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? A Pablo Larraín-directed drama that spends a Christmas weekend with Princess Diana (played by Kristen Stewart) and Prince Charles (Jack Farthing) in 1991 as their relationship reaches a nadir. Definitely not a straight biopic, the self-described "fable" takes liberties with facts and filmmaking form to deliver a vision of royalty and celebrity that is icy, nightmarish, and even absurd.
Why is it a contender? Reviews were very positive when the film debuted at Telluride and then in competition at Venice in September. And The Crown just collected a bevy of Emmy's for its own (albeit more conventional) depiction of the Diana-Charles relationship.
What are its chances? Borderline, but a nomination is possible. It is unclear how Academy voters will take to the director's ambitious, artsy approach. Larraín's similar English-language biopic Jackie didn't get a best picture nomination despite even better reviews but did earn star Natalie Portman an acting nomination, and the same scenario could definitely play out here with Spencer and Stewart, who has been earning raves for her performance. (It would be Stewart's first Oscar nomination if it happens.)
When can I see it? Right now, as long as you are willing to go to a movie theater.
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