Our 2016 Oscar Predictions

The Oscars are due to be announced on 28 February. Here are our predictions of who will take out this year’s top awards. (You can view the full list of nominees


Nina Kenwood, Marketing manager


Best Picture: Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Cate Blanchett, Carol
Best Actor in a Leading Role: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Best Animated Feature Film: Inside Out
Best Directing: Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller)
Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay): The Big Short (Charles Randolph, Adam McKay)
Best Writing (Original Screenplay): Inside Out (Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley)


I will be very happy if Mad Max wins Best Picture. It was a spectacular, delightfully bonkers movie that deserves to win. If Leonardo wins Best Actor in a Leading Role, as I predict he will, I will be less happy. I wish Michael B Jordan was nominated (he was great in Creed), and I would never begrudge Bryan Cranston or Matt Damon a win, but really, I’d take anyone over Leo. I did not enjoy him in The Revenant, and I’ve found his campaigning for the Oscar tiring. (Although, I do acknowledge, that he’s been very, very good in other films, so if I think of it as a reward for his entire body of work, I’ll be a little less irritated.)

I have read – and loved – the novel Carol, but I am yet to see the movie. However, going off the trailer alone, I am on board with Cate Blanchett winning, which I think she will, as Oscar voters love her (although Brie Larson made me cry just watching the trailer for Room, so I’d be very happy to see her win too). I would love to see Sylvester Stallone win for his role in Creed – he was really lovely and affecting in the role, and completely without ego. By all reports, Kate Winslet probably shouldn’t win supporting actress, but I truly believe the Oscar voters love Winslet so much, they’ll vote for her, deserving or not.

Finally, Inside Out is a deserving shoe-in for Best Animated Feature Film, and I think the Oscars voters will go for The Big Short in Adapted Screenplay, which I will be pleased about, because I think it was a really fun, energetic movie with a great script.


Jemima Bucknell, Online fulfilment manager


Best Picture: Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Cate Blanchett, Carol
Best Actor in a Leading Role: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Rooney Mara, Carol
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Best Animated Feature Film: Inside Out
Best Cinematography: The Revenant (Emmanuel Lubezki)
Best Costume Design: Carol (Sandy Powell)
Best Directing: Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller)
Best Documentary (Feature): Amy
Best Music (Original Score): The Hateful Eight (Ennio Morricone)
Best Music (Original Song): ‘Earned It’ from Fifty Shades Of Grey (The Weeknd, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville, Stephan Moccio)
Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Room (Emma Donoghue)
Best Writing (Original Screenplay): Straight Outta Compton (Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff, S Leigh Savidge) or Ex Machina (Alex Garland)


Mad Max: Fury Road would make a great Best Picture winner as it’s the best all-rounder in the nominations (though Carol actually deserves to win more…). I also hope George Miller takes home the Best Directing award for his work on this film; I’m really looking forward to seeing what he does next.

Leonardo DiCaprio has essentially already won Best Actor in a Leading Role (if anyone else was nominated, I haven’t heard about it) and I predict Mark Rylance will win Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Bridge of Spies has been underrepresented at this year’s Oscars and it’s actually a great film. And I’d love Rooney Mara to receive Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She is just the best in Carol.

I think Emma Donoghue will win the award for Adapted Screenplay, while the award for Original Screenplay will either go to Straight Outta Compton or Ex Machina – both these films were more successful and made more money than was expected of them. I think Inside Out will be named Best Animated Feature Film, thought I won’t be too surprised if Charlie Kaufman’s Anomalisa nabs this one instead.

Finally… Legendary composer Ennio Morricone (who knew he was still alive even?) will win for the original score he made for Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight and Carol will take home Best Costume Design (seriously, this film deserves to win everything!).


Stella Charls, Marketing and events coordinatory


Best Picture: The Revenant
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Brie Larson, Room
Best Actor in a Leading Role: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Rooney Mara, Carol
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Best Animated Feature Film: Anomalisa
Best Cinematography: The Revenant (Emmanuel Lubezki)
Best Costume Design: The Danish Girl (Paco Delgado)
Best Directing: The Revenant (Alejandro G. Iñárritu)
Best Documentary (Feature): The Look of Silence
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Production Design: Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay): The Big Short (Charles Randolph, Adam McKay)
Best Writing (Original Screenplay): Spotlight (Josh Singer, Tom McCarthy)


I’m completely miffed at some of the choices made by the (incredibly conservative) Academy this year. They only nominated eight films for Best Picture, despite the fact they can nominate up to ten, leaving out any work crafted by people of colour (such as Straight Outta Compton), or LGBTQ+ love stories (such as Carol or The Danish Girl). I personally think Mad Max deserves the win here (although I haven’t seen Spotlight yet and suspect I’ll probably be torn between both when I do). Aussie director George Miller completely reinvented what an action film can be – it’s poetic, feminist and utterly original.

However, Best Picture usually goes to the film that picked up the most nominations, so with 12 under its belt, I think The Revenant might take this one. If not, my next guess is The Big Short. The critics are pretty unanimous in thinking there’ll be a split between Best Directing and Best Picture this year, and are tipping Iñárritu, which would mean back-to-back Oscars wins for the Mexican director after Birdman last year.

When it comes to Best Actor in a Leading Role, after four nominations and no win, I think it’s fairly safe to say that this is Leonardo DiCaprio’s year. In the Best Actress in a Leading Role category, I’m with Brie Larson hands down. She’s an absolute knock out in Room. While the film itself is saccharine at times, and performances from child actors can polarise audiences, Larson’s turn as Ma is a tour-de-force, incredible to watch.

Stallone is the firm favourite for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in Creed, especially after he lost the Oscar in 1976 for playing Rocky the first time. The issue I have with the nominees in the Best Actress in a Supporting Role category is that neither Rooney Mara (Carol) or Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) are giving so-called ‘supporting’ performances, having as much time on screen as their respective co-stars Cate Blanchett and Eddie Redmayne. This puts the rest of the nominees at a pretty hefty disadvantage. I’m tipping Mara to take this one, as I adored her restrained performance in Carol (she won the Best Actress prize at Cannes). I also thought Vikander was brilliant in Ex Machina last year.

Even though Inside Out will take home Best Animated Feature Film, I’m 100% behind Charlie Kaufman’s eccentric and existential Anomalisa, which, while disturbing, seems to completely reinvent what animation can be. And while I don’t think it will win, I’m stoked that Sicario picked up so many nominations, including Best Cinematography. This film is utterly compelling, and visually brilliant; it’s deserving of more attention than it’s received so far.

Finally, I thought that Amy and The Look of Silence were both exceptional documentaries, but while Amy is a masterful example of how found footage can be used to tell an intimate story, I feel like Joshua Oppenheimer deserves every win for what he’s achieved, and The Look of Silence was my stand-out film of 2015.

Cover image for Mad Max - Fury Road (DVD)

Mad Max - Fury Road (DVD)

George Miller

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