by Ilich Mejia
Every year, The New York Times Magazine picks their greatest performers of the year. This year's top ten each got to star in their own silent, "Horror Show" themed short. Italian-Canadian photographer Floria Sigismondi directed the group as characters that wouldn't be out of place in Beyoncé's haunted house. Hopefully next year, the magazine will branch out and recognize some of television's equally terrific performances. Check out the spooky standouts after the cut...
10 Brooklynn Prince (The Florida Project) in The Demon Child
We'll start with Prince. Maybe too cute to really sell demonic, but she sells that final jump scare!
09 Jake Gyllenhaal (Stronger) in The Damned
In Jake's defense, this is better than most things he did in Okja!
08 Timothée Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name) in The Cannibal
Have we talked about how well Timothée wears clothes? This one doesn't rest on pretty. Will be fun to watch him experiment with his style once Elio's heartbreak takes him out of Italy and into Hollywood's biggest red carpets. Also good to see he's working on breaking through that manhood here.
07 Daniela Vega (Una Mujer Fantástica) in The Vampire
Can you say someone was underused in a one minute short? Luckily I don't need your permission because I'll say it: Daniela was transcendent in Sebastian Lelio's Mujer Fantástica because of how devastating her face can be and we barely see it in this clip! Something's off when I'm complimenting the Christmas tree in the horror film.
06 Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird) in The Mannequin
The make-up and hair team did such a great job with most of these, but I haven't decided if it's genius or lazy that they slapped a wig cap on Saoirse and called her a mannequin. Her eyes and the sound editing team certainly pick up that scalp slack.
05 Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out) in The Psycho Killer
Kaluuya, after being given clear instructions to run not walk, has not yet learned his lesson and is still hanging around white girls. He works a close-up magnetically in Get Out and is almost as good in his clip. Prada should be texting his team right now because, despite being covered in blood and agony, he sure sold every thread of that killer costume.
04 Cynthia Nixon (A Quiet Passion) in The Ghost Bride
Nixon has the campiest set up, but she grounds it with her bride's genuine disorientation. Tyra Banks would be proud of how much emoting she's showing through a cloudy veil. It's also very kind of Nixon to give us a preview of what will haunt our houses if we don't wed her to an Oscar soon.
03 Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip) in The Macabre Dancer
Brilliantly, energy-contagion and renowned raconteur Tiffany Haddish injects comedy into her piece without losing the fright. That poor skeleton has no idea she has a grapefruit hiding inside that gramophone...
02 Andy Serkis (War for the Planet of the Apes) in The Demented Clown
A master body linguist, Serkis interacts with his props in the most twisted way. He proves here he's just as great selling a story without all the CGI that normally envelops him on screen. We don't know if it's scarier if there is a baby in that stroller or not, but our next nightmare will answer that soon enough.
01 Nicole Kidman (The Beguiled) in The Possessed
Kidman does the most with a familiar set up—reminescent of Andrzej Żuławski's Possession. They could have added a handful of adjectives to this short's title: aroused, afraid, delighted, irate. Rolling around in a puddle of eggs should be up there with doing your own stunts. What makes Kidman an often-complimented collaborator and an energizing presence on screen is her discreet awareness of what the camera sees her do. She doesn't let the camera see everything, but she sets herself up in front of it so the viewer can have enough information to—sometimes comfortably, sometimes not—decide how they feel about the characters she creates. Here, in The Beguiled, in Big Little Lies, and in The Killing of a Sacred Deer, she's given us enough to decide she's one of the greats.
Whose short should be adapted into a feature film ASAP? I wouldn't mind seeing the horror/comedy/romance flick that Tiffany and that skeleton are teasing.