With the Academy’s nominations announcement drawing closer by the day, it’s time to lay it all on the line with my final Oscar nomination predictions. We know the Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling often goes to a film that transforms its star into someone completely unrecognisable a la La Vie en Rose, The Iron Lady, Bombshell, and The Eyes of Tammy Faye. The Academy is spoiled for choice this year with The Whale, Elvis, and The Batman all falling into this category, albeit not the usual transformed female archetype.
Okay, to be fair, the latter two relate more to an unrecognisable supporting character (Tom Hanks in Elvis and Colin Farrell in The Batman) than the usual lead, but it’s rather strange we have three contenders all featuring makeup and hairstyling work centred on transforming three male actors into obese figures. All three films have received nods from BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, and the Makeup and Hairstylists Guild, so they all feel safe for Oscar nominations.
That leaves the final two spots open to all sorts of possibilities. The period style of Babylon should lend itself well to a nomination here, especially after nods from MUAH and Critics’ Choice. It would feel very reminiscent of the nod for Mank in 2020. But one could make the same argument for Blonde, which, while not the exact same period in Hollywood history, echoes the work of Babylon. Amsterdam is in a similar vein too, so flip a coin for which one makes it.
War films rarely crack this category, so All Quiet on the Western Front probably faces a tougher challenge than most contenders. But those were the days of only three nominees and we saw 1917 nab a nomination in 2019 when this category expanded to five nominees. Using pre-2019 history doesn’t truly work when predicting this category. All Quiet has really taken off in recent weeks, so I think it could score a nod here.
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING PREDICTIONS:
1. The Whale (A24) – BAFTA, CCA, MUAH
2. Elvis (Warner Bros.) – BAFTA, CCA, MUAH
3. The Batman (Warner Bros.) – BAFTA, CCA, MUAH
4. All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix) – BAFTA
5. Babylon (Paramount Pictures) – CCA, MUAH
Alternate: Blonde (Netflix) – MUAH