It's time we admit it: Some of the most powerful performances in cinema history didn't come from humans.
They came from creatures who can't read a script, can't hit a mark on command, and have no idea what an Oscar is. Yet, they steal our hearts, terrify us to our core, and deliver moments of pure, unscripted magic. The recent buzz around the new horror movie Good Boy and its incredibly talented canine star has reignited this very conversation. In the film, a sweet dog named Indy moves into a new home with his owner, only to realize they're not alone. While his human companion remains blissfully unaware of the ghostly inhabitants, Indy's sharp senses pick up on every terrifying detail. This stellar performance, delivered by director Ben Leonberg's own dog, got us thinking about the all-time greats. Compiling a list like this is a brutal task; for every animal that made the cut, a dozen beloved creatures were left on the cutting room floor. But after much debate, we’ve landed on ten performances that are truly unforgettable.
Good Boy is currently charming and frightening audiences in select theaters before making its way to the streaming service Shudder.
10. Kes - Kes the Kestrel
Using a bird in flight as a symbol for freedom is a well-worn trope in filmmaking. But in the hands of director Ken Loach, within his gritty 1969 masterpiece Kes, it becomes something breathtakingly raw and real. The story centers on Billy Casper (Dai Bradley), a 15-year-old boy from a deprived English mining town, whose future looks as bleak and grey as the coal dust that covers everything. Life seems to offer him nothing but hardship. That is, until he discovers and decides to train a young kestrel. This act of nurturing a wild creature becomes Billy’s singular escape.
What makes this performance so astounding is its authenticity. Bradley, a local schoolboy with no professional acting experience, spent a month learning falconry to build a genuine bond with the birds. You can feel it in every frame. The scenes of Billy on the moors, training his kestrel, are moments of quiet, lyrical beauty that stand in stark, beautiful contrast to the crushing reality of his daily life. You're not just watching an actor with an animal; you're witnessing a genuine connection unfold. But here’s where it gets controversial: for the film’s famously heartbreaking finale, the director didn’t tell the young Bradley that the kestrel was unharmed, capturing his real, gut-wrenching grief on camera. It’s a devastating moment that raises questions about the lengths filmmakers will go to for authenticity. Still, one hopes that through Kes, Billy learned to dream of a life beyond the mines.
9. Anatomy of a Fall - Messi as Snoop
It’s a rare feat for a film to conquer the prestigious Cannes Film Festival by winning both the Palme D'Or (the top prize for the film) and the Palm Dog (the unofficial award for best canine performance). But after watching 2023’s Anatomy of a Fall, you understand why. This gripping, emotionally complex courtroom drama about a writer (Sandra Hüller) accused of her husband's murder is already a masterclass in tension. But the introduction of Snoop, the family’s border collie played by the soulful Messi, elevates it to another level entirely. Snoop isn’t just window dressing; he is the loyal guide dog for the couple’s visually impaired son, Daniel, and serves as an emotional mirror for the family's turmoil.
Messi’s performance is a subtle marvel. Through his expressive blue eyes, he reflects the grief, confusion, and suspicion swirling through the household. And this is the part most people miss: his role becomes absolutely pivotal. A key "experiment" conducted by Daniel involving Snoop becomes a turning point in the trial, helping the boy piece together his own theory of what happened to his father. (Rest assured, Snoop makes it through unharmed, or this film wouldn’t be on the list!) Messi became a media sensation during awards season, even getting his own seat at the Oscars, proving that a nuanced animal performance can be just as captivating as any human one.
8. Game Night - Olivia as Bastian
Looking back, the 2018 film Game Night has firmly cemented itself as one of the sharpest studio comedies of the last decade. With a killer ensemble cast featuring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, it's Jesse Plemons' deadpan portrayal of Gary, the creepy cop-next-door, that truly steals the show. And Gary would only be half as memorable without his fluffy, impossibly white West Highland Terrier, Bastian, played by the charismatic Olivia.
Bastian is the perfect comedic sidekick. Olivia’s performance is a masterclass in adorable obliviousness, which makes every scene she’s in that much funnier. Whether she's being clutched by Gary during one of his bizarre monologues or at the center of the film's most hilarious sequence—when a wounded Max (Bateman) accidentally bleeds on her pristine white fur—she is perfect. The ensuing chaos, as Bastian gleefully shakes, spraying blood all over Gary’s immaculate home, is comedic gold. It’s that innocent, slightly vacant dog stare that sells it. Animals don't know they're acting, but Olivia’s impeccable timing makes you wonder if she was secretly in on the joke all along.
7. The Banshees of Inisherin - Jenny the Miniature Donkey
Getting a dog to perform often involves a simple desire to please. Training a bear might rely on its motivation for food. But how on earth do you direct an animal legendary for its stubbornness, like a donkey? For The Banshees of Inisherin, the solution was simple: give Jenny the miniature donkey her own miniature donkey friend for emotional support on set! With her buddy nearby, Jenny was apparently much more comfortable and willing to play the role of Pádraic’s (Colin Farrell) closest, four-legged confidante in this dark tale of a friendship imploding.
While the human performances from Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, and Barry Keoghan are all phenomenal, Jenny is the film's quiet, beating heart. She is simultaneously a symbol of innocence and a creature of quiet judgment. Her presence is so crucial that the audience's affection for her is paramount for the film’s devastating third act to land with the intended emotional force. And Jenny absolutely nails it. She may have given her co-star Colin Farrell a good kick during filming, but as he admitted, that’s just what donkeys do! Today, Jenny is enjoying a well-deserved retirement in the Irish countryside, her star power undiminished.
6. The Neverending Story - Artax the Horse
If you were a child in the 1980s, the words “Swamps of Sadness” likely trigger a core memory you’ve been trying to suppress for decades. Director Wolfgang Petersen’s 1984 fantasy epic, The Neverending Story, was rated PG, but it delivered a scene so emotionally scarring it traumatized an entire generation. And the power of that scene rests entirely on the performance of Artax, the noble horse companion to the hero, Atreyu.
From the moment we meet him, Artax embodies loyalty and courage. He is the perfect fantasy companion, the kind of friend every kid dreams of. His majestic, snow-white presence makes the bond with Atreyu feel instant and profound. It is this very connection that makes his fate so utterly crushing. As Atreyu pleads and screams, Artax succumbs to the swamp's magical despair, sinking slowly into the muck. The scene is agonizingly slow and unflinching. It’s a testament to the horse’s performance that this death hits harder, and feels more real, than countless human deaths in film history. Nearly 40 years later, the pain is still there, proving just how magnificent Artax truly was.
5. The Edge - Bart the Bear
Picture this: a billionaire intellectual (Anthony Hopkins), a brash photographer (Alec Baldwin), and his assistant find themselves stranded in the Alaskan wilderness after a plane crash. They must battle the elements, their own simmering resentments, and one other, very large problem: a massive Kodiak bear who sees them as a three-course meal. The 1997 survival thriller The Edge is a taut, intelligent adventure, but its undisputed star is the 1,500-pound force of nature, Bart the Bear.
Bart delivers a performance of such raw power and screen presence that he overshadows his Oscar-winning human co-stars. Whenever he isn't on screen, you feel his absence. He isn't just a monster; he's a character—a cunning, relentless antagonist that drives the entire plot. His performance was so commanding that Sir Anthony Hopkins, who had worked with Bart previously, treated him not as an animal, but as an equal. Trainer Lynne Seus noted that Hopkins “acknowledged and respected him like a fellow actor,” often spending hours simply admiring him. Bart wasn't just a trained animal; he was a movie star.
4. The Witch - Charlie the Goat as Black Phillip
In Robert Eggers' chilling 2015 folk-horror film, The Witch, a Puritan family exiled to the edge of a sinister forest begins to unravel. At the center of their paranoia is the family goat, Black Phillip, whose behavior grows increasingly malevolent. So how do you get a goat to act like it's possessed by Satan himself? As it turns out, you just let a particularly difficult goat be itself. Charlie, the goat who played Black Phillip, was notoriously uncooperative on set. He was, by all accounts, an absolute terror, even attacking actor Ralph Ineson and injuring him severely enough to dislodge a tendon. Was it method acting? Or was Charlie just a jerk?
Either way, that untamable, aggressive energy translated into one of the most genuinely terrifying animal performances ever captured on film. Goats are typically seen as quirky, not menacing, but Charlie’s Black Phillip is the stuff of nightmares. His rebellious spirit and violent tendencies made the film’s iconic, deliciously wicked ending all the more powerful and believable. Charlie’s chaotic performance proves that sometimes, the most difficult actors deliver the most unforgettable results.
3. Good Boy - Indy the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever as Christian
It's one thing for an animal to be a memorable sidekick. It’s another for an animal to be the star. But it’s a whole different challenge to make an animal the film’s sole protagonist, the lens through which the audience experiences everything. That's the magic trick Good Boy pulls off, and it works entirely because of the phenomenal performance from Indy, the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. In this unique haunted house story, Indy is our hero. We see the world through his eyes, feel the horror through his reactions.
The film’s success rests squarely on Indy’s furry shoulders, and he carries it with the poise of a seasoned pro. Every nervous ear twitch, every inquisitive head tilt, every panicked glance communicates a depth of emotion that many human actors struggle to achieve. We’re not just scared for him because he's a helpless dog in a horror movie; we’re scared with him because his performance is utterly convincing. Indy isn't just a good boy; he's a bona fide leading man who has already earned his place in the pantheon of great screen animals.
2. The Thing - Jed the Wolfdog
John Carpenter's 1982 masterpiece The Thing opens with one of cinema’s greatest deceptions. We see a beautiful Siberian husky frantically running across the Antarctic snow, pursued by a helicopter full of men trying to shoot it. Our sympathies immediately go to the dog. Who are these cruel men hunting such an innocent creature? This brilliant setup is sold entirely by the incredibly layered performance of a wolfdog named Jed.
Once “rescued” by the American researchers at Outpost 31, Jed’s character doesn’t just sit there looking cute. He prowls the station with a quiet, unnerving intelligence. There's a chilling intensity in his eyes, a sense that he is observing, calculating, and waiting. Jed doesn't need to bark or snarl to create an atmosphere of profound dread. He communicates the alien's cunning nature through sheer presence. When the dog finally reveals its true, grotesque form, the shock is visceral. That legendary body-horror sequence wouldn't be half as effective without Jed’s subtle, preceding performance, which perfectly established the creature’s manipulative genius.
1. The Wizard of Oz - Terry the Cairn Terrier as Toto
Could any other performance possibly top this list? In the 1939 Technicolor classic, Toto is far more than Dorothy's adorable travel companion; he is the engine of the entire plot. The story kicks off when a neighbor threatens his life, prompting Dorothy to run away. And, in the film’s climax, it is Toto who heroically pulls back the curtain to expose the “Great and Powerful Oz” as a mere mortal. While everyone else was fooled by the smoke and mirrors, Toto knew something was up. He wasn't just a pet; he was the story’s shrewdest detective.
Playing Toto was Terry, a female Cairn Terrier and a true Hollywood superstar of her time. By the time she was cast, her weekly salary of $125 was more than what some of the human Munchkin actors earned. Her career, which included over a dozen other films, is made all the more inspiring by her humble beginnings as an abandoned pup. Terry's performance as Toto is iconic. She holds her own in every scene with Judy Garland, creating one of the most beloved human-animal pairings in film history and cementing her legacy as, arguably, the most famous dog to ever grace the silver screen.
So, there's our list. But now we have to ask you: Who did we miss? Is there an animal performance you believe is criminally underrated? And which of our rankings do you most vehemently disagree with? Let the debate begin in the comments below!
