Close garnered widespread critical acclaim for her performance in the 2018 drama The Wife, which had first premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. An adaptation of Meg Wolitzer's novel of the same name, the film stars Close as Joan Castleman, who questions her life choices as she travels with her husband to Stockholm, where he is set to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. The film also features Close's daughter, Annie Starke, as a younger version of Castleman. Close won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, and the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress. She received her seventh Academy Award nomination, her fourth nomination in the Best Actress category, which has made her the most nominated actress without a win. She was widely considered to be the frontrunner to win the Oscar—which would be the first of her career—but ultimately lost to Olivia Colman for The Favourite. In addition, Close received a nomination, her second overall, for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, which she also lost to Colman. Also in 2018, Close made a return to the stage, where, from September to December, she featured in the Off-Broadway play, Mother of the Maid, at the Public Theater in New York City.
Close garnered widespread critical acclaim for her performance in the 2018 drama The Wife, which had first premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. An adaptation of Meg Wolitzer's novel of the same name, the film stars Close as Joan Castleman, who questions her life choices as she travels with her husband to Stockholm, where he is set to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. The film also features Close's daughter, Annie Starke, as a younger version of Castleman. Close won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, and the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress. She received her seventh Academy Award nomination her fourth nomination in the Best Actress category, which has made her the most nominated actress without a win. She was widely considered to be the frontrunner to win the Oscar—which would be the first of her career—but ultimately lost to Olivia Colman for The Favourite. In addition, Close received a nomination, her second overall, for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, which she also lost to Colman. Also in 2018, Close made a return to the stage, where, from September to Dece,mber, she featured in the Off-Broadway play, Mother of the Maid, at the Public Theater in New York City.