This late into awards season, we typically tend to know which movies and performances will triumph on Oscars night. But this year has been a bit more erratic than usual. The usual precursors – the Baftas, the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards – have been unusually diverse when it comes to winners, with voters choosing to spread around the wealth rather than focus on the same collection of faces each time. It means this weekend’s Oscars might actually be exciting to watch. It also means difficulty in predicting what will happen on the night.
This is partly down to an unusually strong line-up of nominees this year, from populist hits such as Avatar and Elvis to critical darlings such as Tár and The Banshees of Inisherin. Then there are the movies that were both bona fide phenomenons that made a lot of money and drew raves, like the presumed Best Picture victor Everything Everywhere All at Once.
