Hollywood’s biggest night arrives on March 15, and this year’s Best Picture race is one of the most unpredictable in recent years. Ten films are fighting for the big prize, spanning Southern Gothic horror, sweeping political epics, quiet family dramas, and even a reimagining of Frankenstein. It’s safe to say that there is some tough competition, and the slots are stacked with some of the most celebrated filmmakers in current media.
The nominated films represent remarkable range. Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is a supernatural vampire film starring Michael B. Jordan as two different twin brothers who open a juke joint in Jim Crow-era Mississippi. Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another is a sprawling American epic with Leonardo DiCaprio as a morally gray revolutionary. Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet is a beautiful drama about grief and Willam Shakespeare’s family, while Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme (my personal favorite) finds Timothée Chalamet disappear into the role of an eccentric ping-pong prodigy. Rounding out the field are Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, Yorgos Lanthimos’s surreal corporate coup Bugonia with Emma Stone, Joachim Trier’s intimate Norwegian family drama Sentimental Value, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s thriller-for-cinephiles The Secret Agent, Clint Bentley’s understated Train Dreams, and Joseph Kosinksi’s crowd-pleasing spectacle F1, starring Brad Pitt.
In reality, the race has come down to two films. One Battle After Another swept the major precursor awards, winning big at the Golden Globes, BAFTA, Critics Choices, and the Producers Guild Awards – historically, that combination is nearly a guarantee for winning Best Picture. Anderson is poised to become the twelfth filmmaker ever to win Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay for the same film.
That being said, Sinners refuses to be discounted. With a record-breaking sixteen Oscar nominations, garnering over $370 million at the global box office, the film has achieved something rare: genuine cultural phenomenon status. Anonymous voters surveyed by Variety described an interesting difference in opinion that could prove decisive: “Some version of One Battle After Another is going to win, but I voted for Sinners.” The smart prediction is One Battle After Another, yet audiences continue to root for Sinners. Either way, the 98th Academy Awards on March 15 is shaping up to be a night worth staying up for. To see the final verdict, tune into ABC on Sunday at 7:00 PM
