Oscar Nominations 2024: 8 Ups & 9 Downs

4. May December Gets Just A Single Nomination

Todd Haynes' remarkable May December had a lot of hopeful fans praying for it to break through into major above-the-line categories, but alas, it ended up scoring just a single nomination overall for Best Original Screenplay.

While it was always going to struggle to break into Best Picture in particular, many expected that it would score Best Actress (Natalie Portman), Best Supporting Actress (Julianne Moore), and Best Supporting Actor (Charles Melton) nominations.

But all three actors ended up missing, perhaps a result of the film's generally polarising and strange nature, which may have worked better for critics than it did voters.

It's fair to assume that Portman's slot was taken by the decidedly less-acclaimed performance of Annette Bening (Nyad), while Moore was nudged out by both Jodie Foster (Nyad) and more disconcertingly, America Ferrera (Barbie).

As for Melton? Best Supporting Actor is a tight, strong category this year where Willem Dafoe (Poor Things) and Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers) also failed to make the cut, so at least he's in good company.