Related
UPDATE : Alfonso Cuaron won Best Director forRoma .
Last Updated : February 21 , 2019
With theOscarsright around the corner , it ’s time to take a flavor at who has the just chances of win Best Director . In one of the most broad candid awards wash in recent memory , this is one of the few categories that seems to have been decided well ahead of time , and it could be a game - changing evolution for the film manufacture as a whole . Roma , a Netflix release , lead the pack with 10 nominations , admit Best Director for Alfonso Cuarón . He ’s picked up several trophies already , but a winnings at the Oscars would go a long room to legitimize Netflix as a player on the awards electrical circuit with labor likeMartin Scorsese’sThe IrishmanandSpike Lee’sDa 5 Bloodson the way .
But nothing is locked in Harlan F. Stone yet , and there are four other very deserving filmmakers who could hear their name shout on Oscar Sunday - include one image who ’s arguably long overdue for an Academy Award of his own . Here , we run down the five nominees for Best Director in 2019 , ranking them in lodge of most likely to least likely to take home the gold .
Related : Screen Rant ’s 2019 Best Actor Predictions
Alfonso Cuarón - Roma
Cuarón is a premature winner of this honor for his work on the breathtakingGravity , which excellently made a journalist believe it was actually film in space . WithRoma , the acclaimed filmmaker stay to hone his trade , render another potent and immersive story- with a personal touch to iron boot . Drawing from retentiveness of his own younker , Cuarón crafted an internal , semi - autobiographic facial expression at a Mexican family live in the 1970s , elevating what was already a technically telling film ( the beautiful filming and top pass legal innovation made it a must - see in theaters for those living in certain markets ) to something excited and heartfelt . Critics and Netflix viewers were left spellbound by what Cuarón achieve .
Cuarón surge out front of his competition by advance all of the top Oscar precursors this year . He received Best Director prize at the Golden Globes , critic ' Choice Awards ( whereRomaalso make headway Best Picture ) , and the all - important Directors Guild Awards . It ’s impossible to overstate how vital the DGA was for Cuarón ’s Oscar chances . This decennium , the only time the DGA did n’t align with the Oscars was 2012 , when the Academy infamously snubbed Ben Affleck forArgo . Cuarón is securely in the driver ’s bum and if he does n’t take home his second life history Best Directing Oscar , it ’ll be one of the night ’s biggest surprises .
Spike Lee - BlacKkKlansman
Cuarón is so far in the lead of the plurality mightily now , all the other nominee essentially will just have to be contented with attend the ceremony . However , if there ’s a unaired competitor in Best Director , it ’s most likely Lee . The polarizing and brilliant auteur behind play likeDo the properly ThingandMalcolmXdelivered his best film in years withBlacKkKlansman . A period piece that function some well-timed and hard - off social comment , the movie is a Spike Lee joint through and through , as the veteran steersman deftly poise the revulsion and wit of the real - life position and made something that was entertaining and harrowing at the same clip . BlacKkKlansmanis truly a motion-picture show only Lee could have made , and the remnant results evidence that .
Related : What BlacKkKlansman ’s Ending Really Means
Lee finally scored his first ever Best Director nomination this year , which was the latest of several other accolades he ’s picked up this season . He also take in nod from the Golden Globes , Critics ' Choice Awards , and DGA . Unfortunately for Lee , he lost all of those to Cuarón , which put him at a distinct disadvantage in attentiveness to the Oscars . If Lee has anything working in his favour , it ’s the overdue story ( Cuarón gain in 2013 ) . For many , he ’s an influential director with an telling filmography that includes several notable cut . Lee does have an Honorary Award from the Academy , but no competitive Academy Award . But if he ’s to win something this year , his good dead reckoning is arguably in the Best adapt Screenplay Category . Perhaps he ’ll get enough support from the directors branch to upset Cuarón , but it ’s unlikely .
Yorgos Lanthimos - The Favourite
Anyone familiar with Lanthimos ' filmography knows he ’s an acquired taste that does n’t appeal to everyone ( which is n’t always the best recipe for success at the Oscars ) , but he has his fair portion of lover in the Academy . Lanthimos was previously constitute for Best Original Screenplay forThe Lobster , which was the first step towards a greater reception . Period costume dramaThe Favouritekept scoring the accolade , and ended up tyingRomafor the most Oscar nods of the year with 10 . Spinning delicious narration out of the flow costume dramatic play , Lanthimos crafted a tale of love and powerfulness that evidence too great to stand firm .
Besides Cuarón be given aside with everything , Lanthimos ' odds of gain ground the Oscar are low because he was snubbed by some of the major precursors . While he did pluck up a Best Director nod at the Critics ' Choice Awards , he was n’t recognized by the Golden Globes or DGA . He ranks this mellow on our list because his film clearly has far-flung financial support from the Academy and was one of their - ahem - favourite of the yr . However , it ’d be extremely strange for Lanthimos to leap ahead of the bunch and get the award .
Adam McKay - Vice
Few would have predicted the man behind Will Ferrell vehiclesTalladega NightsandStep Brotherswould make a vocation pivot to becoming an honour ducky , but that ’s exactly what happen . McKay establish himself as a critical darling back in 2015 , whenThe Big Shortwon the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay and was propose for Best Picture and Best Director . He ’s back in the fold this year withVice , a biopic revolve about around former U.S. vice chairperson Dick Cheney . Much of the conversation around the film coveredChristian Bale ’s transformative performancein the lead character , but McKay also did some fantastic work .
relate : Vice ’s end Completely miss The decimal point
Vicereceived the most polarizing reviews of any awards rival outside ofBohemian Rhapsody , but awards voters are quite fond of what McKay turn out . He gain nomination from the Golden Globes , Critics ' Choice , and DGA , but like all of the non - Cuarón entry here , he did n’t win any of them . Plus , Vice’sdivisiveness plausibly lower McKay ’s chances , since his bluff and outlandish originative alternative did n’t work for everyone . If he keeps up this current flight , perhaps he will acquire a Best Director Oscar one day , but this is n’t his year . McKay is also up for Best Original Screenplay , so maybe he ’ll have good luck there . That family is much more blanket candid .
Pawel Pawlikowski - Cold War
Everyone think Bradley Cooper was a shoo - in for directingA Star is yield , but one of the bad shockers of nominations morning was Pawlikowski getting in forCold War . The Polish drama was always one of the expected campaigner for Best Foreign Language Film , but few felt it had what it take to snap this lineup . Unlike Cuarón onRoma , Pawlikowski did n’t get much recognition during the precursors . His most prominent nomination prior to the Academy was at the Critics ' Choice Awards . Pawlikowski was ignored by the Golden Globes and DGA .
The situation is interchangeable toRoma’spair of acting nomination . It ’s great they ’re in the field , but their deficiency of succeeder with the precursors makes it difficult to envision a scenario in which they gain . Of of course , this class ’s proven anything is potential , but Pawlikowski seems like the long shot out of all the nominees .
More:Screen Rant’s 2019 Best Actress Predictions
