With the Oscars quickly approaching, I watched every Best Picture nominee so you don’t have to. This is who is how I believe is most likely to win.
10. F1
It’s not shocking F1 has found itself in last place. Nevertheless, It surprised me how much I enjoyed it. If you’re in the mood to watch fast cars go vroom, F1 will do more than just satisfy that urge. It’s action packed, entertaining and surprisingly heart warming, which is hard to do at an impressive two and a half hour runtime. However, F1 never had a chance at winning this award. It’s the diversity nominee of the bunch; a relief from emotional drama films which most Oscar nominees are.
9. Frankenstein
Frankenstein is Gulliermo Del Toro’s interpretation of the classic story we’ve seen reenacted time and time again. I expected Frankenstein to be more accurate to Mary Shelley’s novel based on Del Toro’s documented love for it. However, Del Toro takes creative liberties that actively work against the book’s central themes. The film itself is not bad. It has some truly stunning visuals and art design and as well a great performance from Jacob Elordi as the Creature. It’s simply just not as good as other films on this list.
8. Train Dreams
Train Dreams can be summed up in one sentence; tortured man reflects on his life while in nature. It follows a logger in the early 20th century pacific northwest. On jobs, the men speak philosophical metaphors about life that are designed to make the viewer question their own life. While the cinematography does an amazing job of putting the viewer into the landscape, its schtick got old pretty fast.
7. Bugonia
Bugiona is very clearly a political satire about power and conspiracy. Months after seeing it, I’m still confused about what exactly it is trying to say. Emma Stone and Jessie Plemmons give incredible performances and have scarily great chemistry as kidnapper and kidnapee. Plemmons, in particular, deserved to be nominated in the acting categories. Director Yorgos Lanthimos has been nominated in this category for better films (The Favourite, Poor Things) and he will most definitely be here again.
6. The Secret Agent
The Secret Agent sucks the audience in its first minutes when Marcelo (Wagner Moura) pulls into a gas station to discover a corpse that has been left to rot. The mystery slowly unravels throughout the film’s nearly three hour runtime, revealing just enough information to keep viewers interested yet still surprised by the end. As much as I enjoyed this film, its status as an international film and its lack of buzz in the states decreases its likelihood to win. Although, it is more likely to win Best International Feature by being nominated for Best Picture.
5. Marty Supreme
Marty Supreme was unavoidable leading up to its Christmas day release. You couldn’t even look up at the sky without seeing a blimp advertising the film. During its press tour, Timothée Chalamet continued to play into his role of Marty Mauser, blending reality with fiction in a strange yet effective way. When it comes to the film itself, my mind kept returning to the postmodern concept of schizophrenia. Essentially, the film’s combination of a 1950s setting, a 1980s synthpop soundtrack, violently chaotic editing and pacing, and Chalamet’s method acting, creates a disconnected and confusing experience for the viewer. To be frank, this film is too weird to win.
4. Sentimental Value
At its core, Sentimental Value is a film about generational trauma and how it’s unintentionally passed down from parent to child. This theme is portrayed via the family’s creative outlets without realizing it. The father, Gustav (Stellan Skargard), writes a film about his trauma surrounding his mother. When asked if the film is about his mother, he says no. Instead of processing her feelings, Gustav’s daughter Nora (Renate Reinsve) puts all of her energy into her acting, to the point where she is so stressed to go onstage she asks a crew member to slap her. Sentimental Value is in the same boat as The Secret Agent; it will not win this award, but it could easily take Best International Feature.
3. Hamnet
Chole Zhao’s Hament is my favorite film on this list. It’s a truly harrowing viewing experience. Hamnet is heartbreaking and uncomfortable, yet cathartic in the end. Hament may be the story behind William Shakespeares’ ‘Hamlet’, but at its heart the film is really about motherhood and grief. Jessie Buckley gives the performance of a lifetime that is bound to make the most cold hearted viewer shed a tear. Despite my love for this film, its best qualities are why it is not higher on this list. Traditional melodramas and woman-directed films have not won in this category in decades. But, mark my words, Buckley has Best Actress in the bag.
2. One Battle After Another
I am certain that Best Picture will go to one of these top two spots. One Battle After Another is a roadtrip film moonlighting as a political action comedy. While One Battle After Another is certainly a feat of filmmaking, its political messaging is shockingly contradictory for a film that has been hailed as revolutionary. It’s odd to laugh at a film about immigration in a version of America that is about modern political unrest. While I certainly hope the award goes to the first place film, I can’t help but think that this is the only kind of politics the Academy is willing to award.
1. Sinners
Sinners is undeniably the movie of the year and it winning best picture would be a historic feat. It would be only the second horror film overall, and first in 30 years, to win best picture, after Silence of the Lambs. It would be only the third film with a majority black cast and black director to win Best Picture, after Moonlight in 2017 and 12 Years a Slave over a decade ago. Sinners is a cultural phenomenon, a certified box office success and genuinely an incredible film. Sinners wining this Best Picture is a win for the people, something that is certainly needed for an award show that has been steadily losing interest for years.
