We had one film release this past weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations.

Midnight Special

Although Jeff Nichols has been creating some inspiring films that critics have come out strongly in favor of, he has yet to be taken seriously by the Academy and that’s a problem.

While Mud never built the kind of buzz one would expect of an Oscar competitor, Take Shelter did. That film, starring Michael Shannon as a father experiencing horrific apocalyptic visions, was in the conversation for Oscars in 2011. Many of that support Shannon’s performance. He took home several critics prizes for his performance and several other nominations. However, neither the Golden Globes or the Screen Actors Guild gave him any attention.

Shannon had previously earned an unexpected Oscar nomination for his work in Revolutionary Road, that film’s only acting nomination (when its stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet were both strongly favored for Oscar consideration), which made him the perfect candidate for a nomination for this performance. It didn’t happen.

This may not be your standard Marvel movie, but with a child exhibiting superpowers, it is distinctly science-fiction, which is a genre the Academy is only now starting to return to recognizing. That doesn’t mean the film will have much of a shot. Nichols has had no success getting nominations for his films and releasing in March isn’t a good thing. However, it’s strong reviews might lead to some consideration by critics’ groups at year’s end, but even then there’s no saying for sure if it will contend.