For those who aren’t yet aware, Kristen Stewart is a fantastic actress. In recent years she has made the most of taking on interesting and distinct films that all have shown her range as a performer. From science fiction to more intimate character studies, Stewart has carved out a place as one of the most intriguing actresses working today.
With Stewart’s most recent film, Spencer, proving to be one of her most acclaimed yet, it is as good a chance as any to go back through some of her best performances. Though not easy to narrow it down, these are Stewart’s ten best performances that will be sure to change as she continues to take on exciting new projects.
10. Into The Wild
The adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s arresting novel, Sean Penn’s Into The Wild tells the tragic story of young Christopher McCandless who decided to leave all of his life behind to strike out on his own. The film recounts all the experiences McCandless had with those he saw along the way with Stewart's Tracy appearing as one of the key parts. She is one of the last to meet him on his journey.
Stewart establishes how, across all the people McCandless meets, her character has the most in common with him. Similarly struggling to find her purpose in the world, Tracy is drawn to McCandless even as she doesn’t know much about him. The quiet scenes the two share are given life by Stewart showing the loneliness that can overwhelm those seeking purpose in the road. It was one of her earliest roles and a sign of how she can make even the smallest of characters into memorable ones.
9. Speak
Another film based on a book, Speak is a painful yet deeply authentic look at the life of Stewart’s Melinda. After facing trauma, she stops speaking as she enters high school. Melinda finds solace through her art as she works through her past to find a future. It is a tough role to take on that Stewart brings a great deal of humanity and gravitas to, fully inhabiting the young character just trying to find a way to recover from all that has happened to her. It is a frank look at the long, hard path to healing.
Stewart speaks volumes even in the scenes where she barely utters a word, bringing the character to life with a delicate yet dedicated commitment. Despite only being 13 at the time of filming, she's able to completely uncover the nuances of turmoil facing Melinda. Her devastating performance captures how girls are abruptly forced to face the horrors of the adult world that has robbed them of their childhood.
8. Adventureland
A film that perfectly balances its humor with its drama, Adventureland is a 80s comedy about the workers of an amusement park. It follows Jesse Eisenberg’s James, a college graduate who is hoping to tour the world before pursuing his dreams of journalism. That all comes crashing down when he instead must take a dead-end job working at the local amusement park. It is there that he meets Stewart’s Em, a fellow worker who he begins to develop a relationship with over the course of the film.
The bittersweet story captures the malaise of early adulthood with such a precision that it has resonated beyond its comedic beats. The story is messy and all over the place in a way that feels true to a world where people are themselves deeply flawed in navigating their feelings. Stewart plays more than just a romantic interest being pined after as she brings an abundance of heart to the character that shines through in the film’s key moments. This ensures the final scene James and Em share is so genuinely sweet. It is all due to her masterfully melancholic performance.
7. Still Alice
A heart-wrenching depiction of the real-life terrors of seeing your loved ones fade into oblivion before your eyes, Still Alice unravels the painful toll that Alzheimers can wreak on an entire family. Julianne Moore's Alice, a linguistics professor, must determine how to spend the last parts of her life while she is still herself. A large part of that is her connection to her daughter, Stewart’s Lydia. As the disease could also impact her, every scene where Lydia sees her mother slipping away marks a future she too will face.
Stewart takes the audience through the pain and fear of seeing a family member disappear, arriving at a tentative catharsis as one of the people still caring for her mother. It is an unimaginably dreadful twist of fate that Stewart gives shape and form with an understated grace that cuts to the very soul.
6. Underwater
In Underwater, Stewart takes us to the deepest depths of the ocean as Norah, a mechanical engineer who is part of a crew tasked with research and drilling at a facility that is suddenly struck by what they think is an earthquake. Norah and the rest of the crew must find a way to escape by getting to a nearby facility by crossing the ocean floor on foot with something far more sinister lurking in the pitch black darkness.
Don’t let this simple premise deceive you, films like this still require a strong central performance to carry it. Stewart delivers that and more, embodying a comprehensive resourcefulness that really gets us to root for Norah. It all falls on her shoulders to ensure the remaining crew make it out alive. Spending almost all of the film with her character, Stewart brings an emotional heft that makes the final moments of the film surprisingly resonant.
5. Happiest Season
The romantic-comedy Happiest Season follows Stewart’s Abby and Mackenzie Davis' Harper who are going to visit the latter’s family for the holidays. Abby intends to propose on this visit, though her plans are dashed when she learns that her longtime girlfriend has not come out to her family. What ensues is a film about fraught family dynamics that also features Stewart giving a great comedic performance which encapsulates a larger emotional tapestry.
Abby's hurt is acutely felt even as it is cloaked in increasingly silly shenanigans, making for a character who becomes fully dimensional even when the rest of the story may not always be. As Abby begins to reevaluate her relationship and her own part in it, Stewart ensures that inner turmoil manifests itself in every facet of her performance. It has many awkward moments that draw laughs because of her comedic timing, though Stewart creates a humor that is balanced with a loving empathy.
4. Certain Women
A trio of short vignettes told over the course of a single film, Certain Women is a quietly observational story that centers on the struggles of its characters just trying to live their lives. The portion with Stewart follows her character Beth, a young lawyer teaching a law class far from home. A remarkable Lily Gladstone plays Jamie, a nearby ranch hand who lives in isolation and becomes drawn to Beth. The two form a relationship that will be upended when Beth suddenly doesn’t return.
The two play off each other perfectly, with Gladstone bringing joy in her role and Stewart expressing her exhaustion in every fiber of her performance. It is a story about two people who make an unexpected and fleeting connection, brought to life by the two outstanding performers putting on a masterclass in characterization. As they drift apart, the bond they built ensures its end is a profound loss.
3. Clouds of Sils Maria
The emotionally complex Clouds of Sils Maria follows Stewart as Valentine, personal assistant to the actress Maria (Juliette Binoche). As Maria revisits part of her past and reflects on her future, she has extended conversations with Valentine that exposes the deep connection the two share. They discuss different readings of a play, all while rehearsing lines from that very text in preparation for Maria taking on a new but familiar role. The play and the relationship between the two begins to blur in an intensely intriguing exploration of the central characters' relationship.
The way the film has you guessing about whether the characters themselves are also acting creates a mesmerizing feel. It is the multiple layers of abstraction that instills the film with a tension as Valentine begins to grow frustrated with Maria. It reaches a fever pitch with Stewart imbuing each scene with a dramatic weight that threatens to crush you. When it reaches its conclusion, crush you it does as the emotions burst out with a painful vibrancy.
2. Personal Shopper
Personal Shopper thrives as a ghost story unlike anything you’ve ever seen, taking us on a tense exploration of loss with Stewart’s Maureen as she tries to connect with her departed brother. The sudden loss has left a void in her life, with Maureen trying to pick up the pieces about what she wants her life to be. She works a job as a personal shopper that leaves her feeling aimless, frequently trying on different clothes and identities to find some semblance of meaning.
Stewart brings one of her most complex characters to life, showing how Maureen is overwhelmed by the fear taking hold of her life in quiet physical tells. She balances this with moments where she is more reserved in trying to keep herself whole. It is a compelling kaleidoscope of loss that crystallizes in one of the best concluding scenes of her whole career that leaves you with a totalizing sense of her isolation.
1. Spencer
A film that boasts not just Stewart’s best performances of her career thus far but one of the best displays of acting of all-time, Spencer is a stunning achievement in every single arresting moment. Directed by Pablo Larraín, in a similar vein to his 2016 film Jackie, it places us deep within the world and psyche of the departed Princess Diana over three days of her holiday. Trapped with a royal family who scrutinizes and dissects her every move, she is constantly under a microscope that threatens to wear her down into nothing over the course of the film. Even as Stewart completely captures the physicality of the real-life Diana, she transcends mere impersonation to capture something far more comprehensive: a full portrait of who the woman was. It is at times overwhelming, though in the best way possible. It gives a long overdue second look at what her far too short existence was, as seen in a small glimpse of a three day period. Even as it is brief, Stewart comes to show us more about her than any conventional biopic could ever hold a candle to. It shines more brightly than anything she has ever done and may ever do again.
Behind all the tabloids and abuse she faced over her life, Stewart breathes life into all the various facets of the whole person that Diana was. Far too often, such portrayals can oversimplify and gloss over the complexity of the person in favor of more superficial observations that give easy answers. Stewart’s performance doesn’t rely on easy workarounds, instead giving us a fully realized and compassionate look that demands our attention. She doesn’t hide the struggles and troubles Diana faced, instead showing how that was only one part of her life. Even intertwined with painful scenes of agonizing panic, there is the warmth that is felt with the interactions she has with her children, Harry and William. Stewart shows the love Diana felt for them and how much she sought to protect them from the terrors that consume her throughout the film. It is an ephemeral and enigmatic experience of acting that will only gain more appreciation with time as it buries deep into the recesses of our collective souls.