2022 Oscar Nominations: ‘The Power Of The Dog’, ‘Dune’ Lead The Pack While ‘Flee’ Makes History

This year’s Academy Awards nominations are a Hell of a lot more exciting than last year’s, when everything had been delayed due to the pandemic. It all works out for us now because those films were released in time to be nominated right now, and boy, did it lead to some surprising results.

Leading the way with a whopping 12 nominations is Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog, with nominations going to all of its top actors including Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, and, surprisingly, both Kodi Smit-McPhee and Jesse Plemons. It also made the cut for Best Picture and Campion for Best Director, both expected.

Closely behind was Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic, Dune, up for Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Visual Effects, Original Score, and more. And yet, somehow, it’s like the Academy forgot about Villeneuve himself as he was kept out of the Best Director category.

Becoming the first film to earn Oscar nominations for Best Director, Best International Feature, and Best Animated Feature is Flee, Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s incredible film about Afghan refugee Amin Nawabi. The film debuted at Sundance last year and has been buzzing ever since.

A few surprises? House of Gucci nearly got shut out, earning one nomination for Make-Up & Hairstyling and nothing for either Lady Gaga or Jared Leto. The surprising strength of Drive My Car, which came away with nominations for director Rysuke Hamaguchi, Best Picture, Best International Feature, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The same for Jessie Buckley who got in Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The Lost Daughter.

Full list of nominees is below.

Best Picture

Belfast

Coda

Don’t Look Up

Drive My Car

Dune

King Richard

Licorice Pizza

Nightmare Alley

The Power of the Dog

West Side Story

Best Director

Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)

Rysuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car)

Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza)

Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)

Steven Spielberg (West Side Story

Best Original Screenplay

Belfast – Kenneth Branagh

Don’t Look Up – Adam McKay, story by McKay and David Sirota

King Richard – Zach Baylin

Licorice Pizza – Paul Thomas Anderson

The Worst Person in the World – Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier

Best Adapted Screenplay

Coda – Sian Heder

Drive My Car – Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe

Dune – Jom Spaits, Denis Villeneuve, and Eric Roth

The Lost Daughter – Maggie Gyllenhaal

The Power of the Dog – Jane Campion

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos)

Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog)

Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick… Boom!)

Will Smith (King Richard)

Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth)

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)

Olivia Coleman (The Lost Daughter)

Penelope Cruz (Parallel Mothers)

Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos)

Kirsten Stewart (Spencer)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Ciaran Hinds (Belfast)

Troy Kotsur (Coda)

Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog)

J.K. Simmons (Being the Ricardos)

Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter)

Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)

Judi Dench (Belfast)

Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog)

Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard)

Best International Film

Drive My Car

Flee

The Hand of God

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom

The Worst Person in the World

Best Visual Effects

Dune – Greig Fraser

Nightmare Alley – Dan Laustsen

The Power of the Dog – Ari Wegner

The Tragedy of Macbeth – Bruno Delbonnel

West Side Story – Janusz Kaminski

Best Animated Feature Film

Encanto

Flee

Luca

The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Raya and the Last Dragon

Best Costume Design

Dune – Jaqueline West and Robert Morgan

Cruella – Jenny Beavan

Cyrano – Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jaqueline Durran

Nightmare Alley – Luis Sequeira

West Side Story – Paul Tazewell

Best Original Score

Don’t Look Up – Nicholas Britell

Dune – Hans Zimmer

Encanto – Germaine Franco

Parallel Mothers – Alberto Iglesias

The Power of the Dog – Jonny Greenwood

Best Animated Short Film

Affairs of the Art – Joanna Quinn and Les Mills

Bestia – Hugo Covarrubias and Tevo Diaz

Boxballet – Anton Drykov

Robin Robin – Dan Ojari and Mikey Please

The Windshield Wiper – Albert Muelgo and Leo Sanchez

Best Live-Action Short Film

Ala Kachuu – Take and Run – Maria Brendeland and Nadine Luchinger

The Dress – Tadeusz Lysiak and Maciej Slesicki

The Long Goodbye – Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed

On My Mind – Martin Strange-Hansen and Kim Magnusson

Please Hold – K.D. Davila and Levin Menekse

Best Documentary Feature

Ascension

Attica

Flee

Summer of Soul (… Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Writing With Fire

Best Documentary Short Subject

Audible

Lead Me Home

The Queen of Basketball

Theree Songs for Benazir

When We Were Bullies

Best Sound

Belfast – Denise Yarde, Simon Chase, James Mather, Niv Adiri

Dune – Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Dough Hemphill, Ron Bartlett

No Time to Die – Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey, Mark Taylor

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.