Festivals Venice and Telluride launched a drumbeat of critical praise for first-time nominee Kristen Stewart as troubled, drug-addled Princess Diana in Pablo Larrain’s nightmare before Christmas “Spencer” (Neon). (The director’s last biopic thrust Natalie Portman into the Oscar race as “Jackie.”) Overdue two-time Oscar nominee and SAG and Critics Choice winner Jessica Chastain (“The Help,” “Zero Dark Thirty”) digs under the facade to reveal the human frailties of the Christian televangelist in Michael Showalter’s “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” (Searchlight). Chastain’s hair and makeup team are Oscar contenders as well, like other transformations such as Charlize Theron’s “Bombshell” and Oscar-winner Gary Oldman’s “Darkest Hour.”
Also trying for their second Oscar: Venice Best Actress-winner Penélope Cruz (“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”) rejoins Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar in “Parallel Mothers” (Sony Pictures Classics) as a woman whose baby is switched at birth with another mother; and Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”) commands the screen as a vacationing professor who is reminded of her ambivalent feelings about young motherhood in Venice screenplay-winner Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Elena Ferrante adaptation “The Lost Daughter.” On the other hand, as Frances McDormand proved with “Nomadland,” having already won an Oscar does not seem to deter Oscar voters from rewarding a performance they adore. This year, none of the nominees boasts the Best Picture advantage; contenders are listed in order of their likelihood to win. Contenders Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”) Penélope Cruz (“Parallel Mothers”) Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”) Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”) Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”) Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
