Precursor: 35th Spirit Award Nominations (2019)

For years now, the Spirit Awards have almost looked like a preliminary ballot for the Academy Awards with a large swath of Oscar contenders in tow. This year, however, the list seems to be more in line with the lists of old where some categories have nary an Oscar contender in them and some with only one or two. Thus, this list might be the least instructive that it’s been in years with a far lower number of Oscar nominees in the bunch.

This is all indicative of how broad this year’s Oscar race is with few contenders standing out. The biggest contender on this list, Marriage Story, received only two nominations plus the Robert Altman award. That last one may have injured the Spirit Awards more than anything because it meant that sure nominees Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, and Laura Dern (which would have brought the film’s total to 5) weren’t eligible for acting citations. That said, director Noah Baumbach, an indie darling himself, failed to earn a directing citation. Other potential Oscar contenders did show up from The Farewll to Waves, but in much lower numbers than necessary to be competitive. Adam Sandler, Robert Pattinson, Alfre Woodard, Renée Zellweger, Willem Dafoe, Jennifer Lopez, and Taylor Russell were the only Oscar-contending actors to make the list and none of them have the whiff of “definitive” to their campaigns.

Nominations Tallies

(5) The Lighthouse, Uncut Gems
(4) Give Me Liberty, Honey Boy
(3) Clemency, Hustlers, Luce, Marriage Story, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, The Third Wife

The Nominations

Best Feature

Clemency
The Farewell
A Hidden Life
Marriage Story
Uncut Gems

Best First Feature

Booksmart
The Climb
Diane
The Last Black Man in San Francisco
The Mustang
See You Yesterday

John Cassavetes Award

Burning Cane
Colewell
Give Me Liberty
Premature
Wild Nights with Emily

Best Director

Robert Eggers – The Lighthouse
Alma Har’el – Honey Boy
Julius Onah – Luce
Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie – Uncut Gems
Lorene Scafaria – Hustlers

Best Female Lead

Karen Allen – Colewell
Hong Chau – Driveways
Elisabeth Moss – Her Smell
Mary Kay Place – Diane
Alfre Woodard – Clemency
Renée Zellweger – Judy

Best Male Lead

Chris Galust – Give Me Liberty
Kelvin Harrison Jr – Luce
Robert Pattinson – The Lighthouse
Adam Sandler – Uncut Gems
Matthias Schoenaerts – The Mustang

Best Supporting Female

Jennifer Lopez – Hustlers
Taylor Russell – Waves
Zhao Shuzhen – The Farewell
Lauren “Lolo” Spencer – Give Me Liberty
Octavia Spencer – Luce

Best Supporting Male

Willem Dafoe – The Lighthouse
Noah Jupe – Honey Boy
Shia LaBeouf – Honey Boy
Jonathan Majors – The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Wendell Pierce – Burning Cane

Best Screenplay

Clemency
High Flying Bird
Marriage Story
To Dust
Uncut Gems

Best First Screenplay

Blow the Man Down
Driveways
Greener Grass
See You Yesterday
The Vast of Night

Best Editing

Give Me Liberty
The Lighthouse
Sword of Trust
The Third Wife
Uncut Gems

Best Cinematography

Honey Boy
Hustlers
The Lighthouse
Midsommar
The Third Wife

Best International Film

Invisible Life – Brazil
Les Misérables – France
Parasite – South Korea
Portrait of a Lady on Fire – France
Retablo – Peru
The Souvenir – United Kingdom