Hey, Oscar Voters: Here Are Some Dark Horses You Might Want to Consider

From Tilda Swinton to Jeremy Pope to Zar Amir Ebrahimi, we offer longshots who are worthy of attention No images? [Click here]( ID=167008;size=700x180;setID=527264;uid={EMAIL}7197809;click=template_daily_awards_wrap_up [Daily Awards Wrap Up] January 9, 2023 [- - -] Hey, Oscar Voters: Here Are Some Dark Horses You Might Want to Consider From Tilda Swinton to Jeremy Pope to Zar Amir Ebrahimi, we offer longshots who are worthy of attention [- - -] By TheWrap Staff [Tilda Swinton - Jeremy Pope - Zar Amir Ebrahimi] “The Eternal Daughter” (A24), “The Inspection” (A24), “Holy Spider” (Utopia) With Oscar nomination voting beginning on Jan. 12, it’s not hard to figure out who the favorites are in most categories. ([Here’s one rundown](.) But for voters who want to look beyond the obvious picks – which should really mean all voters — TheWrap’s awards team would like to suggest a handful of our favorites that deserve a look before casting your ballots. There are plenty of other deserving candidates out there, too, but here are 14 of our picks. Emma Thompson, “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” As a widowed teacher seeking fulfillment of a different sort in her retirement years, Thompson deflects any possibility of cliché with her inimitable dexterity as she gives a performance for the ages—supple and moving, easily stacked up next to her many acclaimed roles of the last 30 years. Just because she’s one of the world’s greatest actors shouldn’t stop a movie-loving soul from jotting her name down on a ballot for one minute. —JASON CLARK Zar Amir Ebrahimi, “Holy Spider” In Ali Abbasi’s “Holy Spider,” it only takes a moment to understand what the character of Rahimi is made of. Played with steely defiance by Zar Amir Ebrahimi, the Iranian journalist stands in front of a disapproving hotel clerk who’s told her to cover her hair and snaps, “That’s none of your business.” Rahimi, who is investigating the murders of prostitutes in the holy Iranian city of Mashhad, confronts this ingrained misogyny over and over throughout the film — from the police, colleagues, clerics, the killer himself — and never lets it impede her, even when she is literally trembling with fear. It’s an unshowy, powerful performance that won Ebrahimi Best Actress at Cannes and has become even more meaningful as women across Iran continue to fearlessly fight for their rights. —MISSY SCHWARTZ Jennifer Lawrence, “Causeway” “Causeway” co-star Brian Tyree Henry has gotten most of the awards attention, probably because Best Actress is a brutally crowded category this year, but let’s take a moment to salute Jennifer Lawrence for the least movie-starry performance she’s given since “Winter’s Bone”—which is to say, since she became a movie star. Playing a soldier who’s recovering from physical injuries but still wracked with PTSD, she strips away all her natural charisma and gives us a wrenching performance that is all understatement. —STEVE POND ID=167008;size=300x250;setID=523257;uid={EMAIL}7197809;click=template_daily_awards_wrap_up Jeremy Pope, “The Inspection” “The Inspection” is about writer-director Elegance Bratton’s boot camp experience as a gay Marines recruit – not a subject lacking in dramatic conflict – but so much of the movie’s power comes from the quiet, internal, molecular-level-changes in actor Jeremy Pope’s face. In his first major film role, Pope doesn’t make the mistake of going too big. Framed in closeup, he avoids emotional clichés at every turn, using his eyes and his voice to convey small details of his character. —JOE McGOVERN Keke Palmer, “Nope” In Jordan Peele’s teasing, mysterious horror opus, the effortlessly funny and thrillingly alive Palmer delivers a fully realized yet refreshingly contradictory millennial creation, a role that in lesser hands could’ve just been a scary-movie version of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. This is a leading role, though, so don’t fall for the category fraud. —JC Dale Dickey and Wes Studi, “A Love Song” Max Walker-Silverman’s directorial debut is the masterfully subtle story of a pair of widowed childhood friends forging a tentative connection in the aftermath of loss, but above all it is a graceful showcase for the gifted character actors Dickey and Studi. Dickey received Gotham and Spirit Award nominations for her work, but it’s the interaction between her and Studi that can both warm your heart and break it.  —SP Samantha Morton, “She Said” In “She Said,” Samantha Morton appears in a single scene that lasts just eight minutes—every last second of which she fills with devastating pain. Playing former Miramax employee Zelda Perkins, Morton has decades of anguish simmering beneath an outward calm as she explains to New York Times journalist Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) how Harvey Weinstein assaulted her colleague and how, in trying to bring him to justice, she unintentionally became a part of a system that silenced his victims. “I felt completely broken,” she says. We believe every word. —MS Read the rest of the “Hey, Oscar Voters” column, including Joe McGovern’s defense of Tom Hanks in “Elvis,” [here](. 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