“Upsets Unleashed: The Shockwaves Reshaping the Oscars Landscape”

Unexpected victories for actresses Demi Moore and Fernanda Torres at the Globes suggest that the path to the Oscars could hold many more surprises ahead.

This year’s Golden Globes fulfilled their primary purpose: disrupted a significant Oscar contest when Demi Moore clinched best actress in a musical or comedy for the body-horror satire The Substance, while Fernanda Torres triumphed in the drama category for the Brazilian political film I’m Still Here. Both actresses had been positioned quite low on most Oscar forecasts, regarded as improbable contenders. However, their surprising victories, in addition to their captivating and articulate acceptance speeches, have now placed them solidly in contention for nominations.

Let’s be candid about what the Globes represent. As accolades, they are fluff, a pretext for a glamorous, star-studded spectacle, where everyone from Nicole Kidman to Harrison Ford and Zendaya makes an appearance. The Globes were revamped two years ago when the scandal-plagued Hollywood Foreign Press Association was acquired by corporate entities, after which its membership was altered. However, the 334 Globe voters, drawn from international magazines or websites, do not overlap with the more than 9,000 individuals eligible to vote for Oscars. Winning a Globe is solely about gaining momentum and being viewed as a victor, or at least a serious contender. That’s why these victories are such positive news for Moore and Torres.

Moore’s portrayal as a television star ousted for a younger substitute (Margaret Qualley) is compelling, but an Oscar campaign necessitates more than that, and she embodies the sort of comeback story that awards voters cherish. She wisely highlighted this in her acceptance speech, starting with the fact that she has never been recognized for acting throughout her lengthy career. She expressed her insecurities, recalling how a producer informally labeled her “a popcorn actress” three decades ago, suggesting she could generate profits but not be regarded seriously, an idea she absorbed – a lovely touch of humility. Then, she articulated, “During a low point, I encountered this wildly creative and unconventional script that landed on my desk, known as The Substance”. Such a narrative of revival plays directly into the hands of voters, reminiscent of when Ke Huy Quan won an Oscar for Everything Everywhere All at Once after stepping away from acting for decades. Furthermore, it aids that the theme of The Substance, dealing with the demands and high costs of Hollywood’s vanity and stardom, resonates with voters.

Torres, a seasoned actress yet hardly a Hollywood icon, was an even greater shock, but her victory is rightfully earned. Her intense, subtle performance is the core of Walter Salles’s I’m Still Here, where she portrays a woman whose spouse, a former politician, is among the vanished victims of Brazil’s military dictatorship in the 1970s. Torres’s speech included a poignant tribute to her own mother, Fernanda Montenegro, who portrays her character’s mother in the film and who was nominated for a Globe and an Oscar 25 years prior for another Salles production, Central Station. Additionally, Torres was one of the few recipients whose speech lightly referenced the condition of the world, connecting the fortitude her character required to the present day. “There’s something occurring now in the world filled with so much fear. And this is a film that encouraged us to ponder how to endure in challenging times like this,” she stated. It’s a hopeful message conveyed with grace that Hollywood is likely to embrace.

Certainly, these surprises merely place Moore and Torres in the thoughts of Oscar voters (and for Moore, Bafta voters, as she made the longlist). The Globes can be unreliable indicators since splitting the major categories into comedy and drama doubles the nominees. Nonetheless, Moore and Torres triumphed over the fiercest competition. Moore prevailed against three expected Oscar front-runners, Mikey Madison (Anora), Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez), and Cynthia Erivo (Wicked). Torres’s category incorporated Nicole Kidman (Babygirl), Angelina Jolie (Maria), and Tilda Swinton (The Room Next Door). All eight of these actresses now find themselves in a game of Oscars musical chairs, a game in which Moore and Torres were not necessarily participants just a few days ago.

Another acting upset, Sebastian Stan’s victory as best actor in a musical or comedy for A Different Man, isn’t anticipated to yield the same reverberations. The actual contest was in the drama category, where the Oscar front-runners Adrien Brody (The Brutalist) and Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown) faced off with Brody winning. Stan’s unexpected success is likely to be perceived as career affirmation and a fleeting awards moment since he encountered some lackluster competition. Glen Powell for Hit Man and Gabriel Labelle for Saturday Night appear to be choices made to fill that category. It is, after all, unusual for The Golden Globes to shake up a contest the way it has best actress. More frequently, they solidify Oscar prospects, as evidenced by Kieran Culkin, who won best supporting actor for A Real Pain and is emerging as a probable winner for the Oscar.

The most crucial factor regarding the Golden Globes this year may be its timing. Voting for Oscar nominations concludes next Sunday, 12 January, meaning the Globes arrived at the perfect moment for voters to contemplate the new awards landscape.