Summary

• The 2024 Oscars are predicted to follow the fresh change in genre and diversity seen in the 2023 Oscars, with great movies and performances expected to be rewarded.
• The likes of Barbie, Poor Things, and Killers of the Flower Moon all have a lot of nominations and could win awards.
• However, it's Oppenheimer that leads the way with 13 nominations, and is the frontrunner in several categories including Best Picture.

With the 96th Academy Awards set to take place, there are plenty of marvelous movies, exciting performances, great directorial efforts, sizzling screenplays, and so much more that are hoping to win at the best movies of 2023, with some highly-regarded stories and performances that aren’t apt to be forgotten.

The Oscars 2024 nominations have been announced, multiple other awards have been handed out, and now it's time for the main event. The Golden Globes, the SAG Awards, the DGA Awards, and more are decided, so the Oscars are all that's left. Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer leads the way, but there are plenty of challengers across the various categories. We'll run through the nominees and who has the best chances of taking home a little gold man on Oscars night, which takes place Sunday March 10, 2024.

23 Best Picture

Winner: Oppenheimer

Previously, Best Picture category had looked - like many others - to be heading for a battle between Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon. However, as awards season has gone, it's Christopher Nolan's movie that has pulled clear as the frontrunner. Oppenheimer looks set to dominate in the below-the-line categories and win at least one acting one, and has good form. It was a big winner at the Golden Globes 2024, the Critics Choice Awards, and took home the top prize at the SAG, DGA, and PGA Awards.

Oppenheimer's Best Picture win looks inevitable, but could there be an upset? It's not unheard of, and perhaps the smart pick for an outside bet is The Zone of Interest, another World War 2 movie that works as the antithesis of Oppenheimer.

Oppenheimer's Best Picture win looks inevitable, but could there be an upset? It's not unheard of, and perhaps the smart pick for an outside bet is The Zone of Interest, another World War 2 movie that works as the antithesis of Oppenheimer. It has a few strong nominations, and one anonymous Oscar voter told THR they'd be voting it for Best Picture - if there's strong , then it has a chance, even if Nolan's movie looks so unbeatable.

Outside of those, then Poor Things' 11 nominations mean it's very much in the conversation alongside Killers of the Flower Moon. The Holdovers previously gained some momentum and picked up Best Comedy or Musical at the Golden Globes, but may not have enough left to carry it forward. Anything else winning, while not impossible, would represent a huge shock.

22 Best Director

Winner: Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)

Christopher Nolan has, surprisingly, only been nominated for Best Director once (for Dunkirk). In contrast, Martin Scorsese has nine nominations so far, but only one win (for The Departed). That's a major gap between the two most well-known contenders, but form suggests the Academy will look to give Nolan what many would see as an award not only deserving for Oppenheimer, but also his entire body of work. That he won the DGA Award only cements this.

There are plenty of other great directors in here, despite some major snubs like Greta Gerwig. Yorgos Lanthimos remains a unique voice (and only he, Scorsese, and Nolan have DGA nominations, making them the strongest three contenders). Jonathan Glazer delivers powerful work on The Zone of Interest, and Justine Triet is a surprising but welcome nominee for Anatomy of a Fall. It's hard to argue with their nominations, but it very much feels like this is Nolan's time.

21 Best Actress

Winner: Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)

When Poor Things won the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival, it seemed as though Emma Stone was an early lock for the Best Actress prize at the Oscars 2024: already an awards favorite despite just being in her early-30s (with three nominations, one win), she's the star of Yorgos Lanthimos' new movie and received the most attention and praise for its win. However, Lily Gladstone coming into this category shakes things up massively, and might be enough to take the Oscar away from Stone.

Gladstone is seen as the best part of Killers of the Flower Moon's cast, which is no easy feat in a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. The breakthrough should garner a lot of , especially from the acting guild, and could be enough to carry her to the win, having already picked up the Golden Globe. Killers of the Flower Moon has a whopping 10 nominations, but Gladstone might well be the only award it picks up, which makes her win feel more likely.

The other nominees do some good work, but Best Actress is very much Gladstone vs. Stone. The former has the greater momentum, especially after taking home the SAG Award, but Stone is popular, and a win here wouldn't exactly be an upset. Of all the acting categories, this one is the toughest to call.

20 Best Actor

Winner: Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)

Eight of the last 13 Best Actor Oscars have gone to someone playing a real-life figure, and that trend could continue with Cillian Murphy. He's the shining star of the movie likely to win the most awards, and his powerful turn as J. Robert Oppenheimer is the kind of complicated, meaty role that screams Oscars. It is, however, his very first nomination, which could see the Academy's eyes turn elsewhere.

"Elsewhere" is Paul Giamatti, who has emerged as the main competition. He won the Best Actor - Comedy or Musical award at the Golden Globes and then beat Murphy at the Critics Choice Awards, so is a threat to his chances. Giamatti has also been around a long time and is very well respected, despite only one previous nomination, and could be the name voters turn to when so many others awards will be going to Oppenheimer. Murphy's SAG Award means he's the favorite heading into Oscars night all the same, but Giamatti's race isn't done just yet.

19 Best ing Actress

Winner: Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)

At one point, it had seemed like this was going to be the easiest of the acting categories to call, because the early forecasts suggested that Killers of the Flower Moon's Lily Gladstone would be entered into this race (perhaps because it would mean a better chance of winning). That no longer looks set to be the case, however, with Gladstone instead entering into the Best Actress race, but this still appears to be a done deal.

The Holdovers' Da’Vine Joy Randolph is the overwhelming favorite here, after dominating throughout awards season. Randolph plays the school cook who lost her son in the Vietnam War, and she's the film's beating heart and its standout performer (which landed her the Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and SAG Award).

The Holdovers' Da’Vine Joy Randolph is the overwhelming favorite here, after dominating throughout awards season. Randolph plays the school cook who lost her son in the Vietnam War, and she's the film's beating heart and its standout performer (which landed her the Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and SAG Award). Competition comes from Oppenheimer, which is a major contender and Emily Blunt is one of its strongest parts. America Ferrera has a surprise nomination for Barbie, but given it missed out on Best Director and Best Actress, it probably doesn't have wide enough for the win.

That is also true for Danielle Brooks in The Color Purple, which was otherwise overlooked completely. Nyad does have plenty of love for its performances, with Bening also getting a nod, and Foster is also prominent on screens in True Detective (something that a decade ago helped Matthew McConaughey to a win), but a victory would be a major upset.

18 Best ing Actor

Winner: Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)

At the 2009 Oscars, Robert Downey Jr. missed out on winning Best ing Actor with the award going to an actor from a Christopher Nolan movie, namely Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. 15 years on, and Downey Jr's best shot at an Oscar since then comes in the same category, but this time he's the one in a Nolan movie. Will Oppenheimer be enough to get him his first win? He's got the edge precisely because he hasn't won before, and could be seen as being due, which has been reflected with wins at the Globes, the BAFTAs, the SAGs, and more.

Ryan Gosling's nomination for Barbie will likely be good Kenough, but it is also one of the movie's best chances at a big award. Robert De Niro gives his most acclaimed performance in years in Killers of the Flower Moon, but momentum for the win has dipped. Sterling K. Brown was a late surge, and American Fiction has strong ing from the acting guilds, so can't be entirely ruled out. Meanwhile, Mark Ruffalo edged out Willem Dafoe for the Poor Things nod, but it's hard to see beyond Downey as the frontrunner.

17 Best Original Screenplay

Winner: Anatomy Of A Fall

With Barbie considered as an adapted screenplay by the Academy, the Best Original Screenplay award looks more open. That benefited May December for a nomination, but what about in of the win? Maestro leads the way out of these movies with seven nominations, but its screenplay isn't one of the most praised or talked about parts of the movie. Instead, The Holdovers and Anatomy of a Fall, which have 5 nods apiece, look to be the ones battling this out on Oscars night.

Anatomy of the Fall took home the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay, and has a Best Director nod that shows just how highly thought of it - and Triet - is. However, The Holdovers is clearly popular too and its screenplay is superb, plus Alexander Payne movies have form here, so this will be a very tight race. Past Lives would also be deserving, but probably doesn't have quite enough broad .

16 Best Adapted Screenplay

Winner: American Fiction

Recent form suggests that you need to win a Best Screenplay award to win Best Picture (four of the last five have done so, albeit with three coming from the Original side), but is that going to continue with Oppenheimer? A win would not be a shock by any means, but it - surprisingly - isn't the favorite heading into the Oscars.

Instead, it's American Fiction that has emerged as the frontrunner for Best Adapted Screenplay, having picked up a lot of momentum. Cord Jefferson has won this prize at the Critics Choice Awards, the BAFTAs, the Independent Spirit Awards, the Satellite Awards, and various others. While it doesn't appear to have huge higher up, its form shows how strong a contender it is here.

In of alternatives, this is one of the toughest categories of the entire night. Barbie's snubs could push it to what would be its biggest win of the night (and its screenplay is quite a marvel, given it didn't have a source text to work with). Poor Things has broad , is inventive and, again, this is the chance for a big award for it. The Zone of Interest is a work that resonates (and completely changes its source material). This is one where things could be shaken up.

15 Best Animated Feature Film

Winner: Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse won this award five years at the 2019 Oscars, and with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse pushing its groundbreaking mix of animation styles and technology even further, then this should be its to lose after taking home the PGA Award. Very strong competition comes from the return of Hayao Miyazaki with The Boy and the Heron, his first feature film in a decade, which won the Golden Globe. Spider-Verse may just have broader , but this is incredibly close.

Pixar picked up its usual nomination for Elemental, but a win this year would be a big shock. The other nominees, Nimona and Robot Dreams, had to fight off some very tough competition to take those spots, and it's very difficult to imagine either getting the win unless momentum drastically shifts.

14 Best International Feature Film

Winner: The Zone of Interest

Best International Feature at the Oscars 2024 could have been incredibly close to call if had chosen to submit Anatomy of a Fall, which would've put two Best Picture contenders into the race. After that surprising snub (which backfired with 's The Taste of Things not even being nominated), buzzy Netflix hit Society of the Snow looks to be a strong contender. However, it's the heavily acclaimed The Zone of Interest that's the clear frontrunner. With it in contention for some big prizes, including Picture and Director, then the movie - which is from the UK but in German - should be guaranteed to win.