For those who follow the annual sport and silliness of the Oscar race, this year’s competition has been dragging on for months already: supposed frontrunners such as Cate Blanchett and Colin Farrell have been installed since the Venice film festival in September, while other hotly fancied contenders, including Austin Butler and Michelle Yeoh, have been seen and speculated about since last spring. For insiders, that can lead to the contest feeling a bit calcified before it’s even begun, though things are never quite as set in stone as the pundits would have you believe. (Hardly any of them predicted Judi Dench’s bizarre nod for Belfast last year, for example.)
With that flexibility in mind, here’s a selection of outstanding performances that haven’t been getting nearly enough attention this awards season: some may be the longest of long shots, but if we don’t celebrate them, who will?
