After Suicide Squad became the first comicbook adaptation to win Best Makeup and Hairstyling, it seems highly possible the spin-off Birds of Prey could walk away with the prize too. That being said, the makeup and hairstylings of Harley Quinn and co. is a touch less elaborate than the members of her previous squad, so it’s far from a solid frontrunner at this point.
Now that we’ve seen the trailer for Hillbilly Elegy, it’s abundantly clear there’s a hefty helping of hair and makeup utilised to transform Glenn Close into Mamaw Vance. We know the Academy loves to award this category to a film featuring a major female physical transformation. Think Bombshell, The Iron Lady, and La Vie en Rose. Hillbilly Elegy could easily be next.
But the real dark horse in this category could be the as-yet-unseen Coming 2 America, which is said to feature an abundance of makeup in the same vein as its predecessor and other Eddie Murphy films like The Nutty Professor and Norbit. Now that Paramount has sold the film to Amazon Studios and a December release date is set, it’s officially set to join this year’s race.
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING PREDICTIONS:
1. Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (Warner Bros.)
2. Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix)
3. Coming 2 America (Paramount Pictures)
4. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
5. Mulan (Disney)
MAJOR CONTENDERS:
Ammonite (NEON)
Death on the Nile (20th Century Studios)
Emma. (Focus Features)
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (20th Century Studios)
Mank (Netflix)
News of the World (Universal Pictures)
The Personal History of David Copperfield (Searchlight Pictures)Respect (MGM/UA) [Moved to August 2021]
The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Paramount Pictures)
The Witches (HBO Max)