Beginning with the clearest award category of the year is Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
- MONICA BARBARO – A Complete Unknown
- ARIANA GRANDE – Wicked
- FELICITY JONES – The Brutalist
- ISABELLA ROSSELLINI – Conclave
- ZOE SALDAÑA – Emilia Pérez
Above is the list of nominees; without a doubt, the person who will take home the golden statue is Zoe Saldaña. While there has been much discourse and controversy surrounding the film Emilia Pérez, she somehow has been this year’s chosen person. From the SAG Awards to the Golden Globes, she has swept every award show, dominating this award season. She carries the film and stands out among the three women leading the movie when it comes to singing, dancing, and more.
Next we’ll go to another pretty clear category, Best Actor in a Supporting Role
- YURA BORISOV – Anora
- KIERAN CULKIN – A Real Pain
- EDWARD NORTON – A Complete Unknown
- GUY PEARCE – The Brutalist
- JEREMY STRONG – The Apprentice
For this category I’ve seen 4 out of the 5 performances listed above and, based on how the award season has gone, it’s very likely that Kieran Culkin is going to take it home. However, I don’t feel as though he truly deserves it. In a Real Pain he plays his anxious self, a role which we’ve seen him play before in shows like Succession. And while it does come off as natural, when you compare him to the other actors in this category it’s surprising that he’s been this year’s favorite for the award. If I were to say which one truly deserves it I would say Jeremy Strong. Not only is the movie, The Apprentice, an amazing and enticing film which should have gained more recognition but his performance is incredible in it, along with Sebastain Stan of course.
Next we’ll go to a category that was looking pretty clear until the SAG Awards- Best Actor in a Leading Role
- ADRIEN BRODY – The Brutalist
- TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET – A Complete Unknown
- COLMAN DOMINGO – Sing Sing
- RALPH FIENNES – Conclave
- SEBASTIAN STAN – The Apprentice
Before the SAG Awards, Adrien Brody had been sweeping the category, winning the Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics Choice, and many more. However, last Sunday, at the SAG Awards, an award show where actors vote on other actors, Timothée Chalamet took home the award, delivering a speech about how he strives to be up there with the greats. Many have criticized him for it, but for me, it says a lot about how he views his work. This year alone, he was the lead in Dune: Part Two and A Complete Unknown, two very successful movies at the box office. Since 2021, he has been in 8 films, many of which he has led. It’s evident that he’s constantly pushing himself. His first nomination was back in 2018 for Call Me by Your Name, and since then, he’s never stopped. While I still believe Adrien Brody will take the statue home, one shouldn’t forget the other nominees who deserve it just as much, if not more. Sebastian Stan, Colman Domingo, and Ralph Fiennes delivered groundbreaking performances this year that should not be forgotten.
And now we have the three biggest categories of the night which could go either way. First we have Best Director
- ANORA – Sean Baker
- THE BRUTALIST – Brady Corbet
- A COMPLETE UNKNOWN – James Mangold
- EMILIA PÉREZ – Jacques Audiard
- THE SUBSTANCE – Coralie Fargeat
The category is between Sean Baker for Anora and Brady Corbet for The Brutalist. Anora in terms of awards for this category has won at the Directors Guild of America, Boston Society of Film Critics, and the Film Independent Spirit Awards to name a few. However, the Brutalist has taken home the majority including, the Golden Globe, BAFTA, and more. In terms of awards it leans more Corbet winning yet the Oscars also consider a director’s career as a whole. While it is mind blowing that Corbet made the 3 hour and half film, The Brutalist, his directorial debut with less than a 10 million dollar budget and shot it in only 34 days, it seems like Baker has the slight advantage among voters.
Secondly we have one of the most complex and controversial categories- Best Actress
- CYNTHIA ERIVO – Wicked
- KARLA SOFÍA GASCÓN – Emilia Pérez
- MIKEY MADISON – Anora
- DEMI MOORE – The Substance
- FERNANDA TORRES – I’m Still Here
From racist tweets by Karla Sofía Gascón to blackface from Fernanda Torres to disputes on the Internet criticizing Mikey Madison for declining the use of an intimacy coordinator on the set Anora. With all this in mind, the category has had its ups and downs. At the beginning of the award season, some thought that Gascón would become the first openly trans woman to win in this category, but as tweets from 2020 were uncovered, her chances were destroyed. Then, at one of the first ceremonies of the year, the Golden Globes, Fernanda Torres won for Best Actress in a Drama, and Demi Moore won Best Actress in a Comedy. What was comedic about The Substance? No one knows, but it started her streak at many of these ceremonies. Yet Mikey Madison got in the way, winning the BAFTA and the Film Independent Spirit Award. Yet Demi Moore won the SAG, so the question still remains of who will really win. Demi Moore has a better chance. She’s been in the industry longer, and the Oscars, a lot of the time, are based on the career of someone, not necessarily on who gave the best performance. The reason why Madison deserves it more in my mind is simply because she is the movie. Demi splits screen time evenly with her co-star Margaret Qualley, while Madison defines the film, having its weight rest on her.She makes you laugh, she makes you cry, and the movie itself is far better in my mind. With that said Moore will still take the Oscar home.
And finally we have the award of the night – Best Film
- ANORA
- THE BRUTALIST
- A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
- CONCLAVE
- DUNE: PART TWO
- EMILIA PÉREZ
- I’M STILL HERE
- NICKEL BOYS
- THE SUBSTANCE
- WICKED
Out of the 10 films nominated this year, the competition is only between 3: Anora, The Brutalist, and Conclave. However, there are things that we have to take into account with this. Many Oscar voters have said they never finished watching The Brutalist or didn’t understand it. Anora also has had some issues with many viewers finding the film pro-Russian. The film itself never presents itself as either pro or anti-Russian but instead focuses on Mikey Madison’s character, Ani, a sex worker. Not only have viewers and Oscar voters found this troubling, but many have questioned the fact that other actors in the film, Yura Borisov, who plays Igor, nor Mark Eydelshteyn, who plays Ivan, have denounced Russia when it comes to the war between Ukraine and Russia. Yet, can you really fault a movie for that? Then, you have the Conclave, which doesn’t seem to have any significant controversies other than the fact that some viewers find it anti-Catholic while others find it pro-Catholic.
With all this in mind, the vote is going to be very close, but I think Anora will find a way to pull through. It’s a film that works, makes you laugh, and then flips on you. To put it bluntly, it has one of the best performances, and I want it to win. It was a film that I thought walking into the theater would be over-hyped and that it wouldn’t be for me, but never have I laughed so much during a movie and, at the same time, felt so much sorrow for Ani during the ending scene.
Whether a favorite of yours wins or loses at the Oscars, it doesn’t mean anything about what truly is a great film. There are genres such as horror that are constantly snubbed and movies that are barely even mentioned years after they won this award. Movies such as Emilia Pérez receive so many awards and nominations not because it’s the best film of the year but because Netflix, for example, campaigns for these awards. A privilege that smaller, more independent films such as I Saw the TV Glow or Civil War don’t often have. Art is subjective; what matters is how a movie made you feel and whether it changed your perspective on the world.
