20 Predictions For This Oscar Season's Rotten Tomatoes Scores

Predicted Critical Consensus: "Led by a towering performance from Casey Affleck, Manchester By the Sea is an affectionate, deeply devastating drama that re-affirms Kenneth Lonergan's gift for absorbing, fully-felt family turmoil."

A small sample of reviews from the festival circuit are already pushing this one to the moon, with a 95% approval rating after 21 reviews.

Lonergan's first film, You Can Count On Me, meanwhile netted two Oscar nominations including one for his own screenplay, while his follow-up Margaret may have fared better awards-wise without colossal studio interference that resulted in the film being chopped to pieces and released years after it was actually filmed.

By most accounts Manchester is one of the biggest Oscar threats to emerge so far, and though it's early days yet, with the few reviews out so far almost universally praising it, it's got some major cred heading into the battle for the big gold guy.