My list of the best movies of 2022 is still in the works. In the meantime, I figured a list of my favorite movie performances this year would be easier to compile. I was wrong, of course — not just because there are always more actors than movies to choose from, but also because actors so often do great work even in less-than-great movies.
In trying to sort through my favorites, I was reminded of how many terrific performances this year were given in tandem, by two lead actors who forged the kind of on-screen bond that goes beyond mere chemistry or rapport. I was reminded of this further when the British Independent Film Awards recently instituted a new category, best joint lead performance. It's an inspired decision that acknowledges just how often excellence happens in pairs — not that you'd necessarily know it from some of this year's more ridiculous Oscar campaigns, which like to bend the definitions of "lead" and "supporting" to suit their own convenience.
To suggest that, say, Carey Mulligan is of secondary importance to Zoe Kazan in the woefully underseen "She Said" — or that Brendan Gleeson is somehow supporting Colin Farrell in "The Banshees of Inisherin" — speaks to the mindset of awards-hungry distributors reluctant to pit actors of the same gender directly against each other. Here it may be worth noting that BIFA is one of several organizations (including the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, of which I'm a member) that opted to switch to gender-neutral acting categories this year, another welcome if not uncontroversial departure from awards-season orthodoxies.
