The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences showered little-seen movies rooted in progressive politics with nominations for the 97th Oscars on Thursday.
“Emilia Pérez,” a musical exploration of trans identity, and “The Brutalist,” a three-and-a-half-hour study of immigrant trauma and antisemitism, emerged as films to beat by securing nominations in most of the major categories, including best picture and best director. “Emilia Pérez,” a Netflix entry, received 13 nominations in total, the most of any film.
“The Brutalist,” a low-budget movie from A24 that arrives in theaters nationwide on Friday, received 10 nominations. One blockbuster, “Wicked,” with its messages about the dangers of authoritarianism and the power of resistance, also did well with voters. It garnered 10 nominations, but failed to crack the important directing and screenplay categories.
While the acting races have taken clearer shape over the past month, the best picture contest remains unusually wide open. Unlike last year, when “Oppenheimer” cemented its front-runner status almost immediately and never looked back, multiple films remain in the hunt for Hollywood’s top prize this time around.
The nominees for best picture included “Conclave,” a Vatican thriller that explores identity politics; “The Substance,” a feminist manifesto in the form of a body horror flick; “Nickel Boys,” a historical drama set at a racist reform school in 1960s Florida; “Anora,” a Cinderella story about a sex worker who impulsively marries the hard-partying son of a Russian oligarch; “I’m Still Here,” a Brazilian drama about family life and political oppression; and the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown.”
The big-budget studio movies “Wicked” and “Dune: Part Two” filled out the category. The academy expanded the best picture field to 10 in 2022; it previously had a sliding number with as few as five slots. The academy positioned the changes as part of an expanded focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.
Adrien Brody (“The Brutalist”), Timothée Chalamet (“A Complete Unknown”), Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”) and Ralph Fiennes (“Conclave”) were nominated for best actor, as expected. Sebastian Stan drew the wild-card spot for his performance as an unsavory, early-career Donald Trump in “The Apprentice.”
Demi Moore (“The Substance”) has been the favorite to win best actress since she delivered a poignant acceptance speech about Hollywood pigeonholing at the Golden Globes this month. Academy voters waved her through to the nomination stage while also giving best actress nods to Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked”), Mikey Madison (“Anora”), Fernanda Torres (“I’m Still Here”) and Karla Sofía Gascón (“Emilia Pérez”). Gascón became the first openly trans actress to receive an Oscar nomination.
Kieran Culkin, fresh off winning a Golden Globe for his performance in the dramedy “A Real Pain,” received a nomination for best supporting actor. Filling out the category were Yura Borisov (“Anora”), Guy Pearce (“The Brutalist”), Edward Norton (“A Complete Unknown”) and Jeremy Strong (“The Apprentice”).
For supporting actress, Oscar voters handed nominations to the favorites Zoe Saldaña (“Emilia Pérez”) and Ariana Grande (“Wicked”), both of whom played lead roles but decided to run as secondary candidates. Joining them were Isabella Rossellini (“Conclave”), Monica Barbaro (“A Complete Unknown”) and Felicity Jones (“The Brutalist”).
A majority of the acting nominees — 13 out of 20 — were first-time academy honorees, perhaps underscoring the organization’s effort over the past decade to make its voting ranks less dominated by older white men. The academy now has roughly 10,000 voting members, up from about 6,700 in 2017.
In the director category, the academy nominated the favorites Sean Baker (“Anora”), Brady Corbet (“The Brutalist”) and Jacques Audiard (“Emilia Pérez”). Rounding out the category were James Mangold (“A Complete Unknown”) and the French female filmmaker Coralie Fargeat (“The Substance”). Prominent omissions included Edward Berger (“Conclave”) and Jon M. Chu (“Wicked”).
Fargeat becomes the 10th woman to be nominated in the best director category in the academy’s 97-year history. Only three have won: Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”) in 2022, Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) in 2021 and Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”) in 2009.
The nominees for original screenplay included the favorites “Anora,” “The Brutalist” and “A Real Pain.” The remaining two slots went to “The Substance” and “September 5.”
Adapted screenplay nods went to “Conclave,” “Emilia Pérez ,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Nickel Boys” and “Sing Sing.”
Netflix is having a banner week, having announced on Tuesday that it crossed 300 million subscribers and walking away Thursday morning with 16 nominations, the most of any distributor. Thirteen nods for “Emilia Pérez” alone makes the irreverent musical the streaming service’s most-nominated film in its history. (“Emilia Pérez,” a musical presented in Spanish, also became the most-nominated non-English language film in Oscar history. The previous record-holders were “Roma” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” with 10 each.)
“Emilia Pérez” was an acquisition for Netflix out of last year’s Cannes Film Festival and has been on an awards tear ever since. Previously, Netflix’s most nominated film was 2018’s “Roma,” which garnered 10 nominations. The company’s most winning film is the 2022 drama “All Quiet on the Western Front,” which won four Oscars, including best international feature film and best cinematography.
The streaming giant has amassed 23 trophies since 2016, when it landed its first with the documentary short “The White Helmets.” It has also scored two best director wins: Campion for “The Power of the Dog” and Alfonso Cuarón for “Roma.” It has yet to land the highly coveted best picture prize.
The nominations were announced at the academy’s Beverly Hills, Calif., headquarters in an early-morning ceremony hosted by Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott. The ceremony will be held on March 2.
In their quest to find a host who will generate buzz but not blow up in their faces, Academy Awards organizers traded a current late-night comedian (Jimmy Kimmel) for a former one: Conan O’Brien. Since he has never hosted the Oscars before, O’Brien will presumably bring a freshness to the show, which can come off as old-fashioned at best and out-of-touch at worst. At the same time, he is a safe choice — a seasoned pro whose comedic style has been honed over decades and who has successfully hosted other award shows, including the Emmys.
The recent wildfires in Los Angeles County, which have destroyed at least 10,000 homes, had prompted the academy to delay the nominations announcement. Amid the devastation, questions about the ceremony have circulated in Hollywood. Should it be turned into a fund-raising telethon? Or scrapped altogether?
Academy officials rejected both of those notions, saying in a letter to members on Wednesday that “honoring the unifying spirit and creative synergy of moviemaking” remained their primary focus for the ceremony. Still, the show will “acknowledge those who fought so bravely against the wildfires.” Perhaps to add a sense of solemnity, the show will also “move away from live performances” of nominated songs.
A toned-down Oscars would mark a reversal from recent years, when the academy sought to dial up the razzle-dazzle as part of a frantic effort to attract more viewers. ABC’s telecast of the most recent ceremony attracted about 20 million viewers, a four-year high. Double that number tuned in as recently as 2014, however.
To make the Oscars more relevant to young people, the academy agreed in December to stream the ceremony online (on Hulu) for the first time. ABC, which like Hulu is owned by Disney, remains the academy’s broadcast partner.
