(OSV News) — This year’s Academy Award nominations were announced on Jan. 23. Following, in alphabetical order, are capsule reviews of the 10 films contending for Best Picture. The Oscars ceremony will take place in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 2.
“Anora” (Neon)
Seamy blend of comedy and drama about a stripper and prostitute (Mikey Madison) who gets more than she bargained for when the son (Mark Eydelshteyn) of a Russian oligarch first becomes her client and then proposes marriage. After his parents learn of the match, they dispatch a fixer (Karren Karagulian) and two henchmen (Yura Borisov and Vache Tovmasyan) to compel an annulment but the groom disappears and a prolonged search for him ensues. Alternatively pornographic and boring, writer-director Sean Baker’s film carries a Great Gatsby-like lesson about the dangers of mixing with the reckless rich but its visual and verbal excesses preclude recommendation for any audience. Excessive sexual content, including graphic scenes of prostitution and frequent nudity, drug use, a couple of instances each of profanity and milder swearing, relentless rough and crude language. The OSV News classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
“The Brutalist” (A24)
Having survived the Holocaust, a Hungarian architect (Adrien Brody) emigrates to post-World War II Philadelphia and tries to revive his career. As he waits for his beloved wife (Felicity Jones) to overcome the bureaucratic obstacles blocking her move to the U.S., he gains the patronage of a powerful industrialist (Guy Pearce). But their relationship not only proves volatile, based in part on his unyielding artistic vision, it eventually becomes shockingly abusive. Riffing on some real-life biographies, writer-director Brady Corbet places his protagonist at the center of an expansive survey of mid-20th century America that touches on themes of prejudice and exclusion, the corrupting power of wealth and the enduring allure of the American dream. On the personal level, however, the depiction of sexuality goes well beyond what can be justified, even in the context of a production with obviously serious artistic intent. Excessively graphic sexual content, including full nudity, aberrant acts and pornagraphic images, drug use, several profanities, about a half-dozen instances each of milder swearing and rough language, occasional crude and crass talk. The OSV News classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
“A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight)
Timothée Chalamet convincingly portrays storied musician and songwriter Bob Dylan in this well-crafted recreation of the early years of the iconic performer’s career. As a protege of established folk singer Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), the newcomer breaks into the Greenwich Village music scene while launching a live-in romance with a fellow vocalist (Elle Fanning). But his love-hate relationship with his initially more famous colleague Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) complicates his personal life and his determination to avoid being pigeonholed, though supported by his rebellious friend and admirer Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook), eventually raises the ire of genre purists. Director and co-writer James Mangold wisely concentrates on his subject’s perfect-for-the-period music and effectively depicts Dylan’s contrarian personality, though the realistic dialogue he penned with Jay Cocks is too verbally freewheelin’ to make this profile an acceptable introduction for young people. Cohabitation, brief slightly irreverent humor, several uses of profanity, a few milder oaths, numerous rough and crude expressions, an obscene gesture. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
“Conclave” (Focus)
Ecclesiastical melodrama centers on the dean (Ralph Fiennes) of the college of cardinals who, in the wake of the sudden death of a fictional pope, organizes the gathering of the title. The leading candidates for the papacy include a down-to-earth liberal (Stanley Tucci), a flamboyant conservative (Sergio Castellitto) and a supposedly reactionary African (Lucian Msamati). But complications are caused by rumors of shady behavior on the part of another frontrunner (John Lithgow) as well as by the unexpected presence of a mysterious prelate (Carlos Diehz) whose appointment to the cardinalate the late pontiff had kept a secret. Rival viewpoints within the church are caricatured with a broad brush in director Edward Berger’s visually engaging adaptation of Robert Harris’ 2016 novel, and the deck is predictably stacked in favor of those who advocate change. As scripted by Peter Straughan, the film gets canon law wrong, implicitly slanders Benedict XVI and traffics in sordid secrets of varying plausibility in the lead-up to a climactic revelation that many will find offensively exploitative, others merely loopy. Elevates the pieties of the current zeitgeist over eternal truths in a way that warrants viewer caution. Murky moral values, plot developments requiring mature discernment, a couple of mild oaths. The OSV News classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
“Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.)
The military and the mystical continue to blend as the youthful protagonist (Timothée Chalamet) of the 2021 original, now an exile, fights for the desert dwellers (led by Javier Bardem) among whom he’s taken refuge on the titular planet while falling for one of their warriors (Zendaya). Although she advocates a purely secular role for her new love, the lad’s priestess mother (Rebecca Ferguson) continues to insist that he is the messiah figure foretold in various prophecies. As he extends his adaptation of Frank Herbert’s celebrated 1965 sci-fi novel, director and co-writer Denis Villeneuve enthralls with sweeping visuals, appealing central characters and an absorbing plot. The religious elements, which seem to be borrowed more from Islam than Christianity, are unlikely to lead to any real-life confusion. But vengeance seeking and sexual content suggest a mature viewership. Nonscriptural religious beliefs, mostly stylized but sometimes harsh violence with slight gore, acts of revenge, cohabitation, an immediately post-coital bedroom scene, an implied casual encounter, a couple of instances each of crude and crass language. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
“Emilia Pérez” (Pathe)
This off-beat mix of music, drama and comedy charts the relationship between a personally and professionally discontented Mexican lawyer (Zoe Saldaña) and the drug lord (Karla Sofía Gascón) who hires her to facilitate his secret sex-change surgery, as well as the fake death of his male persona. In adapting his eponymous opera for the screen, writer-director Jacques Audiard shows sympathy for the kingpin’s seemingly unlikely aspiration but does not provide him with a smooth path to happiness. Mature discernment is required to navigate the moral ambiguities of a film that flouts biblical values in some respects yet presents a conversion story while also showcasing the enduring draw of familial ties in a manner that is sometimes quite touching. In Spanish and English with subtitles. Some stylized violence, benignly viewed transgenderism, an ostensibly same-sex relationship, a couple of profanities, much rough and crude language. The OSV News classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
“I’m Still Here” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Resilience under political repression is personified by an indomitable matriarch in this inspiring adaptation of Marcelo Paiva’s 2015 memoir recounting how his family survived the worst years of Brazil’s military dictatorship in the 1970s. Director Walter Salles and screenwriters Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega mingle the horror of abductions and murders with nostalgic memories of a large and loving family. Its mother (Fernanda Torres) keeps her son and four daughters protected after her husband (Selton Mello), a former politician turned architect, is taken away “for questioning,” never to return, and she herself is detained in a filthy prison while being interrogated about resistance activities in which she had no involvement. Along the way, she learns how to make material sacrifices in order to build a secure future, and never stops yearning for eventual justice. Claustrophobic terror is no match for her strength. In Portuguese with subtitles. References to torture, brief upper female nudity, fleeting profanities and crude language. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
“Nickel Boys” (Amazon MGM)
Highly creative historical drama, set in the 1960s, in which an idealistic African American honors student (Ethan Herisse) is railroaded for an offense in which he took no part and sentenced to a reform school where he eventually becomes friends with another, more cynical inmate (Brandon Wilson). As the two discover the hidden corruption and brutality of their environment, director and co-writer RaMell Ross uses first-person visuals to bring immediacy to his exploration of the flagrant injustices and constant frustrations of black life in the Jim Crow South. As adapted from the eponymous fact-based novel by Colson Whitehead, the film, which also features Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as the protagonist’s nurturing grandmother, implicitly champions ideals in keeping with Scripture though the events depicted are too harsh for kids. Scenes of off-screen torture, a few uses of profanity, several milder oaths, a single rough term, considerable crude and crass language. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
“The Substance” (Mubi)
After losing her job as the host of a television exercise program because of her age and fading looks, a Hollywood actress (Demi Moore) obtains a secret drug that produces a younger, more beautiful version of her (Margaret Qualley). Only one of the two, however, can be active at any given time and they must alternate every seven days. Giving in to the temptation to ignore this rule, the former star discovers that disturbing the equilibrium has dire physical consequences while the whole arrangement leads to psychological imbalances as well. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat has a sharp eye for telling visuals, especially unpleasant ones. But her satirical horror film eventually trades in the very crass carnality (personified by TV producer Dennis Quaid) it seeks to lampoon even as it rolls on to an absurdly blood-soaked wrap-up. Excessive gory violence, numerous grisly images, brief full and frequent partial nudity in a nonsexual context, implied casual sexual encounters, a couple of profanities, a few milder oaths, considerable rough language, occasional crude and crass expressions. The OSV News classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
“Wicked” (Universal)
This first installment of a lavish two-part screen version of the long-running Broadway musical provides an origin story for the Wicked Witch of the West (Cynthia Erivo) who features in L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” its classic 1939 film adaptation and the 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire on which the show was based. It also charts the ups-and-downs of her relationship with her college roommate (Ariana Grande), the future Good Witch of the North. After initially clashing, the two become best friends. Yet their bond is repeatedly tested, first by their shared attraction to a fun-loving fellow student who is also a prince (Jonathan Bailey) and later by their encounter with Baum’s title character (Jeff Goldblum). As directed by Jon M. Chu, Winnie Holzman’s script, incorporating the stage music and lyrics of Stephen Schwartz, evokes sympathy for the pathos of its misunderstood and shunned protagonist’s plight while garnering laughs from her bestie’s vain ditziness. The tale’s basic message about standing up against prejudice and persecution is congruent with Gospel values and overtly problematic content is largely absent. But a scene of marital infidelity as well as the subtle but clear gay sensibility by which the proceedings are occasionally tinged both suggest caution. Some stylized mayhem, an adulterous incident, momentary same-sex flirting. The OSV News classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
John Mulderig is media reviewer for OSV News. Follow him on Twitter @JohnMulderig1.
