It seems every year performances or achievements in horror films get a wave of praise from fans of the genre, yet fail to crossover into the wider film discussion and awards conversation. Performances like Sally Hawkins’s in “Bring Her Back” or Naomi Scott’s in “Smile 2” generated a lot of buzz within the fandom but failed to make a wider splash for any kind of Best Actress nomination. Then there are performances like Toni Collette in “Hereditary” or Lupita Nyong’o in “Us” that came close to Oscar nominations but ultimately missed out due to early releases, heavy competition, or genre bias. There’s a wide array of acclaimed horror films that have varied results at the Academy, but in the past two years, we’ve seen “The Substance,” “Weapons,” “Sinners,” “Nosferatu,” and “Frankenstein” all break through to Oscar nominations and wins. With the modern age of horror films producing more prestigious, Academy-friendly fare, many are pondering whether the breakout performance of Inde Navarrette in Curry Barker’s current sensation “Obsession” could be the next horror film recognized at the Academy Awards. It’s easy to write off a splashy performance from a young unknown in a summer horror movie, but there may be more to this idea than it seems on the surface.
The three big drawbacks people will cite with even entertaining this idea are simple: age, release date, and “horror bias.” To go through them one by one, Navarrette’s age is the easiest one to dismiss. While one can maybe argue that younger male stars have a harder time breaking through (Jacob Elordi in “Frankenstein” disproved that last year, but nonetheless), young female performances break through into their first Oscar nominations pretty consistently. This is true in both categories, as there is debate over whether Navarrette is a Best Supporting Actress or a Lead Actress contender. Lead is typically the harder category for newcomers or genre fare to break into, but that isn’t always true: 2024 saw 25-year-old Mikey Madison and industry legend Demi Moore in a horror film rank in the top two that season.
As for the release date, we just saw a summer horror film win an acting prize last year with Amy Madigan in “Weapons.” Now, yes, she had a more illustrious career with an Oscar nomination, but how many people factored that into their vote? Isn’t it more likely that a lot of people just saw and loved the performance, film, and her charisma on the campaign trail? Why couldn’t the same happen for Navarrette in an even showier and bigger role?
The last point is the presumed horror bias many think the Academy has. A perception that is, quite frankly, a tad overblown. While yes, there is only a small list of horror films that the Academy has ever recognized, it is hard to put an overarching label on how thousands of people vote. Surely some members don’t care for horror films, but the same is true of general audiences, and there are clearly plenty of members who love quality horror work and think it’s worth recognizing. Whether you want to counter that it’s a campaign issue, it may just be that for people not fully invested in the horror genre, there are rarely films or performances that break through as nomination-worthy, which, like most things in this type of conversation, is a matter of opinion. Now, the question is whether Navarrette’s work is the kind that breaks through for those who don’t have their finger on the pulse of the horror space. Well, to be honest, the boring answer is: it’s too early to tell; it’s not too early to try and read the tea leaves and see the different directions this performance could go in this coming awards season.
It is still the first half of the year, a barrier that is being broken down more and more, and that is a perceived issue. If the work is strong enough and the buzz is loud enough, it can easily last all year, and if anything, Navarrette is positioned well to win a lot of mid-season prizes in the next month or so. Obviously, those don’t matter or consistently translate to the bigger end-of-year prizes. Still, they will keep that performance on people’s minds well past its initial release window and establish it as one worthy of singling out. Then, if the end-of-year critics give her a second wave of nominations and wins, with bodies like the Gothams and Indie Spirits following suit, we may really have something here. Is there a world that turns its nose up at her or simply forgets her? Sure, but there’s also a world where all the love she gets right now can snowball until the end of the year. With all the love for “Obsession” online and at the box office, the Critics’ Choice could perhaps be the first to recognize her work, and maybe even the Actor Awards, bodies that both recognized Nyong’o and, obviously, gave Demi Moore and Amy Madigan their wins recently. At that point, even if she missed out on the two international bodies, the Oscar nomination could still be in play. Hell, with twelve spots, why couldn’t a Golden Globe nomination happen if she really is still considered the real deal by the end of the year?
It is still the first half of the year, a barrier that is being broken down more and more, and that is a perceived issue. If the work is strong enough and the buzz is loud enough, it can easily last all year, and if anything, Navarrette is positioned well to win a lot of mid-season prizes in the next month or so. Obviously, those don’t matter or consistently translate to the bigger end-of-year prizes. Still, they will keep that performance on people’s minds well past its initial release window and establish it as one worthy of singling out. Then, if the end-of-year critics give her a second wave of nominations and wins, with bodies like the Gothams and Indie Spirits following suit, we may really have something here. Is there a world that turns its nose up at her or simply forgets her? Sure, but there’s also a world where all the love she gets right now can snowball until the end of the year. With all the love for “Obsession” online and at the box office, the Critics’ Choice could perhaps be the first to recognize her work, and maybe even the Actor Awards, bodies that both recognized Nyong’o and, obviously, gave Demi Moore and Amy Madigan their wins recently. At that point, even if she missed out on the two international bodies, the Oscar nomination could still be in play. Hell, with twelve spots, why couldn’t a Golden Globe nomination happen if she really is still considered the real deal by the end of the year?
Of course, this is still very early, and all speculative; there’s a possibility this is all a mirage that fades as early as next month. However, for a performance as strong as Inde Navarrette’s (and considering the film’s mammoth box office success so far), she deserves the consideration. Hopefully, the more her chances are talked and written about, the closer she can get to being properly recognized at the end of the year.
Have you seen “Obsession” yet? If so, what did you think of it? What do you think of Inde Navarrette’s performance? Do you feel it’s worthy of an Oscar nomination? Please let us know in the comments section below and on Next Best Picture’s X account.
