Oscars 2018: Who Should Win Every Award (And Who Actually Will)

12. Production Design

Blade Runner 2049 Ryan Gosling
Warner Bros.

Nominees: Beauty And The Beast, Blade Runner 2049, Darkest Hour, Dunkirk, The Shape Of Water

Who Should Win

The Shape Of Water

It would've been easy to go for Blade Runner 2049 here (and there'll be zero complaints if that wins), but it does lose a couple of points for largely being built upon the original Blade Runner (and other sci-fi futures) along with being more a feat of cinematography and VFX. The Shape of Water brings a lush blend of late-50s/early-60s small-town Americana, B-movie monster trappings, and old-time romantic movie magic, all of which are combined together to give the movie its atmospheric period-fantasy mix that's unlike anything else we've really seen.

Who Will Win

The Shape Of Water

Both period and fantasy films tend to do well here, and that then goes double for movies that blend the two: the last ten years has seen the likes of Hugo, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and The Grand Budapest Hotel win here, while another del Toro movie, Pan's Labyrinth, picked up the award too. The blend of styles should go down very well with voters, and it took the award at the BAFTAs, Satellite Awards, and the Art Directors Guild Awards.

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NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.