2022 Oscar Predictions: PRODUCTION DESIGN and COSTUME DESIGN (November)

It’s an embarrassment of riches this year, the production design and costume design categories. Whether it’s taking us to faraway worlds, to gothic Scotland, to 1940s noir, 1950s Hollywood or 1990s England, the look of this year’s films whose visual designs transported us to those moments and let us get lost in them. It also makes for an incredibly competitive season.

Dune remains the ‘biggest’ film of the year in terms of scope and volume of design and it remains atop the list. The all-soundstage set design look of The Tragedy of Macbeth is a triumph that is impossible to ignore and I think the recreation of I Love Lucy (and much more) in Being the Ricardos is a real contender. Adam Stockhausen stands a good chance at double nominations as the production designer for both Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch and Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. I give the edge to The French Dispatch here for its hugely diverse vignette style pieces that are visually arresting and such crucial part of the film’s ambience and success.

Costume design often goes hand in hand with production design, especially for voters, and when the two are symbiotic in their storytelling you see the same films crossing over the two. As with PD, I think Dune and Macbeth will play strong with costume branch. It’s hard to imagine that the fashion of Cruella won’t be recognized as it’s the core of the film’s premise and we have plenty of examples of films about fashion nabbing a nod here (like 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada, 2009’s Coco Before Chanel and 2017’s Phantom Thread). You would think that House of Gucci should be a lock here, and indeed, Lady Gaga wears dozens of incredible outfits, but it’s far less about the fashion of Gucci than it is about the murder story behind it. It’s still a top contender and deserves a spot but we’ve also seen bizarre snubs happen here, like 1996’s Evita, which featured over 85 costume changes by star Madonna and didn’t make the cut.

I wonder if the allure of the 1970s in Licorice Pizza can make a dent here but I feel like design of the film is almost too naturalistic. Meaning, the production and costume design doesn’t draw attention to itself the way that other films do quite deliberately. Only one Paul Thomas Anderson film has earned a production design nom (There Will Be Blood) and only one has gotten in for costumes (the aforementioned Phantom Thread, which won). Nominations here for LP will show some serious love for the film.

Just seen this last week, Being the Ricardos, a glimpse inside a week in the creation of an episode of I Love Lucy from Aaron Sorkin and starring Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem, is a sumptuous treat that voters in the audience I was with went wild over.

Of the top contenders here only West Side Story, Nightmare Alley and The Matrix Resurrections have yet to be seen but the first two will be in the next two weeks, followed by Matrix soon after. At that point we’ll have a full picture of the visual splendor that these designs have to offer.

Here are my ranked 2022 Oscar predictions in Production Design and Costume Design for November 2021.

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Green – moves up ↑ Red – moves down ↓ Blue – new/re-entry ♦ Black – no movement ↔

1. Dune – Patrice Vermotte, Richard Roberts, Zsuzsanna Sipos (Warner Bros/HBO Max) ↔
2. The Tragedy of Macbeth – Stefan Dechant, Nancy Haigh (A24/Apple) ↔
3. Nightmare Alley – Tamara Deverell, Shane Vieau (Searchlight Pictures) ↔
4. The French Dispatch – Adam Stockhausen, Rena DeAngelo (Searchlight Pictures) ↔
5. Being the Ricardos – Jon Hutman, Ellen Brill (Amazon Studios) ↑
6. West Side Story – Adam Stockhausen, Rena DeAngelo (20th Century Studios) ↔
7. The Power of the Dog – Grant Major, Amber Richards (Netflix) ↓
8. Belfast – Jim Clay, Claire Nia Richards (Focus Features) ↓
9. Spencer – Guy Hendrix Dyas, Yesim Zolan (NEON) ↑
10. The Last Duel – Arthur Max, Judy Farr (20th Century Studios) ↔

Other contenders:
Cruella – Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton (Walt Disney)
Cyrano – Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer (MGM/UA)
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain – Suzie Davies, Charlotte Dirickx (Amazon Studios)
Eternals – Eve Stewart, Clint Wallace, Pancho Chamorro (Walt Disney/Marvel)
House of Gucci – Arthur Max, Letizia Santucci (MGM/UA) ↓
Last Night in Soho – Victoria Allwood, Emily Norris, Judy Farr (Focus Features)
Licorice Pizza – Florencia Martin, Ryan Watson (MGM/UA)
The Matrix Resurrections – Hugh Bateup, Peter Walpole, Lisa Brennan, Barbara Munch (Warner Bros/HBO Max)

COSTUME DESIGN

Green – moves up ↑ Red – moves down ↓ Blue – new/re-entry ♦ Black – no movement ↔

1. Dune – Jacqueline West (Warner Bros/HBO Max) ↔
2. Nightmare Alley – Luis Siqueira (Searchlight Pictures) ↔
3. Cruella – Jenny Beavan (Walt Disney) ↑
4. Spencer – Jacqueline Durran (NEON) ↑
5. The Tragedy of Macbeth – Mary Zophres (A24/Apple) ↔
6. House of Gucci – Janty Yates (MGM/UA) ↑
7. The French Dispatch – Milena Cananero (Searchlight Pictures) ↓
8. West Side Story – Paul Tazewell (20th Century Studios) ↔
9. Being the Ricardos – Susan Lyall (Amazon Studios) ↑
10. The Power of the Dog – Kirsty Cameron (Netflix) ↔

Other contenders:
Belfast – Charlotte Walter (Focus Features) ↓
Cyrano – Massimo Cantini Parrini (MGM/UA)
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain – Michael O’Connor (Amazon Studios)
The Eyes of Tammy Faye – Mitchell Travers (Searchlight Pictures)
The Green Knight – Malgosia Turzanska (A24)
The Last Duel – Janty Yates (20th Century Studios)
Licorice Pizza – Mark Bridges (MGM/UA)
The Matrix Resurrections – Lindsay Pugh (Warner Bros/HBO Max)