The Oscars are just around the corner and Netflix is leading the way with a collection of films released on the streaming platform that are getting buzz for the top prizes.
Just last year, Netflix had an impressive lineup at the 92nd Academy Awards and it looks like this year will follow suit. At the 2021 ceremony, the streaming giant had over 20 titles contending, including Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, the Vanessa Kirby-led Pieces of a Woman, David Fincher’s Mank, and Aaron Sorkin’s courtroom drama The Trial of the Chicago 7.
For the 93rd Academy Awards, the Netflix Original movies in the categories of drama, animation and foreign film are all garnering excitement to take home the big prizes on Oscar Night.
Here are Netflix’s Oscar hopefuls for 2022:
The Power of the Dog
Nominations expected: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing
It appears Netflix’s biggest Oscar hopeful in 2022 will be the brand new western from Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog.
The movie is based on the book by Thomas Savage and is Campion’s big return to directing movies having spent most of her time recently working on Sundance TV’s Top of the Lake.
For the best-supporting actress nomination, bonafide movie star Kirsten Dunst’s chances seem to be extremely high for not just a nomination but a win.
Don’t Look Up
Nominations expected: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing
Adam McKay comes to Netflix with one of his most ambitious projects to date with Don’t Look Up arriving on Netflix on Christmas Eve. The director has scored an Oscar win in the past with his 2015 movie, The Big Short.
With an all-star cast and a timely subject matter, NBP predicts that Don’t Look Up could be in for some big nods from the academy..
For the best-supporting actress nomination, the role of the President in the movie played by Meryl Streep’s excepted to receive a nod, per usual every time Streep graces the screen.
The Lost Daughter
Nominations expected: Best Actress
Arriving on Netflix on New Year’s Eve, The Lost Daughter is the directorial debut of Maggie Gyllenhaal. It follows Leda who takes a beach vacation to get away from it all but ends up doing the exact opposite.
Olivia Colman stars as the lead role who is well known from Netflix’s The Crown which itself has been a big award winner over the years and the actress won an Academy Award in 2019 for Best Supporting Actress for the film The Favourite In 2022, Coleman is expected to receive a nod for best actress.
tick, tick… Boom!
Nominations expected: Best Actor, Best Film Editing
Lin-Manuel Miranda has had a busy few years mainly working in the Disney camp on titles like Mary Poppins and Hamilton. One of his two projects for Netflix in 2021 includes tick, tick… Boom! which released on Netflix on November 19th, 2021. Andrew Garfield is tipped for receiving a best actor nomination. The musical nature of the film is also expected to receive a best film editing nod.
The Harder They Fall
Nominations expected: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Score, Best Original Song
This genre-bending film is a 2021 American Revisionist Western film directed by Jeymes Samuel, who co-wrote the screenplay with Boaz Yakin. The film stars Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz, Regina King, Delroy Lindo, Lakeith Stanfield, RJ Cyler, Danielle Deadwyler, Edi Gathegi, and Deon Cole.
It is one of few Westerns whose principal cast members are all Black. Although a fictional film, its characters are based on real cowboys, lawmen, and outlaws of the 19th-century American West. Although this is being called an underdog contender, there are reasons for the nominations for much more than what is expected to be favored.
Samuel could be in the running in four categories, (picture, directing, screenplay, and song). No Black auteur has ever achieved this feat. Can Samuel become the first?
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Nominations expected: Best Animated Feature
Two of three Sony Animation titles Netflix are expected to snap up awards at the 94th annual academy awards. One of which is expected to be The Mitchells vs. the Machines which arrived on Netflix on April 30th.
With an all-star cast, the animated feature saw a quirky family go on a road trip which becomes interrupted from a robot apocalypse.
Vivo
Nominations Expected: Best Animated Feature
The second of two Sony Animation titles and once again Lin-Manuel Miranda projects expected to receive nods is Vivo, the musical that was released on Netflix in August 2021.
The musical was the first of its kind for Sony Animation with original songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda. Kirk DeMicco directed the feature film which received good reviews from critics and audiences.
REELated: Review: Lin-Manuel Miranda’s tick, tick…Boom! pays tribute to creative process
The Summit of the Gods
Nominations Expected: Best Animated Feature
One of the big contenders in the best-animated feature movie category could be The Summit of the Gods which originates out of France. Le sommet des dieux as it’s known in the country comes from award-winning director Patrick Imbert.
Released on Netflix on November 30th, the movie follows a photographer who finds a camera that was owned by a mountaineer and he sets off to find out more with his friend, Habu Joji.
The Hand of God
Nominations Expected: Best International Feature Film
Originating out of Italy, The Hand of God (È stata la mano di Dio) is the product of filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino and follows a boys childhood growing up in Naples in the 1980s.
The Hand of God has received glowing reviews from the regions and scooped a number of awards at the Venice Film Festival. For starting out as a movie rental service, turned paving the way of the future streaming service, to a full-fledge production company, Netflix is proving to be a powerhouse in the industry. Cheers to Netflix’s and its contenders at the 2022 Oscars!
The Oscars are March 27 this year if COVID does not affect it. The nominations are next month on February 7. We will bring you our weekly analysis from a different studio each week.
Megan Penn reports on the indie film market and anything that empowers women and underrepresented groups.
