The highlight of the film award season is upon us, with the recent announcement of the nominees of the 90th annual Oscars. With many smaller events having already taken place, many categories have strong frontrunners ahead of the biggest award event of the year. Here are our predictions of the main six categories for the 90th Oscars:

Best Picture – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Despite all the nominations and winning PGA‘s Best Picture, Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water appears to be an outside chance for the Oscars Best Picture, with many tipping one of the Golden Globes Best Motion Picture winners, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri to take out the trophy. The only other film with a running chance is the other Golden Globes Best Picture winner, Lady Bird.

The remaining six Best Picture nominees are Call Me by Your Name, Darkest Hour, Dunkirk, Get Out, Phantom Thread and The Post. Of those films, only Darkest Hour and Phantom Thread did not receive nominations in the Best Motion Picture category at the Golden Globes.

Best Lead Actor – Gary Oldman

All five SAG nominees for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor (Leading Role) were nominated for Best Lead Actor. The nominees for the Oscar are Timothee Chalemet, Daniel Day-Lewis, Daniel Kaluuya, Gary Oldman and Denzel Washington.  The favourite for the Oscar is Darkest Hour‘s Gary Oldman after he won both the Golden Globe and SAG in recent weeks.

Best Lead Actress – Frances McDormand

Four of the five of the SAG nominees for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor (Leading Role) carried over into the Oscar nominations. Sally Hawkins, Frances McDormand, Margot Robbie and Saoirse Ronan were all nominated, with SAG nominee Judi Dench missing out in favour of Meryl Streep. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri‘s Frances McDormand appears to be the frontrunner after winning the SAG and Golden Globes awards however an upset could be on the cards as Saoirse Ronan also won a Golden Globe for her lead performance in Lady Bird.

Best Supporting Actor – Sam Rockwell

The Best Supporting Actor category again reflected the SAG nominations, with Willem Dafoe, Woody Harrelson, Richard Jenkins and Sam Rockwell all receiving nominations for both awards. The only change to the SAG nomination list is the inclusion of Christopher Plummer over Steve Carell. Despite being nominated at the Golden Globes, many have questioned Plummer’s nomination as a PR move after Plummer was cast to replace Kevin Spacey in All the Money in the World following sexual allegations against Spacey. The frontrunner for Best Supporting Actor appears to be Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri‘s Sam Rockwell after he won both the SAG and Golden Globe.

Best Supporting Actress – Allison Janney

The Best Supporting Actress category produced a surprise with Lesley Manville being nominated despite not receiving a nomination

in either the SAG or Golden Globes awards. She will go out against Mary J. Blige, Laurie Metcalf, Octavia Spence and frontrunner, I, Tonya‘s Allison Janney. Janney won both the SAG and Golden Globe.

Best Director – Guillermo del Toro

The Best Director category honoured storytellers, with all five nominees also having screenwriting credits. First time directors Greta Gerwig and Jordan Peele were nominated alongside veteran director Paul Thomas Anderson, despite all three not being previously nominated at the Golden Globes. The only two Golden Globes nominees are Guillermo del Toro and Christopher Nolan. Del Toro went on to win the Golden Globes and is now favourite to take home the Oscar.

Full list of Oscars nominations:

Best Picture:

“Call Me by Your Name”
“Darkest Hour”
“Dunkirk”
“Get Out”
“Lady Bird”
“Phantom Thread”
“The Post”
“The Shape of Water”
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Lead Actor:

Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”
Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”
Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”

Lead Actress:

Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”
Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”
Meryl Streep, “The Post”

Supporting Actor:

Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”
Woody Harrelson, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water”
Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World”
Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Supporting Actress:

Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”
Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”
Lesley Manville, “Phantom Thread”
Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”
Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”

Director:

“Dunkirk,” Christopher Nolan
“Get Out,” Jordan Peele
“Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig
“Phantom Thread,” Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro

Animated Feature:

“The Boss Baby,” Tom McGrath, Ramsey Ann Naito
“The Breadwinner,” Nora Twomey, Anthony Leo
“Coco,” Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson
“Ferdinand,” Carlos Saldanha
“Loving Vincent,” Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Sean Bobbitt, Ivan Mactaggart, Hugh Welchman

Animated Short:

“Dear Basketball,” Glen Keane, Kobe Bryant
“Garden Party,” Victor Caire, Gabriel Grapperon
“Lou,” Dave Mullins, Dana Murray
“Negative Space,” Max Porter, Ru Kuwahata
“Revolting Rhymes,” Jakob Schuh, Jan Lachauer

Adapted Screenplay:

“Call Me by Your Name,” James Ivory
“The Disaster Artist,” Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
“Logan,” Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green
“Molly’s Game,” Aaron Sorkin
“Mudbound,” Virgil Williams and Dee Rees

Original Screenplay:

“The Big Sick,” Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani
“Get Out,” Jordan Peele
“Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig
“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Martin McDonagh

Cinematography:

“Blade Runner 2049,” Roger Deakins
“Darkest Hour,” Bruno Delbonnel
“Dunkirk,” Hoyte van Hoytema
“Mudbound,” Rachel Morrison
“The Shape of Water,” Dan Laustsen

Best Documentary Feature:

Best Documentary Short Subject:

“Edith+Eddie,” Laura Checkoway, Thomas Lee Wright
“Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405,” Frank Stiefel
“Heroin(e),” Elaine McMillion Sheldon, Kerrin Sheldon
“Knife Skills,” Thomas Lennon
“Traffic Stop,” Kate Davis, David Heilbroner

Best Live Action Short Film:

“DeKalb Elementary,” Reed Van Dyk
“The Eleven O’Clock,” Derin Seale, Josh Lawson
“My Nephew Emmett,” Kevin Wilson, Jr.
“The Silent Child,” Chris Overton, Rachel Shenton
“Watu Wote/All of Us,” Katja Benrath, Tobias Rosen

Best Foreign Language Film:

“A Fantastic Woman” (Chile)
“The Insult” (Lebanon)
“Loveless” (Russia)
“On Body and Soul (Hungary)
“The Square” (Sweden)

Film Editing:

“Baby Driver,” Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss
“Dunkirk,” Lee Smith
“I, Tonya,” Tatiana S. Riegel
“The Shape of Water,” Sidney Wolinsky
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Jon Gregory

Sound Editing:

“Baby Driver,” Julian Slater
“Blade Runner 2049,” Mark Mangini, Theo Green
“Dunkirk,” Alex Gibson, Richard King
“The Shape of Water,” Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Ren Klyce, Matthew Wood

Sound Mixing:

“Baby Driver,” Mary H. Ellis, Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin
“Blade Runner 2049,” Mac Ruth, Ron Bartlett, Doug Hephill
“Dunkirk,” Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo
“The Shape of Water,” Glen Gauthier, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Stuart Wilson, Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick

Production Design:

“Beauty and the Beast,” Sarah Greenwood; Katie Spencer
“Blade Runner 2049,” Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola
“Darkest Hour,” Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
“Dunkirk,” Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
“The Shape of Water,” Paul D. Austerberry, Jeffrey A. Melvin, Shane Vieau

Original Score:

“Dunkirk,” Hans Zimmer
“Phantom Thread,” Jonny Greenwood
“The Shape of Water,” Alexandre Desplat
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” John Williams
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Carter Burwell

Original Song:

“Mighty River” from “Mudbound,” Mary J. Blige
“Mystery of Love” from “Call Me by Your Name,” Sufjan Stevens
“Remember Me” from “Coco,” Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez
“Stand Up for Something” from “Marshall,” Diane Warren, Common
“This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman,” Benj Pasek, Justin Paul

Makeup and Hair:

“Darkest Hour,” Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski, Lucy Sibbick
“Victoria and Abdul,” Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard
“Wonder,” Arjen Tuiten

Costume Design:

“Beauty and the Beast,” Jacqueline Durran
“Darkest Hour,” Jacqueline Durran
“Phantom Thread,” Mark Bridges
“The Shape of Water,” Luis Sequeira
“Victoria and Abdul,” Consolata Boyle

Visual Effects: