2018 Year End Report: Best Ensemble Cast

There were a lot of great ensembles this year, and they came from all sorts of genre and sizes of films. Some ensembles that didn’t make the cut for the top 10 but could have include: Annihilation had a great, almost all-female ensemble cast that worked together brilliantly. Black Panther which had a huge cast, all on the same page, and able to define their individual characters. Blockers essentially had two fine ensembles – the adults, who occupy one half of the film, and the kids who inhabit the other half – both being hilarious. Halloween is an odd film to have on a list like this, but the women in this film were truly great, and truly felt like a family. The Hate U Give had a lot of people in a film that gave them all a chance to shine, with specific moments for each of them. Isle of Dogs has a great vocal cast of characters, all of whom are great. Lean on Pete has a fine performance at its core by Charlie Plummer, and a lot of people giving fine, small performances by a host of great character actors. The Other Side of the Wind has a lot of Welles friends and other, just hanging out at a party, and yet while the film feels so informal, the performances do end up sticking – especially by Huston and Bogdanovich, but many get their moment. Roma has a great central performance by Yalitza Aparcio, but the entire cast is terrific – especially the family, who feel like a unit. The Shoplifters cast works together perfectly, building a family by choice.

 

10. The Death of Stalin - Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Paddy Considine, Rupert Friend, Jason Isaacs, Michael Palin, Andrea Riseborough, Jeffrey Tambor, Adrian McLoughlin, Olga Kurylenko, Paul Whitehouse, Paul Chahidi, Dermot Crowley, Justin Edwards, Richard Brake, Jonathan Aris.

There are certain writers who have a set rhythm – a patter – to their dialogue, and you need to cast the correct people in the roles, or everything is going to fall apart. Armando Iannucci is one such writer, and even more than his other projects, casting is crucial for The Death of Stalin. Here is a film that is hilarious and horrifying, often at the same time – with his cast of would-be despots trying to outmaneuver each other to see who can be more ruthless and murderous. The two standout performances are clearly by Steve Buscemi – who used to get these types of roles often, but hasn’t in a while (it’s good to see that wicked sense of humor is still there) and Simon Russell Beale, who is calmer and crueler. But there isn’t a bum note hit in the entire, huge cast, which is saying something given just how tricky the tone is here. Great work by all involved.

 

9. Game Night - Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kyle Chandler, Sharon Horgan, Billy Magnussen, Lamorne Morris, Kylie Bunbury, Jesse Plemons, Michael C. Hall, Danny Huston, Chelsea Peretti, Camille Chen.

Comedic ensembles often don’t get their due – especially in mainstream comedies like Game Night – but they really should, because they can elevate the whole movie. Here, the standard is set high by the central couple of Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams – who seemed like an unlikely pair at first, but fit together perfectly as the ultra-competitive couple – Bateman grounds them a little, which allows McAdams to get the bigger laughs. But when you add in the rest of the cast, you get comedic gold – no one is better than Jesse Plemons in this movie, but every plays their roles terrifically – and the other couples (Sharon Horgan and Billy Magnussen, Lamorne Morris and Kylie Bunbury, have good report with each other). The whole cast is game, and it makes it one of the best mainstream comedies in years.

 

8. Support the Girls - Regina Hall, Haley Lu Richardson, Shayna McHayle, Dylan Gelula, Zoe Graham, Ann McCaskey, Elizabeth Trieu, Krista Hayes, Victor Isaac Perez, Jesse Marshall, Luis Olmeda, Jermichael Grey, John Elvis, Lea DeLaria, Lindsay Anne Kent, Sam Stinson, Jonny Mars, Steve Zapata, Nicole Onyeje, James Le Gros, AJ Michalka, Dennis Moore, Jana Kramer, Brooklyn Decker.

Nailing work place dynamics in a film can be tricky – in many ways, the people we work with are the ones that we spend the most time with, that we know the best – and yet they are also people we have to maintain a certain degree of professionalism around, and hide some personal secrets. Andrew Bujalski’s Support the Girls perfectly casts his ensemble – from the great Regina Hall, a mother type figure to everyone at the Hooters-like restaurant, whose life is falling apart behind the scenes, to the ever cheerful Haley Lu Richardson, so good as the chipper waitress, and Shayna McHayle, as the more realist of the wait staff. But everyone in the film gets their moment to feel like a real person – someone whose life extends beyond the screen into real life.

 

7. The Favourite - Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone, Nicholas Hoult, Joe Alwyn, Jennifer White, LillyRose Stevens, James Smith, Mark Gatiss.

Yes, the men in The Favourite do their job very well – but let’s be real, this film is on this list because of the three remarkable performances by Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone. The way these three stellar actresses play off each other, either paired off in any combination imaginable, or altogether, is a pure joy. All of them give the characters much needed depth so that the film that could have just been a collection of wicked barbs exchanged while wearing costumes. But all three performances are multi-layered and multi-faceted, whether they are being cruel to each other, or planning their next moves – or finally being trapped in the bed they made themselves. It’s the best trio of the year.

 

6. Hereditary - Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, Ann Dowd. 

Certainly one of the smaller ensembles on this list – Hereditary ensemble is just basically the four members of the family, and then the “helpful” outsider. At the beginning of the film, this family is already in trouble – already falling apart at the seams. Collette is the anchor here to be sure – her performance is one of the greats of the year, as the mother who buries herself in work, to keep from lashing out cruelly at her family. Gabriel Byrne is trying to pretend that everything is fine, everything is okay – when clearly it isn’t. Alex Wolff is a typical teenager, and then gets racked with guilt, and isn’t able to come out of it. And Milly Shapiro gives the creepiest kid actor performance imaginable. They make sense as a family unit, as they go through the film. Throw in a great turn by Ann Dowd – so helpful – and you have a small, but formidable ensemble.

 

5. Sorry to Bother You - Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Omari Hardwick, Terry Crews, Kate Berlant, Michael X. Sommers, Danny Glover, Steven Yeun, Armie Hammer, Robert Longstreet, David Cross, Patton Oswalt, Lily James, Forest Whitaker, Rosario Dawson.

Films like Sorry to Bother You have such a tricky, nearly impossible tone and structure, that they demand a lot of their cast to just keep things in line. The film is surreal and over the top, so you need a cast to ground it in recognizable humor behavior. I think Laketih Stanfield gives one of the great, under-recognized performances of the year at the core of Sorry to Bother You – it’s such a weird piece, but he keeps it together. It also allows for some out there work by the rest of the cast – Armie Hammer completely embracing his inner asshole for example, as well as the voice work by Patton Oswalt and David Cross. Boots Riley made a great film – a wildly ambitious one, with a tricky tone. Without this cast, I don’t know if it all holds together – with it, it’s one of the best films of the year.

 

4. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - Tim Blake Nelson, David Krumholtz, Clancy Brown, Harry Melling, Jesse Luken, Jefferson Mays, Danny McCarthy, James Franco, Stephen Root, Ralph Ineson, Liam Neeson, Harry MellingPaul Rae, Jiji Hise, Tom Waits, Sam Dillon, Zoe Kazan, Bill Heck, Grainger Hines, Billy Lockwood, (Matt), Brendan Gleeson, Tyne Daly, Saul Rubinek, Chelcie Ross, Jonjo O'Neill.

By necessity, the Coens have always had a sixth sense when it comes to casting – getting the perfect people in just the right role, even if it’s someone they haven’t worked with before, or seems strange for the role. With The Ballad of Buster Scruggs they have a large cast even by their standards – because there are six stories, and many of them still have quite a few different actors in them. The best acted of the segments is probably the one featuring Zoe Kazan and Bill Heck – who win the best in show award here – although you could argue for Tim Blake Nelson or Tom Waits or everyone in that final segment, or even the understated work by James Franco (which is hilarious) or Liam Neeson (which is terrifying). Really, there isn’t a bad performance here – and they all work together to make the film even stronger.

 

 

3. If Beale Street Could Talk –Kiki Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach, Aunjanue Ellis, Ebony Obsidian, Dominique Thorne, Brian Tyree Henry, Diego Luna, Finn Wittrock, Ed Skrein, Emily Rios, Pedro Pascal, Dave Franco.

I think it’s safe to say that after Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk that Barry Jenkins is really excellent at casting his movies. He has this sense of just who would work best in his films, and why – there faces onscreen to be sure, but also just how they will all fit together. If Beale Street Could Talk is a wonderfully cast movie, from the two beautiful, tragic romantic leads (newcomers Kiki Layne and Stephan James), to veteran character actors like the wonderful Regina King – but also Colman Domingo and Michael Beach, to the small, one or two scene roles – none better than Brian Tyree Henry, that sees the whole movie shift after his presence. Jenkins casts his film with such care for how they will all fit together, and then lets them do great work. Clearly, this is the case with this sprawling, talented cast here.

 

2. Widows - Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Colin Farrell, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Cynthia Erivo, Jacki Weaver, Carrie Coon, Robert Duvall, Liam Neeson, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Jon Bernthal, Garret Dillahunt, Kevin J. O’Connor, Lukas Haas.

The ensemble gathered for Widows would be great in any film – truly, this is one of the most talented cast that on paper, should be in contention for awards like this. But the key here is that screenplay by Steve McQueen and Gillian Flynn, does such a good job of fleshing out all of these characters, that the actors slip into them with ease. Who is the best in the cast? Viola Davis, who is as powerful as she has ever been, while still maintaining her vulnerability>? Elizabeth Debicki, who finally gets a chance to show all she can do? Michelle Rodriguez, playing quieter than I’ve ever seen her before? Daniel Kaluuya, the year’s most terrifying villain? Brian Tyree Henry, who can be incredibly calm here, but is still scary? Colin Farrell, who knows his family is corrupt, wants out, but also wants the power? What about the smaller performances here – Carrie Coon, who withholds more than she shows, Lukas Haas, who tells you everything you need to know about him early. Truly, this is a movie with a ton of great roles – and the cast is more than up to the challenge to fill them.

 

1.BlackKklansman - John David Washington, Adam Driver, Topher Grace, Laura Harrier, Ryan Eggold, Jasper Pääkkönen, Paul Walter Hauser, Ashlie Atkinson, Robert John Burke, Brian Tarantina, Arthur J. Nascarella, Ken Garito, Frederick Weller, Michael Buscemi, Damaris Lewis, Ato Blankson-Wood, Corey Hawkins, Dared Wright, Faron Salisbury, Victor Colicchio, Paul Diomede, Danny Hoch, Nicholas Turturro, Harry Belafonte, Alec Baldwin, Isiah Whitlock Jr.

Spike Lee films have often given their casts an opportunity to shine – he likes to make his films big and messy, which is the recipe for some great chances to act. In BlackKklansman though, while things are not subtle by any means, they seem to be more in control – and the actors follow suit, and deliver some terrific work along the way. John David Washington’s performance in the core one – and is in full control of his capabilities, showing his dad’s range, while making the character his own. Adam Driver is probably the best – if only because he has the type of role that is the most complicated – a non-practicing Jew, forced to deal with his religion for the first time. Topher Grace is terrific as David Duke – calmly, quietly saying such horrible things. The local KKK members are good in their own ways – from calm, to over-the-top hateful, to flat out dumb. Laura Harrier makes the most of a slightly underwritten role as the student activist. And then, Lee comes along and gives two memorable speeches to characters we only see that one time – and allows Corey Hawkins and Harry Belafonte to run with them. To me, as good as the other ensembles on this list were – this was my clear favorite.