Who are the frontrunners at this year's Oscars?
By Dylan Hughes
Everything Everywhere all at Once won Best Picture at last years Academy Awards
2023 has been one of the strongest years for cinema since 2019. This is partly thanks to the industry finding its footing again after the pandemic put a stop to many film productions. The 2024 Oscars will be a celebration of this, showcasing some of the amazing films that have been released in the last year, including Barbie, Poor Things, Anatomy of a Fall, Killers of the Flower Moon and The Holdovers.
But one film in particular has stood out from them all and caught the attention of both critics and audiences. Oppenheimer is the clear front-runner for Best Picture this year, as well as many other categories.
Unlike many other years, there are not many other films this year that seem to stand a chance if predictions are anything to go on, especially in regards to Best Picture. The main rivals for Nolan’s behemoth of a movie are The Holdovers and Poor Things, but it seems unlikely. If Oppenheimer does
indeed win Best Picture, it will be the first film since Argo a decade ago to sweep the main precursor prizes in the awards race. This means that Oppenheimer will have won the Best Picture equivalent at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice, Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guild, Producers Guild, the BAFTAs and the Oscars.
Along with Best Picture, it looks like Nolan’s film will also win Best Director. This would be his first Oscar win, and is one that would be well deserved as the film was essentially sold based on the fact that he was directing the film, something that is extremely rare nowadays. The only other comparable living director with name power like that is Martin Scorsese, who is also up for the award this year with his film Killers of the Flower Moon.
When Killers of the Flower Moon was released, film news organizations such as Variety, weren’t confident that despite it being a great movie, it never had a real chance at winning in many big categories due to Oppenheimer.
So many people were convinced that Lily Gladstone’s performance in the film was going to be a lock for Best Actress, especially since it would become the first time that an insidious actor has taken home the award. Unfortunately for Gladstone though, Emma Stone’s critically acclaimed performance in Poor Things is more likely to win the award. That would mean Stone took home the award for Best Actress at both the Golden Globes, as well as the BAFTAS.
On the men’s side, Best Actor seems to be a mostly one-sided battle between Paul Giamatti, who has delivered a performance full of heart in The Holdovers, and Cillian Murphy for Oppenheimer. Giamatti has been nominated for an Oscar many times before, while this is Murphy’s first nomination, and because of this, many people think that Giamatti might have a chance of beating Murphy. A similar situation to last year with Brendan Fraser and Austin Butler. Many believe though with even that in mind, that this is Murphy’s award, and has been a lock since Oppenheimer was released.
Thankfully, it’s not long now until we find out who will be walking away with the award, as Oscars night is on Sunday. While a lot of the major awards are seemingly one-sided, there is a chance for an underdog win or two. You never know what may happen after Jamie Lee Curtis’s surprise win last year for Everything Everywhere All at Once.