Meet This Year's Best Picture Contenders
As we head into the holiday season, we also head into the heart of film awards season. And once again, we are looking at a rather unpredictable year. Though cinemas have mostly reopened this year, the Oscar race is once again being impacted by the pandemic, with many films failing to reach the large audiences that would have greeted them in a normal year—or reaching them directly in their homes rather than on the big screen.
But the uncertainty doesn't mean we don't have a general idea of which films will contend for best picture nominations at the upcoming Oscars. We have surveyed industry experts, calculated the Metascores, and examined the top performing films at this year's major film festivals to come up with a list of 20 potential best picture contenders from 2021, plus a few bonus wildcards.
What is it? Maggie Gyllenhaal's directorial debut and an adaptation of the 2006 novel of the same name by Elena Ferrante, the Italian author best known for My Brilliant Friend. The drama stars Olivia Colman as a woman whose solo summer seaside vacation turns sour after she becomes obsessed with another family whose activities trigger unhappy memories of her own past as a young mother (depicted in flashbacks starring Jessie Buckley as a younger version of Colman's character).
Why is it a contender? Reviews were excellent out of the film's world premiere at Venice a few months ago, where Gyllenhaal won a screenplay award, and it currently ranks among the 20 highest-scoring films of 2021. And it stars an Oscar winner in Colman, who has appeared in several recent best picture nominees including The Father and The Favourite.
What are its chances? It may not be one of this year's clear frontrunners, but Daughter's excellent festival reviews and Colman's recent track record suggest that it is certainly in the mix for a best picture nomination (in addition to others, possibly for Colman and Gyllenhaal), and the film has already received some early recognition in the form of a 2021-leading five Gotham Award nominations (not exactly a good Oscar predictor, but a positive sign nevertheless). But will Daughter's late release date leave it lost in the shuffle, and will Netflix be too busy promoting its other, even better contender (The Power of the Dog) to give Daughter a big push?
When can I see it? In theaters December 17 and streaming on Netflix beginning December 31.
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