Oscars 2021 Results: All The Major Winners (And Who Should Have Really Won)

The idea of distributing the Oscars between multiple films may have been the reason The Father triumphed in Best Adapted Screenplay (alongside being a genuinely very moving and empathetic script). Seemingly gone are the days of films which swept up across all categories (famously Titanic and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King which both picked up 11 Oscars) as voters nowadays seem to want to share the Oscar love between films.

Predicted winner: The Father

Very early on it was quite clearly a two film race between The Father and Nomadland, with the grand theatrical roots of the former perhaps giving it an advantage. The Academy has only recognised two plays translated into films this century (Moonlight, and now The Father) so it seemed long overdue that they reward a theatrical adaptation again.

Rightful winner: Nomadland

While it almost seems unfair to give Nomadland another award (in addition to the plethora it had already received) this extraordinary story should have swept up another trophy for its sparse yet meaningful screenplay. Perhaps the naturalistic dialogue, which had an air of improvisation, hurt the film's chances of winning compared to the tightly written The Father but Chloé Zhao's script should have been rewarded.