Oscars 2020: Us, Toy Story 4, Quentin Tarantino, more early contenders of the year so far

Just four months after Green Book‘s  2019 awards season success, the gears of the 2020 Oscar machine are already back in motion. With standout Sundance titles, Cannes darlings, and theatrical breakouts gunning for Oscar attention at the year’s midway point, read on for potential 2020 Academy Award contenders that have screened for audiences so far this year. 

EW will update this post with new contenders — especially with awards-positioning festivals in Telluride, Toronto, and Venice right around the corner — as we traverse the awards trail in the months ahead. 

Annette Bening. Wigs. Ascots. What more could you ask for in an Oscar-bound drama? Adam Driver looking swell in a suit, perhaps? Scott Z. Burns’ Steven Soderbergh-produced political drama has all of those things and, according to early reviews out of Sundance, quite a lot to say about how our government handled post-9/11 paranoia. Driver leads the film as Senate staffer Daniel Jones, who spearheads an investigation into the CIA’s interrogation techniques adopted following the 2001 terrorist attacks. As rapidly diversifying as the Academy’s ranks are, one thing the group has consistently supported over the years is a tense political drama based on real events, and Bening’s wigtastic supporting turn as Dianne Feinstein has been singled out as the fiery cherry on top of one of Amazon’s major players. Categories to watch: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Annette Bening), Best Original Screenplay

Jordan Peele bowled audiences (and Oscar) over with his directorial debut, Get Out. Where that movie fused horror, comedy, and social commentary in a dramatically satisfying package, Us — about a vacationing family being stalked by their violent clones — leans into genre mechanics moreso than its predecessor. While viscerally appealing in different ways, both films hail from a unique (Oscar-winning) mind who’s quickly shaping up to be one of the modern era’s most beloved (and commercially successful) filmmakers. Though they decorated Peele’s last project, the Academy has repeatedly failed to welcome horror into the fold, however, and that time-tested bias stands as Us‘ only impediment. Regardless, Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o gives a towering performance in the lead role, which could rightfully earn her a follow-up nomination (and Peele’s Academy-verified writing skills should fetch enough pre-season support to enter the race as well). Categories to watch: Best Actress (Lupita Nyong’o), Best Original Screenplay

Outside of Glenn Close losing for the seventh time, the industry’s spectacular mishandling of Ari Aster’s horror masterpiece Hereditary (as well as Toni Collette’s career-best turn in the lead role) registered as last year’s biggest awards season injustice. If Aster’s critically lauded, pitch-black horror-comedy Midsommar hits at the summer box office as hard as it landed in the good graces of film journalists, voters might be obligated to right their wrongs done unto the budding auteur as he continues to shift the genre in exciting new directions (at the same time the Academy continues to expand its scope of open-minded voters, who might finally be ready to embrace horror). Categories to watch: Best Original Screenplay

Since the Academy implemented its Best Animated Feature category in 2001, Pixar has walked away with a statuette nine times. Though the category didn’t exist at the time the studio (which has since become a subsidiary of Disney) broke new ground for animated films with the first Toy Story in 1995, the third film in the franchise made up for it by taking the honor in 2011. With its massive $118 million opening weekend, Toy Story 4 is surely heading for a nomination, though stiff competition from Disney’s Frozen sequel (as well as a slight decline in positive critical reception from Toy Story 3 to Toy Story 4) could block the film’s path to victory. Categories to watch: Best Animated Feature

After sharing her emotional story of traveling to China, where her family purposely didn’t tell her grandmother that she had a terminal illness, on an episode of This American Life in 2017, Lulu Wang adapted the story as a movie with budding superstar Awkwafina in the lead role. While its mid-summer release date (July 19) could work against its staying power, the film has been hailed as an emotional masterpiece out of its Sundance premiere. And if there’s anything that endures throughout awards season, it’s passion for a film that latches into viewers’ hearts and doesn’t let go. Categories to watch: Best Actress (Awkwafina), Best Adapted Screenplay

First-time directors rarely get a fair shake in Hollywood. First-time female directors fare even worse; first-time female directors who began their careers as actresses, though? As long as the boys club runs the show, forget it! (Just ask Meg Ryan, Angelina Jolie, and Natalie Portman how the industry treated their first directorial outings.) Olivia Wilde has broken the mold, however, with her whip-smart, stylish, hilarious, and superbly acted coming-of-age comedy Booksmart that blends its helmer’s progressive contemporary vision with classic genre elements to make for a warm, dynamic film that ranks among the most genuinely entertaining of the year so far. Oscar voters, take note. Categories to watch: Best Picture, Best Director (Olivia Wilde), Best Original Screenplay

Joe Talbot’s Sundance breakout has been hailed by critics as one of the best films of the year so far, with particular praise going to Talbot’s unique vision for a tale about a young man (Jimmie Fails) searching for a place to fit in amid a city that has seemingly cast him aside. It might be too small and too early to break out among weightier studio titles vying for Academy attention later this year, but Talbot’s brilliant work (and producer support from the Oscar-winning team behind Moonlight and 12 Years a Slave, including Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner) is worthy of your attention either way. Categories to watch: Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography

Beloved filmmaker Quentin Tarantino made headlines at Cannes as he entered his bold, 1960s-set epic into the Palme d’Or competition, with critics mostly praising it as one of the most exciting entries in his recent filmography. The film reportedly packs a grisly punch in its closing moments, however, as it closes its story of a fading TV actor (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his loyal stuntman (Brad Pitt) by restaging the events surrounding the Manson murders. Even when the buzz surrounding a Tarantino picture isn’t as strong as Hollywood‘s is, the Academy listens (case in point: Despite making a mere $54 million at the box office, The Hateful Eight scored three Oscar nods). With likely box office weight fueling its hunt for Oscar attention, Hollywood could have a fairy tale ending on the Academy podium if critics outside the festival bubble react the same way journalists did at Cannes. Categories to watch: Best Picture, Best Director (Quentin Tarantino), Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Best Supporting Actor (Brad Pitt), Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design

Given the four Oscars secured by Fletcher’s last film, Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, despite significant turmoil between its original director (Bryan Singer) and lead actor (Rami Malek), it’s safe to assume the filmmaker’s follow-up is already on the Oscar radar. The Elton John-centered film has largely steered clear of controversy and has been hailed for its soaring musical numbers, elaborate costumes, as well as Taron Egerton‘s lead performance as the pop music icon. Weaker-than-expected box office and an early-season release date could impede the film’s Oscar crescendo as we head into the crowded season ahead, though. Categories to watch: Best Actor (Taron Egerton), Best Costume Design

With nearly $9 million and counting in domestic box office receipts, Sundance’s Apollo 11 — charting the titular mission to the moon, led by Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins — is the top-earning documentary of the year so far. With commercial might and an accessible, appealing, cross-demographic narrative (it celebrates a monumental achievement in American history) fueling its pre-Oscar run, Apollo 11 has launched too big and too bright for the Oscars’ documentary branch to ignore. Category to watch: Best Documentary Feature

Cannes typically facilitates the rise of Oscar contenders across the board, from Best Picture nominees like last year’s BlacKkKlansman to one-off nominees in the vein of Isabelle Huppert’s Elle or Nadine Labaki’s Capernaum. Though most of its competition titles don’t break into the awards conversation, Cannes’ main slate typically hosts premieres for several films that pop up in the Best Foreign Language race. This year, Palme d’Or winner Parasite, from Korean director Bong Joon-ho, and Céline Sciamma’s French drama Portrait of a Lady on Fire appear to be strong contenders. Neon acquired rights to both films, and will drop them into the fray with release dates set for this fall.  

Antonio Banderas received the best reviews of his career for his leading performance as a self-reflecting movie director in celebrated filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar’s Cannes-debuting drama Pain and Glory. Almodóvar has a healthy track record with the Academy, with his projects scoring nods for Best Foreign Language Film as well as Best Director, Screenplay, and in various acting categories. Here, Banderas’ narrative as a beloved yet undecorated performer (believe it or not, he has never received an Oscar nomination) coupled with the film’s industry-centric narrative (Hollywood loves stories by and about the entertainment world) could spell success for the talent in front of and behind the camera on this project. Categories to watch: Best Actor (Antonio Banderas), Best Original Screenplay, Best Foreign Language Film

Mindy Kaling‘s witty comedy courted a record-breaking $13 million distribution deal out of the Sundance Film Festival, and for good reason: The film boasts one of the sweetest scripts of the year, coupled with a fine turn from beloved actress Emma Thompson, who plays a curmudgeonly late-night talk show host who diversifies her staff by hiring its first female writer (Kaling). Despite the film’s underperformance at the domestic box office, expect Amazon to put some weight behind campaigns for Kaling’s script and Thompson’s performance. Categories to watch: Best Supporting Actress (Emma Thompson), Best Original Screenplay