The 96th Academy Awards will be held on the morning of March 11 (India time), with the who’s who of Hollywood expected to attend. With 13 nominations in total, director Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer leads the field, and is the favourite to win in several categories. The dark comedy Poor Things, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, scored 11 nods, and Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon followed with 10 nominations. In recent years, the Oscars have welcomed more international films than they used to, a reflection of the Academy’s ever-expanding field of membership.
This year, as well, the French film Anatomy of a Fall and the German-language drama The Zone of Interest picked up several nods. But as Hollywood’s biggest night draws closer, the race is becoming tighter, at least in a select few categories. Precursor events such as the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes can provide some insight into favourites, but at the end of the day, the decision to decide the winners falls in the hands of thousands of voting members of the Academy. Here are our favourites in the top six categories.
Best Director: Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
Christopher Nolan with Cillian Murphy on the sets of Oppenheimer (Image: Universal Pictures/Facebook)
After eight nominations through the course of his career, director Christopher Nolan remains Oscar-less. He’s expected to break this unfortunate streak this year with Oppenheimer, his three hour biographical thriller about the man who helped build the world’s first atomic bombs. Nolan is widely regarded as the best director of his generation, and his snub for The Dark Knight and Inception, not to mention the loss he braved for Dunkirk, suggests that his time has come. Oppenheimer is that rare breed of film that not only garnered immense praise but also emerged as a blockbuster that helped revitalise the exhibition business. And for that, the industry is expected to celebrate it.
Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)
Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers.
The only major category this year where the winner has all but been confirmed already, the best supporting actress honour has been won by The Holdovers’ Da’Vine Joy Randolph in every major precursor leading up the Oscars. This would be Randolph’s first Academy Award, and possibly the only honour that director Alexander Payne’s acclaimed comedy-drama will win. Randolph plays the grieving caretaker who finds herself looking after a bunch of stranded white men over the Christmas holidays at a prestigious boarding school in the 1970s.
Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr (Oppenheimer)
Robert Downey Jr in a still from Oppenheimer.
While there has been some chatter about Ryan Gosling in Barbie, and to a greater degree, Mark Ruffalo in Poor Things, the best supporting actor honour this year will likely go to Robert Downey Jr, for his performance as a villainous senator in Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Not only did the film mark Downey’s return to more dramatic roles after over a decade playing Iron Man, it served as a culmination of a widely tumultuous career in the business. The narrative is in Downey’s favour.
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio in Killers of the Flower Moon. (Photo: Apple TV/Instagram)
Perhaps the one major category that still remains largely undecided, the best actress race this year is boiling down to two stars – Emma Stone for Poor Things and Lily Gladstone for Killers of the Flower Moon. Both actors have picked up honours in the run-up to the Oscars, but since Stone has already won, and Gladstone is representing not just herself but also Native American culture, she has the edge to win the Oscar. In all likelihood, this will be the only win for Scorsese’s epic.
Best Actor in a Leading Role: Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
Cillian Murphy in a still from Oppenheimer.
For a while, it seemed like a two-horse race with Cillian Murphy and Bradley Cooper as the frontrunners. Then, there was some chatter about Paul Giamatti perhaps being the underdog with a long filmography of acclaimed work in his arsenal. But in recent days, Giamatti’s campaign seems to have fallen by the wayside, and Cooper has been generating only ridicule online for his earnest remarks about playing Leonard Bernstein in Maestro. Which leaves Murphy as the favourite to win his first Oscar.
Best Picture: Oppenheimer
Florence Pugh and Cillian Murphy in a still from Oppenheimer.
In recent years, the best picture category has seen some major surprises, with Green Book, CODA and Nomadland picking up Oscars. And this year, too, there has been some conversation around The Zone of Interest and Poor Things pulling off sneak wins. But as things stand, especially considering the wave that Oppenheimer has been riding, it looks like Nolan will finally achieve the elusive goal.
To be held at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, the 96th Academy Awards will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and will be live-streamed on Disney+ Hotstar at 4 am.
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