On the back patio of Telluride’s Rustico Ristorante on a brisk Friday night, Netflix’s Oscar season was kicking into gear. The streamer all but blitzed the Rockies this year—hosting three separate events for three different films, and jetting talent overnight from Venice world premieres to their U.S. debuts—in preparation for a different kind of season than the one we saw in 2020. That is to say, with actual in-person awards campaigning.
First to arrive in Colorado was Paolo Sorrentino, director of the Oscar-winning The Great Beauty and his latest, deeply personal Naples-set film, The Hand of God. Launching with that title offers a glimpse into Netflix’s unique awards slate this year. The studio is coming off a season in which it pushed hard for broader, more commercial fare like The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, as well as David Fincher’s similarly big, if far less accessible, Mank. Following very strong nominations totals, the streamer underperformed on Oscars night: It didn’t win any of the big eight categories (picture, director, acting, screenplay), despite heavily favored nominees like the late Chadwick Boseman, and streamers overall took another backseat to relatively traditional players like Searchlight Pictures (Nomadland), Focus Features (Promising Young Woman), and Sony Classics (The Father)—surprising, perhaps, given the pandemic’s impact on viewing habits.
One suspects that, this cycle, Netflix is more effectively meeting the Oscars where they’re at right now. This fall the studio boasts an array of provocative arthouse possibilities that might’ve seemed a little less Academy-friendly a few years ago, but in the era of best-picture winners Moonlight, Parasite, and Nomadland could hit a new kind of sweet spot. (After all, the studio’s first-ever big contender was the Spanish-language Roma, for which Alfonso Cuarón won best director.) It’s also worth noting that more commercial possibilities for Netflix, including A-list ensemble pieces The Harder They Fall and Don’t Look Up, are coming down the pike.
Sorrentino’s The Hand of God may be a tough Academy sell beyond best international feature (assuming Italy selects it)—reviews are strong, but a few early detractors made themselves known out of Venice. But there’s a clear understanding that the Academy’s directing branch, particularly, is getting very global very fast. Given recent directing nominations for international auteurs Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round) and Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War), Sorrentino joins A Hero’s Asghar Farhadi and Parallel Mothers’s Pedro Almodóvar as a director working outside of the English language who might catch the Academy’s attention.
In any case, Netflix’s crown jewel, as it were, is Jane Campion. Outside of another Netflix film (more on that in a minute), The Power of the Dog is the best-reviewed contender out of Venice by a good amount, and in my eyes, an across-the-board Academy player, from picture to acting (Benedict Cumberbatch in lead, Kirsten Dunst and Kodi Smit-McPhee in supporting) to crafts (particularly, cinematography, editing, and score). I haven’t seen another title that covers all those bases yet, at least so assuredly.
There’s real pull in the narrative, too, for Campion—the second woman ever nominated for best director, who hasn’t made a movie in over a decade. Certainly the chatter was already starting at Netflix’s first dinner, per my chats with multiple strategists in attendance. To make matters more enticing, Campion was also on hand for a special Telluride tribute as part of Power’s U.S. premiere on Saturday evening, and it went over smashingly. “She’s an exceptional human being, and an extraordinary talent,” Cumberbatch said as he presented her with the prestigious Silver Medallion. “She takes you to places that you can only dream of.”
The next morning, I caught up with Campion at a starry gathering for Power as she mingled, high off the response to the film (and maybe the altitude), and she told me she was still taking the Telluride vibe in. It’s her first time here, and being able to share her film with an excited community has kept her smiling. The brunch flowed right into Netflix’s dinner for The Lost Daughter, which the studio seems higher on by the day. Indeed, reviews for Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut out of Venice were uniformly effusive, with star Olivia Colman emerging as a near-lock best-actress nominee (never mind that win a few years ago; just ask Frances McDormand) and strong screenplay chances as well. The film, adapted from Elena Ferrante’s novel, is a tough, uncompromising portrait of motherhood, helmed with a rare confidence for a first film.
All three directors were present at Telluride’s star-studded filmmaker reception on Saturday afternoon. Gyllenhaal had just gotten in from the Lido, and told me on the packed balcony that she and the Lost Daughter team “were on cloud nine” as raves rolled in while they flew to the U.S.
With Telluride back for the first time since the COVID-induced cancellation this year, there is much to celebrate— and Netflix’s strong presence amid this curated selection of fall films feels significant. If this is finally Netflix’s year for a true Oscar breakthrough, it’s not a bad place to start.
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