The nominations for the 90th Academy Awards, which will be held on March 4, were announced on Tuesday. The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro’s fairy tale romance, led all films with a surprising thirteen nominations. Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan’s World War II epic, received eight nominations, while Martin McDonagh’s increasingly controversial Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, received seven.
But what’s most notable about the nominees is how few locks there are. Sam Rockwell (for Three Billboards) is a clear favorite in a shallow supporting actor pool. Gary Oldman, who played Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour and has never won an Oscar, is a similar favorite in the lead actor category; the more deserving Daniel Day-Lewis (for Phantom Thread) is the only other nominee that has a chance.
The supporting actress nominees are deep: Nominees include Allison Janney (I, Tonya), Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird), and Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water). The lead actress category is similarly vexing. Frances McDormand, who won a Golden Globe for her performance in Three Billboards, could be considered a favorite, but Meryl Streep (The Post), Saorise Ronan (Lady Bird), Margot Robbie (I, Tonya), and Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water) are also nominated.
There are nine nominees for Best Picture. The leading films of the season—Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, The Post, The Shape of Water, Three Billboards—are all nominated. Get Out, which was largely shut out at the Golden Globes, garnered a nomination, as did Phantom Thread, which could act as a spoiler in the six categories it was nominated in. One of those categories is Best Director, where Paul Thomas Anderson will compete with del Toro, Nolan, Get Out’s Jordan Peele, and Lady Bird’s Greta Gerwig.
There were a few surprise omissions. The Florida Project and The Big Sick, two audience-favorite indies, received only one nomination each. The Disaster Artist, a favorite at the Golden Globes, also received only one nomination in the wake of multiple accusations of sexual harassment against its director and star, James Franco.