After being postponed due to the ongoing fires in Los Angeles, the 97th Academy Awards nominees were announced on Jan. 23. In a surprising — and controversial — turn of events, Emilia Pérez became the most nominated film with a total of 13 nominations. The second most nominated films were Wicked and The Brutalist, which received 10 nominations each.
The musical Emilia Pérez has been successful this award season despite heavy criticism from audiences worldwide. For many Spanish speakers, the film’s unnatural dialogue and the actors’ thick accents made the film unwatchable.
The film has also received criticism for its representation of the transgender community; however, it has marked a historic moment for the community as Karla Sofía Gascón became the first openly trans actress to be nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
The Brutalist, directed by Brady Corbet, had two of its stars receive nominations: Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones. Brody received a nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Jones for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
Until recently, Brody was the favorite to win in his category, but now, the film and actors are being heavily criticized for using artificial intelligence to enhance the actors’ accents. Many consider this enough reason to disqualify Brody from receiving the award.
Opposite to The Brutalist, we have Wicked. The musical that swept audiences from their seats has received big nominations such as Best Picture, Best Actress in a Leading Role for Cynthia Erivo, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Ariana Grande
Erivo could make history this year by being the youngest person to ever win an EGOT. “EGOT” stands for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony; if Erivo wins her nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role, she will set a record by winning an award in each performing arts category.
Other nominees besides Wicked for best picture include Anora, The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Dune: Part Two, Emilia Pérez, I’m Still Here, Nickel Boys, and The Substance.
Many of the categories for actors and actresses are led by first-time nominees, including Kieran Culkin, Demi Moore, Zoe Saldaña, and Isabella Rossellini. In total, there are 12 first-time nominees in the actor and actress categories this year.
Nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role include Adrien Brody, Timothée Chalamet, Colman Domingo, Ralph Fiennes, and Sebastian Stan. What surprised audiences the most was Chalamet’s nomination, as he was nominated for his recent role in the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown instead of his iconic role as Paul Atreides in Dune: Part Two.
Stan’s nomination also surprised audiences, as his movie A Different Man received more nominations than the film he was nominated for, which was The Apprentice. In The Apprentice, Stan plays a young Donald Trump in 1970s New York.
The nominees for Best Actress in a Leading Role include Cynthia Erivo, Karla Sofía Gascón, Mikey Madison, Demi Moore, and Fernanda Torres. This category includes nominations from Emilia Pérez and Wicked, which are leading films for the most nominations in the 2024 Oscars.
Tailing the category for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the nominations for Best Actors in a Supporting Role include Yura Borisov, Kieran Culkin, Edward Norton, Guy Pearce, and Jeremy Strong. Nominations for Best Actress in a Supporting Role include Monica Barbaro, Ariane Grande, Felicity Jones, Isabella Rossellini, and Zoe Saldaña.
The Best Director category also surprised audiences. Nominations for the award include Sean Baker for Anora, Brady Corbet for The Brutalist, James Mangold for A Complete Unknown, Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez, and Coralie Fargeat for The Substance.
In this category, we see big and iconic names; however, what struck audiences the most was the absence of a name. Denis Villeneuve, director of Dune: Part Two, was not nominated for this category, leaving many people in shock as his film was considered one of the best and most iconic of 2024.
Despite his absence in the category, we can appreciate the nominations of great directors such as Sean Baker and Coralie Fargeat, who directed The Substance, which was one of the most talked about movies of 2024.
Alongside The Substance’s multiple nominations, another horror film has been in the spotlight recently. This, of course, is Robert Egger’s Nosferatu.
The film was nominated for Best Cinematography alongside Dune: Part Two, The Brutalist, Emilia Pérez, and Maria.
Another standout category is Best International Feature Film, whose nominees are I’m Still Here, from Brazil, The Girl with the Needle, from Denmark, Emilia Pérez, from France, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, from Germany, and Flow, from Latvia.
What stands out the most from this category to me is that we are seeing an animated movie, Flow, be nominated outside of an animation category; this is not something that is seen often in Oscar nominations. It’s exciting to see animated films being considered alongside other great works rather than being confined to only the animated categories.
The most shocking decisions from the Academy were which movies were not nominated. Director Luca Guadagnino, who directed Challengers, was snubbed of any nominations despite the film being one of the most popular of 2024.
This movie became popular for its score, exciting plot, and actors — yet still received no nominations. Guadagnino also recently released Queer, a film starring the iconic Daniel Craig, which also wasn’t nominated in any categories.
These decisions by the Academy have shocked and angered audiences, and with the record-breaking number of nominations for Emilia Pérez, the public has begun to question the Academy’s judgment and reasoning.
This award season has been very interesting so far, and these nominations have just made it more exciting. Be sure to tune in through ABC on March 2 to enjoy the glitz and glam of Hollywood’s biggest night!
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