While last year’s strikes led some films to be pushed off the schedule, when the Oscar race fully came into view, it felt as competitive as any other year, if not more. The summer success of Barbenheimer meant that we had two early frontrunners, a rarity given how the industry usually backloads its prestige bets, and with Cannes giving us three more, after Sundance already gave us one, there was little room for others to break through.
Here are this season’s also-rans:
