After months of predictions, analysis, and tea leaf reading, we finally know the nominees for the 97th Academy Awards. While it all mostly went to plan, (my final prediction score of 97/120 is my best in years), there were a few shock nominations and painful snubs, but, on the whole, the Academy has delivered fairly solid selections this year.
Let’s take a closer look at everything that went down with the good, the bad, and the ugly of the 2024 Oscar nominations.
THE GOOD
A plethora of history-making stats. With 13 nominations, Emilia Pérez is the most-nominated non-English language film in history. This is also the equal second-most nominations for any film ever. Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez) is the first openly trans person to be nominated for an Academy Award for acting. Gascón is only the second Spanish-born actress to be nominated after Penélope Cruz. With Emilia Pérez and I’m Still Here both nominated for Best Picture, this is the first time more than one nominee for Best International Feature has also been up for Best Picture in the same year.
Cynthia Erivo (Wicked) is the second Black actress to be nominated more than once for Best Actress. If she wins, she will become the youngest EGOT winner of all time. Erivo and Gascón’s nominations mark only the second time in history two performances from musicals have been nominated for Best Actress in the same year. For the first time in 47 years, all Best Actress nominees come from films nominated for Best Picture. Emilia Pérez and Wicked both being nominated for Best Picture is the first time since 1968 that two musicals have been nominated in the same year. Yura Borisov (Anora) is the first Russian acting nominee since Mikhail Baryshnikov (The Turning Point) in 1977. Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice) is the first Romanian-born actor ever nominated for Best Actor.
Sean Baker (Anora) is the sixth director to be nominated for four Oscars in the same year. Dune: Part Two broke the curse and became the first sequel to be nominated for Best Cinematography after its predecessor won the same Oscar. Latvia scored its first-ever nomination for Best International Feature for Flow. The film also picked up a nomination for Best Animated Feature, marking only the second time in history that’s occurred (Flee being the first in 2021).
Sound mixer Andy Nelson (Wicked) now has a record 25 nominations in the combined Sound categories and is second only to John Williams (with 54) for the most nominations for a living person. Chris Sanders (The Wild Robot) ties the record for most nominations for Best Animated Feature Film with his fourth nomination in the category (tying Pete Docter and Hayao Miyazaki).
Wicked overperforms. With 10 nominations overall including surprise nods for Best Film Editing and Best Original Score, Wicked deftly silenced its doubters and scored the equal second-highest number of mentions this year. Quite a feat for a film that was once considered likely to just be a technical nomination player and nothing more.
The Substance breaks all the rules. Horror movies are generally doomed to fail with the Academy, so what a thrill it was to see something as outlandishly gory and twisted as The Substance net five nominations including Best Picture, and Best Director and Original Screenplay for Coralie Fargeat. Demi Moore capped off a tremendous comeback story with her very first Oscar nomination after decades in the industry. That’s something horror actresses like Toni Collette (Hereditary), Lupita Nyong’o (Us), and Florence Pugh (Midsommar) couldn’t manage. Throw in four nods for Nosferatu and it was a great day for genre films.
I’m Still Here soars. We knew the Brazilian gem was a shoo-in for a Best International Feature nomination. We suspected Fernanda Torres peaked at just the right time to sneak into the Best Actress top five. But there were few who saw its Best Picture nomination coming. That nod means the race for Best International Feature isn’t a calk-walk for Emilia Pérez and you’d have to suspect Torres is going to give Demi Moore and Mikey Madison a run for their money.
“Nominees to be determined.” Only someone like Bowen Yang could turn such an innocuous sentence into a viral moment.
THE BAD
Emilia Pérez makes history. Look, I’m not going to get into my numerous issues with this film. I respect its ambition and its artistry. I’m happy to see Jacques Audiard, Karla Sofía Gascón, and Zoe Saldaña acknowledged. But to see this film showered with so many nominations and turn it into the most-nominated non-English language film of all time is utterly insane. It’s the kind of statistic that will lead to much head-scratching by future generations.
Challengers comes up short. After being a genuine contender for Best Original Screenplay, Score, and Song plus an outside chance of a Best Picture nomination, it was shocking to see Luca Guadagnino’s steamy tennis drama receive zero love. Score is particularly shocking, given the Academy’s usual love for two-time winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. That and it’s the best original score of the year by a long way. Quite stumped at how this one played out.
Nickel Boys barely scraps in. While its two nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay are nothing to sneeze at, it’s truly unfathomable Jomo Fray couldn’t nab a Best Cinematography nod. Given how integral his stunning and original camera work is to the film’s overall success, it’s just mind-blowing to see Fray miss out. What are we even doing here if we’re not going to honour the year’s most groundbreaking cinematography?
Sing Sing only lands two nominations. Maybe it was released too early in the year. Maybe A24’s focus was elsewhere. Maybe it was never the contender we thought it was. But to see Sing Sing limp away with nominations for Best Actor for Colman Domingo and Best Adapted Screenplay and nothing else was deeply disappointing. Kudos to Comingo for still sailing through and at least the Best Supporting Actor snubbed Clarance Maclin is still a nominee for screenwriting.
Kneecap misses Best International Feature. Shame on you for this one, Academy.
THE UGLY
Marianne Jean-Baptiste. No offence to all other actresses in consideration this season, but nobody delivered a performance like Jean-Baptiste in Hard Truths. And it’s the kind of turn no other actress could have pulled off. What she does in that film is simply on another level. To see Jean-Baptiste score the trifecta of wins from LAFCA, NYFCC, and NSFC and still miss out on an Oscar nomination is infuriating. I know she missed at the Globes. I know she missed at SAG. The writing was on the wall. But something inside of me thought Academy voters would rise above and do the right thing.
It’s not the first time an “unlikeable” female character has been snubbed by the Oscars. Sadly, it won’t be the last. Men can play detestable roles and still receive their flowers. Women, not so much. I’m not one to cry misogyny at the drop of a hat, but I’m happy to argue anyone who thinks it hasn’t played a part in Jean-Baptiste missing out. Her character is irredeemable in so many ways and that simply doesn’t sit well with Academy members.
Part of me hopes Jean-Baptiste wins the BAFTA to highlight just how embarrassing it is for the Academy to ignore her. It’s what she deserves after such an egregious snub. It’s the kind of performance people will watch in the future and be stunned to learn wasn’t Oscar-nominated. Marianne, you’ll always be the people’s nominee.
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