Rosamund Pike (‘Saltburn’) is coming for that final Best Supporting Actress slot at the Oscars

Best Supporting Actress has been the trickiest of the four acting categories to predict throughout this awards season and that remains true even now, just days before the Academy Award nominations are announced on Tuesday.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph looks like a lock thanks to her sterling turn in “The Holdovers,” while Emily Blunt (“Oppenheimer”) and Danielle Brooks (“The Color Purple”) seems guaranteed to get their first nominations. The fourth and fifth slot, however, are up for grabs. Currently, we are predicting that veteran duo Jodie Foster (“Nyad”) and Julianne Moore (“May December”) will secure the final two bids but they aren’t sure things.

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And a certain British actress by the name of Rosamund Pike could take advantage of that uncertainty. She was previously nominated for Best Actress for “Gone Girl” in 2015, when she coincidentally lost to Moore, who won for “Still Alice.” Pike is hoping for her second Oscar citation here with a delicious performance in Amazon/Warner Bros.’ “Saltburn.”

The movie follows Barry Keoghan as shifty Oxford student Oliver Quick, who becomes obsessed with his uber-rich classmate, Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). Oliver stays with Felix and his family at their mansion, Saltburn, and this is where Pike enters the fray. She plays Lady Elspeth Catton, Felix’s mother, and she steals every scene she’s in. She delivers writer-director Emerald Fennell‘s lines with an expert dry wit. She muses about how people from Liverpool suffer, then later explains that her brief stint as a lesbian ended because “it was all too wet.” Then, to top it off, she claims that her friend Pamela (Carey Mulligan) will “do anything for attention” after she kills herself. It’s a delightful performance and a classic supporting turn — there’s no category fraud here. Pike is supporting her cast members here with acerbic wit and humor. The film is at its best when she is on screen.

Pike has some nominations under her belt this awards season, too. She contended at the Golden Globes early on in the race. She was then overlooked at the Critics Choice Awards and SAG but she re-announced herself as a major contender late on in the game when she reaped a BAFTA bid last week. She got in there over both Moore and Foster. Having support from BAFTA, whose membership includes some Oscar voters, could be the key.

And “Saltburn” is peaking at just the right moment. BAFTA also nominated it for Best Actor (Keoghan) and Best Supporting Actor (Elordi). Several moments from the film have gone viral. No need to explain which, we all know what moments we’re talking about… Anyway, that could help Pike on the way to a nomination and she is a wonderful ambassador for the movie, too. She posted a video emulating Keoghan’s final dance sequence in the movie and is representing the film well. Voters will appreciate that.

“Nyad” was overlooked by BAFTA, which could suggest it is waning in popularity, but it was recognized twice at SAG — for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress (Foster). However, “May December” was snubbed completely by both organizations, indicating that that film is, indeed, on its way out of the conversation rather than in. That benefits “Saltburn” and Pike.

Pike’s comic performance is also classic Supporting Actress material. There have been many actresses who have been nominated in this category for this type of comic role before, including Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”), Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”), Scarlett Johansson (“Jojo Rabbit”), and “The Favourite” duo Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz.

Pike should be wary of fellow contenders on the bubble, however, SAG nominee Penélope Cruz (“Ferrari”), BAFTA nominee Sandra Hüller (“The Zone of Interest”), and Critics Choice nominee America Ferrera (“Barbie”) are all behind her. However, Pike was recognized at two precursors rather than just one.

Foster got in at the Critics Choice Awards, the Golden Globes, and SAG, so she seems like a surer bet. But Moore was only nominated at the Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes, two bids that seem a long, long time ago. It’s more important to finish strongly than it is to start strongly and Moore peaked far too early while Pike has roused her campaign with a late BAFTA bid. She is finishing very strongly and that could lead to timely Oscar nomination.

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