As ‘Emilia Pérez’ Fades, ‘A Complete Unknown’ Could Catch Up

In this week’s episode of “Screen Talk,” we take a look at the slow Sundance market as well as the new shape of the Oscar race post-Karla Sofía Gascón’s implosion.

There were a few competitive buys at the tail end of this year’s Sundance: Neon bought horror flick “Together,” Netflix acquired period Denis Johnson adaptation “Train Dreams,” Janus and Sideshow bought art film “Peter Hujar’s Day,” and A24 bought breakout Eva Victor’s “Sorry Baby.”

But so far, no one has picked up Bill Condon’s “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” which awkwardly tries to meld a Kander & Ebb Broadway musical with a prison romance. If a distributor positioned it well, there might be some action for star Jennifer Lopez as a legacy prize, as well as breakout Tonatiuh. 

Netflix is making an Oscar play with Clint Bentley’s “Train Dreams,” starring Joel Edgerton. And “Sorry Baby” might yield a screenplay nod for multi-hyhenate Victor. Otherwise, Oscar hopes will come from a strong lineup of documentaries like “The Perfect Neighbor,” which Netflix was picking up at press time.

Fans of the Sundance portal are worried that over-eager fans of the documentary “Selena y Los Dinos” and audience winner “Twinless,” who posted clips of the films online, might lose future chances to see Sundance competition films from their sofas. Both films were pulled over copyright infringement.

We both caught up with quite a few films on the portal. (I enjoyed Sundance Grand Jury Prize dramatic winner “Atropia,” starring Alia Shawkat and Callum Turner as mismatched lovers acting out imaginary roles during military training exercises for Iraq.)

On the Oscar front, Netflix has parted ways with “Emilia Pérez” Best Actress nominee Karla Sofía Gascón in the wake of her offensive racist tweets. She will not be showing up for any Los Angeles events like AFI, Critics Choice, or SAG Awards; she is sticking to Europe. We will see if she turns up at the Cesars, BAFTAs, or Oscars. Meanwhile, the Oscars have ditched their plan to pay tribute to the acting nominees from past winners. Now they will only do that with Best Director.

What Oscars will Netflix be able to salvage from the wreckage? We look at the damage that has been done to the perception of the movie. Of the 13 record nominations “Emilia Pérez” earned for a foreign language film, they will likely continue to collect wins for supporting actress Zoe Saldaña and Best Song “El Mal.” International Feature Film, once in the bag for “Emilia Pérez,” could now go to the other Best Picture foreign nominee, “I’m Still Here.”

With early frontrunner “Emilia Pérez” out of Best Picture contention, does “The Brutalist” take it? Could “Conclave” or Ralph Fiennes win BAFTAs? “Wicked” could do well at SAG or the PGAs, whose members voted before the Gascón brouhaha.

And there’s a lot of heat behind the most recent release, “A Complete Unknown,” as nominee Timothée Chalamet is challenging Adrien Brody and Fiennes. Many things could change between now and the end of Oscar voting on Friday, February 18. 

At least it’s less boring, more unpredictable this year.

Listen to the episode below or watch in the video above.

Screen Talk is produced by Azwan Badruzaman and available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Spotify, and hosted by Megaphone. Browse previous episodes here, subscribe here, and be sure to let us know if you’d like to hear the hosts address specific issues in upcoming editions of Screen Talk.