Meet This Year's Best Picture Contenders
Which films from 2019 could contend for a best picture Oscar in early 2020? We have surveyed industry experts, reviewed the reviews, and examined the top performers at this year's major film festivals to come up with a list of 20-ish potential contenders. (They're listed alphabetically in the gallery above.) Of course, the ultimate best picture nominee list will include 10 or fewer titles (likely fewer), so not every one of these films will secure a nomination—but it's likely that all of the eventual nominees will be found in our list. The biggest wildcards are the handful of films that have yet to be screened for anyone; we'll point those out as we get to them.
What is it? Writer-director Lulu Wang’s autobiographical dramedy (adapted from a This American Life story) stars Awkwafina in a rare (but widely praised) dramatic role as an American who returns to her family's home in China after learning that her grandmother had terminal lung cancer—a fact that the family is keeping a secret from the grandmother.
Why is it a contender? It's a crowd-pleasing story that happens to be one of 2019's best-reviewed films so far. And it just picked up three nominations at the first-of-the-year Gotham Awards.
What are its chances? Many experts list it among their top 15 or 20 frontrunners. It is tempting to compare Farewell to last year's Crazy Rich Asians, which similarly featured an almost entirely Asian cast and played widely in America following strong reviews. That film failed to receive any Oscar nominations, but Farewell's more serious subject matter and even better reviews might help. (Then again, Crazy Rich Asians grossed over 10 times as much; The Farewell hasn't achieved that same level of awareness.)
When can I see it? You may be able to find the August release still playing on a nearby screen; if not, it's available now on VOD/digital video and comes to DVD/Blu-ray on November 12.
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