May December (2023)
Director: Todd Haynes
Screenwriters: Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik
Starring: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton, Gabriel Chung, Elizabeth Yu

Todd Haynes’ films are hard to pin down. Ever the subversive, the renegade of the new queer cinema movement has a proven track record of destabilizing conventional wisdoms surrounding everything from sex to gender to celebrity to domesticity and the American nuclear family. Unafraid to wear his influences on his sleeve, and to subject them to satire and scrutiny, Haynes wields homage, melodrama, and allegory in his deconstruction of the social, political, and aesthetic contexts in which his characters dwell. His is a cinema of transgression that gets its teeth from a sort of reflexive formalism, for his films frequently call attention to their own artifice. 

Take 2002’s Far From Heaven, for example. In many ways, the film, which centers on a 1950s suburban housewife whose secret affair threatens the sanguine domestic lifestyle she is expected to uphold, is a straight-up remake of Douglas Sirk’s 1955 melodrama All That Heaven Allows, complete with all the soap and glitziness that defined Hays Code-era Hollywood. The catch is that Haynes’ film is, nonetheless, thoroughly modern in its details—by peppering in subject matter that would have been considered too taboo back in the 50s (even for Sirk, who was considered a rebel in his time), namely interracial and homosexual relationships, Haynes turns the entire genre on its head. Films such as Far From Heaven demonstrate Haynes’ unique ability to firmly situate his work relative to established cinematic traditions—and to then boldly defy them. In this way, Todd Haynes is a filmmaker who always seems to have his finger on the pulse, his films conversing with the past to illuminate the present. 

The present unto which May December, Haynes’ latest, arrives feels particularly elusive—and, fittingly, so does the film. Written by Samy Burch and loosely inspired by the public scandal surrounding Mary Kay Letourneau, the screenplay orbits three central characters: Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Julianne Moore), a suburban pariah who was once the subject of a tabloid frenzy surrounding her predatory sexual involvement with a 13-year-old boy; Joe Atherton-Yoo (Charles Melton), the boy, now in his 30s and married with children to Gracie; and Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman), a B-list actress who comes to study Gracie and her family in preparation to play her in a movie about the scandal. 

On first glance, such a premise seems tailor-made for the Netflix-patented true-crime-content-machine; and yet May December cleverly co-opts these vapid true-crime precepts, and our twisted attendance to them. Where Far From Heaven leverages melodrama to challenge the genre’s largely sanitized depiction of domestic life in the 1950s, May December weaponizes viewers’ learned appetite for sensationalism to unravel the tabloid mythologies that form around deviant crimes and their perpetrators—and which often exploit the victims. 

Portman’s Elizabeth is the doorway through which Haynes instantly implicates the viewer. Her morbid curiosity to get to the bottom of Gracie and Joe’s strange dynamic largely matches our own. However, as she ingratiates herself among the family, it quickly becomes clear that Elizabeth’s intentions are far more perverse. As Gracie’s mask begins to slip, so too does Elizabeth’s, revealing her obsessive, megalomaniacal fantasy of coveting, or perhaps recreating, Gracie’s and Joe’s lived experience. The ensuing dissonance, heightened by the melodramatic register in which the film operates, not only makes for an unnaturalness that is often quite funny (Marcelo Zarvos’s ostentatious score is a big part of this), but it also makes space for thorny ethical questions surrounding spectatorship, representation, autonomy, and consent—none of which feel overly didactic. 

Instead, in true Haynes fashion, ambiguities stay ambiguous, and the viewer is left to dwell in the gray areas. Neither patronizing nor flattering these characters, Haynes complicates prevailing assumptions surrounding Gracie and Joe by lending them both a degree of agency, and in doing so undermines whatever vague suggestion is made toward a simple sociological explanation for their relationship (e.g. personality disorders, abuse begetting abuse). Actors and outcasts alike, these are characters whose identities are defined by performance, whether of normalcy, security, sincerity, or innocence. Like the many mirrors Haynes frames them in, Portman, Moore, and, perhaps most impressively, Melton reflect and belie their characters’ superficial personas. 

May December comes at a strange moment in time when the popularity of true-crime content feels at odds with flattened conceptions of moral goodness and badness in popular media. What makes the film feel particularly incisive and contemporary—infinitely more so than the titles it is destined to be algorithmically paired with on the Netflix home screen—are the ways in which it converses with this moment and indeed the viewer. Haynes’ latest is, once again, hard to pin down; but it is even harder to forget. 

Score: 22/24

May December is nominated for 4 Golden Globes.

Written by Connell Oberman

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The nominees for the 81st Golden Globe Awards were announced on Monday 11th December, with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie the most-nominated of the films chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Warner Bros’ Barbie was nominated across 7 categories, including Best Director, Best Screenplay, Lead Actress and Supporting Actor, with 3 nominations in the Original Song category for “Dance the Night Away”, “I’m Just Ken” and “What Was I Made For?”.

Justine Triet’s multi-time European Film Awards winner and the recipient of the 2023 Cannes Palme d’Or, Anatomy of a Fall, was nominated in both the Best Motion Picture – Drama category as well as the Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language category, as was Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest. The latter was also nominated in the Best Original Score – Motion Picture category alongside The Boy and the Heron, which is a leading name in the Best Motion Picture – Animated category beside Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

The 2024 Golden Globes will take place on 7th January 2024, and will be broadcast in the CBS in the US and in the UK on Paramount+.

The nominees for the 81st edition of the Golden Globe Awards (2024) are as follows:

Best Motion Picture – Drama
Anatomy of a Fall
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Past Lives
The Zone of Interest

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Air
American Fiction
Barbie
The Holdovers
May December
Poor Things

Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language
Anatomy of a Fall
Fallen Leaves
Io Capitano
Past Lives
Society of the Snow
The Zone of Interest

Best Motion Picture – Animated
The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Suzume
Wish

Best Director – Motion Picture
Bradley Cooper (Maestro)
Greta Gerwig (Barbie)
Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things)
Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Celine Song (Past Lives)

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Annette Bening (Nyad)
Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall)
Greta Lee (Past Lives)
Carey Mulligan (Maestro)
Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla)

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Fantasia Barrino (The Color Purple)
Jennifer Lawrence (No Hard Feelings)
Natalie Portman (May December)
Alma Pöysti (Fallen Leaves)
Margot Robbie (Barbie)
Emma Stone (Poor Things)

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture
Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer)
Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)
Jodie Foster (Nyad)
Julianne Moore (May December)
Rosamund Pike (Saltburn)
Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Bradley Cooper (Maestro)
Leonardo DiCaprio (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Colman Domingo (Rustin)
Barry Keoghan (Saltburn)
Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers)

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Nicolas Cage (Dream Scenario)
Timothée Chalamet (Wonka)
Matt Damon (Air)
Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)
Joaquin Phoenix (Beau Is Afraid)
Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture
Willem Dafoe (Poor Things)
Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)
Ryan Gosling (Barbie)
Charles Melton (May December)
Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Justine Triet, Arthur Harari (Anatomy of a Fall)
Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach (Barbie)
Eric Roth, Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
Celine Song (Past Lives)
Tony McNamara (Poor Things)

Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Jerskin Fendrix (Poor Things)
Ludwig Göransson (Oppenheimer)
Joe Hisaishi (The Boy and the Heron)
Micachu (The Zone of Interest)
Daniel Pemberton (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse)
Robbie Robertson (Killers of the Flower Moon)

Best Original Song – Motion Picture
“Addicted to Romance” by Bruce Springsteen
“Dance the Night” by Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt, Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa
“I’m Just Ken” by Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt
“Peaches” by Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Eric Osmond, John Spiker, Jack Black
“Road to Freedom” by Lenny Kravitz
“What Was I Made For?” by Finneas O’Connell, Billie Eilish

Cinematic and Box Office Achievement
Barbie
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
John Wick: Chapter 4
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1
Oppenheimer
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour

For the full list of television nominees, please visit the Golden Globes website.

The winners of the 2023 European Film Awards were announced live from Berlin, Germany on Saturday 9th December, with Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall receiving a number of major accolades, including Best European Film.

The European Film Academy announced 11 different films from as many as 10 different countries as winners across a wide range of categories, whilst also honouring a number of individuals for their contributions to the form. English actress Vanessa Redgrave was honoured with the European Lifetime Achievement award, with Spanish film director Isabel Coixet being rewarded for European Achievement in World Cinema.

Anatomy of a Fall was the most celebrated of the stacked line-up of films, winning the award for Best European Film over fellow nominees Fallen Leaves, Green Border, Me Captain and The Zone of Interest, as well as picking up awards for European Director, European Screenwriter, European Editing, and European Actress, the latter of which was won by Sandra Hüller who was nominated twice in the category for Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest.

The awards ceremony was streamed live and in full via the European Film Awards website, with replays still available.

The winners of the 2023 European Film Awards (EFAs) are as follows:

European Film – Anatomy of a Fall
Fallen Leaves
Green Border
Me Captain
The Zone of Interest

European Young Audience Award – Scrapper
Longing for the World
One in a Million

European Discovery – Prix Fipresci – How to Have Sex
20,000 Species of Bees
La Palisiada
Safe Place
The Quiet Migration
Vincent Must Die

European Documentary – Smoke Sauna Sisterhood
Apolonia, Apolonia
Four Daughters
Motherland
On the Adamant

European Animated Feature Film – Robot Dreams
A Greyhound of a Girl
Chicken for Linda!
The Amazing Maurice
White Plastic Sky

European Short Film – Hardly Working
27
Aqueronte
Daydreaming So Vividly About Our Spanish Holidays
Flores Del Otro Patio

European Director – Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall)
Aki Kaurismäki (Fallen Leaves)
Agnieszka Holland (Green Border)
Matteo Garrone (Me Captain)
Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest)

European Actress – Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall)
Eka Chavleishvili (Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry)
Alma Pöysti (Fallen Leaves)
Mia McKenna-Bruce (How to Have Sex)
Leonie Benesch (The Teachers’ Lounge)
Sandra Hüller (The Zone of Interest)

European Actor – Mads Mikkelsen (The Promised Land)
Thomas Schubert (Afire)
Jussi Vatanen (Fallen Leaves)
Josh O’Connor (La Chimera)
Christian Friedel (The Zone of Interest)

European Screenwriter – Justine Triet, Arthur Harari (Anatomy of a Fall)
Aki Kaurismäki (Fallen Leaves)
Gabriela Lazarkiewicz-Sieczko, Maciej Pisuk Agnieszka Holland (Green Border)
Johannes Duncker, Ilker Çatak (The Teachers’ Lounge)
Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest)

European Cinematography – Rasmus Videbæk (The Promised Land)

European Editing – Laurent Sénéchal (Anatomy of a Fall)

European Production Design – Emita Frigato (La Chimera)

European Costume Design – Kicki Ilander (The Promised Land)

European Make-Up & Hair – Society of the Snow

European Original Score – Markus Binder (Club Zero)

European Sound – Johnnie Burn, Tarn Willers (The Zone of Interest)

European Visual Effects – Society of the Snow

European Lifetimes Achievement – Vanessa Redgrave

European Achievement in World Cinema – Isabel Coixet

Eurimages Co-Production Award – Uljana Kim

Honorary Award of the EFA President and Board – Béla Tarr

European Sustainability Award (Prix Film4Climate) – Güler Sabancı

The winners of the 2023 British Independent Film Awards were announced live from Old Billingsgate, London on Sunday 3rd December 2023, with Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers earning the Best British Independent Film award on a successful night for the relationship drama.

In a ceremony hosted by Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Lolly Adefope, All of Us Strangers took home British Independent Film Awards for Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Music Supervision and Best Editing, with 2023 Oscar nominee Paul Mescal (Aftersun) being named the joint winner for Best Supporting Performance for his part in the film.

Justine Triet’s 2023 Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall was awarded the title of Best International Independent Film, earning the accolade over competing titles Fallen Leaves, Fremont, Monster and Past Lives.

Mia McKenna-Bruce won the award for Best Lead Performance for her part in How to Have Sex, with casting director Isabella Odoffin also earning an accolade for Best Casting.

The full list of 2023 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs):

Best British Independent Film – All of Us Strangers
Femme
How to Have Sex
Rye Lane
Scrapper

Best International Independent Film sponsored by Champagne Taittinger – Anatomy of a Fall
Fallen Leaves
Fremont
Monster
Past Lives

Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema – Andrew Haigh (All of Us Strangers)
Raine Allen-Miller (Rye Lane)
Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping (Femme)
Molly Manning Walker (How to Have Sex)
Charlotte Regan (Scrapper)

Best Screenplay sponsored by Apple Original Films – Andrew Haigh (All of Us Strangers)
Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia (Rye Lane)
Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping (Femme)
Molly Manning Walker (How to Have Sex)
Charlotte Regan (Scrapper)

Best Lead Performance – Mia McKenna-Bruce (How to Have Sex)
Jodie Comer (The End We Start From)
Tia Nomore (Earth Mama)
Nabhaan Rizwan (In Camera)
Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers)
Tilda Swinton (The Eternal Daughter)

Best Supporting Performance – Paul Mescal (All of Us Strangers)
Ritu Arya (Polite Society)
Jamie Bell (All of Us Strangers)
Samuel Bottomley (How to Have Sex)
Alexandra Burke (Pretty Red Dress)
Amir El-Masry (In Camera)
Clair Foy (All of Us Strangers)
Alia Shawkat (Drift)
Shaun Thomas (How to Have Sex)
Katherine Waterston (The End We Start From)

Best Joint Lead Performance – Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, George MacKay (Femme)
Lola Campbell, Harris Dickinson (Scrapper)
David Jonsson, Vivian Oparah (Rye Lane)

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) sponsored by BBC Film – Savanah Leaf (Earth Mama)
Raine Allen-Miller (Rye Lane)
Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping (Femme)
Holly Manning Walker (How to Have Sex)
Charlotte Regan (Scrapper)

Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios – Theo Barrowclough (Scrapper)
Georgia Goggin (Pretty Red Dress)
Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo (Rye Lane)
Gannesh Rajah (If the Streets Were on Fire)
Chi Thai (Raging Grace)

Breakthrough Performance sponsored by Netflix – Vivian Oparah (Rye Lane)
Le’Shantey Bonsu (Girl)
Lola Campbell (Scrapper)
Priya Kansara (Polite Society)
Mia McKenna-Bruce (How to Have Sex)

Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4 – Nida Manzoor (Polite Society)
Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia (Rye Lane)
Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping (Femme)
Molly Manning Walker (How to Have Sex)
Charlotte Regan (Scrapper)

Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary – Chloe Abrahams (The Taste of Mango)
Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn (Another Baby)
Ella Glendining (Is There Anybody Out There?)
Alice Russell (If the Streets Were on Fire)
Christopher Sharp (Bobi Wine: The People’s President)

The Raindance Maverick Award – If the Streets Were on Fire
Is There Anybody Out There?
Name Me Lawand
Raging Grace
Red Herring

Best Feature Documentary sponsored by Intermission Film – If the Streets Were on Fire
Another Body
Bobi Wine: The People’s President
Lyra
Occupied City

Best British Short Film – Festival of Slaps
Christopher At Sea
Lions
Muna
The Talent

Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight – Isabella Odoffin (How to Have Sex) 
Shaheen Baig (Scrapper)
Kharmel Cochrane (Rye Lane)
Kahleen Crawford (All of Us Strangers)
Salome Oggenfuss, Geraldine Barón, Abby Harri (Earth Mama)

Best Cinematography sponsored by Harbor & Kodak – Jamie D. Ramsay (All of Us Strangers)
Olan Collardy (Rye Lane)
Suzie Lavelle (The End We Start From)
Molly Manning Walker (Scrapper)
James Rhodes (Femme)

Best Costume Design – Buki Ebiesuwa (Femme)
George Buxton (How to Have Sex)
Oliver Cronk (Scrapper)
Cynthia Lawrence-John (Rye Lane)
PC Williams (The End We Start From)

Best Editing – Jonathan Alberts (All of Us Strangers) 
Victoria Boydell (Rye Lane)
Paul Carlin (Bobi Wine: The People’s President)
Avdhesh Mohla (High & Low – John Galliano)
Arttu Salmi (The End We Start From)

Best Effects – Jonathan Gales, Richard Baker (The Kitchen)
Paddy Eason (Polite Society)
Theodor Flo-Groeneboom (The End We Start From)

Best Music Supervision – Connie Farr (All of Us Strangers)
Ciara Elwis (Femme)
David Fish (Rye Lane)

Best Make-Up & Hair Design sponsored by The Wall Group – Marie Deehan (Femme)
Zoe Clare Brown (All of Us Strangers)
Claire Carter (Polite Society)
Natasha Lawes (How to Have Sex)
Bianca Simone Scott (Rye Lane)

Best Original Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing Group – Kwes (Rye Lane)
Adam Janota Bzowski (Femme)
Patrick Jonsson (Scrapper)
Anna Meredith (The End We Start From)
Ré Olunuga (Girl)

Best Production Design sponsored by ATC & Broadsword – Nathan Parker (The Kitchen)
Laura Ellis Cricks (The End We Start From)
Sarah Finlay (All of Us Strangers)
Elena Muntoni (Scrapper)
Anna Rhodes (Rye Lane)

Best Sound supported by Halo – Mark Jenkin (Enys Men)
Scrapper
How to Have Sex
All of Us Strangers
The End We Start From

Per BIFA.

The European Film Academy has revealed its nominees for the 36th European Film Awards (EFAs), with Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest and Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall being celebrated across most categories.

Justine Triet’s Cannes Palme d’Or-winning thriller, Anatomy of a Fall, is nominated across four categories: European Film, Directing, Lead Actress (Sandra Hüller), Screenwriting. Glazer’s The Zone of Interest has been nominated across the five leading categories: European Film, Directing, Lead Actress (Sandra Hüller), Lead Actor (Christian Friedel), Screenwriting.

British actors Josh O’Connor and Mia McKenna-Bruce were nominated in the acting categories, with the former playing the lead role in Alice Rohrwacher’s drama La Chimera and the latter being the focus of Molly Manning Walker’s acclaimed debut How to Have Sex (itself nominated for 13 British Independent Film Awards).

Aki Kaurismäki’s Finnish drama Fallen Leaves was also nominated across all five eligible categories announced.

The 2023 European Film Awards will take place live from Berlin, Germany on 9th December 2023.

Here is the full list of 2023 European Film Awards nominees:

European Film
Anatomy of a Fall
Fallen Leaves
Green Border
Me Captain
The Zone of Interest

European Young Audience Award
Longing for the World
One in a Million
Scrapper

European Discovery – Prix Fipresci
20,000 Species of Bees
How to Have Sex
La Palisiada
Safe Place
The Quiet Migration
Vincent Must Die

European Documentary
Apolonia, Apolonia
Four Daughters
Motherland
On the Adamant
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

European Animated Feature Film
A Greyhound of a Girl
Chicken for Linda!
Robot Dreams
The Amazing Maurice
White Plastic Sky

European Short Film
27
Aqueronte
Daydreaming So Vividly About Our Spanish Holidays
Flores Del Otro Patio
Hardly Working

European Director
Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall)
Aki Kaurismäki (Fallen Leaves)
Agnieszka Holland (Green Border)
Matteo Garrone (Me Captain)
Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest)

European Actress
Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall)
Eka Chavleishvili (Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry)
Alma Pöysti (Fallen Leaves)
Mia McKenna-Bruce (How to Have Sex)
Leonie Benesch (The Teachers’ Lounge)
Sandra Hüller (The Zone of Interest)

European Actor
Thomas Schubert (Afire)
Jussi Vatanen (Fallen Leaves)
Josh O’Connor (La Chimera)
Mads Mikkelsen (The Promised Land)
Christian Friedel (The Zone of Interest)

European Screenwriter
Justine Triet, Arthur Harari (Anatomy of a Fall)
Aki Kaurismäki (Fallen Leaves)
Gabriela Lazarkiewicz-Sieczko, Maciej Pisuk Agnieszka Holland (Green Border)
Johannes Duncker, Ilker Çatak (The Teachers’ Lounge)
Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest)

The British Independent Film Awards announced on 2nd November 2023 the nominees for their latest annual awards show, with debut features Rye Lane and Scrapper leading the list of nominated films.

Announced via an event hosted by Susan Wokoma and Morfydd Clark at One Hundred Shoreditch, London, the nominees for what BIFA consider to be the most outstanding British independent films of 2023 were revealed.

Overall, 26 British feature films were included, with Raine Allen Miller’s Rye Lane earning 16 nominations and Charlotte Regan’s Scrapper earning 14. Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers, starring Paul Mescal, Andrew Scott, Claire Foy and Jamie Bell, also earned 14 nominations, with Molly Manning Walker’s How to Have Sex earning 13 in total. Other success stories were Femme (11 nominations) and The End We Start From (9 nominations).

Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall was nominated for Best International Feature Film, as was festival favourite Past Lives, while heavyweights Tilda Swinton, Andrew Scott and Jodie Comer are among those nominated in the Best Lead Performance category.

The nominees for the 2023 British Independent Film Awards are as follows:

Best British Independent Film
All of Us Strangers
Femme
How to Have Sex
Rye Lane
Scrapper

Best International Independent Film sponsored by Champagne Taittinger
Anatomy of a Fall
Fallen Leaves
Fremont
Monster
Past Lives

Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema
Raine Allen-Miller (Rye Lane)
Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping (Femme)
Andrew Haigh (All of Us Strangers)
Molly Manning Walker (How to Have Sex)
Charlotte Regan (Scrapper)

Best Screenplay sponsored by Apple Original Films
Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia (Rye Lane)
Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping (Femme)
Andrew Haigh (All of Us Strangers)
Molly Manning Walker (How to Have Sex)
Charlotte Regan (Scrapper)

Best Lead Performance
Jodie Comer (The End We Start From)
Mia McKenna-Bruce (How to Have Sex)
Tia Nomore (Earth Mama)
Nabhaan Rizwan (In Camera)
Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers)
Tilda Swinton (The Eternal Daughter)

Best Supporting Performance
Ritu Arya (Polite Society)
Jamie Bell (All of Us Strangers)
Samuel Bottomley (How to Have Sex)
Alexandra Burke (Pretty Red Dress)
Amir El-Masry (In Camera)
Clair Foy (All of Us Strangers)
Paul Mescal (All of Us Strangers)
Alia Shawkat (Drift)
Shaun Thomas (How to Have Sex)
Katherine Waterston (The End We Start From)

Best Joint Lead Performance
Lola Campbell, Harris Dickinson (Scrapper)
David Jonsson, Vivian Oparah (Rye Lane)
Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, George MacKay (Femme)

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) sponsored by BBC Film
Raine Allen-Miller (Rye Lane)
Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping (Femme)
Savanah Leaf (Earth Mama)
Holly Manning Walker (How to Have Sex)
Charlotte Regan (Scrapper)

Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios
Theo Barrowclough (Scrapper)
Georgia Goggin (Pretty Red Dress)
Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo (Rye Lane)
Gannesh Rajah (If the Streets Were on Fire)
Chi Thai (Raging Grace)

Breakthrough Performance sponsored by Netflix
Le’Shantey Bonsu (Girl)
Lola Campbell (Scrapper)
Priya Kansara (Polite Society)
Mia McKenna-Bruce (How to Have Sex)
Vivian Oparah (Rye Lane)

Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4
Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia (Rye Lane)
Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping (Femme)
Molly Manning Walker (How to Have Sex)
Nida Manzoor (Polite Society)
Charlotte Regan (Scrapper)

Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary
Chloe Abrahams (The Taste of Mango)
Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn (Another Baby)
Ella Glendining (Is There Anybody Out There?)
Alice Russell (If the Streets Were on Fire)
Christopher Sharp (Bobi Wine: The People’s President)

The Raindance Maverick Award
If the Streets Were on Fire
Is There Anybody Out There?
Name Me Lawand
Raging Grace
Red Herring

Best Feature Documentary sponsored by Intermission Film
Another Body
Bobi Wine: The People’s President
If the Streets Were on Fire
Lyra
Occupied City

Best British Short Film
Christopher At Sea
Festival of Slaps
Lions
Muna
The Talent

Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight 
Shaheen Baig (Scrapper)
Kharmel Cochrane (Rye Lane)
Kahleen Crawford (All of Us Strangers)
Isabella Odoffin (How to Have Sex)
Salome Oggenfuss, Geraldine Barón, Abby Harri (Earth Mama)

Best Cinematography sponsored by Harbor & Kodak
Olan Collardy (Rye Lane)
Suzie Lavelle (The End We Start From)
Molly Manning Walker (Scrapper)
Jamie D. Ramsay (All of Us Strangers)
James Rhodes (Femme)

Best Costume Design
George Buxton (How to Have Sex)
Oliver Cronk (Scrapper)
Buki Ebiesuwa (Femme)
Cynthia Lawrence-John (Rye Lane)
PC Williams (The End We Start From)

Best Editing 
Jonathan Alberts (All of Us Strangers)
Victoria Boydell (Rye Lane)
Paul Carlin (Bobi Wine: The People’s President)
Avdhesh Mohla (High & Low – John Galliano)
Arttu Salmi (The End We Start From)

Best Effects
Paddy Eason (Polite Society)
Theodor Flo-Groeneboom (The End We Start From)
Jonathan Gales, Richard Baker (The Kitchen)

Best Music Supervision
Ciara Elwis (Femme)
Connie Farr (All of Us Strangers)
David Fish (Rye Lane)

Best Make-Up & Hair Design sponsored by The Wall Group
Zoe Clare Brown (All of Us Strangers)
Claire Carter (Polite Society)
Marie Deehan (Femme)
Natasha Lawes (How to Have Sex)
Bianca Simone Scott (Rye Lane)

Best Original Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing Group
Adam Janota Bzowski (Femme)
Patrick Jonsson (Scrapper)
Kwes (Rye Lane)
Anna Meredith (The End We Start From)
Ré Olunuga (Girl)

Best Production Design sponsored by ATC & Broadsword
Laura Ellis Cricks (The End We Start From)
Sarah Finlay (All of Us Strangers)
Elena Muntoni (Scrapper)
Nathan Parker (The Kitchen)
Anna Rhodes (Rye Lane)

Best Sound supported by Halo
Scrapper
How to Have Sex
All of Us Strangers
Enys Men
The End We Start From

Over the course of nearly one hundred years, more than 500 films have been nominated for the Academy’s highest honour, the award for Best Picture, and in 2023 ten films have joined the likes of Casablanca, West Side Story, The Godfather, The Silence of the Lambs and Parasite as having their names etched into history as being among the greatest films of their time. The candidates this year range from traditional Oscar dramas to $200million-plus CGI blockbusters, darkly funny ruminations on the existentialism of our time to outright class parody aimed at the super rich.

In this edition of Ranked from The Film Magazine, we’re looking at all ten Best Picture nominees at the 95th Academy Awards (2023) and judging which can be considered the most rich and diverse, interesting and challenging, eye-opening and uplifting, to judge each from worst to best. These are the 2023 Oscars Best Picture Nominees Ranked.

Follow @thefilmagazine on Twitter.

10. Avatar: The Way of Water

Avatar: The Way of Water Review

Avatar: The Way of Water has earned praise (and Oscars nominations) for its visual effects, the techniques employed being form-shaping and at times even revolutionary, some of the thousands of digitally constructed shots offering sights we have simply never seen before. But for all of its technical wizardry and aspiration to offer the best elements of the blockbuster formula, Avatar: The Way of Water is all sauce and no meat; a lot of effort to tell a contrived and contradictory tale.

Way of Water’s basic and dated screenplay focusing on outdated tropes (such as the damsel in distress, proving manhood through violence, restoration of the father figure), make for a story that is simply formulaic. It isn’t rich, challenging, or even interesting. Technical elements, such as the score, are heavy-handed at best, invasive and distracting at worst, whilst writer-director-producer James Cameron’s quick-zoom directorial trope is archaic, the film’s colour palette awash with greys, and its dialogue so bad it’s almost amateur.

As an entry into the Best Picture canon, The Way of Water is an outlier. Its nomination was likely cemented by a combination of Disney campaign money, James Cameron’s own sway within the Academy owing to his forty years of success, and the technical category voters who likely voted to celebrate the film for its at-times masterful technical achievements, but a Movie of the Year it is not.

Recommended for you: 2022 Oscars Best Picture Nominees Ranked

9. Triangle of Sadness

Triangle of Sadness Review

Only three films have ever won the Cannes Palme d’Or and Oscars Best Picture: The Lost Weekend (1945), Marty (1965) and Parasite (2019). Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness could become the fourth having already made history as one of only a dozen or so Palme d’Or winners to receive a Best Picture nomination.

Unlike Östlund’s previous Cannes triumph The Square (2017), which was nominated for Foreign Language Feature at the Oscars in 2018 but not nominated in any other category, Triangle of Sadness fails to land its in-your-face allegorical approach. It’s a highly intelligent movie, written within the Östlund formula of partnering shocking set pieces with quiet shifts in power dynamics, but it’s an Eat the Rich film that feels like it was written by a rich man; a take on classism written by someone unaffected by it.

There are moments of artistic triumph scattered throughout, both in terms of what’s on the page and the technical mastery that at times brings it vividly to life, and Triangle of Sadness no doubt excels in its use of filmmaking language as a tool for narrative progression, enforcing character, switching the points of tension. It’s even a timely film, given that it aims squarely at the billionaire class in the midst of the world’s post-pandemic redistribution of wealth to the super-rich and the environmental ramifications of so few hoarding so much. But it all never quite lands, Triangle of Sadness coming across like an interesting thought experiment rather than a biting satire. Parasite did it better.

On 18 February 2023, the Directors Guild of America hosted the 75th rendition of its annual awards show in Los Angeles. Presented by Judd Apatow and introduced by Lesli Linka Glatter, the ceremony brought various sectors of the American film and television industries together to celebrate directorial achievements from 2022.

Historically, the director-driven ceremony has found itself dwarfed in popularity by the Academy Awards, whose 95th instalment will take place on March 13 2023. However, the DGAs remain a prestigious ceremony that have often predicted the big winners of its Academy counterpart. 

This year’s ceremony includes a few meaningful winners. In the stacked list for Theatrical Feature Film, Everything Everywhere All at Once’s The Daniels came out on top, beating Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick), Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin), Todd Field (Tár), and Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans). As well as being newcomers to the DGA Awards, the Daniels are notably distinct in their win as dual-directors.

Following her sweeping victories at the British Independent Film Awards, Charlotte Wells has continued in a similar vein, winning Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Theatrical Film for Aftersun.  Establishing itself as a firm critical favourite, Aftersun has the potential to enjoy similar success in future ceremonies, including the Oscars, where it holds various nominations. 

Another critical darling has arisen within the documentary genre, with Fire of Love’s Sara Dosa awarded Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary. Distributed by National Geographic, the French-Canadian production follows two daring volcanologists, Katia and Maurice Krafft. With its awe-inspiring subject matter and gorgeous archival footage, Fire of Love appears to be a standout within its genre category, with DGA awards success continuing this trend.  

Beyond cinema, the Awards ceremony has historically branched out and comprised a variety of industries, mediums, and recognitions.

The comprehensive list of winners at the 75th Directors Guild of America Awards (2023):

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film – Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick)
Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)
Todd Field (Tár)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Theatrical Film – Charlotte Wells (Aftersun)
Alice Diop (Saint Omer)
John Patton Ford (Emily the Criminal)
Audrey Diwan (Happening)
Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović – Murina

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary – Sara Dosa (Fire of Love)
Matthew Heineman (Retrograde)
Laura Poitras (All the Beauty and the Bloodshed)
Daniel Roher (Navalny)
Shaunak Sen (All That Breathes)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series – Sam Levinson (Euphoria) for “Stand Still Like a Hummingbird”
Jason Bateman (Ozark) for “A Hard Way To Go” 
Vince Gilligan (Better Call Saul) for “Waterworks” 
Aoife McArdle (Severance) for “Hide and Seek”
Ben Stiller (Severance) for “The We We Are” 

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series – Bill Hader (Barry) for “710N”
Tim Burton (Wednesday) for “Wednesday’s Child is Full of Woe” (Netflix)
Amy Sherman-Palladino (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) for “How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?”
Christopher Storer (The Bear) for “Review”
Mike White (The White Lotus) for “BYG” 

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Limited Series – Helen Shaver (Station Eleven) for “Who’s There”
Eric Appel (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story) 
Deborah Chow (Obi-Wan Kenobi)
Jeremy Podeswa (Station Eleven) for “Unbroken Circle”
Tom Verica (Inventing Anna) for “The Devil Wore Anna” 

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Liz Patrick (Saturday Night Live) for “Jack Harlow”
Paul G. Casey (Real Time with Bill Maher) for “#2010”
Jim Hoskinson (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) for “#1333”
David Paul Meyer (The Daily Show with Trevor Noah) for “Brandi Carlile Discusses Her New Deluxe Album and Performs ‘You and Me on the Rock'”
Paul Pennolino (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver) for “Afghanistan”

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials – Glenn Weiss for The 75th Annual Tony Awards
Ian Berger (The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents) for “Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse – Hungary for Democracy” 
Hamish Hamilton for “Super Bowl LVI halftime show”
James Merryman for “Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter”
Marcus Raboy for “Mark Twain Prize 2022: Celebrating Jon Stewart”

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs – Ben Simms (Running Wild with Bear Grylls) for “Florence Pugh in the Volcanic Rainforests of Costa Rica”
Joseph Guidry (The Big Brunch) for “Carb Loading Brunch”
Carrie Havel (The Go-Big Show) for “Only One Can Win”
Rich Kim (Lego Masters) for “Jurass-brick World” 
Michael Shea (FBOY Island) for “Do You Like Cats?” (HBO Max)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs – Anne Renton (Best Foot Forward) for “Halloween” 
Tim Federle (Better Nate Than Ever) 
Bonnie Hunt (Amber Brown) for “I, Amber Brown”
Dean Israelite (Are You Afraid of the Dark?) for “The Tale of Room 13”
Michael Lembeck (Snow Day)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials – Kim Gehrig for Apple’s “Accessibility” and “Run Baby Run”
Juan Cabral for John Lewis & Partners‘ “For All Life’s Moments” and Apple’s “Share the Joy”
Craig Gillespie for Apple’s “Hard Knocks”, Jimmy John’s’ “Problem”, and Nissan’s “Thrill Driver”
David Shane for Apple’s “Detectives”, ITVX’s “Smile”, and Procter & Gamble’s “Traffic Stop”
Ivan Zachariáš for Apple’s “Data Auction” and Upwork’s “This Is How We Work Now”

Lifetime Achievement Award in Television 
Robert Fishman

Frank Capra Achievement Award 
Mark Hansson

Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award 
Valdez Flagg

For more awards season coverage, follow @thefilmagazine on Twitter and Instagram.

Written by Kyle Boulton

You can support Kyle Boulton in the following places:

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The winners of the 76th EE BAFTA Film Awards (2023) were announced from the Southbank Centre in London, England on Sunday 19th February, with All Quiet on the Western Front and The Banshees of Inisherin taking home the evening’s major awards.

In a ceremony presented to those live in attendance by BAFTA-nominated actor Richard E. Grant, and co-hosted by beloved British television presenter Allison Hammond, a total of twenty awards were handed to what the British Academy of Film and Television Arts decided were the greatest feats in filmmaking from 2022.

All Quiet on the Western Front beat early favourite and British/Irish film The Banshees of Inisherin to the Best Film and Best Director awards, earning recognition in seven categories also including Film Not In the English Language and Adapted Screenplay. The Banshees of Inisherin, meanwhile, was recognised as the Outstanding British Film, earning further recognition in the Supporting Actor and Original Screenplay categories.

The ceremony itself was presented at a fairly fast pace, the broadcast of the awards beginning later than the ceremony itself and using its tape delay to catch up to live proceedings for the last three awards: Actor, Actress, Best Film.

Richard E. Grant was endearing in his duty as host, offering laughs here and there, his most memorable moment coming whilst choking up at the In Memoriam portion of the ceremony. Live musical performances were provided by BAFTA-winning actress Ariana DeBose (West Side Story), who performed a medley in tribute to empowered women on screen, and British musician Little Simz, whose performance of “Heart on Fire” has already been widely praised.

Iconic costume designer Sandy Powell (Gangs of New York, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Favourite) was honoured with the British Academy of Film and Television’s annual BAFTA Fellowship, an award handed to those whose careers have been immensely impactful to the British film industry. Her acceptance speech, championing those in the film industry beyond the glitz and glamour of the on-screen roles, was of admirable intent.

In the only award of the night chosen by the public, Emily star Emma Mackey won the EE BAFTA Rising Star award, the actress earning the public’s favour over fellow ‘Sex Education’ actress Aimee Lou Wood (Living), Good Luck to You, Leo Grande actor Daryl McCormack, Naomi Ackie and Sheila Atim.

The full list of winners for the 76th BAFTA Film Awards (2023):

Best Film – All Quiet On the Western Front
The Banshees of Inisherin
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Tár

Outstanding British Film – The Banshees of Inisherin
Aftersun
Brian and Charles
Empire of Light
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Living
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical
See How They Run
The Swimmers
The Wonder

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer – Charlotte Wells (Aftersun)
George Oakley, Hélène Sifre (Blue Jean)
Marie Lidén (Electric Malady)
Katy Brand (Good Luck To You, Leo Grande)
Maia Kenworthy (Rebellion)

Film Not In the English Language – All Quiet On the Western Front
Argentina, 1985
Corsage
Decision To Leave
The Quiet Girl

Documentary – Navalny
All That Breathes
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Fire of Love
Moonage Daydream

Animated Film – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish
Turning Red

Director – Edward Berger (All Quiet On the Western Front)
Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Park Chan-Wook (Decision To Leave)
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once)
Todd Field (Tár)
Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Woman King)

Original Screenplay – Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Tony Kushner, Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)
Todd Field (Tár)
Ruben Östlund (Triangle of Sadness)

Adapted Screenplay – Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, Ian Stokell (All Quiet On the Western Front)
Kazuo Ishiguro (Living)
Colm Bairéad (The Quiet Girl)
Rebecca Lenkiewicz (She Said)
Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale)

Leading Actress – Cate Blanchett (Tár)
Viola Davis (The Woman King)
Danielle Deadwyler (Till)
Ana De Armas (Blonde)
Emma Thompson (Good Luck To You, Leo Grande)
Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Leading Actor – Austin Butler (Elvis)
Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Brendan Fraser (The Whale)
Daryl McCormack (Good Luck To You, Leo Grande)
Paul Mescal (Aftersun)
Bill Nighy (Living)

Supporting Actress – Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
Hong Chau (The Whale)
Dolly De Leon (Triangle of Sadness)
Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All At Once)
Carey Mulligan (She Said)

Supporting Actor – Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once)
Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse)
Albrecht Schuch (All Quiet On the Western Front)
Michael Ward (Empire of Light)

Casting – Nikki Barrett, Denise Chamlan (Elvis)
Lucy Pardee (Aftersun)
Simone Bär (All Quiet On the Western Front)
Sarah Halley Finn (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Pauline Hansson (Triangle of Sadness)

Cinematography – James Friend (All Quiet On the Western Front)
Greig Fraser (The Batman)
Mandy Walker (Elvis)
Roger Deakins (Empire of Light)
Claudio Miranda (Top Gun: Maverick)

Editing – Paul Rogers (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Sven Budelmann (All Quiet On the Western Front)
Mikkel E. G. Nielsen (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Jonathan Redmond, Matt Villa (Elvis)
Eddie Hamilton (Top Gun: Maverick)

Costume Design – Catherine Martin (Elvis)
Lisy Christi (All Quiet On the Western Front)
J.R. Hawbaker, Albert Wolsky (Amsterdam)
Mary Zophres (Babylon)
Jenny Beavan (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris)

Make Up & Hair – Elvis
All Quiet On the Western Front
The Batman
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical
The Whale

Production Design – Babylon
All Quiet On the Western Front
The Batman
Elvis
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Original Score – Volker Bertelmann (All Quiet On the Western Front)
Justin Hurwitz (Babylon)
Carter Burwell (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Son Lux (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Alexandre Desplat (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio)

Sound – All Quiet On the Western Front
Avatar: The Way of Water
Elvis
Tár
Top Gun: Maverick

Special Visual Effects – Avatar: The Way of Water
All Quiet On the Western Front
The Batman
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Top Gun: Maverick

British Short Animation – The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse
Middle Watch
Your Mountain Is Waiting

British Short Film – An Irish Goodbye
The Ballad of Olive Morris
Bazigaga
Bus Girl
A Drifting Up

EE Rising Star – Emma Mackey
Aimee Lou Wood
Daryl McCormack
Naomi Ackie
Sheila Atim

BAFTA Fellowship – Sandy Powell

The Sea Beast (2022)
Director: Chris Williams
Screenwriters: Chris Williams, Nell Benjamin
Starring: Karl Urban, Zaris-Angel Hator, Jared Harris, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Dan Stevens

It’s no surprise that The Sea Beast has been Netflix’s most successful animation to date, or that it has been given the Oscar nod for Best Animated Feature. It is the classic combination of adventure, humour, a smart-alec kid, a reluctant adult, animal sidekick and a heart-warming lesson to learn.

Director and writer Chris Williams wrote the wildly popular Walt Disney Animation Moana, and directed the underrated Big Hero 6. Echoes of these stories can be found in The Sea Beast. There’s even a very large crab.

Like Moana, The Sea Beast begins with a story of a terrible monster as a group of wide-eyed children listen intently. Maisie (Zaris-Angel Hator) lives in a home for hunter orphans – a completely normal thing to exist in a world where sea beasts roam freely under the waves, reigning terror over a completely innocent mankind. Maisie is nothing but proud of the job her parents had, of the part they played in this terrible war. And she has big plans to follow in their footsteps.

Once she is told off for telling scary stories at bedtime, Maisie (Zaris-Angel Hator) is warned that she’d better not try escaping again. But, like all the best child heroes, Maisie will not do as she’s told.

The cheerful ‘see you tomorrow!’ from one of her bunk mates that follows her out of the window is a pretty good indicator of her escape success rate thus far.

We are then transported to the hunter ship, The Inevitable, manned by the formidable Captain Crow (Jared Harris), first mate Sarah Sharpe (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) and second-in-command Jacob Holland (Karl Urban) as they fight a jade green Prickleback. The animation of the beasts is very smart. They are impressively huge, and obviously intent on destroying the ship, but their lack of scales, overly sharp teeth or drool (even inside the nostrils are smooth and goo-free) means they are fully appropriate for children and not too scary. Not as scary as Te Kā anyhow. And it’s always impressive how animators make their voiceless animals so expressive, so easy to read.

After a brief meeting, Maisie (Zaris-Angel Hator) adopts Jacob (Karl Urban), or ‘Captain Someday’ as she christens him, as her guardian and stows aboard his ship. At first, Captain Crow (Jared Harris) is friendly albeit gruff, warming to Maisie once he realises she has hunter blood in her veins. ‘I like this kid, she’s all vinegar’.

However, it doesn’t take long before his true nature is revealed. Crow (Jared Harris) is the single-visioned, meat-headed metaphor for those who distrust change. As Jacob (Karl Urban) and Maisie are flung overboard and their bond grows stronger, it is down to Jacob to act as the bridge between Maisie (Zaris-Angel Hator) and the adults who are damaging her future (and very much her past) for their own gain.

The relationship between Maisie and Jacob is as wholesome and tender as you would expect from a creative who previously worked with Baymax.

The film morphs into something more akin to How to Train Your Dragon as Maisie and the Red Bluster, ‘Red’, become friends and share an understanding the adults around her cannot fathom. As the beast becomes more friend than monster, Jacob and Maisie start to question this so-called war they have been conditioned to fight in.

The parallels to the real world are not subtle. The humans of this world have treated the sea beasts terribly, the scars can be seen along Red’s back as the hunters’ spears protrude. Jacob says slightly shamefaced, ‘We kill ‘em lass. We don’t study ‘em’. But there are some really interesting and complex ideas in this film, like the fallibility of history and how it changes based on who controls the stories we tell each other. Or how it is children who often end up in the firing line due to the actions of adults. It isn’t as simple as good versus bad. Red has caused as much damage as the humans have. But boy oh boy you aren’t half on her side.

Another echo from Williams’ previous films is the representation of difference on show. This is obviously something important to Williams. Men and women are equally beautiful, bald, ugly, strong. Women are admirals and rulers, sea beasts, scared and fierce in equal measure. The screen is filled with able and disabled bodies, different races and ages, and it isn’t referenced once. It’s a breath of fresh air.

While The Sea Beast isn’t breaking new ground it is a great film; the overuse of me instead of my (we get it, you’re sort of pirates) aside. It’s funny, exciting, beautiful, and treats those familiar kids’ films tropes with respect and admiration. It is a hopeful film too: maybe the inevitable isn’t the demise of sea beasts but the fact humans will eventually figure it out to do the right thing.

Score: 19/24