These are Reel Talk’s official predictions for the 93rd Academy Awards by David Gonzalez. Every week, David will rank the current year’s contenders in 22* categories as we travel the road to the 2021 Oscars.
*Live Action Short Film and Animated Short Film have been omitted from this list.
The 93rd Academy Awards airs LIVE on Sunday, April 25, 2021.
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| Category | Film | David's Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Best Picture | The Trial of the Chicago 7 | 1 |
| Nomadland | 2 | |
| Mank | 3 | |
| Promising Young Woman | 4 | |
| One Night in Miami | 5 | |
| Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | 6 | |
| Minari | 7 | |
| News of the World | 8 | |
| Judas and the Black Messiah | 9 | |
| The Father | 10 | |
| Best Director | David Fincher (Mank) | 1 |
| Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) | 2 | |
| Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7) | 3 | |
| Lee Isaac Chung (Minari) | 4 | |
| Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) | 5 | |
| Lead Actor | Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) | 1 |
| Anthony Hopkins (The Father) | 2 | |
| Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal) | 3 | |
| Gary Oldman (Mank) | 4 | |
| Steven Yeun (Minari) | 5 | |
| Lead Actress | Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman) | 1 |
| Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman) | 2 | |
| Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) | 3 | |
| Frances McDormand (Nomadland) | 4 | |
| Andra Day (The United States vs. Billie Holiday) | 5 | |
| Supporting Actor | Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah) | 1 |
| Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night in Miami) | 2 | |
| Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial of the Chicago 7) | 3 | |
| Chadwick Boseman (Da 5 Bloods) | 4 | |
| Jared Leto (The Little Things) | 5 | |
| Supporting Actress | Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm) | 1 |
| Amanda Seyfried (Mank) | 2 | |
| Olivia Coleman (The Father) | 3 | |
| Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy) | 4 | |
| Helena Zengel (News of the World) | 5 | |
| Original Screenplay | Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell | 1 |
| The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Aaron Sorkin) | 2 | |
| Mank (Jack Fincher) | 3 | |
| Judas and the Black Messiah (Will Berson and Shaka King ), Keith Lucas and Kenny Lucas) | 4 | |
| Minari (Lee Isaac Chung) | 5 | |
| Adapted Screenplay | Nomadland (Chloe Zao) | 1 |
| One Night in Miami (Kemp Powers) | 2 | |
| Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Ruben Santiago Hudson) | 3 | |
| Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Peter Baynham, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jena Friedman, Anthony Hines, Lee Kern, Dan Mazer, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Swimer) | 4 | |
| The Father (Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller) | 5 | |
| Animated Feature | Soul | 1 |
| Wolfwalkers | 2 | |
| Onward | 3 | |
| Over the Moon | 4 | |
| Demon Slayer | 5 | |
| Production Design | Mank | 1 |
| News of the World | 2 | |
| Tenet | 3 | |
| Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | 4 | |
| One Night in Miami | 5 | |
| Cinematogprahy | Erik Messerschmidt (Mank) | 1 |
| Joshua James Richards (Nomadland) | 2 | |
| Phedon Papamichael (The Trial of the Chicago 7) | 3 | |
| Hoyte van Hoytema (Tenet) | 4 | |
| Martin Ruhe (The Midnight Sky) | 5 | |
| Costume Design | Trish Summerville (Mank) | 1 |
| Suzie Harman, Robert Worley (The Personal History of David Copperfield) | 2 | |
| Ann Roth ( Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) | 3 | |
| Mark Bridges (News of the World) | 4 | |
| Alexandra Byrne (Emma) | 5 | |
| Film Editing | Alan Baumgarten (The Trial of the Chicago 7) | 1 |
| Kirk Baxter (Mank) | 2 | |
| Tariq Anwar (One Night in Miami) | 3 | |
| Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) | 4 | |
| Jennifer Lame (Tenet) | 5 | |
| Best Sound | Tenet | 1 |
| The Trial of the Chicago 7 | 2 | |
| Sound of Metal | 3 | |
| Mank | 4 | |
| Da 5 Bloods | 5 | |
| Visual Effects | Tenet | 1 |
| Greyhound | 2 | |
| Mulan | 3 | |
| The Midnight Sky | 4 | |
| Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) | 5 | |
| Makeup and Hairstyling | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | 1 |
| Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) | 2 | |
| One Night in Miami | 3 | |
| Promising Young Woman | 4 | |
| The Little Things | 5 | |
| Original Score | Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (Mank) | 1 |
| Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (Soul) | 2 | |
| James Newton Howard (News of the World) | 3 | |
| Alexandre Desplat (The Midnight Sky) | 4 | |
| Ludwig Göransson (Tenet) | 5 | |
| Original Song | Leslie Odom, Jr, Sam Ashworth (Speak Now) | 1 |
| H.E.R., Dernst Emile II, Tiara Thomas. (Judas and the Black Messiah) | 2 | |
| Diane Warren (Is Si (Seen) (The Life Ahead) | 3 | |
| Janelle Monáe, Nathaniel Irvin III, George “George 2.0.” A. Peters II (All In: The Fight For Democracy) | 4 | |
| Wuhan Flu (by Sacha Baron Cohen, Erran Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Swimer, Jena Friedman, Jim Russell, Jerry Holleman) (Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm) | 5 | |
| Documentary Feature | Time | 1 |
| Dick Johnson is Dead | 2 | |
| Boys State | 3 | |
| The Truffle Hunters | 4 | |
| Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution | 5 | |
| International Feature | Another Round | 1 |
| Quo Vadis, Aida? | 2 | |
| La Llorona | 3 | |
| Two of Us | 4 | |
| I'm No Longer Here | 5 |