'One Battle After Another' leads the charge for Golden Globes

Hollywood's awards season kicks into high gear on Sunday at the Golden Globes gala, with the politically charged "One Battle After Another" expected to solidify its status as the film to beat, two months ahead of the Oscars.

Paul Thomas Anderson's screwball thriller, which centers on an aging revolutionary (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his teenage daughter (Chase Infiniti), is a rollicking ride featuring violent leftist radicals, immigration raids and white supremacists.

At a time when the United States is deeply polarized, many critics and pundits have hailed the film as capturing the moment.

With nine nominations, "One Battle" appears a lock to take home the prize for best comedy/musical film.

"We're seeing a real sweep and a juggernaut in that movie," Deadline's awards columnist and chief critic Pete Hammond told AFP, recalling that so far, it has won every best picture prize so far this season.

DiCaprio will vie for best actor with Timothee Chalamet, who boosted his Oscars campaign with a win at the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday for his star turn in "Marty Supreme" as an ambitious 1950s table tennis player.

"Leonardo DiCaprio would be tremendously helped by actually winning at the Globes. That's the ideal moment to stop Timothee Chalamet's momentum before the Oscars," Hammond said.

Teyana Taylor, who plays an unapologetically bold leftist revolutionary, could fuel a sweep for "One Battle" if she can pick up the prize for best supporting actress.

But in her way are Amy Madigan for her wacky villainous turn in "Weapons" and Ariana Grande for her portrayal of Glinda in the blockbuster "Wicked: For Good."

- 'Sinners' versus 'Hamnet' -

The Golden Globes offer separate awards for dramas and comedies/musicals -- widening the field of stars who could walk the red carpet, and fueling the suspense.

"Sinners," Ryan Coogler's searing period horror film about the segregated South of the 1930s, is expected to be the toughest competition for "One Battle" at the Oscars.

But at the Globes, they are in separate categories.

"Sinners" surprised moviegoers with its eclectic mix of vampires, politics, race relations and blues music.

It is the frontrunner for the best drama film Globe, against rival "Hamnet," which stars Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare and Jessie Buckley as his grief-stricken wife, as the two cope with the death of their young son.

"Sentimental Value," the Norwegian family dramedy starring Stellan Skarsgard, earned a strong eight nominations, is also in the running.

A "Sinners" victory "would be an indication of a real change," Hammond says, noting that in the past, voters "were never actually that drawn to Black stories."

Buckley is the favorite for best drama actress honors.

The Golden Globes went through a crisis period, following a Los Angeles Times expose in 2021 that showed that the awards' voting body -- the Hollywood Foreign Press Association -- had no Black members.

Now under new ownership, and with the HFPA disbanded, a wider net of overseas critics has been brought in to pick the winners.

"That makes it much more difficult for pundits to predict," Hammond explained.

"These new voters are less keen on movies that make a lot of money at the box office, and more interested in international movies that are highly praised in Cannes and Venice."

- Prize for Iran's Panahi? -

One of those movies is Brazilian thriller "The Secret Agent," and lead actor Wagner Moura -- already a winner at the Cannes Film Festival -- is favored to win best drama actor honors over "Sinners" star Michael B. Jordan, according to awards prediction site Gold Derby.

Skarsgard, a Hollywood stalwart, is poised to take home the award for best supporting actor.

"The Secret Agent" and "Sentimental Value" will vie for the Globe for best non-English language film with "It Was Just An Accident" from Iranian director Jafar Panahi.

"The Globes may want to make a statement and give him this prize," Hammond said of Panahi,  who has been sentenced in absentia to one year in prison over "propaganda activities" against the Islamic republic.

The Globes also honor the best in television, with HBO's black comedy anthology "The White Lotus," sci-fi office thriller "Severance" and searing teen murder saga "Adolescence" leading the contenders.

Comedian Nikki Glaser will return as host of the gala in Beverly Hills.

List of key nominees

Here are the nominees in key categories for the 83rd Golden Globe Awards, which will be handed out on Sunday.

"One Battle After Another" leads all contenders with nine nods, followed by "Sentimental Value" with eight and "Sinners" with seven.

- FILM -

Best film, drama

"Frankenstein"

"Hamnet"

"It Was Just An Accident"

"The Secret Agent"

"Sentimental Value"

"Sinners"

Best film, musical or comedy

"Blue Moon"

"Bugonia"

"Marty Supreme"

"No Other Choice"

"Nouvelle Vague"

"One Battle After Another"

Best male actor, drama

Joel Edgerton, "Train Dreams"

Oscar Isaac, "Frankenstein"

Dwayne Johnson, "The Smashing Machine"

Michael B. Jordan, "Sinners"

Wagner Moura, "The Secret Agent"

Jeremy Allen White, "Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere"

Best female actor, drama

Jessie Buckley, "Hamnet"

Jennifer Lawrence, "Die, My Love"

Renate Reinsve, "Sentimental Value"

Julia Roberts, "After the Hunt"

Tessa Thompson, "Hedda"

Eva Victor, "Sorry, Baby"

Best male actor, musical or comedy

Timothee Chalamet, "Marty Supreme"

George Clooney, "Jay Kelly"

Leonardo DiCaprio, "One Battle After Another"

Ethan Hawke, "Blue Moon"

Lee Byung-hun, "No Other Choice"

Jesse Plemons, "Bugonia"

Best female actor, musical or comedy

Rose Byrne, "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You"

Cynthia Erivo, "Wicked: For Good"

Kate Hudson, "Song Sung Blue"

Chase Infiniti, "One Battle After Another"

Amanda Seyfried, "The Testament of Ann Lee"

Emma Stone, "Bugonia"

Best supporting actor

Benicio Del Toro, "One Battle After Another"

Jacob Elordi, "Frankenstein"

Paul Mescal, "Hamnet"

Sean Penn, "One Battle After Another"

Adam Sandler, "Jay Kelly"

Stellan Skarsgard, "Sentimental Value"

Best supporting actress

Emily Blunt, "The Smashing Machine"

Elle Fanning, "Sentimental Value"

Ariana Grande, "Wicked: For Good"

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, "Sentimental Value"

Amy Madigan, "Weapons"

Teyana Taylor, "One Battle After Another"

Best director

Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another"

Ryan Coogler, "Sinners"

Guillermo Del Toro, "Frankenstein"

Jafar Panahi, "It Was Just An Accident"

Joachim Trier, "Sentimental Value"

Chloe Zhao, "Hamnet"

Best non-English language film

"It Was Just An Accident" (France)

"No Other Choice" (South Korea)

"The Secret Agent" (Brazil)

"Sentimental Value" (Norway)

"Sirat" (Spain)

"The Voice of Hind Rajab" (Tunisia)

Best cinematic and box office achievement:

"Avatar: Fire and Ash"

"F1"

"KPop Demon Hunters"

"Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning"

"Sinners"

"Weapons"

"Wicked: For Good"

"Zootopia 2"

Best animated feature

"Arco"

"Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba -- Infinity Castle"

"Elio"

"KPop Demon Hunters"

"Little Amelie or the Character of Rain"

"Zootopia 2"

- TELEVISION -

Best drama series

"The Diplomat"

"The Pitt"

"Pluribus"

"Severance"

"Slow Horses"

"The White Lotus"

Best male actor, drama

Sterling K. Brown, "Paradise"

Diego Luna, "Andor"

Gary Oldman, "Slow Horses"

Mark Ruffalo, "Task"

Adam Scott, "Severance"

Noah Wyle, "The Pitt"

Best female actor, drama

Kathy Bates, "Matlock"

Britt Lower, "Severance"

Helen Mirren, "Mobland"

Bella Ramsey, "The Last of Us"

Keri Russell, "The Diplomat"

Rhea Seehorn, "Pluribus"

Best musical or comedy series

"Abbott Elementary"

"The Bear"

"Hacks"

"Nobody Wants This"

"Only Murders in the Building"

"The Studio"

Best male actor, musical or comedy

Adam Brody, "Nobody Wants This"

Steve Martin, "Only Murders in the Building"

Glen Powell, "Chad Powers"

Seth Rogen, "The Studio"

Martin Short, "Only Murders in the Building"

Jeremy Allen White, "The Bear"

Best female actor, musical or comedy

Kristen Bell, "Nobody Wants This"

Ayo Edebiri, "The Bear"

Selena Gomez, "Only Murders in the Building"

Natasha Lyonne, "Poker Face"

Jenna Ortega, "Wednesday"

Jean Smart, "Hacks"

Best limited series or TV movie

"Adolescence"

"All Her Fault"

"The Beast in Me"

"Black Mirror"

"Dying for Sex"

"The Girlfriend"

Best male actor, limited series or TV movie

Jacob Elordi, "The Narrow Road to the Deep North"

Paul Giamatti, "Black Mirror"

Stephen Graham, "Adolescence"

Charlie Hunnam, "Monster: The Ed Gein Story"

Jude Law, "Black Rabbit"

Matthew Rhys, "The Beast in Me"

Best female actor, limited series or TV movie

Claire Danes, "The Beast in Me"

Rashida Jones, "Black Mirror"

Amanda Seyfried, "Long Bright River"

Sarah Snook, "All Her Fault"

Michelle Williams, "Dying for Sex"

Robin Wright, "The Girlfriend"

- FILMS WITH MOST NOMINATIONS -

"One Battle After Another" - 9

"Sentimental Value" - 8

"Sinners" - 7

"Hamnet" - 6

"Frankenstein" - 5

"Wicked: For Good" - 5