Oscars 2024: Our predictions for who should and will win this year

The biggest entertainment awards on the planet are back this year for more thrills, spills, and excitement. The Academy Awards 2024 promises plenty of drama yet again, with social media already in meltdown over Barbie director Greta Gerwig and lead star Margot Robbie’s omission from their respective categories. The other half of the Barbenheimer cultural phenomenon, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, is the odds-on favourite to sweep several awards. Despite Gerwig being overlooked this year for Best Director, it is a landmark year for female filmmakers. Point of fact, this happens to be the first time in Oscars history that the Academy has nominated three films helmed by women for Best Picture – Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, Celine Song’s Past Lives, and Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall. Today’s List Hai Toh Hit Hai podcast will feature our predictions for who will and who should win the Oscars this year.

Best Picture

Should win - Past Lives

Will win - Oppenheimer

Not many filmmakers have managed to release a masterpiece on their directorial debuts that has garnered widespread acclaim. Much like Orson Welles with Citizen Kane and Quentin Tarantino with Reservoir Dogs on their respective debuts, Celine Song has delivered a compelling film about lost love and self-discovery. We believe Past Lives should win the Oscar for Best Picture ahead of the popular choice Oppenheimer.

While the Christopher Nolan film is certainly one of the best films in recent years, it is not the acclaimed auteur’s best work. However, we get the feeling that the Academy would feel compelled to finally recognise Nolan’s achievements after snubbing him for nearly two decades by presenting Best Picture to Oppenheimer.

Nominees

American Fiction (Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson and Jermaine Johnson, Producers)

Anatomy of a Fall (Marie-Ange Luciani and David Thion, Producers)

Barbie (David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, Producers)

The Holdovers (Mark Johnson, Producer)

Killers of the Flower Moon (Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, Martin Scorsese and Daniel Lupi, Producers)

Maestro (Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers)

Oppenheimer (Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan, Producers)

Past Lives (David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, Producers)

Poor Things (Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone, Producers)

The Zone of Interest (James Wilson, Producer)

Best Director

Should  win - Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall) Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)

Will win -  Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)

Our pick to win Best Director this year is Justine Triet for helming the remarkable legal drama Anatomy of a Fall. If Triet becomes successful in her bid for an Oscar for Best Director, she will become only the fourth woman in history to achieve this feat – following the footsteps of Kathryn Bigelow, Chloé Zhao, and Jane Campion.

It seems almost a foregone conclusion that Oppenheimer will win Best Picture, and Nolan will take home Best Director.

Nominees

Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall)

Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon)

Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)

Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things)

Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest)

Best Actress

Should win - Carey Mulligan (Maestro)/Emma Stone (Poor Things)

Will win - Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)

The Best Actress category is one of the most tightly contested this year. And we are split between Carey Mulligan for Maestro, in yet another riveting performance, and Emma Stone for her captivating performance in Yorgos Lanthimos’ sci-fi comedy Poor Things.

There was another powerful acting performance last year, by Lily Gladstone in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Academy decided to recognise her breakthrough performance by awarding her Best Actress.

Nominees

Annette Bening (Nyad)

Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)

Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall)

Carey Mulligan (Maestro)

Emma Stone (Poor Things)

Best Actor

Should and will win -Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)

Cillian Murphy is the clear favourite to who should and will win this year’s Best Actor. The criminally underrated Irish actor, who is best known for his collaborations with Nolan, and for playing the lead as Tommy Shelby in the hit British crime drama series Peaky Blinders, could finally be recognised as the best in the business.

Nominees

Bradley Cooper (Maestro)

Colman Domingo (Rustin)

Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)

Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)

Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)

Best Supporting Actor

Should and will win - Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)

While Barbie star Ryan Gosling deserves far more recognition for his roles in films such as Blue Valentine, Drive, and First Man, his role as Ken is outstanding. However, Robert Downey Jr. delivered his career-best performance in Oppenheimer as Lewis Strauss and is the clear favourite to win the award.

Nominees
Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction)

Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon)

Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)

Ryan Gosling (Barbie)

Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)

Best Supporting Actress

Should and will win - Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)

In yet another tough category, which is Best Supporting Actress, Danielle Brooks, who plays Sofia in the period musical drama The Color Purple is our pick of who should win the award. It also seems likely that the Academy could also be in favour of awarding Best Supporting Actress to Brooks.

Nominees

Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer)

Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)

America Ferrera (Barbie)

Jodie Foster (Nyad)

Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Should win - Poor Things (Screenplay by Tony McNamara)

Will Win - Oppenheimer (Written for the screen by Christopher Nolan)

Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, which is adapted from Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel, has garnered significant acclaim. Writer Tony McNamara has managed to find the right balance between book and cinema for his screenplay, and is therefore our pick for Best Adapted Screenplay.

The Academy might however present the award to Christopher Nolan for his adaptation of the 2005 biography American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.

Nominees

American Fiction (Written for the screen by Cord Jefferson)

Barbie (Written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach)

Oppenheimer (Written for the screen by Christopher Nolan)

Poor Things (Screenplay by Tony McNamara)

The Zone of Interest (Written by Jonathan Glazer)

Best Original Screenplay

Should win - Past Lives (Written by Celine Song)

Will Win - Anatomy of a Fall (Screenplay by Justine Triet and Arthur Harari)

Past Lives filmmaker Celine Song has reportedly taken incidents from her life for Past Lives. She has successfully crafted a script worthy of an Oscar.

However, we believe Justine Triet and Arthur Harari’s screenplay for Anatomy of Fall will be the Academy’s pick for Best Original Screenplay.

Nominees

Anatomy of a Fall (Screenplay by Justine Triet and Arthur Harari)

The Holdovers (Written by David Hemingson)

Maestro (Written by Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer)

May December (Screenplay by Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik)

Past Lives (Written by Celine Song)

Best Animated Feature

Should win - Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal)

Will win - The Boy and the Heron (Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki)

One would assume that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse would be the Academy’s pick to win Best Animated Feature this year, considering it is a superior film to its predecessor which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2019.

Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron could, however, play spoilsport to the Spider-Verse franchise by piping it to the coveted award.

Nominees

The Boy and the Heron (Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki)

Elemental (Peter Sohn and Denise Ream)

Nimona (Nick Bruno, Troy Quane, Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary)

Robot Dreams (Pablo Berger, Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé and Sandra Tapia Díaz)

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal)

Best Visual Effects

Should win - Godzilla: Minus One (Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima)

Will Win -  Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Part One (Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland and Neil Corbould)

The Japanese ‘kaiju’ film Godzilla: Minus One will be studied by special effects coordinators for years to come. It is simply astounding how the action film managed to produce visually stunning frames for just $15 million, which is a fraction of most Hollywood productions. We believe it is the ideal film to win Best Visual Effects.

Godzilla: Minus One could be overlooked in favour of Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Part One – owing to the Hollywood blockbuster being blessed with a much bigger team and an eye-watering budget.

Nominees

The Creator (Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts and Neil Corbould)

Godzilla: Minus One (Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams and Theo Bialek)

Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Part One (Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland and Neil Corbould)

Napoleon (Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet, Simone Coco and Neil Corbould)

Best Original Score

Will and should win - Oppenheimer (Ludwig Göransson

Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson's first collaboration with Nolan was in the film Tenet, and with the duo's extraordinary success with Oppenheimer, they could be working together in future releases. The renowned musician is our clear favourite for Best Original Score.

Best International Feature Film

Should win - Society of the Snow (Spain)

Will win - The Zone of Interest (United Kingdom)

The Netflix Spanish film Society of the Snow is a riveting survival thriller film based on the 1972 Andes flight disaster. The acclaimed film is our pick for Best International Feature.

The Oscar could be awarded to yet another strong contender in this category. Titled The Zone of Interest, the film backed by A24, about a former Nazi officer trying to build a new life with his family next to the Auschwitz concentration camp, could bag top honours this year.

Nominees

Io Capitano (Italy)

Perfect Days (Japan)

Society of the Snow (Spain)

The Teacher’s Lounge (Germany)

The Zone of Interest (United Kingdom)

Well that's all we got for this Oscar predictions podcast, until the next episode its your host Nikhil signing out.

Aaj kya dekhoge OTTplay se poocho.

• Written by Ryan Gomez