Picking the very best performances found in any drama film is difficult, and maybe even a fools errand.

Youmight exit the whole experience miserable and/or despondent, but the quality of the performances cant be faulted.

It is technically a performance where Swanson overacts, but that overacting is part of the character.

The-10-Best-Performances-in-Drama-Movies,-Ranked

Image by Federico Napoli

Turns out,this Brando fella’s a pretty good actor.

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Salieri’s (F. Murray Abraham) face contorts in awe, envy, and admiration as he reads Mozart’s music for the first time in ‘Amadeus’ (1984).

Image via Orion Pictures

Amadeus Movie Poster

Malcolm (Washington) sitting and contemplating alone in Malcolm X

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

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Scenes from a Marriage - 1974

Image via Cinematograph AB

Orson Welles as Charles Foster Kane standing infront of a banner of himself in Citizen Kane

Image via RKO Radio Pictures

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Close-up of J.K. Simmons looking serene in soft lighting

Image via Sony

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Henry Fonda with a knife in ‘12 Angry Men’

Image via United Artists

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Norma Desmond gesturing dramatically in Sunset Boulevard

Image via Paramount Pictures

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Marlon Brando sitting with a glass of wine in his hand while Al Pacino sits across from him with his back to the camera in The Godfather (1972)

Image via Paramount Pictures

The Godfather Poster

McMurphy laughing in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - 1975

Image via United Artists

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One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Sunset Boulevard

12 Angry Men