Oscars 2017: 20 Predicted Best Film Nominees Ranked Worst To Best
3. Manchester By The Sea
Kenneth Lonergan will inevitably attract significant Oscar attention in the Best Director category for what is undoubtedly his best film to date, even if the film itself is eventually overlooked for the top gong. He should also be joined at the winners table by Casey Affleck, if there's any justice in the world, who plays the centre of a shattering universe when he returns to his hometown to care his nephew after the sudden death of his brother (Kyle Chandler).
He is absolutely captivating as the uneasy care-giver, and on career best form, carrying the emotional devastation of the story in a way that makes it breathlessly irresistible at the same time as hauntingly sad. Michelle Williams too is terrific as his ex-wife in a much smaller role (as she inevitably always is).
It's heart-breaking and it touches well into grim territory, but the humanist messages and the surprising touches of humour are what make the story so enticing, and Affleck's performance as the hollow, isolated Lee is like a lesson in subtlety. It's a bruising performance, sure, because of the feelings it leaves, but it feels rewarding to have watched it by the end.