By Beth Nugent, Third Year, Film and Television
My favourite season of the year is coming to an end… awards season, and it’s been a real treat. From Timothée Chalamet’s remarks about ballet and opera, to Viola Davis being unable to contain her excitement about Michael B Jordan’s win. It’s been full of twists and turns and is set to culminate on Sunday evening with the most anticipated night of the year, the Oscars. But who’s set to win? Are there any underdogs we need to watch out for? I’ll be discussing the top 5 categories and laying out my predictions.
BEST ACTOR - Prediction: Michael B Jordan
Now it’s been a close race this season between Timothée Chalamet, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Michael B Jordan, but these past couple of weeks my mind has been swayed to the Sinners (2025) star, who portrayed Smoke and Stack - Michael B Jordan. Once you start to understand the Oscars as less an objective entity and more a deeply political and pompous organisation, you can begin to understand why terms like ‘Oscar bait’ are thrown around. Those articles about Jordan’s ability to control his dimples and his stature? Those aren’t coincidental and fun anecdotes told by his co-stars; those are strategic messages to the academy that are basically screaming, look how talented and deserving this man is!
It’s easy to disregard Chalamet at this point with his comments about ballet and opera, but unfortunately for the other nominees, the voting had already closed by the time this interview clip went viral. It is also true that the academy loves to award pretentious actors for their efforts (think Adrian Brody last year), and with Chalamet's SAG awards speech about wanting to be one of the greats, it’s not an insane idea that the academy will shine a light on Chalamet this year with a golden statue, although my bets, and hopes, are still on Jordan.
BEST ACTRESS - Jesse Buckley
Possibly one of the easiest predictions to make this season. Buckley has swept across nearly every single award ceremony and I doubt the Oscars will be any different. I’d hate to be a nominee in this category since everyone and their mother is on the same page about Buckley’s win. And it’s well deserved for Hamnet (2026).
BEST DIRECTOR - Ryan Coogler or Paul Thomas Anderson
I know it’s a cop-out to put two people down, but I stared at my screen for 10 minutes trying to decide between the two, and I couldn’t come to an answer. The One Battle After Another (2025) love has carried through this season, even if I wasn’t the biggest fan of it myself. It was reminiscent of a Tarantino movie and I think the Academy will appreciate that. PTA has won multiple awards, including the golden globe and the BAFTA so it’s not a reach to say he’ll be up on that stage on Sunday either with the way the past few months has gone.
However, Ryan Coogler’s presence in Sinners was undeniable, it being my favourite movie of the lineup this year, I can honestly say I believe Coogler deserves the win far more than PTA does. Sinners was a perfectly crafted cinematic experience, and obviously, Coogler was the driving force behind that. Chloe Zhao could potentially be in for a shot with Hamnet, but given the fact she’s already an Oscar winner, I think this is pretty unlikely.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - Ludwig Göransson - Sinners
Score is always one of the most interesting categories since it's often not one of the first things people will notice about a film, but it influences your perception of a film entirely and is one of the most important aspects of filmmaking. I fully believe this award will be going to Sinners’ composer Ludwig Göransson. A film based around the power of music and how it can bring communities together is the rightful winner of this category. The only threat being Max Ritcher’s score for Hamnet, which was hauntingly beautiful in it’s own right.
BEST PICTURE - ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
As a Sinners lover, it pains me to put this down, but looking at how the other awards have gone it would be remiss of me not to follow the trend. For some reason, unknown to me, Hollywood love this film and I do believe it will be winning Best Picture. If by some miracle Sinners wins, it will completely restore my faith in Hollywood. There aren’t really any other strong contenders in this category, F1 (2025) is a joke and the rest just fall slightly flat or aren’t a typical Oscar Best Picture winner.
Romina Treviño
My prediction is that the evening will be heavily tied between Sinners and One Battle After Another, with Sentimental Value (2025) snagging some supporting Actor / Actresses, and Frankenstien (2025) sweeping the production categories like Hair and Make-up, Costume and Production Desgin. But, it truly is all to play for.
Featured Image: James A. Molnar / Unsplash | Illustration: Epigram / Zein Hakki
Make sure to tune in for LIVE COVERAGE of the Oscars at 11pm tomorrow on the website!
