Best Actress 2017

My top choices in the order I would place them on my Academy ballot if I were allowed to vote. In other words, this is my top five, but I acknowledge that this list is already influenced by awards buzz. They are not in order of my preference. Instead, the actresses whom I think would theoretically benefit the most from my vote are at the top.

MARYANA SPIVAK, Loveless (Нелюбовь)

KRISTEN STEWART, Personal Shopper

FLORENCE PUGH, Lady Macbeth

SAOIRSE RONAN, Lady Bird

FRANCES McDORMAND, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

Also loved:

Simone Bucio, La Región Salvaje (The Untamed)
Trine Dyrholm, Kollektivet (The Commune)
Vicky Krieps, Phantom Thread
Rooney Mara, Song to Song
Véro Tshanda Beya Mputu, Félicité
Cynthia Nixon, A Quiet Passion
Jessie Pinnick, Princess Cyd
Haley Lu Richardson, Columbus
Meryl Streep, The Post

Apologies to:

Annette Bening (Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool), Holly Hunter (Strange Weather), Isabelle Huppert (Happy End), and Kim Min-hee (On the Beach at Night Alone), whose films I have not yet seen.

Related:

My Best Actress picks from past years (2004-2016)
My Best Actor picks from 2017
My Best Supporting Actress picks from 2017
My Best Supporting Actor picks from 2017