Golden Globes gala: ‘One Battle After Another’ emerges at the top

Hollywood’s awards season kicked 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.

Deadline’s awards columnist and chief critic Pete Hammond told AFP, it had 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.

Hammond commented, “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”.

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.”

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

“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.”

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.

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.

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”.