By Ayomide Otitoju
Hollywood’s awards season is in full swing, with the Golden Globes taking center stage this Sunday. Jacques Audiard’s surreal narco-thriller musical, Emilia Perez, has emerged as the frontrunner, securing a record-breaking 10 nominations—the most ever for a musical or comedy film.
The genre-defying film follows the story of a Mexican drug lord who transitions to life as a woman, with transgender actress Karla Sofia Gascon earning a nod for her portrayal of the titular character. Co-stars Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldana are also nominated, adding to the film’s sweeping recognition.
“This is far and away the favorite going into the awards,” said Deadline’s awards columnist Pete Hammond. “It has the international appeal and just swept the European Film Awards.”
A Road to Oscars Glory?
Emilia Perez began its awards journey with a Jury Prize win at the Cannes Film Festival and has since gained momentum. Now streaming on Netflix, the film is vying for top honors in categories like Best Director, Best Original Song, Best Score, Best Screenplay, Best Comedy or Musical Film, and Best Non-English Language Film.
In the Best Comedy or Musical Film category, it faces stiff competition from Wicked, the movie adaptation of the Broadway sensation, as well as Cannes darling Anora, tennis drama Challengers, Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain, and Demi Moore’s body horror film The Substance.
Hammond predicts Wicked might struggle due to its limited nominations in key categories but highlights Cynthia Erivo’s performance as the green-skinned Elphaba, making her a strong contender for Best Lead Actress. Erivo will compete against Gascon (Emilia Perez), Amy Adams (Nightbitch), Zendaya (Challengers), and Mikey Madison (Anora).
Dramas Take the Spotlight
In the drama categories, The Brutalist and Conclave are among the favorites. The Brutalist, which stars Adrien Brody as a Hungarian Jewish architect navigating post-Holocaust America, received seven nominations, including Best Drama.
It will contend with Conclave, a gripping fictional tale of papal succession politics, based on Robert Harris’s novel. Ralph Fiennes leads the charge with a nomination for his role in the film, which earned six nods overall.
The drama race also features A Complete Unknown, a Bob Dylan biopic; Dune: Part Two, the sci-fi epic; Nickel Boys, an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-winning novel; and September 5, a retelling of the Munich Olympics hostage crisis.
Television Categories and New Era for the Globes
In television, FX’s hit comedy The Bear leads with five nominations, followed by Shogun and Only Murders in the Building, each with four nods.
The Golden Globes are in their second year of a revamped format, following the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s dissolution amid diversity controversies. Now under new ownership, the awards have sought to broaden their global appeal, reflected in this year’s diverse slate of nominees.
Comedian Nikki Glaser will host the gala in Beverly Hills, with the ceremony positioned as a crucial precursor to the Oscars.
“All of this is happening three days before Oscars ballots go live,” Hammond noted. “This could be incredibly influential in a year where the competition is wide open.”
