The list of excellent leading dramatic performances this year was extensive, narrowing down this list to a tough assignment. Put these performances are fantastic and definitely deserve to be recognised.

Here are our picks for the Best Leading Performances in a Drama Movie in 2023.

5. Michael Fassbender – The Killer

As the titular ‘Killer,’ an unnamed hitman that screws up a hit and spends the rest of the film attempting to find out who’s now trying to clean up the loose ends, including himself, Fassbender delivers one of the most fascinating performances of the year. He’s this ultra-serious killer who spends most of the film monologuing about having rules and things he’ll never do and how he never makes mistakes. Of course, all of this can’t be true, and every time he does make a mistake, it’s the reaction from Fassbender that’s both darkly funny but also adds an odd amount of human personality to an unnamed killer who, for all intents and purposes, we shouldn’t care about.

– Dylan

4. Leonardo DiCaprio – Killers of the Flower Moon

Saying that Leonardo DiCaprio is good in a film is almost a given; anytime he is in a movie, he’s fantastic in it—one of the best actors of his generation. However, with Killers of the Flower Moon, it’s his commitment to portraying Ernest Burkhart as an oddly naive fool that doesn’t make you feel sorry for him, but at least understand how he was able to be twisted so easily by his brother and uncle. It’s the sour jaw, the constant talk of being a money-loving man, the sly smiles of browning teeth. But amongst it all, there are moments where you see that he did care for Mollie Kyle, even amidst the terrible things he was helping his uncle do. It’s one of Leonardo DiCaprio’s best performances in his career, and that’s saying something.

– Dylan

3. Teo Yoo – Past Lives

The history of film is littered with men who have gone back to meet ‘the one who got away,’ but I don’t think I’ve seen one like the one Teo Yoo plays. Hae Sung never comes across as desperate to win Nora over, antagonistic to Arthur or opportunistic in any way; rather, he seems optimistic but open to only finding closure on this relationship. A really lovely performance.

– Ashley

2. Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer

After being a supporting player in many of Christopher Nolan’s films, Cillian Murphy has been given the opportunity to play the lead role, an opportunity he took full advantage of. Murphy is utterly compelling as Robert Oppenheimer, whether he is explaining theoretical or quantum physics, having his reputation called into question in a private security hearing or translating Sanskrit. Murphy truly captured all aspects of the man behind the atomic bomb and is a large reason why Oppenheimer was such a success.

– Ashley

1. Greta Lee – Past Lives

So much of what makes Lee’s performance as Nora so wonderful are the moments of silence when body language is doing all the talking, like the look she gives Arthur before the kiss for the first time or the way she looks at Hae Sung on the ferry. That isn’t to say Greta Lee doesn’t deliver great dialogue; she certainly does, but the moment everyone remembers from the film is the final tracking shot down a New York street where so much is said, just without many words.

– Ashley