It’s a great day to be Barbie! The 2024 Golden Globe Award nominations have been released, and on the film side, the movies that received the most nominations are Barbie with nine, Oppenheimer with eight, Killers of the Flower Moon and Poor Things both with seven, and Past Lives with five.
The nominees revealed for the first major televised awards ceremony of 2024 proved that these will be the heavy-hitter titles this award season. Barbie, Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Poor Things were always going to do well, while Past Lives, which made its debut way back at the Sundance Film Festival in January, received the biggest boost, not only getting into Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for Greta Lee and Best Screenplay, but also Best Director for Celine Song and Best Motion Picture – Drama.
On the Drama side, Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon will be duking it out for major wins, Oppenheimer being the odds-on favorite to win Best Director and Best Screenplay for Christopher Nolan and Best Motion Picture – Drama. It will also likely win the Best Supporting Actor category for Robert Downey Jr. Killers of the Flower Moon will probably win Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for Lily Gladstone, who has been picking up lots of critics’ prizes, and potentially Best Screenplay. Maestro, which got into Best Director for Bradley Cooper and Motion Picture – Drama, could also win at least one major prize, likely Best Actor for Cooper.
On the Comedy or Musical side, the battle is going to be between Barbie and Poor Things. Although one might argue Barbie has the edge by receiving the most nominations of any film, three of those nominations are for Best Original Song and one nomination is for the oddly titled Cinematic and Box Office Achievement. Barbie is likely to win the latter, which then leads the way to Poor Things taking the prize for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical. Emma Stone will also probably win Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical.
Two other films on the Comedy or Musical side may have underperformed at the nomination level, but both are still likely to win a major prize. The Holdovers missed in both Best Director and Best Screenplay, the latter omission a major shock given its chances at winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, but Paul Giamatti will probably still win Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical. The biggest snub of the morning by far was The Color Purple missing in Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical. With six nominee slots, and the Golden Globes normally reserving a spot in this category for an actual musical, the acclaimed year-end release missing here is stunning. Still, Danielle Brooks will likely beat out strong competition to win Best Supporting Actress for her whirlwind performance.
Some of my favorite surprises included the divisive but in-my-opinion brilliant Saltburn making it into Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for Barry Keoghan and Best Supporting Actress for Rosamund Pike. Many have suggested Saltburn’s chances at the Academy Awards were already over, but these two acting nominations breathed some life into the film’s awards momentum. All of Us Strangers is another one of the year’s best movies, and I was delighted to see Andrew Scott make it into Best Actor in a Drama. Jennifer Lawrence received a well-deserved nomination for her full-bore comedic performance in No Hard Feelings. Likely the two biggest shocks in the acting categories are Joaquin Phoenix being nominated for Beau is Afraid and Alma Pöysti for Fallen Leaves. These are two wow out-of-nowhere nominations to be sure!
In terms of the Oscar outlook, Past Lives is looking more and more likely to do better than a one-off Best Original Screenplay nomination. Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for Greta Lee are still in the cards. The Zone of Interest making it into Best Motion Picture – Drama also shows the momentum for the Jonathan Glazer drama is gaining with each passing week. American Fiction getting not only a Best Actor nomination for Jeffrey Wright but also getting into the Comedy or Musical category shows it will have a chance at making it into Best Picture at the Oscars. In addition, The Super Mario Bros. Movie receiving three nominations helps its chances of getting in the Best Animated Feature category at the Academy Awards, the first video game adaptation that would do so. And finally, for any doubters who thought Barbie was going to fall short this awards season, this film is most definitely coming for major Oscar nominations, including Best Director and Best Picture.
The 81st Golden Globe Awards will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+ on Sunday, January 7, 2024, at 5pm PT / 8pm ET.
