Oscar Shortlists Reveal Strengths and Weaknesses as Netflix Dominates

There’s a big difference between critics groups telling awards groups what they should watch, and lists that represent actual Oscar voters. The shortlists, announced on Tuesday, are actually long lists in 10 Oscar categories, revealing the contenders for animated, documentary, and live-action shorts, crafts such as Hair & Makeup, Sound, and VFX —the branches will soon mount show-and-tells for the voters, or “bakeoffs” — Original Score and Song, and Best International Feature and Documentary Feature.

This is step one on the road to an Oscar: Now, the awards campaigners will kick into high gear to make sure their films make it to the final five nominees.

Netflix is having a good day, landing 15 mentions across nine titles. They landed three out of 15 on the Best Documentary shortlist: Sundance breakouts “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin,” “Daughters,” and “Will & Harper,” and six slots for French Oscar submission “Emilia Pérez,” which Netflix is pushing for Best Picture and other major categories as well as International Feature, its likeliest win. “Emilia Pérez” landed nods for Score and two Songs as well as Hair & Makeup and Sound, with two more Song slots for the streamer (Kristen Wiig’s “Harper & Will Go West” and “The Journey” from “The Six-Triple-Eight,” yet another Diane Warren song contender).

‘Blitz’©Apple TV/Courtesy Everett Collection

Showing strength is Universal’s musical blockbuster “Wicked,” with four mentions: Makeup & Hair, VFX, Sound, and Score. Steve McQueen’s World War II epic “Blitz” (Apple TV+), largely overlooked by stateside critics, showed some life with three nods: Best Original Song, Sound, and Hans Zimmer’s score (his “Dune: Part Two” was likely deemed too close to Part One). Also landing three craft nods each were two sequels: Warner Bros.’ “Dune: Part Two” and Paramount’s “Gladiator II.” “The Substance” continues to show up, landing a slot in Hair & Makeup that should repeat on Oscar nominations morning.

The lineup of 15 for Best International Feature is much as expected. Mati Diop’s “Dahomey” (Senegal) landed on both the documentary and international side. Mexico’s “Sujo” didn’t make the cut. One surprise is “From Ground Zero,” the official Palestinian entry (Palestine’s “No Other Land” is competing for Best Documentary, even without distribution). Not a surprise was established Cannes special prize winner “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” from Iran exile Mohammed Rouselof, Germany’s entry. Other high-profile frontrunners include Cannes prize-winner “Emilia Pérez,” and Brazil’s “I’m Still Here,” Walter Salles’ return to filmmaking after 12 years, which Sony Pictures Classics is also pushing for Best Actress (Fernanda Torres). Canada’s “Universal Language,” from Matthew Rankin, made the list, too.

India might have been better off submitting Payal Kapadia’s critics’ fave and Cannes prize-winner “All We Imagine as Light,” as its entry “Lost Ladies” failed to raise enough votes for the shortlist. The other film from India, “Santosh, submitted by the UK, made the shortlist.

‘The Bibi Files’

On the documentary side, one late-breaking entry in the Oscar race is “The Bibi Files” (Jolt), producer Alex Gibney and director Alexis Bloom’s searing exposé of corruption in Israel, which debuted in Toronto as a work in progress. While many assume that the documentary branch eschews films about celebrities, Will Ferrell and Harper Steele’s road trip across America, “Will & Harper,” with its moving trans storyline, made the cut, and earned a song nod as well. On the other hand, widely admired four-hankie family movie “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” did not land a slot.

Keep in mind: last year all five documentary nominees were international. It will be telling if that trend repeats in 2025.