By: Emily Miller

Every year we always tout how special the Oscars race is. But this year, truly, the sentiment is real. A year ago we were at the apex of terror, trying to survive a global pandemic with everything we knew coming to a screeching halt. It seemed impossible that films would ever be made again, let alone have enough extraordinary movies to be judged at a ceremony. But somehow in the past year, Hollywood rose to the age old adage that the show most go on, and miraculously they did. They managed to create spectacular art in the most arduous of times.

While the pandemic’s presence can be felt within the nominees (with smaller art house films taking center and no sweeping epics nominated) this year’s nominees are still sensational and a sign of comfort to many still struggling to make it through this global crisis. This year’s ceremony is a sign of normalcy, perseverance and heart. And I’ve never been more grateful.

Best Picture:

Will Win: Nomadland – Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Chloé Zhao

Could Win: The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Marc Platt and Stuart Besser

Dark Horse: Minari – Christina Oh

The last few years have had many exciting Best Picture races. This is not one of those years. Nomadland has one essentially every major Award this year and it’s not stopping now. After losing everything in the Great Recession, a woman embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad. It’s won the PGA, the DGA, the Golden Globes and BAFTA for Best Picture and while it’s still possible to win all of those awards and ultimately lose the Best Picture Oscar (Here’s looking at you 1917 & La La Land), there isn’t a good enough contender like Parasite and Moonlight waiting in the wings. Nomadland is a sweeping epic, it has a sense of urgency and magic to it, and director Chloe Zhao did things in this film that no one else attempted. It’s a contemplative character study made for only $5 million and populated with non professional actors and people of color. It perfectly sums up everything the Academy wants to be and it will be celebrated. However, if there is Nomadland fatigue look to either The Trial of the Chicago 7 or Minari for the major upset. Both are socially relevant and brilliant in different beautiful ways.

Best Director:

Will Win: Chloe Zhao, Nomadland

Could Win: Lee Isaac Chung, Minari

While there could still be a surprise or two in the Best Picture race, Chloe Zhao for her work on Nomadland is assured the top prize. She has swept all the major awards circuit this year, including the Critics Choice, Golden Globe and the all important DGA award, the biggest precursor to winning this category. She created an extraordinary film under a $5 million dollar budget, got an Oscar nominated performance out of her leading lady Frances McDormand and was able to capture beautiful performances from all of the non professional actors and real life nomads she hired to be in this film. When she wins, she will become only the second woman in Academy history to win this award, after Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker and she will become the first Asian woman to win. It’s a stunning achievement that the Academy will surely want to honor. Again if there is some kind of Nomadland fatigue look to Lee Isaac Chung for the upset. He sweetly directed a gorgeous relevant film with a lot of heart that is greatly beloved within the Academy.

Best Actress:

Will Win: Carey Mulligan, A Promising Young Woman

Could Win: Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Dark Horse: Andra Day, The United States vs Billie Holiday

This category is utter pandemonium. Rarely have I seen an acting race this close to call. All five actresses nominated, genuinely have a shot at winning this award making this category simultaneously exciting and a hot mess. Andra Day won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in The United States vs Billie Holiday. Carey Mulligan won the Critic’s Choice for Best Actress in A Promising Young Woman. Viola Davis won the SAG for Best Actress for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Frances McDormand won the BAFTA for Best Actress for Nomadland. And while Vaness Kirby has not won a major award for Pieces of a Woman, she and McDormand are the only two actors that have been nominated for all of these awards, while Day, Mulligan and Davis were all inexplicably left off different lists. So who wins? If we are looking at the biggest pre-cursor to winning, that would be Viola Davis for snagging the SAG award. (Actors are the biggest voting branch within the Academy) But ultimately I’m giving Mulligan the very slight edge against Davis for a few reasons.

On average the SAGs accurately predict 3/4 Oscar winners. Rarely does it go four for four. This category is the tightest race which makes it the most likely the SAGs got wrong. The SAGs also likes to honor great living legends when they can, think Ruby Dee winning Best Supporting Actress at the SAGs and no other major award that year. They like to honor their own people, so of course Davis would win the SAG over Mulligan or the other ladies. The Oscars also rarely reward a Best Actor and Actress from the same film. The last time that happened was in 1998 for As Good as it Gets with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt winning respectively. With Chadwick Boseman an absolutely lock for Best Actor, it again puts Davis in a weaker position. Also anyone who saw Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom left talking about Boseman and his performance. Davis was absolutely the after thought in that conversation. Davis has also won this award before, Mulligan hasn’t, causing some voters to think it’s Mulligan’s time. And finally, the Academy has gone through great lengths over the years, to have younger cooler voters, making for more surprises and unconventional picks. Mulligan seems to be the better option there. Her film about a young woman, traumatized by a tragic event in her past, seeking out vengeance against those who cross her path, is fresh, new, empowering, daring and genre pushing. And Carey Mulligan is on fire in that film. She stretches every muscle she has in every single moment of that film and she makes it look easy.

Best Actor:

Will Win: Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Could Win: No one else

Chadwick Boseman will win the Best Actor award for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Besides giving a career high sensational performance, it also marks the last one he gave us. Chadwick Boseman passed away on August 28, 2020 from colon cancer. This Oscar not only serves as the Best Actor of the year, but also his legacy in film. This is for his career, this is for all the kids he influenced by becoming Black Panther and all the social change he brought about by just existing in the film industry as himself. With his win, Boseman will become the third actor to win posthumously for acting, behind Peter Finch for Network and Heath Ledger for The Dark Night. When all is said and done Anthony Hopkins will probably have accumulated the second largest amount of votes for his work on The Father and I personally would like to shoutout Riz Ahmed for his incredible moving work on The Sound of Metal. But at the end of the day, they and the other nominees are really just here for the honor of losing to Boseman.

Best Supporting Actress:

Will Win: Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari

Could Win: Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

At the beginning of awards season, this category was up in the air. However things have settled down for Yuh-Jung Youn for her work in Minari after she secured both the SAG and the BAFTA and gave the most delightful acceptance speech of the evening at the SAGs. (Watch it here) She’s described as the heart of this beloved film and she is the best chance for Minari to win a major award. If she wins she will also the first Korean Actor to win an Oscar. Voters will want to honor her and the film. However if voters want to pick a performance with a little more bite, look to the Critic’s Choice Award Winner for Best Supporting Actress Maria Bakalova for her work on Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. She transformed herself literally and figuratively and walked the very fine line of satire with ease. She also grabbed headlines earlier in the year for her scene with Republican Rudy Guiliani, who seemingly masturbated in her presence while on camera. Also if nominee Glen Close loses, she will be tied with Pete O’Toole for the most nominations without a win! It’s very exciting.

Best Supporting Actor:

Will Win: Daniel Kayuula, Judas and the Black Messiah

Could Win: Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Heading into the Oscar nominations ceremony, Daniel Kayuula was a lock to win Best Supporting Actor. He had been previously nominated in 2018 for Best Actor for the critically beloved and audience favorite Get Out. He also won the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award for his performance in Judas and the Black Messiah and had recently received nominations for both the SAG and BAFTA. But a major wrench was thrown into his Oscar contention when his costar LaKeith Stanfield was also nominated into the same category. Now the dreaded voting split comes into play. Oscar voters that are a fan of Judas and the Black Messiah now have another option to vote for in support of the film. While ultimately there shouldn’t be enough of a split to cause Kayuula to lose, there’s no doubt he will lose votes to Stanfield, putting his win into a more perilous position. If there are enough confused voters look to Sacha Baron Cohen for the upset. He had a spectacular year, with performances in both this and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. His range as an actor is unparalleled and there’s a lot of love for The Trial of Chicago 7 without a lot of categories to reward it. This could be one of their best chances at an upset.

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Will Win: Nomadland – Chloé Zhao

Could Win: The Father – Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller

The best clue for both writing categories is looking at who won the at Writer’s Guild Awards. Usually both of the winners go on to win Oscars, like last year’s Jojo Rabbit and Parasite. So going off that logic, the winner for this category should be Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. However, due to WGA rules both Nomadland and The Father weren’t even eligible for the award, making this category all the more difficult to predict. While it’s still a close call, the edge should go to Best Picture front runner, Nomadland. While it is short in dialogue, it does an impressive job of adapting it’s massive non fiction source material, and Chloe Zhao did so by herself in addition to producing and directing her film. But what’s stopping her from becoming a lock? While I’m starting to sound like a broken record, Nomadland fatigue is a real thing. At this point in their ballots, Oscar voters are likely to go, I’m already giving her two Oscars how do I spread the love around? In which case look to The Father for the upset. It’s a beloved film by the Academy and there’s going to be a lot of people who want to see it win an award. This category might be the best chance. Adaptor Chris Hampton has also previously won in this category before for Dangerous Liasons in 1988. The Academy clearly likes him, making this category one of the most vulnerable for Nomadland to win.

Best Original Screenplay:

Will Win: Promising Young Woman – Emerald Fennell

Could Win: The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Aaron Sorkin

While everyone should have anxiety betting against Aaron Sorkin in a writing category, I would have greater anxiety betting against Emerald Fennell and her extraordinary work on Promising Young Woman. Fennell created something wonderfully unique and empowering, and something that absolutely floored me as a young woman watching. She’s won the Critic’s Choice Award and the crucial Writer’s Guild Award, the best predictor of this category. The Academy also loves to reward writer/directors and while she won’t be able to win in the Best Directing category, she should win here for her unique and uncompromised vision dripping out of every frame of that film. This would also mark the first time a woman won this category since 2008 when Diablo Cody took home the Oscar for her film Juno. A bit overdo, no? Still, there is the incomparable Aaron Sorkin, one of the greater writers of our time. If voters are going off name recognition alone, he would win this award. But since winning the Golden Globe, he hasn’t won anything else. He was also left out of the Best Director race, where Fennell did pick up a nomination. That’s why the edge goes to Fennell and Sorkin for the upset, but seriously say a prayer for me y’all, I’m playing with fire.

Best Cinematography:

Will Win: Nomadland – Joshua James Richards

Could Win: Mank – Erik Messerschmidt

This category should become another technical achievement for Nomadland. Director of Photography Joshua James Richards simply put, created the prettiest film. He captured simplistic yet complex shots of nature and it’s magic hour. The film has won almost every major Cinematography award out there, and it should end it’s incredible run with Oscar. But the keyword in my last sentence was almost. It’s only lost one award, but it was a pretty big one, The ASC. (American Cinematography Society) Their own union gave the award to Erik Messerschmidt for his work on Best Picture nominee Mank. It’s use of cinematography paired with the picture being in black and white was too much for the ASC to resist. Ultimately I still give the advantage to Nomadland despite it’s loss to Mank at the crucial ASC. All Academy voters get to vote in this category, unlike the ASC which is exclusively just for cinematographers. The average voter will most likely go with the Best Picture front runner. But if the ASC win has any influence, look to Mank for the upset.

Best Costume Design:

Will Win: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Ann Roth

Could Win: Emma – Alexandra Byrne

This category has two types of winners, either the serious awards contender film, or simply the prettiest period piece. This means the race this year comes down to either Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom or Emma. I’m giving the slight edge to Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. The film’s costumes helped transform their two lead actors into Oscar nominated performances. Costume designer Ann Roth also has the chance to make history with her win. At 89 years old, she could become the oldest woman to ever win an award, and become tied with Call Me By Your Name Screenwriter James Ivory (also 89) for oldest person to win an award. Roth has also won the category once before for her work on 1996’s The English Patient ensuring that voters know who she is and her body of work. But, if voters are truly voting for the prettiest costumes this year, then look to Emma for the win.

Best Film Editing:

Will Win: Sound of Metal – Mikkel E.G. Nielsen 

Could Win: The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Alan Baumgarten

The average Academy voter doesn’t necessarily know what constitutes Best Editing, making this category a harder one to predict. Sometimes it simply means what had the most editing, like when Bohemian Rhapsody inexplicably one. Sometimes it means just vote for the war film. Over the past few years though, a pattern has emerged to help predict the winner. Typically, the winner of this category goes in tandem with the winner of the Best Sound category like Whiplash, Hacksaw Ridge and Ford vs Ferrari. That would mean front runner for sound, The Sound of Metal should go on to take this category as well. It’s editing captured the brilliant sound design perfectly, creating a chaotic immersive experience like nothing else this year. It won the BAFTA for Best Film Editing and it should take the Oscar as well. If there is an upset though, look to The Trial of the Chicago 7 who won the ACE (American Cinema Editor) award for Best Editing.

Best Makeup & Hair Styling:

Will Win: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Mia Neal, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Jamika Wilson

Could Win: Pinocchio – Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli, Francesco Pegoretti

Typically in this category, the Academy tries to reward films that are serious awards contenders. Though Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom was inexplicably left out of the Best Picture race, it still earned 5 five Oscar nods. And while Mank is nominated for Best Picture, it’s makeup and hairstyling doesn’t have the same sense of urgency or importance that Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom has. These artists are responsible for the transformation of Chadwick Boseman, who will get the Oscar for Best Actor and potentially Viola Davis in the Best Actress race. And if Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom wins this award, it will be the first time in Academy history that there will be Black winners in this category. Academy voters love making history, so this win should be a no brainer. However, every once in a while, a fantasy film with exceptional whimsy makeup sneaks in for the upset. This year that film would be Pinocchio.

Best Production Design:

Will Win: Mank – Donald Graham Burt, Jan Pascale

Could Win: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Mark Ricker, Karen O’Hara and Diana Stoughton

Despite the amount of times Nomadland is predicted to win, it actually wasn’t the film with the most nominations. That prestigious honor belongs to Mank, with 10. Despite all the nominations though, this is the only category it’s predicted to win. It’s throwback to old Golden Age Hollywood should be like catnip to voters. It recreated Hearst Castle, an impressive feat alone that should have it earn the award. It’s won every major award in this category throughout the whole awards season and it’s not stopping at Oscar. And here’s a really cool fun fact. Mank is about prolific screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he attempts to complete arguably the greatest film ever written, Citizen Kane. That year at the Oscars, Citizen Kane only walked away with one Oscar for…yup, Best Production Design. It’ll be an oddly fitting tribute to Mank if it picks up this Award like its subject matter. If voters are looking at the wider scope of the film, then look to Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom for the major upset. It will win for Best Costume and Makeup & Hairstyling which may cause it go on a sweep in this category as well.

Best Original Score:

Will Win: Soul – Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

Could Win: Minari – Emile Mosseri 

There are very few names in the Best Original Score category that the average voter would recognize. However there are three names of humans that are literally and figuratively rockstars, and they all collaborated together on the movie Soul. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are famous for headlining the rock band Nine Inch Nails and John Batiste is the Band Leader for The Late Show and a piano virtuoso in his own right. Their collaboration is an impressive one, that has won every major precursor for this category including the Golden Globe and Critic’s Choice. They should go on to win this award. What’s the only thing standing in their way? Themselves. Reznor and Ross are competing against themselves in this category for their work on Mank. If there is an unlikely voter split, look to Minari for the major upset. It’s a beloved film with absolutely gorgeous music.

Best Original Song:

Will Win: “Speak Now,” One Night in Miami – Leslie Odom Jr. & Sam Ashworth 

Could Win: “Husavick,” Eurovision Song Contest – Savan Kotecha, Max Grahn & Rickard Göransson

One of the biggest shocks when the Oscars nominations were announced was that One Night in Miami was left out of the Best Picture race. It was also shut out of a few other categories, leaving the morning with only three nominations. If it’s going to leave the Oscars with an award, this is the best category to do so. Anybody who loved the film will unite here to make sure it wins something. It’s also the type of song Academy voters like to reward. It’s a song about social change and justice (Think “Glory” from Selma) and it’s sung and written by Leslie Odom Jr., who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his work on this film. By becoming a double nominee in both the acting and song categories, he’s become only the fourth person in Oscars history to achieve this. It’s an intoxicating combination that should be enough to get One Night in Miami the win. But if voters are looking for a less serious and catchier song, look to the dark horse “Husavick” which simultaneously mocks and yet has genuine heart in a delicious song played at the film’s climax.

Best Sound:

Will Win: The Sound of Metal – Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés, Phillip Bladh

Could Win: Soul – Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker

This is the first year this category has existed. Gone are the days of trying to decipher the difference between sound mixing and sound editing. We now simply have Best Sound. While there is no precedent for voting in this category, it’s a safe bet to pick the film with the category in it’s title, The Sound of Metal. No but actually, The Sound of Metal will win this category. It’s sound is stunning on every level. The film is about a rock musician losing his hearing, making the sounds and lack thereof almost like a character in the film. It’s an immersive experience unlike anything I’ve ever gone through. Even the silence is deafening. The film’s sounds stay with you, making it the easy favorite. If voters are looking for something a little more traditional, look to Soul for the upset. It’s a sweet animated film poised to win Best Original Score. It also has 16 sound nominations between the three designers credited, making it a powerhouse team that voters are familiar with.

Best Visual Effects:

Will Win: Tenet – Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley, Santiago Colomo Martinez

Could Win: Midnight Sky – Matt Kasmir, Chris Lawrence, Dave Watkins, Max Solomon

Typically in this category, the most serious film contender competing for Best Picture wins over the Superhero films who are just lucky to get a nomination. However this year, no Best Picture nominee in this race is nominated making it a little harder to predict. The best guess is to Tenet which was also nominated for Best Production Design, showing how seriously the Academy views this film. It also has a huge name behind it. The film is written and directed by powerhouse Christopher Nolan. Tenet should pick up the award on name recognition alone. It won the BAFTA and almost every major award in this category and should go on to pick up the win. If it does, Andew Lockley would because the third person in history (behind Jim Rygiel and Randall Cook) to win Best Visual Effects, three times without a loss. Lockley has already won for Inception and Interstellar, both of which were Nolan films, showing how much the Academy likes to reward his films in this category. If there is an upset look to Midnight Sky for the win. It won the VES Guild (Visual Effects Society) Award and is a genuinely beautiful film with space and the night sky as a major character.

Best Animated Feature:

Will Win: Soul – Dana Murray, Pete Docter

Could Win: Wolfwalkers – Tomm Moore, Stéphan Roelants, Nora Twomey, Paul Young

It’s really hard to bet against Disney/Pixar in an animation category. They’ve won 8 out of 10 times in the last ten years and they will keep that streak going with Soul. It’s a beautiful film that was so beloved it was in the hunt for a Best Picture nomination. It’s nominated in other categories and is expected to pick up the Best Original Score award as well. It’s won every major award for Best Animated Feature and it shouldn’t stop now. However, there is a plucky Irish animation studio, Cartoon Saloon, that is trying it’s best to shakeup the strong hold Disney/Pixar has on this category. It’s been nominated 5 times and this year’s entry might just be their best effort yet. Wolfwalkers is a stunning animation that is a culmination of classic Irish folklore. It’s enchanting and fantastical. This studio is too talented to continue losing. Maybe this will finally be their year.

Best Documentary Feature:

Will Win: My Octopus Teacher – Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed

Could Win: Time – Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn, Garrett Bradley

When awards season began, Time was the front runner. A documentary about love against the prison industrial complex. It began to sweep the major awards and it seemed like it was poised to win the Oscar. Then about halfway through the season, something extraordinary happened. An octopus made her entrance. Netflix’s My Octopus Teacher was released and became an absolute sensation. The documentary follows a filmmaker and his unlikely friendship with a wild octopus living in the South African kelp forest. It’s magical, it’s heartbreaking, it’s compelling and one of the best films I’ve seen all year. I was so deeply moved by this documentary, which seems to be the consensus for anyone who has seen it. It won the PGA for Best Documentary and has the most momentum going into the Oscars. While Time still does have a strong chance of winning, if enough people have seen My Octopus Teacher it should win this award.

Best International Film:

Will Win: Another Round – Denmark

Could Win: Collective – Romania

Before the Oscar nominations ceremony, this category was wide open. When nominations came out however, one of the biggest surprises was Thomas Vinterberg sneaking into the Best Director category and kicking out heavyweights like Aaron Sorkin and Regina King. Many didn’t know Vinterberg, as his film Another Round was a film from Denmark and was competing for Best International Film. While he’s unlikely to win Best Director, the nomination shows how high the Academy holds him. It seems like his film is an absolute lock for this category. With him being a double nominee, it ensures voters are more likely to see his film. It also stars Mads Mikkelsen, an actor American audiences are very familiar with having starred in Hannibal for three seasons. The film’s plot is also a crowd pleaser. Four friends, all high school teachers, test a theory that they will improve their lives by maintaining a constant level of alcohol in their blood. With a lot of difficult films to watch this year, this delightful film is really a stand out. However if voters are looking for something a bit more serious, look to Collective for the upset. It’s also a double nominee this year for this and Best Documentary Feature. It’s about the Romanian government’s disastrous handling of a national tragedy and it’s gut wrenching. Also it’s inclusion in this category is a major win in of itself. This is the first time a Romanian film has ever been selected, after it’s 35th submission!!!! It was the longest streak of losing submissions. (Now that honor falls to Portugal with 34) Wouldn’t it be a spectacular story if they won on their first entry in?

Best Animated Short:

Will Win: If Anything Happens I Love You – Gerald Chamales, Maryann Garger, Gary Gilbert, Michael Govier

Could Win: Burrow – Mike Capbarat

While the short categories are notoriously hard to predict, the Best Animated Short might be the safest bet this year with front runner, If Anything Happens I Love You. The film is about a husband and wife trying to navigate their grief after the loss of a child. It’s a heavy topic centered around the urgent subject matter of gun control. It’s relevant in a way that none of the other nominees are. In a year centered around social justice and change, it seems like the obvious pick. It was also released on Netflix making it the most easily accessible of the bunch. However, if voters are going for sheer adorableness and perhaps the best animation of the group, look to Burrow for the upset. It’s a movie about an adolescent bunny starting her first burrow, only to embarrassingly keep digging into other’s homes. It’s absolutely delightful and backed by the powerhouse Pixar, and that studio should never be counted out of an animation category.

Best Documentary Short:

Will Win: A Concerto is a Conversation

Could Win: A Love Song For Natasha

Dark Horse: Colette

This is the hardest short category to predict this year, with almost every predictor having a different selection. While the very slight front runner is A Love Song For Natasha I’m actually selecting A Concerto is a Conversation. The film follows a jazz pianist as he tracks his family lineage through his 91 year old grandfather from Jim Crow Florida to the Walt Disney Concert Hall. It’s beautiful and heartwarming and recent trends in this and the documentary film category show that this is what audiences look for in documentaries. Bogged down with the grittier films for Best Picture, voters tend to sway more for the feel good story in the documentary film categories to lighten the load. This film also deals with issues of race, grounding it with a sense of urgency and importance while still being completely charmed by the story. Their campaign for Oscar has also been the most extensive. But if voters are looking with something a little more important, then look to A Love Song for Natasha for the upset. It follows the injustice surrounding the shooting death of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins at a South Central Los Angeles store that became a flashpoint for the city’s 1992 civil uprising. With voting happening during the George Floyd trial, this film should not be counted out.

Best Live Action Short:

Will Win: Two Distant Strangers

Could Win: Feeling Through

Dark Horse: The Letter Room

This category is a little more locked in then the Best Documentary Short, but not as safe as Best Animated Short. The safest bet and front runner is Two Distant Strangers. This short has a lot of things going for it. It’s produced and released by Netflix ensuring it’s been viewed by a wider audience than the other films. It also brilliantly mixes a beloved film genre with a current event, making for an intoxicating combination. It’s a time loop film mixed with the horror or police brutality. A black man’s attempts to get home to his dog are thwarted by a recurring deadly encounter with a white cop that forces him to re-live the same awful day over. Produced by powerhouse names like Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and NBA Allstar Kevin Durant and released during the George Floyd trial, it seems like it’s poised for victory. If voters are looking for something a little happier look to Feeling Through, the short film with the most heart, or The Letter Room which stars bona fide movie start Oscar Isaac.