15 Early Oscar Contenders Coming Out of Toronto, Telluride, and Venice
Three film festivals in three countries over the course of three weeks kick Hollywood’s awards season into gear: Italy’s Venice Film Festival, the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado, and the Toronto International Film Festival, which wraps up this weekend in Canada. Whereas, traditionally, Toronto has been the fest to crack open the Oscar race, both Venice and Telluride and have made big strides recently in nabbing high-profile premieres (Steve Jobs, Suffragette) that in the past would’ve taken place at TIFF.
So while the Academy Awards are a full six months away yet — yep, awards season is loooooong — we can start predicting which films will be in the running. There are still a handful of highly anticipated fall releases no one has seen yet (including Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant, David O. Russell’s Joy, Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, and Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies), but here are 15 movies that emerged out of the trifecta of September film fests that look like Oscar contenders.
1. Spotlight
Festivals Screened: Venice, Telluride, Toronto
The Buzz: After mostly positive early reviews from Venice and Telluride, the film got a huge reaction at TIFF. It’s not hugely surprising that the festival attended by the most press would devour a movie about Boston Globe journalists painted as conquering heroes while exposing the Catholic Church’s cover-up of priest-molestation charges. But the buzz around this Tom McCarthy-directed dazzler transcended the media connection: Most agreed it’s just a sensationally executed and supremely well-acted movie.
Possible Nominations: This might be the closest thing we have to a Best Picture frontrunner this early in the awards race. McCarthy (The Station Agent, The Visitor) should also be in the field for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay (which he’d share with Josh Singer). It gets trickier in the acting categories. The film is a pure ensemble with no clear leads. According to Gold Derby, Mark Ruffalo (recipient of the most praise for his work in the film as one particularly tireless reporter) is the running for Best Actor, and 2015 nominee Michael Keaton (as his conflicted editor) for Best Supporting Actor. In what’s already an immensely crowded Best Actor race, the studio would be wiser to run both Ruffalo and Keaton in the supporting category, where the former would stand a real chance of winning.
Related: This Fall, Journalists Are Hollywood’s New Superheroes
2. Steve Jobs
Festivals Screened: Telluride
The Buzz: This Danny Boyle-helmed, Aaron Sorkin-scripted biopic about the life and accomplishments of the late Apple founder (Michael Fassbender) is being heralded as crackling and unconventional. It’s even drawn one comparison to last year’s Oscar champ: It’s “Birdman for the tech sector,” wrote indieWIRE’s Eric Kohn.
Possible Nominations: Critics agree that Fassbender — once an Oscar frontrunner coming out of Toronto for Shame, but who got his first nod two years ago 12 Years a Slave — does exceptional work behind the glasses of Jobs, and will be in contention for Best Actor. Kate Winslet, who plays Jobs’s unshrinking Polish-Armenian marketing head, is also getting great press and figures to be in the hunt for Best Supporting Actress. And of course don’t ever count out a Sorkin script (Best Adapted Screenplay).
Watch the trailer for ‘Steve Jobs’:
3. The Danish Girl
Festivals Screened: Venice, Toronto
The Buzz: The film has widely expected to figure in the Oscar race since the first photo of Eddie Redmayne as early 20th century painter and transgender pioneer Lili Elbe emerged. And though reactions to the Tom Hooper-helmed film as a whole were mixed, the film is a triumph for its two leads, Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander (as Lili’s supportive yet suffering wife, Gerda Wegener).
Possible Nominations: Redmayne, who won Best Actor earlier this year for the Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything, is almost certain to be right back in the mix for his layered portrayal of Elbe. Also a sure thing has to be Alicia Vikander, already enjoying a breakout year from films like Ex Machina and The Man From U.N.C.L.E., who delivers an emotionally grueling turn. Distributor Focus must make a tough decision on whether to campaign for her in Best Actress (the proper call, since she’s onscreen as much as Redmayne) or Best Supporting Actress (which in truth she’d have a better chance of winning). And despite its divisiveness, The Danish Girl is an important film that could still end up in the Best Picture race.
4. Beasts of No Nation
Festivals Screened: Venice, Telluride, Toronto
The Buzz: I heard one colleague aptly compare Beasts to 12 Years a Slave in that this story about child soldiers in an unnamed African nation is a film must-see, but one that you’ll never want to see again. It’s horrifying and traumatic, but extraordinary.
Likely Nominations: One early question is whether the Netflix release will have the full support of the Academy, given the controversy it has stirred up with exhibitors. But here’s what it deserves: Best Picture, Best Director (Cary Fukunaga, who shot the film himself and should also snag a Best Cinematography nod), Best Actor (Abraham Atta, a non-actor who has an outside shot to crack the crowded the category), Best Supporting Actor (the menacing Idris Elba), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Fukunaga). Considering he’s a producer, that could mean FOUR nominations for Fukunaga. FOUR.
Related: Meet Toronto’s Breakout Young Stars from ‘Beasts of No Nation,’ ‘Room’
5. Carol
Festivals Screened: Telluride, after debuting at Cannes
The Buzz: Though there are a handful of films about LGBT characters, including this one, Carol is far less an “issues” movie. It’s a romance about two women (Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara) falling in love in 1950s New York, and it has received nothing but love from festival audiences and critics thus far.
Likely Nominations: Blanchett probably became the 2015’s first likely Oscar contender for the second time in three years, with 2013’s Blue Jasmine and now Carol winning her praise halfway around the world at May’s Cannes Film Festival. She should be in position to compete for Best Actress again, while Mara looks likely in Best Supporting Actress. The poignant drama could draw up enough support for Best Picture, Best Director (Todd Haynes), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Phyllis Nagy).
Related: ‘Carol,’ a Swooning Lesbian Romance from Todd Haynes
6. Brooklyn
Festivals Screened: Toronto, after debuting at Sundance
The Buzz: After an inauspicious premiere at Sundance in January, where it screened only twice and landed a handful of strong reviews, this swoon-inducing romantic drama about an Irish immigrant (Saoirse Ronan) arriving in New York in the 1950s found some fervent fans in Toronto, including yours truly.
Likely Nominations: If distributor Fox Searchlight mounts a campaign for this one there’s not any reason it can’t strongly compete for Best Picture and Best Actress (Ronan), and possibly Best Director (John Crowley), Best Supporting Actor (breakout Emory Cohen, who plays the kindhearted Italian-American plumber Ronan’s Eilis falls for), and Best Adapted Screenplay (High Fidelity scribe Nick Hornby).
Related: Exhilarating Drama ‘Brooklyn’ Is the Quintessential Immigrant Tale
7. The Martian
Festivals Screened: Toronto
The Buzz: Sci-fi maestro Ridley Scott’s latest space thriller was easily one of the biggest critic and crowd favorites to emerge from Toronto. Based on the popular novel by Andy Weir, it stars Matt Damon as a botanist/astronaut stranded on Mars, and co-stars Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kristen Wiig, and a whole lot of disco.
Possible Nominations: It looked more like popcorn entertainment heading into the TIFF, but given the rabid response, The Martian could do what Interstellar couldn’t last year and make a crash landing right into the Best Picture race. Matt Damon, who spends much of his screen time alone, will definitely be in the Best Actor conversation, and he told us at TIFF there’s nothing he’d like more than to see Scott, who has never won an Oscar, take home Best Director. It’s within the realm of possibility, as is a Best Adapted Screenplay nom for Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods).
Related: Ridley Scott’s Latest Sci-Fi Thriller Soars on a Simpler Plane
8. Black Mass
Festivals Screened: Venice, Telluride, Toronto
The Buzz: Many entries at these festivals featured stunning performances that towered over the movie as a whole. Scott Cooper’s biopic about Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger (Johnny Depp) is the perfect example. Depp’s nightmarish turn as Bulger is getting deserving accolades, and the sprawling cast delivers outstanding turns across the board. This is a film that easily gets nominated for Best Ensemble from the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Possible Nominations: Call it a comeback if you will for Depp, who after a string of duds (Lone Ranger, Transcendence, Mortdecai) delivers one of the best performances of his career, and could be considered the frontrunner for Best Actor. Joel Edgerton is also exceptional as John Connolly, the FBI agent in cahoots with Bulger, and looks likely for Best Supporting Actor. A longer shot is Julianne Nicholson (Best Supporting Actress) as Connolly’s wife, Marianne, who shares the film’s single most chilling moment with Depp.
Watch the cast of ‘Black Mass’ talk about nailing Boston accents:
9. Freeheld
Festivals Screened: Toronto
The Buzz: The biographical tale about New Jersey detective Laurel Hester (Julianne Moore), who fought for the right to pass her pension on to her domestic partner (Ellen Page) while battling terminal cancer, is being heralded for a trio of performances. It pushes the right buttons, emotionally, but it has elements that feel “Lifetimey,” which is never a compliment.
Possible Nominations: The drama features yet another devastating performance from Moore, who won an Oscar last year for Still Alice, and should be right back in the Best Actress race. But even more impressive are Page, who has credited this role with helping her come out as gay, brings authenticity and grit, and should easily score a Best Supporting Actress nomination; and Michael Shannon as Hester’s macho yet sympathetic partner, and who should be championed for Best Supporting Actor.
10. Legend
Festivals Screened: Toronto
The Buzz: I’m in the minority of media folk who think Brian Helgeland’s gangster thriller about the infamous London crime bosses Reggie and Ronnie Kray is a brass-knuckled knockout. (Though you couldn’t tell that from the film’s U.K. poster.) But everyone agrees Tom Hardy, who pulls double duty as both twins, is sensational.
Possible Nominations: Hardy is so convincing in two disparate roles as the Krays — this isn’t Parent Trap, they’re wildly different figures, one a suave playboy, the other crazy-eyed (and gay) loose cannon — that if it were up to me he’d get two nominations for Best Actor.
11. Trumbo
Festivals Screened: Toronto
The Buzz: Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston gives his best film performance yet as Dalton Trumbo, the screenwriter blacklisted for his Communist leanings who would go on to win Oscars under pseudonyms for the films Roman Holiday and The Brave One. Cranston won cheers at TIFF, but more than a couple colleagues said the film felt like “an HBO biopic.” That’s not necessarily an insult, but it’s not a compliment, either.
Possible Nominations: Movies about Hollywood and showbiz in general always play well with Academy members. That should help propel four-time Emmy winner Cranston, who delivers a convincing, go-for-broke portrayal of Trumbo, into serious consideration in the Best Actor race. Though, as you can see from above, the category is already crowded, and it’s only September.
Related: Bryan Cranston Delivers Best (Film) Performance Yet in ‘Trumbo’
12. Suffragette
Festivals Screened: Telluride
The Buzz: This period drama about the movement for women’s voting rights in late-19th/early-20th century England got mostly positive reactions coming out of Telluride. Though the critical party line is top-notch performances, but a weak script and problematic film structure.
Possible Nominations: The chatter at this point has been all about Carey Mulligan, who gives an inspiring performance as Maud Watts, a fictional amalgam of various real-life women. It looks likely she could score her second Best Actress nomination and first since 2009’s An Education, the film in which we first learned of her talents. Shockingly, we haven’t heard any awards buzz yet for 19-time nominee Meryl Streep, who has a supporting role.
13. Room
Festivals Screened: Telluride, Toronto
The Buzz: With a few outliers, critics have mostly been in sync in singing the praises of this dramatic thriller based on the Emma Donoghue novel about a woman (Brie Larson) and her young son (Jacob Tremblay) attempting to escape captivity after years of being locked up in the backyard shed of a psychopath. Again, the actors have received more kudos than the overall film.
Possible Nominations: Larson once again proves that she’s one of the most talented young actresses in the game with a dark and deeply emotional performance as Ma, and could get the Best Actress nomination that eluded her for her excellent work in 2013’s tiny but must-see indie Short Term 12. The raw and impressive 8-year-old Tremblay stands a longshot chance at Best Supporting Actor.
Watch the trailer for ‘Room’:
14. Truth
Festivals Screened: Toronto
The Buzz: Like Spotlight (and also the Lance Armstrong biopic The Program, which also premiered at TIFF), Truth is another dramatic thriller featuring journalists as heroes. Critics have mostly applauded the drama, which follows the controversy that erupted over CBS newsman Dan Rather’s (Robert Redford) investigation into former president George W. Bush’s military record, giving especially high marks to Cate Blanchett as his resolute producer, Mary Mapes.
Possible Nominations: We anticipated Redford being an early nominee given the opportunity he has to sink his teeth into the iconic news anchor, but Toronto agreed it’s the reliably excellent Blanchett who steals the show, which could very likely mean she’ll compete against herself in the Best Actress category for this film and Carol.
Related: Robert Redford, Cate Blanchett Tackle Rathergate in ‘Truth’
15. Anomalisa
Festivals Screened: Telluride, Venice, Toronto
The Buzz: The sophomore directorial effort of Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine writer Charlie Kaufman, who made his directorial debut with 2008’s disappointing Synecdoche, New York, has audiences once again eating out of the palm of his hands with this cerebral stop-motion animated film about, to quote the simplicity of IMDb’s plot summary, “a man crippled by the mundanity of his life.”
Possible Nominations: According to Yahoo Movies managing editor Brian Raftery, if there was any justice, David Thewlis and Jennifer Jason Leigh would both get nominated for their voice work, but it’s unlikely. Much likelier is a nom for Kaufman, though it’s unclear yet if Paramount, which acquired the film in Toronto, will run the script as Best Original Screenplay or Best Adapted Screenplay, since the movie version is an expanded take on the stage play he mounted in 2005.
