Best Supporting Actor:

Following recent trends, this category features co-stars, like last year’s Judas and the Black Messiah pair Lakeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya, the latter a winner. The Power of the Dog pair Jesse Plemmons and Kodi Smit-McPhee are co-stars and award rivals shining in Jane Campion’s Western. Smit-McPhee, nominated for a Critic’s Choice Award and other critical precursors in the same category, delivers a tempered display as the unassuming Peter. In one of two Hollywood couples ‘ nominations, Smit-McPhee’s co-star Plemmons is nominated alongside fiance Kirsten Dunst in her respective category, both for roles in The Power of the Dog.

J.K Simmons of Being the Ricardos joins Ciarán Hinds for Belfast and Troy Kotsur for CODA. The latter is a brilliant deaf actor who has swept the awards circuit by storm. While Smit-McPhee is out in front thanks to his nomination spree, Plemmons will push him close, but who should be nominated but isn’t? Every year we feel aggrieved for one or two standouts; this year, a name that has gone under the radar would be Mike Faist. Appearing in Spielberg‘s remake of West Side Story, nominated for a BAFTA, Faist offers up a vibrant and kinetic performance.

Prediction: Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog)

Best Supporting Actress:

One might find this category a bit more interesting this year in comparison to the Best Actress category, given that four of the five nominees are newcomers. First we have Jessie Buckley for her performance in The Lost Daughter, which also happens to be her first Oscar nomination. Just like Buckley, Ariana DeBose also sees her first nomination for starring as Anita in Spielberg’s remake of the 1957 musical. Kirsten Dunst is also – very surprisingly – nominated for the first time for her role in The Power of the Dog. The last newcomer to the Academy Awards in this category is Aunjanue Ellis, who got her nomination as a result of her charming performance in King Richard. Judi Dench returns to the Oscars as a nominee by being part of Branagh’s biography drama Belfast.

Prediction: Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)

Best Original Screenplay:

In a category that often reflects Best Picture nominations and Best Director, the Original Screenplay category is also a celebration of writers from a variety of genres. The previous 12 winners have all been Best Picture nominees.

A nomination acknowledges the auteur Paul Thomas Anderson, and takes his total nominations up to 11, three of which come in this year’s ceremony. PTA’s Licorice Pizza is a coming-of-age comedy-drama starring the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman‘s son Cooper Hoffman. The film is a nostalgic reflection on 1970s L.A. and chasing young love. The film will come up against solid competition in Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier‘s The Worst Person in the World. It is a brilliant story of love, loss, and what it means to truly know yourself, also nominated for Best International Feature. Trier’s latest was touted for similar acclaim to Bong Joon-Ho‘s Parasite, an international feature which won big in 2020; The Worst Person in the World deserves plenty of its critical adoration. Kenneth Branagh‘s Belfast, Zach Baylin’s King Richard, and Adam McKay and David Sirota‘s Don’t Look Up comprise the other nominees.

Prediction: Licorice Pizza