Oscar nominations 2022: Netflix’s The Power of the Dog leads the pack

The frontrunner for this year’s Oscars is Netflix’s Western psychodrama The Power of the Dog, a nominee in 12 categories including Best Picture. Among a field of big hitters announced today there is also recognition for sci-fi blockbuster Dune (10 nominations), Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story (seven) and Belfast, Kenneth Branagh’s coming-of-age story (seven).

The Academy would love the 2022 awards to be a comeback story. Last year, a low-key, Covid-affected ceremony saw a dramatic fall-off in TV ratings. The hope is that the return of a grand bash filled with star names and box-office successes will help draw back public attention.

Among the Best Picture contenders, The Power of the Dog reached most of its audience through streaming. Some rivals such as Dune have pulled significant crowds into cinemas, but West Side Story delivered a flat commercial performance despite enthusiastic reviews. Other nominees include Belfast; King Richard, biopic of Richard Williams, father and coach of Venus and Serena; Japanese breakout hit Drive My Car and another Netflix title, comedy cause célèbre Don’t Look Up.

Jane Campion, nominated as Best Director for The Power of the Dog, was previously shortlisted in 1994 for The Piano. A victory at next month’s ceremony would make this the first time a woman took the prize two years running (Chloé Zhao having won in 2021 for Nomadland), yet Campion remains the only woman nominated in a category of five.

In the acting categories, more recognition for The Power of the Dog finds Benedict Cumberbatch nominated for Best Actor alongside bookies’ favourite Will Smith, up for his performance in King Richard. The leading contender for Best Actress remains Nicole Kidman, cast as Lucille Ball in biopic Being the Ricardos. The Power of the Dog features too in both supporting categories, with nominations for Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst.

Netflix will be hoping the 2022 Oscars make a good news story every bit as much as the Academy after last month’s dizzying fall in the price of its stock. Aside from Campion’s film, the streamer has four nominations for Don’t Look Up and a further two for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical tick, tick . . . BOOM!. Apple’s filmmaking arm takes three nominations each for The Tragedy of Macbeth and the poignant comedy-drama CODA (nominated for Best Picture).

Among the old-school studios, Warner Bros may see partial vindication in the many nominations of Dune after facing anger from leading film-makers over its policy of releasing films in cinemas and on its HBO Max streaming platform simultaneously. As a big box-office hit, the movie’s prominence may also stem criticism that the Oscars now mostly reward films little seen by audiences.

For the Academy, there will be further relief if it avoids a repeat of the controversies around diversity that have beset the awards in recent years. The next step will be to try to restore TV audiences and a general sense of cultural heft. In that respect, some planning detail is still needed. As the Oscars announced their nominations, it was still unknown who — if anyone — will actually host the ceremony on March 27.

The nominees in the four main awards categories are as follows: