Oscar Predictions - Amy Kim - Next Best Picture

Thursday, August 20, 2026

Amy Kim

Midnight Critic Circle cofounder ✅ Next Best Picture writer ✅ RT featured critic ✅ absolute delight ✅

@amyhaynekim

Best Picture

Aug 4

1	1	La Bola Negra Netflix \| Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo
2	2	The Odyssey Universal \| Christopher Nolan
3 1	3 1	Wild Horse Nine Searchlight \| Martin McDonagh
4 1	4 1	Project Hail Mary Amazon MGM \| Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
5	5	Obsession Focus Features \| Curry Barker
6 2	6 2	Dune: Part Three Warner Bros. \| Denis Villeneuve
7 3	7 3	The Invite A24 \| Olivia Wilde
8 1	8 1	The Debut A24 \| Jesse Eisenberg
9 4	9 4	All of a Sudden Neon \| Ryusuke Hamaguchi
10 10	10 10	Elsinore Focus Features \| Simon Stone

Best Director

Aug 3

1 1	1 1	Christopher Nolan The Odyssey
2 1	2 1	Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo La Bola Negra
3	3	Martin McDonagh Wild Horse Nine
4 5	4 5	Olivia Wilde The Invite
5 2	5 2	Ryusuke Hamaguchi All of a Sudden

Best Actress

Aug 11

1	1	Inde Navarrette Obsession
2 1	2 1	Julianne Moore The Debut
3 1	3 1	Olivia Wilde The Invite
4 1	4 1	Virginie Efira All of a Sudden
5 1	5 1	Ruth Madeley Being Heumann

Best Actor

Aug 2

1	1	Tom Cruise Digger
2 2	2 2	Matt Damon The Odyssey
3 1	3 1	Ryan Gosling Project Hail Mary
4 1	4 1	John Malkovich Wild Horse Nine
5	5	Andrew Scott Elsinore

Best Supporting Actress

Aug 3

1 1	1 1	Anne Hathaway The Odyssey
2 1	2 1	Mariana di Girolamo Wild Horse Nine
3	3	Penélope Cruz La Bola Negra
4	4	Sandra Hüller Project Hail Mary
5	5	Penélope Cruz The Invite

Best Supporting Actor

Aug 3

1	1	Paul Giamatti The Debut
2 1	2 1	Sam Rockwell Wild Horse Nine
3	3	John Leguizamo The Odyssey
4	4	Guitarricadelafuente La Bola Negra
5	5	Guy Pearce Ink

Best Adapted Screenplay

Aug 4

1	1	La Bola Negra Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo \| Netflix
2	2	The Odyssey Christopher Nolan \| Universal
3 1	3 1	The Invite Rashida Jones, Will McCormack \| A24
4 1	4 1	All of a Sudden Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Léa Le Dimna \| Neon
5 2	5 2	Project Hail Mary Drew Goddard \| Amazon MGM

Best Original Screenplay

Jul 27

1	1	Wild Horse Nine Martin McDonagh \| Searchlight
2	2	Fjord Cristian Mungiu \| Neon
3	3	Obsession Curry Barker \| Focus Features
4	4	The Debut Jesse Eisenberg \| A24
5	5	Behemoth! Tony Gilroy \| Searchlight

Best Casting

Jul 18

1	1	La Bola Negra Eva Leira, Yolanda Serrano \| Netflix
2	2	The Odyssey John Papsidera \| Universal
3	3	Wild Horse Nine Sarah Halley Finn \| Searchlight
4	4	The Debut Douglas Aibel \| A24
5	5	Fjord Hannah Chocron Foldøy \| Neon

Best Animated Feature

Jul 18

1	1	Wildwood Fathom \| Travis Knight
2	2	Toy Story 5 Disney \| Andrew Stanton
3	3	Hoppers Disney \| Daniel Chong
4	4	Forgotten Island Universal \| Januel Mercado, Joel Crawford
5 1	5 1	Ray Gunn Netflix \| Brad Bird

Best Documentary Feature

Jul 18

1	1	Once Upon a Time in Harlem Neon \| William Greaves, David Greaves
2	2	American Doctor
3	3	Nuisance Bear
4	4	To Hold a Mountain
5	5	The History of Concrete Magnolia \| John Wilson

Best International Feature Film

Aug 3

1	1	La Bola Negra
2	2	Fjord
3	3	All of a Sudden
4	4	Fatherland
5 4	5 4	Possible Love

Best Cinematography

Jul 18

1	1	The Odyssey Hoyte van Hoytema \| Universal
2	2	La Bola Negra Gris Jordana \| Netflix
3	3	Project Hail Mary Greig Fraser \| Amazon MGM
4	4	Fatherland Łukasz Żal \| Mubi
5	5	Digger Emmanuel Lubezki \| Warner Bros.

Best Costume Design

Jul 18

1	1	The Odyssey Universal
2	2	Werwulf Focus Features
3	3	Sense and Sensibility Grace Snell \| Focus Features
4	4	Dune: Part Three Warner Bros.
5	5	La Bola Negra Ana López Cobos \| Netflix

Best Film Editing

Jul 18

1	1	The Odyssey Jennifer Lame \| Universal
2	2	Wild Horse Nine Mikkel E.G. Nielsen \| Searchlight
3	3	La Bola Negra Alberto Gutiérrez \| Netflix
4	4	Fjord Mircea Olteanu \| Neon
5	5	Behemoth! John Gilroy \| Searchlight

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Jul 18

1	1	Digger Warner Bros.
2	2	Werwulf Focus Features
3	3	The Odyssey Universal
4	4	Dune: Part Three Warner Bros.
5	5	Clayface Warner Bros.

Best Production Design

Jul 18

1	1	The Odyssey Ruth De Jong, Larry Dias, Gene Serdena \| Universal
2	2	Project Hail Mary Charles Wood, John Bush \| Amazon MGM
3	3	Dune: Part Three Patrice Vermette, Shane Vieau \| Warner Bros.
4	4	La Bola Negra Roger Bellés, Judit Ferrer \| Netflix
5 1	5 1	Digger Anna Pinnock, Dennis Gassner, Richard L. Johnson \| Warner Bros.

Best Original Score

Jul 18

1 1	1 1	The Odyssey Ludwig Göransson \| Universal
2 1	2 1	La Bola Negra Raül Refree \| Netflix
3	3	Disclosure Day John Williams \| Universal
4	4	Project Hail Mary Daniel Pemberton \| Amazon MGM
5 2	5 2	Behemoth! James Newton Howard, Alan Silvestri, Brandon Roberts, Michael Abels, Emily Bear, Lukas Frank, Michael Giacchino, Henry Jackman, Nami Melumad \| Searchlight

Best Original Song

Aug 19

1	1	La Nieve La Bola Negra
2	2	By Any Means By Any Means
3 1	3 1	TBD The Debut
4	4	I Knew It, I Knew You Toy Story 5
5	5	Runway The Devil Wears Prada 2

Best Sound

Jul 18

1	1	Dune: Part Three Warner Bros.
2	2	La Bola Negra Netflix
3	3	Project Hail Mary Amazon MGM
4	4	The Odyssey Universal
5 3	5 3	Behemoth! Searchlight

Best Visual Effects

Aug 2

1	1	Dune: Part Three Warner Bros.
2	2	Project Hail Mary Amazon MGM
3	3	The Odyssey Universal
4	4	Godzilla Minus Zero GKIDS
5	5	The Sheep Detectives Amazon MGM

1	1	Wild Horse Nine Martin McDonagh \| Searchlight
2	2	Fjord Cristian Mungiu \| Neon
3	3	Obsession Curry Barker \| Focus Features
4	4	The Debut Jesse Eisenberg \| A24
5	5	Behemoth! Tony Gilroy \| Searchlight

1	1	La Bola Negra Eva Leira, Yolanda Serrano \| Netflix
2	2	The Odyssey John Papsidera \| Universal
3	3	Wild Horse Nine Sarah Halley Finn \| Searchlight
4	4	The Debut Douglas Aibel \| A24
5	5	Fjord Hannah Chocron Foldøy \| Neon

1	1	Wildwood Fathom \| Travis Knight
2	2	Toy Story 5 Disney \| Andrew Stanton
3	3	Hoppers Disney \| Daniel Chong
4	4	Forgotten Island Universal \| Januel Mercado, Joel Crawford
5 1	5 1	Ray Gunn Netflix \| Brad Bird

1	1	The Odyssey Hoyte van Hoytema \| Universal
2	2	La Bola Negra Gris Jordana \| Netflix
3	3	Project Hail Mary Greig Fraser \| Amazon MGM
4	4	Fatherland Łukasz Żal \| Mubi
5	5	Digger Emmanuel Lubezki \| Warner Bros.

1	1	The Odyssey Jennifer Lame \| Universal
2	2	Wild Horse Nine Mikkel E.G. Nielsen \| Searchlight
3	3	La Bola Negra Alberto Gutiérrez \| Netflix
4	4	Fjord Mircea Olteanu \| Neon
5	5	Behemoth! John Gilroy \| Searchlight

Amy Kim

Best Picture

La Bola Negra

The Odyssey

Wild Horse Nine

Project Hail Mary

Obsession

Dune: Part Three

The Invite

The Debut

All of a Sudden

Elsinore

Best Director

Christopher Nolan

Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo

Martin McDonagh

Olivia Wilde

Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Best Actress

Inde Navarrette

Julianne Moore

Olivia Wilde

Virginie Efira

Ruth Madeley

Best Actor

Tom Cruise

Matt Damon

Ryan Gosling

John Malkovich

Andrew Scott

Best Supporting Actress

Anne Hathaway

Mariana di Girolamo

Penélope Cruz

Sandra Hüller

Penélope Cruz

Best Supporting Actor

Paul Giamatti

Sam Rockwell

John Leguizamo

Guitarricadelafuente

Guy Pearce

Best Adapted Screenplay

La Bola Negra

The Odyssey

The Invite

All of a Sudden

Project Hail Mary

Best Original Screenplay

Wild Horse Nine

Fjord

Obsession

The Debut

Behemoth!

Best Casting

La Bola Negra

The Odyssey

Wild Horse Nine

The Debut

Fjord

Best Animated Feature

Wildwood

Toy Story 5

Hoppers

Forgotten Island

Ray Gunn

Best Documentary Feature

Once Upon a Time in Harlem

American Doctor

Nuisance Bear

To Hold a Mountain

The History of Concrete

Best International Feature Film

La Bola Negra

Fjord

All of a Sudden

Fatherland

Possible Love

Best Cinematography

The Odyssey