January was another month of Japan’s Drive My Car continuing to assert its dominance over the Best International Feature Film category. The film picked up a slew of wins from the critics groups including being named Best Picture by the National Society of Film Critics, the Toronto Film Critics Association, and the Seattle Film Critics Society. It’s now the undisputed frontrunner to win the Oscar, particularly if it nabs nods in other categories when the nominations are announced on Tuesday.
This race is now really down to determining which four films will join Drive My Car in the final five nominations slots. The consensus four amongst the pundits are Norway’s The Worst Person in the World, Italy’s The Hand of God, Denmark’s Flee, and Iran’s A Hero. And there’s every likelihood that’s how the cards will fall.
But this is a category that loves to defy the expected. Flee could be in danger of ticking too many boxes and the voting committee prefer to see it nominated in the animated and/or documentary category. The Worst Person in the World may be judged by its first appearance as nothing more than a romantic comedy. And the directors of The Hand of God and A Hero have both won this category previously, which might work against them.
If there’s one film that seems poised to nab a “surprise” nomination, it’s Mexico’s Prayers for the Stolen. The film has received universal acclaim (currently 96% on Rotten Tomatoes) and Tatiana Huezo just nabbed a nomination from the DGA for Outstanding First-Time Feature Film Director. That nod from the DGA came on the same day Oscar nomination voting commenced, so it’s a huge last-minute campaign push for the film.
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE PREDICTIONS:
1. Drive My Car (Japan)
2. The Worst Person in the World (Norway)
3. A Hero (Iran)
4. Flee (Denmark)
5. Prayers for the Stolen (Mexico)
IN CONTENTION
Compartment No. 6 (Finland)
The Good Boss (Spain)
Great Freedom (Austria)
The Hand of God (Italy)
Hive (Kosovo)
I’m Your Man (Germany)
Lamb (Iceland)
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan)
Playground (Belgium)
Plaza Catedral (Panama)