Oscars 2019: 13 Biggest Acting Snubs

It is a genuine tragedy that Barry Jenkins' sublimely crafted If Beale Street Could Talk did not unanimously sweep the Oscar nominations. From Jenkins direction, to James Laxton's cinematography, to the sound mixing and editing, everything about this film is mindbogglingly great. But the greatest credit of all goes to the film's two leads; KiKi Layne as Tish and Stephan James as Fonny.

The narrative of the film puts these two characters through the absolute ringer, constantly imposing new seemingly-insurmountable struggles upon them. In such a narrative, it is all too easy to lose sight of what was the heart of the story in the first place, their love story, and instead get bogged down in the glumness of it all.

Jenkins' film instead consistently chooses to focus on the joy and happiness of these two characters, and thanks to its non-linear structure and Layne and James' performances, this choice works ridiculously well.

For proof as to why these two both deserved some Oscar love, one need look no further than the handful of scenes they share divided by the glass partitions of prison. Specifically, the scene in which Fonny briefly loses his cool and snaps on Tish, saying he doesn't know how much longer he can survive in prison. In a scene with so few words, the anger within Fonny is palpable and the sadness and subsequent grief that consumes Tish is powerfully present without her having to say a single line. It's brutally effective and clearly demonstrates why these two deserved noms.