Monster

All 5 Best Actress nominees this year were very, very good, but 4 of them ran into the monster performance of Charlize Theron, who I swear I would never have identified through 109 minutes if I hadn’t known it was her. It is simply the most awesome performance in a decade. Maybe more. It was much, much more than just make-up and a 30-pound weight gain. She seemed to be inhabiting someone else’s body, she seemed to be channeling the unquiet, horrific spirit of Aileen Wournos. The film does not approve or condemn; her first killing is totally justified, I wanted to pull the trigger myself. The last is sheer butchery. The director simply shows you a tortured soul who had never believed she could love or be loved, and the horrible things that such a person could do for love. One of the best films of the year.