With the Academy Awards about a month away and nominations recently announced, what better time to predict the 2024 winners?
I’ve always had a passion for film and have reviewed several films for the Charlatan since joining the arts reporting team earlier this school year. These predictions are a great next step, since the Academy Awards are the ultimate film appreciation ceremony.
I will analyze 10 award categories, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and the four acting awards, providing my insights on who will win — and who should win.
Starting off with Best Original Score …
Best Original Score
Laura Karpman for American Fiction
John Williams for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Robbie Robertson for Killers of the Flower Moon
Ludwig Goransson for Oppenheimer
Jerskin Fendrix for Poor Things
Who will win: Ludwig Goransson for Oppenheimer
Who deserves the win: Robbie Robertson for Killers of the Flower Moon
Goransson’s score for Oppenheimer is amazing. He’s already taken home a Golden Globe for his efforts and will soon add his second Oscar to his trophy shelf. However, the late Robertson deserves the award more, as he created a score in authentic collaboration with the Osage Nation to fit the film to a higher degree of historical and cultural accuracy. Whereas Goransson’s score could be in any Christopher Nolan film, Robertson’s is unique to Flower Moon and could not be substituted in most other films.
Best Original Song
“The Fire Inside” by Diane Warren for Flamin’ Hot
“I’m Just Ken” by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt for Barbie
“It Never Went Away” by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson for American Symphony
“Wahzhazhe” by Scott George for Killers of the Flower Moon
“What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish and FINNEAS for Barbie
Who will win: Billie Eilish and Finneas O’ Connell for “What Was I Made For?”
Who deserves the win: Billie Eilish and Finneas O’ Connell for “What Was I Made For?”
Eilish’s song is a truly beautiful and personal tune, blowing the competition out of the water. Look for Eilish to secure her second Oscar for Best Original Song, having previously won with the 2021 James Bond song, “No Time To Die.”
Best Original Screenplay
Anatomy of a Fall, written by Justine Triet and Arthur Harari
The Holdovers, written by David Hemingson
Maestro, written by Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer
May December, written by Samy Burch
Past Lives, written by Celine Song
Who will win: Justine Triet and Arthur Harari for Anatomy of a Fall
Who deserves the win: David Hemingson for The Holdovers
Anatomy of a Fall has been gaining momentum recently and will likely snag this award. Triet and Harari have already won a Golden Globe for Best Screenplay – Motion Picture and are the best bet come March. However, Hemingson deserves the award more, as he crafted a truly beautiful and moving story with The Holdovers — a unique and brilliant script that ties love, grief and more into one story.
American Fiction, written by Cord Jefferson
Barbie, written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbauch
Oppenheimer, written by Christopher Nolan
Poor Things, written by Tony McNamara
The Zone of Interest, written by Jonathan Glazer
Who will win: Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach for Barbie
Who deserves the win: Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach for Barbie
Another easy one. How Gerwig and Baumbach turned the Barbie doll into a fantastic film is beyond me, but they certainly deserve the award here. With an incredibly original idea, the screenplay successfully ties humour and real-world issues like sexism, patriarchy and identity together.
Best Supporting Actor
Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things
Who will win: Robert Downey Jr. for Oppenheimer
Who deserves the win: Robert Downey Jr. for Oppenheimer
A Hollywood icon, Downey Jr. has yet to win an Oscar after two previous nominations. This is his moment. Gosling, his closest competitor, was hilarious in Barbie, but as comedy fans know all too well, films of the genre don’t get many Oscar wins. Downey Jr. deserves the Oscar, as his Lewis Strauss role in Oppenheimer stole the entire second half of the film. His subtle anger boiling under the surface makes for an anxious watch — and he delivers some great lines too. Among them: “Amateurs seek the sun. Get eaten. Power stays in the shadows.”
Best Supporting Actress
Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks, The Colour Purple
America Ferrera, Barbie
Da’vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
Who will win: Da’vine Joy Randolph for The Holdovers
Who deserves the win: Da’vine Joy Randolph for The Holdovers
Randolph is one of the few shoo-ins at this year’s Academy Awards. Shockingly good in The Holdovers, she portrayed a woman who’d recently lost her only son in the Vietnam War. She goes through denial, flashes of anger and complete and utter sadness, providing a warm presence toward the end of the film. Having recently taken home a Golden Globe, she’s got this one in the bag too.
Annette Bening, Nyad
Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Huller, Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan, Maestro
Emma Stone, Poor Things
Who will win: Lily Gladstone for Killers of the Flower Moon
Who deserves the win: Lily Gladstone for Killers of the Flower Moon
If it wasn’t for Gladstone, Stone would be taking home the second Academy Award of her amazing career for Poor Things. However, Gladstone’s performance as Mollie Burkhart, a woman at the unfortunate centre of the horrific Osage murders, should be taking the Oscar. Gladstone portrays various emotions with raw perfection, much like Randolph in The Holdovers. Gladstone’s performance was vital for the rest of the film to be great, and she definitely delivered.
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper, Maestro
Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction
Who will win: Cillian Murphy for Oppenheimer
Who deserves the win: Cillian Murphy for Oppenheimer
This one is a two-horse race. It’s going to be either Giamatti or Murphy, but it’s likely that Murphy will ride the Oppenheimer wave to his first Academy Award win. He gives one of the greatest performances of the 2020s as J. Robert Oppenheimer, and absolutely nails the real figure’s mannerisms. Giamatti was amazing in The Holdovers, and in any other year, the award would be his. Personally, whenever I see Murphy in interviews online, I still see Oppenheimer. It is extremely difficult to play someone who was a real person — especially when that person is incredibly famous — but Murphy was up to the task. This is his year.
Best Director
Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall
Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things
Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest
Who will win: Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer
Who deserves the win: Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer
Nolan is one of the greatest directors of all time, yet does not have an Oscar for his work. He’ll take home his first for his incredible directing on Oppenheimer. He received a Golden Globe for Best Director in early January as well, which is a good sign for what’s to come. Scorsese put together a fabulous movie in Killers of the Flower Moon, but he’s won his Oscar and has also been nominated for Best Director an incredible 10 times, which makes him the most Oscar-nominated living director — it’s safe to say he doesn’t need this award.
Best Picture
American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest
What will win: Oppenheimer
What deserves the win: Oppenheimer
Was there ever any doubt? Oppenheimer has been nominated for a leading 13 Academy Awards and for good reason. Nolan’s latest film is a true masterpiece that features an incredible ensemble cast, including Murphy, Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Matt Damon and Rami Malek. The film has a brilliant score, amazing cinematography and perfect dialogue for its characters. The Golden Globe winner for Best Drama also contains one of the most intense film scenes in recent memory when the members of the Manhattan Project decide to test their newly created atomic bomb. The film is an instant classic and will surely be considered one of the greatest films of all time.
Additionally, as a bonus category of sorts, here are six people who deserved nominations this year, despite not receiving them:
Margot Robbie, Best Actress for Barbie
Greta Gerwig, Best Director for Barbie
Andrew Scott, Best Actor for All Of Us Strangers
Leonardo DiCaprio, Best Actor for Killers of the Flower Moon
Harrison Ford, Best Actor for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Dominic Sessa, Best Supporting Actor for The Holdovers
Bruce Springsteen, Best Original Song for She Came to Me
See for yourself who wins at this year’s Oscars! The Academy Awards are being held on March 10, starting at 7 p.m. EST.
Featured image from IMDb.
