This is the one acting category it feels possible to call definitively long before the Oscars: Kieran Culkin has been unstoppable in this year’s supporting actor contests, winning at the Globes, the National Board of Review Awards, and numerous critics associations. His reputation for charming, off-the-cuff speeches only makes the idea of handing him an Oscar more appealing. It’s fun to note that among his competition is Culkin’s old Succession costar Jeremy Strong, up for playing master of the dark arts Roy Cohn. Culkin and Strong competed in the same category at the 2023 Emmy Awards, too; that time, Culkin won.
Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez
The momentum here seems to be with Saldaña, another Globe winner who gave a heartstring-pulling speech—and, like Moore, an industry vet who’s had to fight her way past being seen only as a blockbuster star. (Or a “popcorn actress,” as Moore memorably put it.) But just as the Academy apparently loves Emilia Pérez, they’ve got a lot of affection for Wicked and A Complete Unknown. And Wicked, especially, overperformed at the SAG nominations earlier this month, implying that the actors branch of the Academy—the voting body’s largest bloc—could come out in favor of Glinda the Good Witch.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Jay Cocks and James Mangold, A Complete Unknown
Peter Straughan, Conclave
Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes, Nickel Boys
Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar, Sing Sing
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Sean Baker, Anora
Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold, The Brutalist
Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain
Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, and Alex David, September 5
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Gladiator II
Nosferatu
Wicked
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
A Different Man
Emilia Pérez
Nosferatu
The Substance
Wicked
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Daniel Blumberg, The Brutalist
Volker Bertelmann, Conclave
John Powell and Stephen Schwartz, Wicked
Clément Ducol and Camille, Emilia Pérez
Kris Bowers, The Wild Robot
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
A Lien
Anuja
I’m Not a Robot
The Last Ranger
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Beautiful Men
In the Shadow of the Cypress
Magic Candies
Wander to Wonder
Yuck!
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“El Mal,” Emilia Pérez
“The Journey,” The Six Triple Eight
“Like a Bird,” Sing Sing
“Mi Camino,” Emilia Pérez
“Never Too Late,” Elton John: Never Too Late
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Black Box Diaries
No Other Land
Porcelain War
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Sugarcane
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Death by Numbers
I Am Ready, Warden
Incident
Instruments of a Beating Heart
The Only Girl in the Orchestra
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
I’m Still Here, Brazil
The Girl With the Needle, Denmark
Emilia Pérez, France
The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Germany
Flow, Latvia
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu
Wicked
BEST EDITING
Sean Baker, Anora
Dávid Jancsó, The Brutalist
Nick Emerson, Conclave
Juliette Welfling, Emilia Pérez
Myron Kerstein, Wicked
BEST SOUND
A Complete Unknown
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Wild Robot
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Alien: Romulus
Better Man
Dune: Part Two
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Wicked
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Lol Crawley, The Brutalist
Greig Fraser, Dune: Part Two
Paul Guilhaume, Emilia Pérez
Edward Lachman, Maria
Jarin Blaschke, Nosferatu
