2024 Oscar Predictions: MAKEUP and HAIRSTYLING (October)

You don’t have to look too hard to see how some of the year’s most elaborate makeup and hair, whether it’s to appear seamless with its actors or to stand out, will find a way to the Makeup and Hairstyling shortlist on their way to a hopeful Oscar nomination.

The tried and true methods are represented; actors in prosthetics as they play real life people in the stories of their lives. Most notably this year is Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein in Maestro. Nosegate didn’t seem to take hold like some thought it would and as we’ve seen in the very recent past with Brendan Fraser, Jessica Chastain and Gary Oldman, this category can be the linchpin for its lead performer.

Not to be outdone, Best Actress contender Annette Bening as swimmer Diana Nyad in NYAD dons some elaborate makeup throughout and by the film’s end is virtually unrecognizable as she completes her waterlogged swim from Cuba to Florida. Both Maestro and NYAD are backed by Netflix.

Looking at the period contenders that earn a spot or spots on the shortlist we have Poor Things (which also occupies a fantasy slot), Napoleon and Chevalier. Among those deep in the sci-fi/fantasy realm are Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (the first got nominated in a field of three, the second made the shortlist), The Creator and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. One of the most-snubbed major franchises of all time when it comes to the Oscars, the only Hunger Games film to make noise here was 2013’s Catching Fire, which only made the shortlist.

The Oscar shortlists will be revealed on December 21, 2023. Makeup and Hairstyling nominating screening (the “bake-offs”) will take place on January 14, 2024. Oscar nominations will be announced on January 23 and the 96th Academy Awards will be held on March 10.

Here are my 2024 Oscar predictions for the 10-film shortlist in Makeup and Hairstyling for October 2023.

1. Maestro (Netflix)
2. Poor Things (Searchlight Pictures)
3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Walt Disney Pictures/Marvel Studios)
4. NYAD (Netflix)
5. Napoleon (Apple Original Films/Sony Pictures)
6. Barbie (Warner Bros)
7. Asteroid City (Focus Features)
8. Chevalier (Searchlight Pictures)
9. The Iron Claw (A24)
10. Golda (Bleecker Street)

Next up: The Color Purple (Warner Bros), The Creator (20th Century Studios), Ferrari (NEON), Oppenheimer (Universal Pictures), Wonka (Warner Bros)

Other contenders: Air (Amazon MGM Studios), BlackBerry (IFC Films), The Creator (20th Century Studios), Cassandro (Amazon Studios), Dicks: The Musical (A24), Dream Scenario (A24), Freud’s Last Session (Sony Pictures Classics), The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Lionsgate), Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple Original Films/Paramount Pictures), The Little Mermaid (Walt Disney Pictures), Priscilla (A24), Rustin (Netflix)

Photo: Jason McDonald/Netflix