Unsung performances of 2016

Yes, Denzel Washington and Viola Davis dominate the screen in “Fences.” Casey Affleck of “Manchester by the Sea” will probably win every trophy on the way to the Oscar stage. Meryl Streep could read Kanye West tweets and earn an Academy Award nomination.

Every awards season, some things are expected, even inevitable. Other performances, however, never gain traction. Some movies aren’t seen by enough people or they lack the budget for a proper PR push. Or sometimes the movie comes out in February and all the voters forget about it.

Whatever the case, there are more great performances than the ones squeezed into the final Oscar lineup. Here are just a few standouts with little-to-no-chance of Academy recognition.

Krisha Fairchild, “Krisha”

Director Trey Edward Shults cast his own aunt in the title role of his breakout short film and subsequent feature length debut. Though Fairchild had prior acting credits, the performance has a rawness to it that you’d expect from an untapped newcomer.

Harsh realism slams against dynamic visual choices throughout the film’s brisk 80 minutes. Told from the perspective of an alienated recovering addict trying to reconnect with family over Thanksgiving dinner, “Krisha” is a stunning showcase for Fairchild. She never seems like a character — and it’s both captivating and horrifying to watch her spin out of control. Watch on Amazon Prime.

John Goodman and Mary Elizabeth Winstead,

“10 Cloverfield Lane”

For most of its run time, the sci-fi-tinged “10 Cloverfield Lane” plays out as an intense chamber drama. After a car accident, a woman (Winstead) wakes up in a bomb shelter owned by John Goodman. Unknown horrors await outside, but the real danger depends on the mood of the shelter’s unhinged proprietor.

Goodman, in a career best performance, taps into some terrifying corners of his affable image, and Winstead steadily anchors the adventure with equal parts wit, vulnerability and fierceness. It’s easy to get distracted by the last 15 minutes, which leans hard into sci-fi globittygloop. Before that, “10 Cloverfield Lane” is a superb battle of thespians. Available on home video platforms.

Anya Taylor-Joy and Ralph Ineson, “The Witch”

The tone of “The Witch” makes all the difference. Robert Eggers, in his directorial debut, sets his unnerving horror film in 17th century New England, and the dialogue fits the time period to an almost befuddling degree. Taylor-Joy plays the teenage girl at the center of the film’s central crisis — her family is terrorized by a demonic presence, and her parents begin to suspect her as reason for the attacks. Ineson plays the deeply religious father, and his clash with Taylor-Joy becomes a major driving force as more and more supernatural terror unfolds. The film’s natural lighting, period-accurate language and slow-burn scares simply wouldn’t work without these two anchoring the emotional stakes. Watch on Amazon Prime.

Gillian Jacobs,

“Don’t Think Twice”

Jacobs, often “Britta-ed” as a less-than-essential element on the cult-favorite series, “Community,” highlights all the best scenes of this comedy about a struggling improv-comedy troupe. The improv scenes within the film earn laughs mostly because of Jacobs’ comic timing, and the dramatic offstage moments work because Jacobs finds a unique shade to the “awkward creative” archetype. Available on home video platforms.

Alden Ehrenreich,

“Hail, Caesar!”

Movies from the Coen Brothers often dominate awards season, and even despite its early-year release, the Old Hollywood satire “Hail, Caesar!” managed to slot onto several critics’ top 10 lists.

Time will probably be kind to this sharp and entertaining comedy, and though the film stars the likes of George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Scarlett Johnansson and Channing Tatum, viewers will remember the singing Western star played by the future Han Solo, Alden Ehrenreich. He’s hilarious and lovable in every scene, most especially his “Would that it were so simple” exchange with Ralph Fiennes. Available on HBO Go and home video platforms.

Jack Reynor,

“Sing Street”

Spoiler alert: The jubilant ’80s-set musical “Sing Street” will place extremely high on my forthcoming Top 10 list, and the best performance in a movie full of them belongs to Reynor as the rock music-obsessed older brother to the film’s high school-aged protagonist. While he doesn’t get a big musical number, Reynor propels the entire emotional arc of the movie in just a few scenes. He even sells that admittedly-cornball finale. Watch on Netflix Instant.

Ryan Gosling,

“The Nice Guys”

Don’t feel too badly about the Academy ignoring Gosling for “The Nice Guys,” as his performance in “La La Land” stands a good chance to be recognized. Both films showcase Gosling’s underutilized comic timing. Almost all the laughs in “The Nice Guys” belong to Gosling, and there are too many gold moments to count.

I’m told that Gosling is something of a heartthrob. Even the doofiness on display here will probably earn him more admirers. “The Nice Guys” is available on home video platforms, and “La La Land” is in theaters now and most definitely a big-screen experience.

Emily Blunt,

“The Girl on the Train”

OK, so the movie is hot garbage. Blunt’s portrayal of a self-destructive alcoholic stumbling through a murder mystery still manages to be compelling, even as all the ridiculous twists pile up in the second half. Ignore this year’s “The Huntsman: Winter’s War” and it’s safe to say Blunt has been crushing it since her breakout in “The Devil Wears Prada.”

“The Girl on the Train” shouldn’t even be uttered in the same sentence as Oscar, so maybe the Academy can just announce, “Emily Blunt in that one thing.” Nobody remembers who won for what anyway.

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Tyler Wilson can be reached at [email protected].