Best Director: Ranking Every Nominee of the 97th Academy Awards
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
This article is a part of the Academy Awards Project, where Andreas Babiolakis from Films Fatale ranks every Oscar nominee from worst to best, and goes through every category once a day five days a week.
It’s that time of year, folks! We are kicking off the 97th Academy Awards celebrations with my annual tradition of going through each and every category of nominations, detailing the biggest snubs who deserve their flowers, and ranking every nominee from worst to best. Note: this isn’t a ranking of the nominated films in each category, but, rather, a ranking of the nominees themselves (the best film of the year can have the weakest nominee for Best Supporting Actress and a so-so film could shine in that category, for instance). At the end of this experiment, I will then go through every single nominated film — shorts included — and create a massive ranking based on the quality of the films themselves. Finally, I will also predict the winners of each category; seeing as the awards season is a fluid one that is forever changing, I will release a final list of predictions with my updated guesses right before the 97th Academy Awards take place. I look forward to this experiment every year, and I hope you will be a part of this Oscars-mania with me. There will be kudos. There will be rants. There will be impossible choices being made throughout this project. Let us begin.
For those of you who have partaken in this journey with me before, you may be confused as to why I am kicking things off with the Best Director category, which I usually save closer towards the end of the project. With the Southern Californian wildfires delaying the Academy Awards voting and announcement of nominations (and the actual ceremony date has remained the same: March 2nd), that cuts down on the time we have to go through each category, effectively finishing days before the ceremony, Furthermore, I try to have categories that are similar to one another within the same span of time. Considering the random choice of having the nominees announced on a Thursday, there aren’t any categories that work well on their own outside of Best Director; I didn’t want to split up the creative, technical, acting, writing, or production categories. Besides, there’s no harm in kicking off with a bang. Therefore, let us proceed with the Best Director category.
This year’s batch of directors is quite solid. There are three filmmakers who I think deserve to be here, with an obvious snub that I will get to shortly. Ranking these nominees is quite simple, in my eyes. What also helps is the amount of genre work here, which elevates the duties of these filmmakers in creative ways. I’m looking at the directors who made the most daring risks (with payoffs, of course), the artists who shaped the language of cinema the most effectively and coherently (even if in unorthodox ways), and the visionaries who not only know how to make a great film but have proven that they are capable of pushing the medium.
Here are your nominees for Best Director ranked from worst to best.
Biggest Snub: Nickel Boys-RaMell Ross
Firstly, I am glad that Nickel Boys wasn’t completely shut out of the 97th Academy Awards, and it even garnered a Best Picture nod. Having said that, two nominations for this magnificent film are not enough. You will be seeing this film pop up in my “Biggest Snubs” selections quite a bit, and we start with the egregious oversight of missing out on nominating RaMell Ross for his spellbinding work. Not only did he pull off a film that is told almost entirely via a first-person perspective (with time hopping and other challenges to boot), he crafted a masterful piece of cinematic art that crushed me with its ambition, astonished me with its beauty, and pulverized me with its pain. Nickel Boys is the kind of film that will be studied in universities in the years to come simply because of its artistic and technical spectacle, and that has to come from a master of their craft. In this case, that is RaMell Ross. For those of you who are upset that Denis Villeneuve continues to be shafted by the Oscars, you are correct but I believe his dues will come for the third part of the Dune series, so be patient, dear readers. His Oppenheimer moment will happen, if you catch my drift with the Christopher Nolan parallels.
5. A Complete Unknown-James Mangold
Without question, the weakest nominee here is James Mangold who — sure — delivers one of his stronger films with A Complete Unknown (at least it isn’t entirely driven by convention like some of his other projects), but there are enough things I would pick away from the film, which indicates to me that he is a weaker candidate here. Firstly, A Complete Unknown has tonal inconsistencies. Its musical performances are easily the standout sequences of the film, and for these moments alone, you can argue that Mangold is showcasing his capabilities as a director (and I would agree). Having said that, the film’s handling of narrative feels off; from a lack of properly fleshing out some characters, to an ending that doesn’t feel like it successfully brings us to any closure or even an ambiguous, lingering idea we can gnaw on. I also wouldn’t call much of this film daring or refreshing either. It’s quite good at being standard. That makes Mangold a good director. I could easily think of many directors who could qualify more as a “best” candidate, like the aforementioned Ross, Walter Salles (I’m Still Here), Payal Kapadia (All We Imagine as Light), Robert Eggers (Nosferatu), and even criminally overlooked names and films like Alex Garland with Civil War. I could keep going, but I think you get the point. Mangold does a strong-enough job. I don’t know why he wound up being a guaranteed name here.
4. Emilia Pérez-Jacques Audiard
I know there is a huge wave of malice sent towards the musical-comedy-drama Emilia Pérez, but just expect to see this film pop up a lot; it was nominated an astounding thirteen times this year. While I — a rare supporter of this film, it seems — think Jacques Audiard makes many gambles with this film that do work, I cannot pretend that every single choice does; from the one song that truly stands out like a sore thumb (that gender reassignment jingle that makes everyone do a triple take the first time they hear it) to the occasional sequence that lasts a little too long. Having said that, I do think the film bounces between its genres incredibly well, and its bombastic style — while clearly not for everyone — feels like a machine-generated drive that envelops me. I know there is an outcry regarding how off base Audiard is with his he depicts Mexican culture. While I have been to Mexico multiple times, I honestly don’t know enough to have a horse in this race. I am just judging the film with how it resonates with me. Maybe one day, I will look back and feel differently: the same scorn many of you feel. For now, I see a genre-bending exercise that works, and a complex story and idea that wowed and moved me.
3. The Substance-Coralie Fargeat
We have now reached the three nominees who I feel were rightfully guaranteed to be in this category. First off, there’s Coralie Fargeat who seemingly pulled off a miracle with The Substance. Consider this. The Academy rarely honours horror films, and when they do, they are usually thrillers or are infused with other genres. The Substance is easily one of the most disturbing horror films the Oscars have ever honoured. Secondly, like Emilia Pérez, The Substance is a genre bender (an absurd satire/black comedy as well as a body horror event), but I think Fargeat pulls off her mission with even better results (I know people complain about the ending of this film, but I couldn’t disagree more; I wouldn’t change a thing about this film). I’ll never forget the premiere I attended, seeing some people roar with laughter at the very sequences that other patrons had to leave the theatre to recover from. Most importantly — despite how daring, disturbing, unhinged, and raw this film is — The Substance manages to work with almost all kinds of audience. This is a statement made by a filmmaker who knows what the fuck she is doing. Not even the Academy — who usually writes off all of the above — can ignore the quality and brilliance of The Substance.
2. Anora-Sean Baker
Sean Baker’s work will seem far less flashy compared to some of the more elaborately imaginative titles he finds himself amongst, but that doesn’t take away from how strong he is at his craft. It’s about time that he is recognized by the Academy Awards, and that time has come due to what I think is his greatest film: Anora. This is a fairy tale that works as a triptych. The elation that stems from the first third brings us into the wonderland that the titular sex worker finds herself within: an escape from the hell of a life she has had up until this point. Then comes act two, which is as tense as films get: an experiment in shifting anxieties and expectations. To not lose any momentum or interest for the entire time is quite a spectacle to behold. Finally, that devastating final act — the weight of acceptance and regret — sends what was once a vibe of elation crashing down to Earth like a meteor. Anora is a wild ride. It is equal parts hilarious, nerve-wracking, and heartbreaking. Baker has outdone himself with this one, and I am thrilled that he is getting his dues as one of America’s more fascinating contemporary namesakes.
1. The Brutalist-Brady Corbet
There’s nothing like seeing unorthodoxy used to rewrite the cinematic language. I feel like actor-turned-director Brady Corbet has attempted to do this multiple times already. I have said that Vox Lux is an underrated gamble for years. I still believe this. However, to see the rule-breaking and ambition of Vox Lux being dialed up to eleven thousand with the epic, massive film The Brutalist was one of the great treats of 2024 in film for me. Firstly, the film is as maximalist as it is minimalist, and feeling the dichotomy between its size and fine detailing had my jaw on the floor. Secondly, it almost feels like each and every single sequence has a different experiment (ideas that I’ve either never seen before or feel like aren’t explored enough), and I’d argue that the vast majority of them not only work but they astounded me again and again. Cinema needs artists like Corbet who are willing to push the limit of the medium, especially — like the case for The Brutalist — when they succeed. To watch The Brutalist is to experience a director walking a tightrope that is on fire whilst a hundred feet above the ground and actually see him succeed with getting to the other side (while remaining interesting for nearly four hours). Corbert’s work with The Brutalist is nothing short of exemplary in my eyes.
Who I Want To Win: I would be fine with my top three names (Brady Corbet, Sean Baker, and Coralie Fargeat) winning this award, simply because they are all fantastic and I adore the films they put out this past year.
Who I Think Will Win: This is likely a guaranteed win at this point: Brady Corbet. Corbert has swept up many awards for The Brutalist — even though this is an atypical release that is challenging to most viewers (especially the many who are watching this film just because of its buzz and have never ventured into non-conventional works). The fact that Corbet has been a sure-fire winner at almost every awards ceremony that he has been a part of is undeniable. Unless something major happens (perhaps the discussions of the minimal use of AI being used in The Brutalist may garner some negative momentum), I don’t see anyone else beating Brady Corbet this year.
The Academy Awards Project will continue on Monday with another category: Best Supporting Actor. We’re going to rank every single nominee in every single category, Monday through Friday. You don’t want to miss it!
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.