This morning, the Independent Spirit Awards announced their nominations for 2018, with Eight Grade, First Reformed, If Beale Street Could Talk, Leave No Trace, and You Were Never Really Here receiving nominations for Best Feature.
The Spirit Awards select the best of the year in American independent cinema, which they consider to be films with a budget of under $20 million (disqualifying films like First Man and Black Panther) that were either filmed in the United States, or has two Americans as writer, producer, or director (ruling out Oscar frontrunner Roma and The Favourite).
The nominations were spread out among a large number of films this year, with a mix of Oscar frontrunners (Beale Street, Glenn Close for The Wife), dark horses (Sorry to Bother You, Private Life) and some oddball choices that likely won’t be appearing in many other places (Monsters and Men, We the Animals). Worth noting, three of the five Best Director nominations went to women, with Debra Granik, Tamara Jenkins, and Lynne Ramsay being recognized. Perhaps the Oscars will find room for at least one woman this year
Since 2009, at least one Spirit Best Feature nominee receives a Best Picture nominee, with as many as four receiving nomination in 2010 and 2014. Last year, Call Me by Your Name, Lady Bird, and Spirit winner Get Out all repeated at the Oscars, with The Rider and The Florida Project missing out. Out of this year’s crop, Beale Street is the obvious Oscar nominee, while First Reformed has been gaining serious momentum the past few weeks. You Were Never Really Here is the least likely to receive any Oscar attention.
The Spirit Awards are one of the better awards each year, as far as quality of nominees goes. They are not the best precursor for the Oscars, but they do give decent publicity to nominees and can have an influence. Likewise, missing a Spirit nominee can be a red flag for Oscar hopefuls. So, who did the Spirit Awards help the most, and who may be in trouble?
Biggest Bumps
First Reformed– Just a month ago, Paul Schrader’s drama about a tormented priest wasn’t on the radar of many. But with nominations in all the major categories- Picture, Director, Actor, and Screenplay- in addition to a strong showing at the Gotham Awards a few weeks ago, it’s becoming a strong contender. I am confident now that Ethan Hawke is getting into Best Actor, and he will likely be the critical favorite. First Reformed is looking at a Screenplay nomination as well, and is on the cusp of getting into Picture.
Leave No Trace– Like First Reformed, Leave No Trace did well at the Gothams, and repeated here as well. Another small movie released early in the year, Debra Granik’s drama will start appearing on critics’ top 10 lists over the coming months. Despite not getting a nomination here, Ben Foster, well liked and well overdue for his first nomination, could become the nomination morning jaw dropper in the thin Supporting Actor category, like Leslie Manville last year. Thomasin McKenzie was nominated for her supporting, and may get some attention for critics. The film is somewhere in the 8-12th place range for Picture right now, and it is trending up with a serious shot at getting in. Remember, director Debra Granik’s last film was Best Picture nominee Winter’s Bone, which introduced the world to Jennifer Lawrence, and led to a surprise nomination for John Hawkes. Granik could get into Adapted screenplay again, and (longshot) if the movie starts to becoming a major awards season threat, she could become the sixth women nominated for director.
Eighth Grade– Comedian Bo Burnham’s painfully awkward coming of age comedy received four nomination, tied for the most, including a surprise nomination for Josh Hamilton’s tender performance in Supporting Actor. Burham will likely be getting into Original Screenplay at the Oscars, with an outside chance at picture. Again, this right now is a fringe contender for Picture. It will need to start appearing in more places and on critic’s lists and continue its momentum and hope that other films falter. Working against it is the fact that it likely won’t get any acting nominations. Elsie Fisher deservedly got in here, and hopefully will repeat for the Comedy Actress Golden Globe, but Best Actress is too competitive this year.
Bumps
Hereditary– Ari Aster’s disturbing, twisted debut has had people championing it since it debuted in June. In particular, Toni Collette has received most of the praise. While the Academy is horror-averse, both Black Swan and Get Out made the Best Picture lineup, along with acting noms in lead catergories for Natalie Portman (who won) and Daniel Kaluuya, respectively. While this is a nice bump for Collette, the film needed more than just actress and first feature (the same two categories the Gothams recognized) to break out more. Right now, it looks like if Collette gets in, she may be the film’s sole nomination. But she has impressively remained in the conversation after all these months.
Private Life– Tamara Jenkins’s first film since 2007’s The Savages looked like it might get lost in the shuffle. It’s a Netflix release, but Netflix has been too busy with Roma, not too mention The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, 22 July, and The Outlaw King that this fertility drama received almost no attention when it was released October 5. It’s a shame, because it is a great film, and was rightfully recognized here. Surprisingly, it was cited for director, screenplay, and supporting actress (Kayli Carter), but not Picture, or Kathryn Hahn for Lead Actress.
You Were Never Really Here– Lynee Ramsay’s brutally violent crime movie received four big nominations- Picture, Director, Male Lead (Joaquin Phoenix) and Editing. The polarizing film will need to get more support going forward, but this is a good start. Phoenix, in particular, has a shot at Actor, although he is also in the mix for The Sisters Brothers, another acclaimed but little seen film from this year.
Madeline’s Madeline– This is such a longshot that it probably isn’t even worth mentioning, but this tiny movie is starting to gain support. The film has its fans, and Helena Howard was recognized in Lead Actress. She may start getting recognition from critics, if enough have actually seen the film. Following Lead Actress and Best Feature nominations at the Gothams, this may begin to appear on more people’s radars. It surprisingly received a cinematography nomination, as well, indicating some semblance of broad support.
Wildlife– A late surge is forming for Paul Dano’s debut, particularly for Carey Mulligan, who is gaining momentum. Will it be enough to break into Best Actress? She is certainly due for a second nomination, as she has proven herself to be one of the most consistently great actors working today.
Neutral
If Beale Street Could Talk– With a three nominations, including picture and director, it seems silly not to consider this a bump for Jenkins’s drama. But it missed out on some categories it really should have made it into. It’s a supposed threat to win the Adapted Screenplay Oscar, but couldn’t even get into Screenplay here over Colette? It also missed cinematography and editing. While actor and actress are longshots, its failure here suggests that it may not have a serious chance at those categories come Oscar time. But maybe I am reading too much into it. Regina King remains the frontrunner in Supporting Actress. And Beale Street is already a serious Oscar contender- it didn’t need the Spirit Awards to validate that.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?– The documentary race is the most interesting it has been in years. But it seems that Neighbor is pulling ahead of the competition with continued citations. It’s closest competitors, RBG, Free Solo, and Three Identical Strangers weren’t recognized here. The tale of Mr Rogers may steamroll its way to the podium come Oscar night.
Bad News
Can You Ever Forgive Me?– Melissa McCarthy may be the most glaring omission of the day, which is not a good sign, considering how insanely close the Best Actress race is. It got in for Richard E Grant and Screenplay, which is good, but missing Actress and Feature (not to mention director) may suggest that it might not have the momentum needed to go all the way to a Picture nomination.
BlacKkKlansman– With just a sole nomination for Adam Driver, this is not a good sign for Spike Lee’s latest. Perhaps it just didn’t click with the Spirit Awards. Or perhaps everyone is overstating its Oscar odds. Considered the frontrunner to win Adapted Screenplay, it didn’t score a nomination here (although neither did its biggest threat, Beale Street). All is not lost for the movie. There is plenty of time to rebound, but this is not a good sign right now, especially for the many people Lee will finally win an Oscar.
Happy Just to Be Recognized
For some movies, Oscar love isn’t likely at all. But getting recognition from the Independent Spirit Awards is still an admirable achievement, as they recognize smaller films that may not play to the Academy’s taste. Every film recognized is worth a watch, and here are some of the films that will hopefully find a wider audience thanks to these nominations: Searching, We the Animals, Blindspotting, Socrates, Monsters and Men, Sorry to Bother You, Thoroughbreds, and Nancy.
The full list of nominees is available here.
Finally, here are my current Best Picture rankings:
- The Favourite
- A Star is Born
- Roma
- Green Room
- If Beale Street Could Talk
- BlacKkKlansman
- First Man
- Widows
- Leave No Trace
- First Reformed
- Eighth Grade
- Black Panther
- Vice (still yet to premier)
- Can You Ever Forgive Me?
- Boy Erased
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