Kiernan Shipka

In Longlegs (2024), Kiernan Shipka fixes her gaze and makes a brief appearance count. We found that fixed stare more unsettling than Nicolas Cage's elaborate make-up and changes of voice. As Carrie Anne Camera, she has one scene, and Osgood Perkins is wise to let that be enough. Our reservations about the film concern its eventual urge to explain itself, not her performance. It is a small part that makes us want to see her in a larger one.

Mad Men (2007–2015) gives us the longer view, as Sally Draper grows from child to teenager while absorbing the adult dysfunction around her. Alongside Jon Hamm and January Jones, Shipka makes a child's attention worth watching in its own right. The series' patient storytelling allows her to develop that watchfulness over time, rather than needing to announce herself in each scene. There is good reason to value her ensemble work here, even when the programme gets a little smug about the past.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018–2020), with Shipka as Sabrina Spellman, moved her from the ensemble to the centre of a series. Her subsequent film work has not followed a simple progression towards larger parts, nor confined her to one genre. The parts include Addy in Twisters (2024), Gryla in Red One (2024) and Jodie alongside Pamela Anderson in The Last Showgirl (2024).

Jake Kasdan's Red One gives Gryla a careful introduction, then finds more work for its snowmen. That neglect is a problem with the film, and Shipka cannot rescue its grey, joyless action from the sidelines. Perkins makes more of her stillness in Longlegs, even within the limits of a single scene. For a proper evening in her company, start with Mad Men; choose Longlegs if a shorter, less comfortable encounter appeals.