I am a lifelong Oscars devotee. Every year, without fail, I make it my mission to watch every single nominee before the red carpet rolls out. However, since 2020, it felt as though the pandemic had left the film industry in a daze; many releases felt bland, unimaginative, and safe. I was honestly starting to lose my spark for the awards season entirely.

But this year, everything changed. Looking at the slate of nominees, I feel transported back to the creative peak of 2019. The scripts are daring, and the direction feels truly original again.

The Frontrunners

• One Battle After Another: My personal favorite. It perfectly encapsulates the essence of classic Hollywood—an action-packed drama with “Godfather-esque” storytelling. The film explores the theme of “going with the flow”—sensing the rhythmic, repetitive motion of waves while staying locked on a goal. The cinematography during the car chase scene captured this fluid motion brilliantly. It’s for this reason I believe Paul Thomas Anderson finally deserves his long-awaited Best Director Oscar.
• Sinners: While I was surprised to see a vampire horror film emerge as an Oscar heavyweight, it was undeniably impressive. While I’m not sure it deserved to become the most-nominated film of all time, it firmly holds the spot as my second favorite of the year.

The Acting Races

Best Actress: Jessie Buckley (Hamnet) Buckley has this category locked up. Her portrayal of a heartbroken mother and “woman of the woods” is a masterclass in acting. There is a specific scene where she cries out in sheer awe that serves as the definitive “Oscar moment.”

Best Actor: Timothée Chalamet vs. Michael B. Jordan Chalamet seemed to have this in the bag until his controversial comments regarding opera and ballet. Luckily for him, voting closed before the backlash peaked, so his chances remain high. However, since Michael B. Jordan took home the SAG Award, the race is tighter than ever. Purely on performance alone, though, the trophy belongs to Chalamet.

I know reading a full blog post can be a challenge for our “TikTok-era” attention spans, so here is the TL;DR version of my predictions.