After weeks of precursor awards and nominations, the Academy announced their shortlists for ten categories, getting us one step closer to the actual Oscar nominations. The finalists were announced in Best Makeup & Hairstyling, Sound, Visual Effects, International Feature Film, Documentary Feature, Original Score, Original Song, Animated Short, Live-Action Short, and Documentary Short. These lists obviously give us a much better picture of what will be nominated in each category, but they also can tell us which films are playing well to the Academy at large. As always, there were plenty of surprising omissions and even a few pleasant notices. Let’s dive into the shortlists to understand the race thus far.
NOT SO SUPER, MAN
Though most prognosticators saw this coming, the documentary branch once again overlooked the Critics Choice Award winner for Best Documentary Feature, and this year that casualty was “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” (which tied CCA with “Will & Harper,” which made the shortlist yesterday) from the Documentary Shortlist. For reasons still unclear, this branch simply doesn’t go for celebrity documentaries such as this. While some predictions still featured the film being shortlisted, much like “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” its chances of a nomination were slim. Unless you include “RBG,” which isn’t exactly about a celebrity, really, the last celebrity documentaries nominated in this category were “Amy,” which won, and “What Happened, Miss Simone?” both in 2015. Documentary frontrunners “No Other Land” and “Will & Harper” both made it in, alongside other expected contenders such as “Sugarcane,” “Dahomey,“ and “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin.” “Dahomey“ also appeared on the shortlist for Best International Feature as Senegal’s submission, while “Will & Harper“ made it into the Best Original Song shortlist for “Harper and Will Go West.”
BINGO – “EMILIA PÉREZ” LEADS
Unsurprisingly, the most-shortlisted film of the year is Netflix’s “Emilia Pérez.“ The musical landed notices in Best International Feature as France’s submission, Best Makeup & Hairstyling, Best Sound, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song for both “El Mal“ and “Mi Camino.“ That was the best-case scenario for the international movie, proving it has huge industry support every step of the way. The stage is now set for “Emilia Pérez“ to potentially be this year’s Oscar nomination leader.
“THERE IS NO HOPE!!!” FOR FURIOSA
Though “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga“ was certainly not expected to perform as well at the Oscars as the last film in the franchise, “Mad Max: Fury Road,“ George Miller’s action epic was still assumed to be a contender in many of the craft categories. That assumption was challenged yesterday, as “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga“ missed out on all the shortlists, notably Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, and Best Makeup & Hairstyling. Their omission is confounding. Missing a nomination, with only five slots to choose from, is a bit more understandable, but to not even make it among the ten films in those three categories is damning. It’s still possible, though quite unlikely, for the film to show up in Best Production Design, Costume Design, or Cinematography, but its best chances always were in Sound, Visual Effects, and Makeup & Hairstyling. It might be time to call it game over for “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.”
“CIVIL WAR” MISSES SOUND…BUT LANDS IN VISUAL EFFECTS?!
One of the more odd stories out of the shortlists surrounds Alex Garland’s “Civil War.“ Though the movie wasn’t expected to land in many categories, either on the shortlists or final nominations, many predicted “Civil War“ would make the Best Sound shortlist as it’s one of the best aspects of the film. Sadly, it was left out of the ten films shortlisted. Oddly enough, “Civil War” wasn’t overlooked entirely. It was among the final ten shortlisted films in Best Visual Effects, a category few expected it to show up in. While this is a nice get for “Civil War,” it’s doubtful the branch would nominate it to the final five. Still, it was a strange day for the A24 film.
MUSIC BRANCH OMISSIONS AND SURPRISES
Six films landed on both shortlists for Best Original Score and Song: “Emilia Pérez,” “Sing Sing,” “Blitz,” “The Wild Robot,” “Challengers,“ and “The Six Triple Eight.” That’s a strong sign of support for each of those films. After the Golden Globes failed to nominate it anywhere except Best Actor for Colman Domingo, “Sing Sing“ needed a boost like this. While Tyler Perry’s “The Six Triple Eight“ has been a presumed Best Original Song nominee because of the presence of Diane Warren, placing it on both shortlists all but assures she will receive yet another Oscar nomination this year for Best Original Song. The inclusion of “Wicked“ in Best Original Score is even more baffling than that. While “Dune: Part Two“ was deemed ineligible by the Academy, “Wicked“ managed to land on the shortlist. It’s a strange decision by the Academy, but it strengthens the case for a big nomination tally for the blockbuster musical. Thankfully, few perceived misses were found among the music branch’s two shortlists. Perhaps the biggest song contender to miss the Best Original Song shortlist was the Critics Choice and Golden Globe Award-nominated song “Beautiful That Way“ from “The Last Showgirl.“ As that film’s profile had been rising recently, many expected Miley Cyrus’s song could break into the final five nominees. Alas, it missed the shortlist entirely. Seeing “Kneecap“ land both here for “Sick In The Head“ and on the Best International Feature lineup was a welcome delight. If the branch is so bold to nominate the Irish rappers, their performance at the Oscars would be one to remember.
NO SHOCKS IN BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
Just about all the expected contenders made the shortlist in Best International Feature, including frontrunners “Emilia Pérez“ and “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.” It’s nice to see “Dahomey“ make it onto both this list and Best Documentary Feature. Latvia’s animated submission “Flow“ is also here and is expected to score a nomination for Best Animated Feature. Of the expected films that missed the shortlist, Mexico’s “Sujo“ and Portugal’s “Grand Tour“ are the only real omissions here. While it’s sadly no surprise, the shortlist is yet again light on Asian representation, with only two Asian countries represented on this year’s shortlist: Thailand (“How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies“) and Palestine (“From Ground Zero”). The Academy still leans heavily on European contenders. Still, three other shortlisted films take place entirely in Asian countries, though submitted from elsewhere: Germany submitted the Iranian-set “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” the United Kingdom submitted the Indian-set “Santosh,“ and Canada submitted the (sort of) Iranian-set “Universal Language.”
OTHER NOTABLE MENTIONS:
- “Nosferatu“ landed on the Best Makeup & Hairstyling shortlist but sadly missed the shortlist for Best Sound, perhaps a casualty of a late release.
- “The Substance“ only landed on the Best Makeup & Hairstyling shortlist. While some hoped we might see even more support as the film makes its play for a Best Picture nomination, perhaps in Best Visual Effects or Sound, it didn’t happen. Still, this was a fairly expected day for “The Substance.”
- “Saturday Night“ missed the Best Original Score shortlist, a sign that support for the film has steadily faded over the last few weeks.
- Though the small film was a long shot, and its eligibility was always in question, “Hundreds of Beavers” couldn’t break into the Best Sound or Visual Effects shortlists.
- “Waltzing With Brando,“ the Billy Zane-starring Marlon Brando biopic, set for a 2025 release, surprisingly landed on the Best Makeup & Hairstyling shortlist. Though it went largely unnoticed, the film had a qualifying release in Hollywood in mid-November.
We’ve now got a solid picture of what might happen with each of these ten categories. Ultimately, yesterday proved fairlyunsurprising, far less surprising than in recent years. Perhaps the real surprises will be found among the actual Oscar nominees. We’ll find out on January 17th, 2025.
What was the biggest surprise to you among these shortlists? What were you most happy to see? How does this change your predictions in any of these categories? Please let us know in the comments below or on Next Best Picture’s X account, and be sure to check out Next Best Picture’s latest Oscar predictions here.
