We had six films release this past 13 weeks with the potential for Oscar nominations.

Uncharted

One of the year’s earliest successes, Uncharted brings together Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg in a video game adaptation following the adventures of Nathan Drake, the lead character of the game series. Holland takes that lead role with Wahlberg playing a seasoned treasure hunter. Directed by Ruben Fleischer, the film is closing in on a box office take of $140 million. That kind of success and the excessive amounts of visual effects and sound design might position it as an early contender.

That early aspect is its biggest downside. Films that release this early in the year tend to fade from memory by the time the Academy makes its nomination selections. That said, there are plenty of other factors that could get in the way. The first is the Academy’s recent trend towards recognizing prestige pictures in Best Sound, a category that was once dominated by effects-heavy pictures. That’s less a trend nowadays and with the sheer number of such productions out there, that makes recognition even more difficult. The second issue is that Fleischer’s films haven’t been Oscar catnip the way some of his contemporaries’ films have. Combine all of these factors together and the likelihood of a nomination isn’t entirely non-existent, but it’s relatively light.

The Batman

The DCEU has struggled to find its Oscar footing over the years with most of its films being ignored while the Marvel universe does adequately. That could change with this latest entry taking viewers back in time to look at some of the origins of The Batman as a vigilante crime fighter. Starring Robert Pattinson as the titular hero with Colin Farrell, Paul Dano, and John Turturro as antagonists, and Zoe Kravitz as Batman femme fatale Catwoman, the film has done exceptionally well at the box office, approaching and soon to pass the $350 million threshold.

Big box office will sometimes make the Academy take notice of films it might not otherwise have. That could bolster this film’s chances, but where can it really compete. Since it feels like a fairly modern affair, there’s not a lot of room for production design or costume design considerations. Makeup & hairstyling is possible as are sound and visual effects. This is where director Matt Reeves might come in. Reeves’ last two films, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes were both nominated for their visual effects. Still, that’s not the kind of category this film is likely to be recognized in, so who knows for sure right now if the film manages anything at all. The early year release doesn’t help.

After Yang

Once Colin Farrell got past his attempts to become a box office phenom, he began working on smaller works where his skills were better utilized. He might have come close to an Oscar nomination for his work on In Bruges, but this film might be his best opportunity yet. The quasi-futuristic narrative follows a family whose AI companion suffers a mechanical setback and must come to terms without his constant presence in their lives. Director Kogonada hasn’t made much of a name for himself in Oscar circles, but Farrell’s presence might help that.

In the film, Farrell plays the patriarch of the family and his is the performance that has gotten the most attention from the film. Reminiscent in ways to Ex Machina, the film could be a cross-over hit with Academy members. The film has made almost nothing at the box office, which is trouble for the film’s Oscar chances. Its 79 rating at MetaCritic shows solid support, but will that support be able to last for the months between now and Oscar season begins in earnest? The film made its debut at Cannes last year followed by a showing at Sundance this year. A24, which has proven a savvy indie distributor, picked up the rights to the film, so they could push it for year-end consideration.

Turning Red

The big question here is whether or not Disney exhibited Turning Red in an Oscar-qualifying run for this year before dumping it onto their streaming platform. If they didn’t, then we’ll have to see if the Academy will extend its leniency of the past two years and allow the film to compete as normal. If not, then this film is out of the competition entirely. If they did do the bare minimum, it could well be one of the major Animated Feature contenders of the year.

Disney felt that the storyline wouldn’t be broadly appealing, so their lack of faith led to their decision to release it to their streaming service rather than giving it a commensurate theatrical run. This angered a lot of critics who have been effusive in their praise of the film. With a superb 83 from MetaCritic, the film is already one of the best reviewed films of the year, which could have manifested itself into a push for its victory at the Oscars next year over Pixar’s other 2022 release, Lightyear. Unfortunately, Disney isn’t likely to give the film the push it needs since they aren’t its biggest supporters, so unfortunately even a nomination might not be in the cards.

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Another film that opened to strong critical notices that could make an Oscar play late in the year, Everything Everywhere All at Once has been getting excellent reviews since its release, with critics praising its uniqueness and craziness as selling points. The film stars Michelle Yeoh as a Chinese immigrant pulled into a vast, time-traveling conspiracy that threatens to unravel the universe. Yeoh gets to play numerous incarnations of herself as she cruises through the multi-verse in an attempt to stave off what is coming.

The Academy has long been discouraged by confusing narratives and its said that this film isn’t the easiest to follow. While something like Being John Malkovich, Mulholland Drive, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind can thrive in that kind of environment, nothing quite as bonkers as this film has been taken seriously by the Academy. Even if the film isn’t in play for a Best Picture nomination, many are clamoring for Yeoh to get her first Oscar nomination, something she probably should have had by now, if not for Croucing Tiger Hidden Dragon, then for other praise roles in the interim. Six months is a long time to hold onto buzz and there are sure to be a lot more films earning praise throughout the year. I suspect the sheer lunacy of the effort will be enough to turn off some Oscar voters and many probably won’t rank this as a top priority to see. That suggests Oscar nominations are unlikely, though not impossible.

Mothering Sunday

Having premiered at Cannes last year, Mothering Sunday played the festival circuit throughout the year finally earning release in the United Kingdom in November. Shown in several other countries ahead of its March release in the United States, the film hasn’t had much success with critics or audiences, which could account for its failure to score any nominations at BAFTA earlier this year. The period film form director Eva Husson has an impressive cast that features Josh O’Connor alongside Oscar winners Colin Firth, Olivia Colman, and Glenda Jackson.

Being a period effort, we have to consider the production design and costume design being its best chance at Oscar consideration. While the production design category hasn’t been as beholden to this era as costume design has, it would seem Best Costume Design is the only place the film has much of a chance. The thing is, it was fresh in the minds of voters in November and December and couldn’t manage a single BAFTA nomination. What’s even worse is that when BAFTA released their longlists of contenders, the only category it showed up in was British Film, not Costume Design or Production Design. You should probably chalk this one up as an also-ran at this point.