It’s been a very bumpy road to this year’s Oscars, but here we finally are! All 24 categories are set to be aired after The Academy caved to popular pressure, and the slate of nominations is teeming with talented filmmakers, actors, writers and editors.
Ahead of the final show, we share our predictions on who will take home those precious golden statuettes.
Best Picture:
Black Panther
BlacKkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Green Book
Roma
A Star Is Born
Vice
This is probably the most wide-open category, with a staggering number of incredible contenders. Though the tightest struggle is probably between The Favourite and Roma, my bet is on Roma taking Best Picture. It’d be the first non-English language film ever to win Best Picture, and despite the fact it’s a predictable winner, it does have an important message to contribute to the current anti-immigration political climate. The Favourite winning this one would be a pleasant surprise, however.
Actor in a Leading Role:
Christian Bale, Vice
Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born
Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate
Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Viggo Mortensen, Green Book
Again, perhaps a predictable choice given that this award has gone to an actor starring in a biopic eleven times in the last sixteen years, it’s very likely (and deserved) that Rami Malek will take this one home. Let’s just hope that Malek, who’s avoided speaking on the allegations against Bryan Singer, might take this chance on stage to speak out for the victims.
Actress in a Leading Role:
Yalitza Aparicio, Roma
Glenn Close, The Wife
Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born
Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
As much as I think Olivia Colman should win for her fantastic performance as Queen Anne, the odds as in Glenn Close’s favour. Having already won a Golden Globe and a Critic’s Choice for her role in The Wife, and being her seventh Oscar nomination, she is clearly overdue for a win. I personally hope to be proven wrong on this one.
Actor in a Supporting Role
Mahershala Ali, Green Book
Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman
Sam Elliott, A Star Is Born
Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Sam Rockwell, Vice
This one’s a tie between Mahershala Ali or Richard E. Grant. Though both deserve to win, I think it’s unlikely that The Academy voters will give Ali a second Best Supporting Actor award in such quick succession (he won it for Moonlight in 2017). Although he has already scored a BAFTA, Golden Globe, Critic’s Choice and SAG Award for his performance in Green Book, my bet on Supporting Actor lies with Richard E. Grant. It would be a surprise win for sure, but a deserved one for his joyous and complex performance in Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams, Vice
Marina de Tavira, Roma
Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Emma Stone, The Favourite
Rachel Weisz, The Favourite
Regina King should and will win Best Supporting Actress. Particularly with Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk having been snubbed out of many categories, King is an obvious choice to win for her incredibly delicate and charismatic performance.
Directing
BlacKkKlansman, Spike Lee
Cold War, Paweł Pawlikowski
The Favourite, Yorgos Lanthimos
Roma, Alfonso Cuarón
Vice, Adam McKay
My heart is torn on this one, with both Spike Lee and Alfonso Cuarón deserving the award. And although Spike Lee is long overdue to have his work recognised by the Academy Awards (bar the Honorary Award), all signs point to Cuarón walking away with this one. Keep reading though, because I don’t think that Lee will be going home empty-handed either.
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
BlacKkKlansman, Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, and Spike Lee
Can You Ever Forgive Me? Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
If Beale Street Could Talk, Barry Jenkins
A Star Is Born, Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, and Will Fetters
BlacKkKlansman is set to take win this one. It’s the easiest way that the Academy’s voter can honour Spike Lee’s long and socially impactful career. It might not be Best Director or Best Picture, but it would nonetheless be a competitive and long-overdue Oscar win for Lee.
Writing (Original Screenplay)
The Favourite, Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara
First Reformed, Paul Schrader
Green Book, Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, and Peter Farrelly
Roma, Alfonso Cuarón
Vice, Adam McKay
The Favourite was such an incredible, funny, unexpected and unforgettable film that it has to be honoured with Best Original Screenplay, failing winning Best Picture. The screenplay’s barbed wit makes the film, as opposed to Roma which relies more on the visual. Further, a win for Green Book, which would otherwise have been anticipated (though undeserved when pitted against The Favourite) seems exceedingly unlikely since it surfaced that Vallelonga had tweeted in support of Trump’s claims that Muslims in New Jersey had cheered 9/11.
And now a quick round-up of the remaining categories… Here are the predictions.
Cinematography: Roma, Alfonso Cuarón
Costume Design: The Favourite, Sandy Powell
Film Editing: Vice, Hank Corwin
Makeup and Hairstyling: Vice, Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia Dehaney
Music (Original Score): Black Panther, Ludwig Goransson
Music (Original Song): ‘Shallow’ from A Star Is Born by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, and Andrew Wyatt
Production Design: The Favourite, Nathan Crowley and Kathy Lucas
Sound Editing: A Quiet Place, Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
Sound Mixing: Bohemian Rhapsody, Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin, and John Casali
Visual Effects: First Man, Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles and J.D. Schwalm
Animated Feature Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord, and Christopher Miller
Foreign Language Film: Cold War, Poland
Documentary (Feature): Free Solo, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes, and Shannon Dill
Documentary (Short Subject): Black Sheep, Ed Perkins and Jonathan Chinn
Short Film (Animated): Bao, Domee Shi and Becky Neiman-Cobb
Short Film (Live Action): Margherite, Marianne Farley and Marie-Hélène Panisset