Each December, Vanity Fair has a proud tradition of naming the best performances of the year—ones found in film and television, sure, but also memorable displays from the worlds of music, theater, internet culture, and, in a few notable cases, real life. Most of 2025’s honorees are performers, in a literal sense; some are athletes, or politicians, or, in one case, HBO’s best supporting kitchen appliance. Look below to see who made the cut—from earnest assessments to entries that are firmly tongue-in-cheek.

Michael B. Jordan, Sinners

Before Sinners came out, I wondered if Michael B. Jordan playing twins—Smoke and Stack, brothers who return to Mississippi after a sojourn north to open a juke joint—would be a distracting storytelling trick. But in the very capable hands o

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