Oscars 2024: Who Should Win Every Award (And Who Actually Will)

The 2024 Oscars is stacked with phenomenal nominees. Diverse, occasionally surprising, almost always worthy of their recognition, the films, artists and actors honoured for the 96th Academy Awards ceremony have given us one of the strongest years in the Academy's recent history.

Most of the discussion this year has of course landed on two colossal blockbusters in Oppenheimer and Barbie, and whilst these two in particular will pick up many awards on the big night, the Academy has also shone some light on fantastical epics like Poor Things, war dramas such as The Zone of Interest, and even some comedies, such as The Holdovers and American Fiction.

And that's without getting into the various documentaries we've seen this year, each tackling various world issues with timely, affecting results.

This year has seen yet another Oscar nod for cinema greats John Williams and Thelma Schoonmaker, filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and Wim Wenders, and veteran actors finally earning their stripes, like Paul Giamatti, Jeffrey Wright, and a never-better Robert Downey Jr.

But who of these big names and their competition will take home the biggest awards of the night? And who actually deserves them? Let's dig in...

Nominees:

The ABCs of Book Banning

The Barber of Little Rock

Island in Between

The Last Repair Shop

Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó

For the most part, it's been a year for feel-good documentary shorts, each of this year's nominees giving some kind of hopeful outlook on the world despite occasionally emotional testimonies. 

The best might be Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó, a graceful portrait of family love documenting a touching friendship between two grandmothers, but don't expect it to beat frontrunner The Last Repair Shop, which serves as a beautiful look at community and the power of music with a wholesome, empathetic punch.

Who Will Win: The Last Repair Shop

Who Should Win: Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó