You have to feel for Martin McDonagh. Back in 2017, McDonagh seemed certain of an Oscar win for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, but couldn’t overcome the groundbreaking brilliance of Jordan Peele’s Get Out. Now, on the cusp of a victory for The Banshees of Inisherin, he looks to be pipped again by a film with the edge from an originality perspective.
It really did seem like this would be McDonagh’s year, given the overwhelmingly positive response to The Banshees of Inisherin and his sublime screenplay. His win at the Golden Globes kicked the season off nicely, but it was the first and last major award McDonagh would take home until his win on home soil at BAFTA. Regardless, his film now stands on the cusp of potentially walking away empty-handed from its nine nominations.
Yes, the Everything Everywhere All at Once plane has truly taken off and it seems almost impossible to fathom it not taking out Best Original Screenplay. With wins at Critics’ Choice and WGA coupled with the fact the film is the undeniable Best Picture frontrunner, there’s probably no stopping Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert from collecting this one.
And, if you really ponder the word “original” in the title of Best Original Screenplay, it’s hard to find a more staggeringly unique and new work this year. From a narrative perspective, The Daniels deliver something we’ve never seen before. The EEAAO sweep is on and this category is just one place of many where you’ll see it.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY PREDICTIONS:
1. Everything Everywhere All At Once – Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (A24) – BAFTA, CCA, GG, WGA
2. The Banshees of Inisherin – Martin McDonagh (Searchlight Pictures) – BAFTA, CCA, GG
3. TÁR – Todd Field (Focus Features) – BAFTA, CCA, GG, WGA
4. The Fabelmans – Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner (Universal Pictures) – BAFTA, CCA, GG, WGA
5. Triangle of Sadness – Ruben Östlund (NEON) – BAFTA
Will win: Everything Everywhere All At Once
Should win: The Banshees of Inisherin
Possible shocker: TÁR