The festivals are done (including the last one to show some major Oscar contenders, the New York Film Festival) and the precursors haven’t started announcing, so we’ve let some of the things we’re waiting on settle a bit and here are our latest predictions. There are still a couple of potential major contenders yet to release or screen for critics so we’re in a holding pattern for everything but we’re getting close.

KEY:

Introductions

Wesley Lovell: Many of the final entries into this Oscar race have been seen and several races have shifted towards new contenders. I’ve made quite a few changes, though they feel minor compared to the monumental swaps I made last month. Next up, we have the various critics groups who will be announcing in the next two months. The competition may yet change further.
Pete Patrick: With only Dune: Part Three among the year’s major films to be seen by critics, things are still far from solidified.
Thomas LaTourette: Again, there was very little movement from last month, usually just the change of one film per category. The panning of Digger makes it look like it could get nominations for actor, makeup, and production design, but nothing else. Considering it was talked about as a major contender, it fell quickly, and I wonder if it will even get those three. Penélope Cruz is still riding high from her two films, though Sandra Hüller looks likely to perhaps miss out on any nominations. It pained me to take Ryan Gosling off my list, but I am wondering if he will get replaced by Robert Pattinson instead. One big question mark remains about how Dune: Part Three will be received. Might it get the acclaim and Oscar nominations of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King or will it do poorly like the second part of Wicked. Wicked did follow the original by only a year, but I was still surprised to see it shut out of the nominations. I do not think that is likely to happen to Dune, but one never knows.

Best Picture

WLPPTL All of a Sudden
WLPPTL Artificial
WLPPTL Being Heumann
WLPPTL La Bola Negra
WLPPTL The Debut
WLPPTL Dune: Part Three
WLPPTL Fatherland
WLPPTL Fjord
WLPPTL I Play Rocky
WLPPTL The Invite
WLPPTL The Odyssey
WLPPTL Project Hail Mary
WLPPTL Sense and Sensibility
WLPPTL Wild Horse Nine
WLPPTL You Can See Everything

Best Animated Feature

WLPPTL Forgotten Island
WLPPTL Hoppers
WLPPTL Ray Gunn
WLPPTL Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom
WLPPTL Tangles
WLPPTL Toy Story 5
WLPPTL Wildwood

Best Directing

WLPPTL Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi – La Bola Negra
WLPPTL Luca Guadagnino – Artificial
WLPPTL Ryusuke Hamaguchi – All of a Sudden
WLPPTL Martin McDonagh – Wild Horse Nine
WLPPTL Christian Mungiu – Fjord
WLPPTL Christopher Nolan – The Odyssey
WLPPTL Denis Villeneuve – Dune: Part Three
WLPPTL Olivia Wilde – The Invite

Best Actor

WLPPTL Yura Borisov – Artificial
WLPPTL Tom Cruise – Digger
WLPPTL Matt Damon – The Odyssey
WLPPTL Ryan Gosling – Project Hail Mary
WLPPTL Anthony Ippolito – I Play Rocky
WLPPTL John Malkovich – Wild Horse Nine
WLPPTL Robert Pattinson – Primetime
WLPPTL Andrew Scott – Elsinore
WLPPTL Sebastian Stan – Fjord

Best Actress

WLPPTL Daisy Edgar-Jones – Sense and Sensibility
WLPPTL Virginie Efira – All of a Sudden
WLPPTL Rosalind Eleazar – Misty Green
WLPPTL Sandra Hüller – Fatherland
WLPPTL Ruth Madeley – Being Heumann
WLPPTL Julianne Moore – The Debut
WLPPTL Inde Navarette – Obsession
WLPPTL Renate Reinsve – Fjord
WLPPTL Olivia Wilde – The Invite

Best Supporting Actor

WLPPTL Andrew Garfield – Artificial
WLPPTL Paul Giamatti – The Debut
WLPPTL John Goodman – Digger
WLPPTL Guitarricadelafuente – La Bola Negra
WLPPTL John Leguizamo – The Odyssey
WLPPTL Edward Norton – The Invite
WLPPTL Guy Pearce – Ink
WLPPTL Sam Rockwell – Wild Horse Nine
WLPPTL Mark Ruffalo – Being Heumann
WLPPTL Jeremy Strong – The Social Reckoning

Best Supporting Actress

WLPPTL Olivia Colman – Elsinore
WLPPTL Esmé Creed-Miles – Sense and Sensibility
WLPPTL Penélope Cruz – La Bola Negra
WLPPTL Penélope Cruz – The Invite
WLPPTL Anne Hathaway – The Odyssey
WLPPTL Samantha Morton – The Odyssey
WLPPTL Tao Okomoto – All of a Sudden
WLPPTL Parker Posey – Wild Horse Nine
WLPPTL AnnaSophia Robb – I Play Rocky

Best Original Screenplay

WLPPTL All of a Sudden
WLPPTL Artificial
WLPPTL Club Kid
WLPPTL The Debut
WLPPTL Fatherland
WLPPTL Fjord
WLPPTL Obsession
WLPPTL Wild Horse Nine

Best Adapted Screenplay

WLPPTL All of a Sudden
WLPPTL Being Heumann
WLPPTL La Bola Negra
WLPPTL The Invite
WLPPTL The Odyssey
WLPPTL Project Hail Mary
WLPPTL The Social Reckoning

Best Casting

WLPPTL Artificial
WLPPTL La Bola Negra
WLPPTL The Debut
WLPPTL Digger
WLPPTL Fjord
WLPPTL I Play Rocky
WLPPTL The Odyssey
WLPPTL Sense and Sensibility
WLPPTL Wild Horse Nine

Best Original Score

WLPPTL Artificial
WLPPTL La Bola Negra
WLPPTL Disclosure Day
WLPPTL Dune: Part Three
WLPPTL The Odyssey
WLPPTL Project Hail Mary
WLPPTL Wild Horse Nine
WLPPTL Wildwood

Best Film Editing

WLPPTL Artificial
WLPPTL La Bola Negra
WLPPTL Dune: Part Three
WLPPTL Fjord
WLPPTL I Play Rocky
WLPPTL The Odyssey
WLPPTL Project Hail Mary
WLPPTL Wild Horse Nine

Best Cinematography

WLPPTL Artificial
WLPPTL La Bola Negra
WLPPTL Digger
WLPPTL Dune: Part Three
WLPPTL Fatherland
WLPPTL Fjord
WLPPTL The Odyssey
WLPPTL Project Hail Mary

Best Production Design

WLPPTL La Bola Negra
WLPPTL Digger
WLPPTL Dune: Part Three
WLPPTL Fatherland
WLPPTL The Odyssey
WLPPTL Project Hail Mary
WLPPTL Sense and Sensibility
WLPPTL Wild Horse Nine

Best Costume Design

WLPPTL La Bola Negra
WLPPTL Dune: Part Three
WLPPTL Ebenezer
WLPPTL Fatherland
WLPPTL The Odyssey
WLPPTL Project Hail Mary
WLPPTL Sense and Sensibility
WLPPTL Werwulf

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

WLPPTL Digger
WLPPTL Dune: Part Three
WLPPTL Ebenezer
WLPPTL Michael
WLPPTL The Odyssey
WLPPTL Rose
WLPPTL Sense and Sensibility
WLPPTL Werwulf
WLPPTL Wicker

Best Sound

WLPPTL Artificial
WLPPTL Behemoth
WLPPTL La Bola Negra
WLPPTL Disclosure Day
WLPPTL Dune: Part Three
WLPPTL Michael
WLPPTL The Odyssey
WLPPTL Project Hail Mary

Best Visual Effects

WLPPTL Disclosure Day
WLPPTL Dune: Part Three
WLPPTL Godzilla Minus Zero
WLPPTL The Odyssey
WLPPTL Project Hail Mary
WLPPTL The Sheep Detectives
WLPPTL Spider-Man: Brand New Day
WLPPTL Whalefall
WLPPTL Wildwood