also acceptance of his faith for the sake of Pete. If that wasn’t brutal enough it’s Jonsson’s depiction of his immediate visceral grief at the death of his friend that just twists the knife. There's so much humanity within every cry out of Ray's name and you feel every bit of the tremendous sorrow within Jonsson’s heart wrenching performance. Jonsson’s performance though still has to thread the trickiest of needles to deliver on the film’s ending which frankly wouldn’t work if Jonsson’s was less than perfect. Well he is perfect in the sequence as Jonsson’s portrayal of Pete’s decision to ask for a gun and complete Ray’s wish by killing the major himself manages to in a way combine the cynicism and optimism in the act. Showing the intention of violence but within his eyes the heartbreak of the man who is killing the major not for himself but for the sake of his friend. Jonsson being as captivating then in the specific almost levity in his manner as Pete turns and continues to walk into the night. Both deliver great performances and is the chemistry between them really elevates the entirety of the film. Hoffman proving that his previous performance wasn't a fluke. Jonsson though maybe going even further in showing such a compelling presence and incredible emotional range. Together though creating such a poignant yet painfully tragic portrait of friendship. 

Alternate Best Actor 2025: Frank Dillane in Urchin

Frank Dillane did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Mike in Urchin. 

Urchin follows a homeless drug addict. 

Frank Dillane, son of Stephen, plays the role of the homeless addict where we enter the film seemingly as the man is at his lowest where we see him begging for money, loitering inside and fighting with another homeless addict. With such a performance it really is all about whether or not it feels like a put on, which with Dillane it does not. As he delivers from the start the physicality of the man who seems to be in a state of physical unease if not pain at all times. A degree of potential violence in every word he speaks there’s kind of an unpredictability. His eyes and expression filled with the history of a man who has mostly spent his life in this way and along an unpleasant path. There’s rarely any joy and there’s an innate messiness of the man who we see obviously no clarity in his shambling way of even walking. The eventual act of Mike violently attacking a man who has attempted to help and befriend him, is particularly unnerving because within the act there is no hesitation and his immediate apology of “sorry sorry’ isn’t precisely fake however just within Mike’s sorry state of only existing within the idea of the momentary fix. 

When being interrogated for his crime Dillane’s denial of any cause and an explanation that it was the other’s man’s fault is bad lying in his delivery but not in terms of doubt, rather just in terms of it being too exact in his rambling as someone far too comfortable in coming up with bad lies. Something we see followed up closely as he calls someone he knows to say he’s been arrested again and is sentenced for months of prison time. Dillane’s specific delivery of “I’ve been arrested again” speaks to such a history as he says it so easily so calmly, so much of someone who's been through this before and doesn’t even see it as an out of the ordinary experience for him. We jump ahead after he’s cleaned up through time in prison and meets the condition of his parole. Where the familiarity in itself is almost the same as when he was homeless. Dillane’s performance is one defined by the lack of surprise, even when he tries to fashion a kind of hope his expression almost denotes it being as a delusional joke that he is aware of just as much as the person he’s talking to. 

We follow Mike as he has the potential job as a chef at a hotel, where Dillane’s great in the scene of the interview in putting forth the attempt at earnest interest. Where he is able to convey the challenge in the young man who wants to try to do something, even an earnest bit of excitement in it, but a limitation in all his reactions where there’s the barrier of the man from a state of true normalcy. The moment with the owner asking him about his crime, just for his own awareness of the nature of his violence, Dillane’s delivery of the explanation carries so much in the simplicity of it. There is shame as he explains what he did but again there’s also a directness though of someone whose committed desperate asks like that before and may do so again. Where we even see the intensity within the man that speaks to the challenge of his life as he wears the stress of an irate customer so fiercely in his eyes or when he challenges a mediator for the voice he’s using with a sensitivity of someone on this emotional edge even when he’s supposedly “healthy”. 

There are slight comforts as he bonds with his coworkers but even then to describe Dillane as truly calm would be false and he keeps the sense of despondency within the man who is just above the water yet hardly safe. When he meets with his victim in a court ordered session, Dillane’s performance exudes the uncertainty of the man’s mental state where again there is the pain of shame but in no way is there any true understanding of any sense of how to proceed forward with himself, barely getting to look at the man or even acknowledging the mistake to the man. We find then the progression of Mike essentially moving back to the beginning even as he has a romance with a coworker that only leads to him being introduced to drugs again. A pivotal scene in Dillane’s performance is the taking of the drugs that are offered to him casually. Mike refuses them at first then takes them. Dillane doesn’t put a lot on the decision but in doing so shows within it this being a cycle for Mike. He takes the drugs and then he’s just back in it again. What we see is going from the nervous man on the edge of the drugs to becoming the completely lost man we saw at the start of the film. Dillane naturally reverts back to his more disjointed manner and ever increasingly paranoid man until he’s fully back to the start again. It’s a captivating performance with a very specific intention. Which isn't the recovery of the addict, but rather fully the cycle of one. Dillane effectively detailing each step from the dangerous homeless man on the edge of life, to the man straining for recovery, to falling to his demons, to back to that edge again. 

Alternate Best Actor 2025: Joel Edgerton in Train Dreams

Joel Edgerton did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Robert Grainier in Train Dreams. 

Train Dreams tells the life story of a logger who lived from the late 19th century to the mid 20th century. 

I return to the very talented Joel Edgerton interestingly in another role that Robert Duvall probably would’ve knocked out of the park. As Edgerton plays Robert Grainier a man representing history, though not historical but really could be any number of men of the period, who were part of the creation of America as we know it however no one would pay 25 cents to walk in the rooms where he grew up, no children would be named after him, though someone might plagiarize the Assassination of Jesse James to describe the character. Edgerton is constructing a man of a specific time but a specific one in which in many ways must still be universal. Something he achieves frankly with such remarkable ease in terms of the conception of his performance. Edgerton is one of those actors where you’d never think he’s Australian as Robert in reality, in fact you wouldn’t even second guess him as just being this logger. A logger who began his life as a train orphan sent into the west and finding a life for himself largely isolated within himself as he goes about his work as a logger. Edgerton’s work is able to embody silence so potently where he never simply is on the screen and importantly there is the life of the character within the silences. Where Edgerton’s performance alludes to a man already living with an innate sadness as the abandoned child, not as a man overwhelmed by this emotion but one who regardless lives with it. 

The importance of Edgerton’s performance in many ways is the lack of importance of it. Edgerton fashions nothing within Robert to make Robert any more or less than he is. Edgerton instead does not create any semblance of quirk or eccentricity, he is just any old man in so many ways and the way Edgerton can embody and make that compelling is what is the greatness of this performance. Because Edgerton seeks only to present life, and within that, even though technically he doing an accent, technically he is doing much in terms of the physicality of the role, particularly the way Robert is so often turned in towards himself in terms of his body language and so often looks down rather than up, speaks much about who is is as a man isolated in the world, none of it feels like a bit of effort from the performer. Edgerton makes the most essential success in this performance which is simply existing as the man. Never is there a question of performance, he is just this man, and that is the essential truth that needs to exist so we can then just follow Robert in his journey. Edgerton never gets in the way of seeing the man as he is within each moment of it and there is the fundamental great success of this performance from his starting point. 

Edgerton’s performance wears a difficult life, his eyes begin with a weariness, not one that needs to grow and speaks to where the man has already come from and the work he has already done in the dangerous work he performs as a man. With an early traumatic event coming while Robert is on a bridge building crew and a group of men go about casually murdering one of the Chinese workers. Edgerton’s performance in the scene is a pivotal establishment of the observing man as in his eyes we do see the concern even in his ask of “what’s he done?”, however at the same time a man unable to break a general complacency as the murder happens in front him. Edgerton’s reaction in the moment and thereafter showing the haunting vision of the crime still being worn in Robert’s eyes as he must now live with regardless of what he does with his life. Contrasting that an early light comes in the form of his eventual wife Gladys (Felicity Jones) who makes advances towards Robert far more than Robert does towards her. What Edgerton captures with Jones isn’t this red hot sort of romance, but rather a very poignant calm connection between the two. Where Edgerton just exudes a greater comfort, speaking a few more lines than usual, and within those lines Edgerton emphasizes a degree of growth of the man reaching out a bit more by being awoken by his wife. There’s a natural sincerity in their chemistry that makes their connection and initial life together as they make a log cabin home near a river, that powerfully illustrates the importance of being taken away from isolation even more so than love. 

Robert must return to his logging job every year far from Gladys where Edgerton is able to artfully yet quietly reflect the often harsh elements, not in big reactions but little ones that convey the constant threat of death. An element that Edgerton doesn’t portray as a debilitating fear but rather a subdued awareness of the nature of the space. Within this time we see him react to a few people, particularly explosive expert Arn Peeples (William H. Macy), where we get just a bit of camaraderie between them. Edgerton’s performance is notable in his reaching out to the older man with an earnest interest in what he has to say and more importantly an earnest wish to make connection with him. Edgerton, something he does consistently throughout, is putting just enough on a given moment of bringing us quietly within his mental space. Particularly in moments such as seeing a dead man’s boots placed into a tree, where within Edgerton’s performance you see in his eyes how much these losses do follow him, yet within that expression there is also just the quiet resilience of keeping that path. This is even to the point of Arn’s own death from a random fallen branch, where Robert stays with him in his final moments, which Edgerton is able to emphasize the empathy in Robert’s watching and listening but also the powerful sense of a man being unable to know what to say or how to really understand the man’s death. 

The respite being consistently for Robert with his wife and eventually his daughter as well. Where Edgerton brings the beauty of the simplicity of the joys in spending time with both of them and finding the pain of separating from them. Making it so when a massive forest fire ravages his home while Robert is away it is absolutely devastating. And what we see is the true power of his performance, because as much as Edgerton quietly carries the film through so much of it, when he raises his voice it has such a tremendous weight to it. In this instance portraying the penetrating anguish as he looks for his wife and daughter within the ashes of his home. Edgerton’s eyes filled specifically with such a pain of the man being lost and alone as he wanders around the graveyard of his life. Edgerton having one of his most verbal moments as he looks upon the image of the Chinese man who haunts him, where Edgerton’s delivery which is apologetic but with the terrible sadness as he states that his wife and daughter were too much a cost for the “payment” of his past failure. Only finding any respite between frequent visits from local shopkeep Ignatius Jack (Nathaniel Arcand) and finding stray dogs. Edgerton is incredibly moving in creating the small steps away from the sorrow. A sorrow he never entirely loses but finding a man having moments of connections when he can. Finding in particular his interactions with the dogs having a poignancy of a lonely man finding some relief for his isolation.

We follow Robert then as an aging man including one more trip to a logging expedition where Edgerton is almost silent in this sequence, yet amazing work in providing the way that Robert is even more lost than before. Including a moment where he speaks to another former fellow logger talking about Arn, where the older man can’t tie his shoes nor even remember that Arn died. Edgerton’s reactions in these moments are so subdued yet heartbreaking in his reactions of empathy towards the man but while also being struck at seeing his potential future if he were to keep coming back as a logger who no longer has a place on the jobs. Leaving Robert instead as providing essentially a local taxi service via wagon where Edgerton projects in his physical manner so effectively the detachment to his customers even when he’s directly speaking to them. That is until he takes a forest service worker Claire (Kerry Condon) where he finally has a longer conversation. Initially just from her more brazen personality where she leads the conversation where Edgerton’s great in the shyness of his work that grants years of not being the focus of conversation or even having someone to converse with in such an open way. Which eventually leads to a more poignant discussion between the two on their mutual losses including Robert finally talking about having lost his family. 

Edgerton is masterful in this scene bringing such a weighted sense of the life the man has lived in every word, the painful sorrow in every word as he speaks about the pain of his loss at times being too much. There is so much within it that he lets out just a bit, but the amount that we can see in his eyes is almost more than he can bear. Just the way in Edgerton’s voice just a bit, as he doesn’t even entirely lose his composure is so heartbreaking, because you do know the years have past, the nature of the man is to keep it inside, yet the emotions we see still are so raw and honest in every moment of Edgerton’s performance. Love also Edgerton’s consideration of Claire’s words about her own loss and the importance of every little thing. Edgerton’s great because it isn’t a simple comfort, just consideration and attempting to find that meaning in his eyes of man lost. Yet there is something as powerful in his minor chuckle at the idea of him being a hermit in the woods and being of some kind of importance. A meaning though that is Robert’s focus as we follow him in his remaining years. Visiting a phony freak show that promises answers with Edgerton’s quiet breakdown carrying remarkable punctuation of man struggling at the lack of one. The moment of looking at himself in the mirror Edgerton is amazing as you see the man surprised at the years represented by his own face and a man lost even within himself in a way. Contrasting that however is the film’s final scene where he takes a plane ride and while observing the size of the world below him, Edgerton’s reaction is that comfort in the way and even contentment. It is only a reaction yet speaks volumes of the native tongue of silence for Robert. Edgerton delivers an a masterclass in subtlety built upon not noise rather on hushed tones and often silence. Finding so much nuance, so much texture and so much soul in every second we spend with the type of man who wouldn’t be noted by history but is reflective of the history of so many lives. 

Alternate Best Actor 2025: David Strathairn in A Little Prayer

David Strathairn did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Bill in A Little Prayer. 

A Little Prayer follows a father as he has to deal with knowledge of his adult son’s infidelities. 

David Strathairn had a low key but actually fairly remarkable 2025, although in part from two of those films, including this one’s, delayed releases, regardless making the most of three very different roles. Whether that is playing the game show producer who sees his gamble go astray in The Luckiest Man in America, a role that would’ve been easy to play simplistic jerk note but Strathairn found quite a bit of complication within that part, as well as even his work in Zootopia 2. Strathairn was not just cashing a VO paycheck with that, giving his all to really put the lynx in a billionaire villain lynx for all that it was worth. But his most remarkable work is his extremely low key performance in in this film as the patriarch of a seemingly close knit family with his reenactor wife, Venida (Celia Weston), his son David (Will Pullen) whom he runs the family business with and his daughter-in-law Tammy (Jane Levy). Strathairn in the early scenes brings a nice ease of place and exudes very much the history of his Bill. Which is just a man who lives for his family and has been through some things but we just sense someone who is seemingly mostly at ease with his life. Strathairn brings this innate subdued warmth about him, particularly in his interactions early on with Tammy where he shows just a genuine care for her. 

Strathairn’s performance then becomes one of the leads though within an observational place as we follow Bill within his workplace and notices his son acting a bit strangely with one of their employees. Strathairn does a lot with his eyes here in conveying the thoughts that Bill is going through and does bring something really in basically any glance. Completely conveying the determination that his son is sleeping around on his wife. Strathairn’s reaction initially I think manages to say a great deal because the reaction isn’t of extreme horror rather of this quiet disappointment in the realization. And within the realization Strathairn has a degree of exasperation in his eyes of not a man fed up with his son but rather too much of an awareness of the failings of his son, or at least to a degree that he is aware of. So when he attempts an initial attempt to talk to David about his behavior, Strathairn’s delivery is very modest but very earnest. There’s less of trying to punish his son as he converses with him and more so trying to talk to him in regards to what he sees as the value of Tammy in the family. Unfortunately the conversation goes nowhere as David shuts it down by saying it is none of Bill’s business, and Strathairn’s quiet defeat is a defeat of years of dealing with a son who seemingly rejects his father’s advice on a consistent basis. 

We follow Bill then as he tries to uncover more information about what his son has been doing and unfortunately for him this eventually leads to a conversation with the woman his son is having the affair with which only reveals that David is even worse than he thought as she reveals that David also was verbally and physically abusive towards her. Strathairn’s reactionary work is incredibly moving because you see within his quiet distress there’s such pain and more than a bit of shame that David is his son. Strathairn carefully not presents this as a reaction of superiority rather just the sense of being lost, not lost for words how his son could be such a bad person but rather lost how he could raise such a son. Well this is going concurrently Tammy also having figured out David’s infidelity chose to abort their child, and eventually Tammy and Bill meetup to discuss the situation by spending the day together. This is the best scene in the film as both Strathairn and Levy are great together. 

What is so remarkable is the way they are able to create such a unique yet winning chemistry with one another. Which isn’t romantic yet is filled with such a sense of warmth and Strathairn’s great in showing how her presence in a way seems to illuminate and inspire the best of Bill. Creating the important sense of additional motivation in Bill initially to fix the relationship because within Strathairn’s performance you see the strong uncomplicated love for Tammy that Bill no doubt would want to have for his son, yet his son’s deep flaw can never allow for such simplicity. Strathairn finds such poignant chemistry with Levy in their conversation where he actually ends up advising her to leave. In Strathairn’s delivery there is a powerful combination of conviction of his sentiment of every word as the right thing but with the underlying burden of knowing this will end the relationship with someone he has come to deeply care for. An element that only becomes all the more painful when Tammy admits her connection with Bill as a “kindred spirit” and Strathairn’s reaction to this “confession” is heartbreaking because you see in his calm yet still devastated expression of someone feeling every bit of this loss that is only amplified by seeing that her love for him has been as great for him. It is a beautifully rendered scene by both actors where they create such a state of pure sincerity where all the complications involving David is still weighing on both, yet the direct honesty of the real affection between the two makes it far from just a moment of mutual suffering. It is with that specific shared spark of joy that leaves such a memorable impression so naturally realized by both actors as a true connection. While this whole performance is naturally realized by the talents of Strathairn, a performer who is always a welcome presence and hopefully we get a few more filmmakers to utilize this in the upcoming years.