Searchlight is not looking so hot right now. After a streak of successful award plays in recent years, 2024 is set to be a wash for the studio that brought us Poor Things, The Banshees of Inisherin, Nomadland, and more. Since The Walt Disney Company officially took ownership of the studio (and the greater 21st Century Fox company) in March of 2019, it has been so fun as a “cinephile” (I know, I hated it too. I’m not that pretentious, promise.) and award show lover to see Disney finally have a horse in the race.
Of course, Disney has had various awards successes with their own slate over the years. Those tend to remain in the animated and music categories, however. Disney thrived in the land of the below-the-lines. Yet, once Searchlight entered the picture, they cleared the tables with nominations (and a bucket o’ wins) in the top categories. After the last half-a-decade including multiple Best Picture nominees and three separate Best Actress wins at the Academy Awards, their slate this year leaves something to be desired.
Their three big pushes are A Real Pain, Nightbitch, and A Complete Unknown. All of them have pedigree, with prestigious writers, directors, and/or actors. All of them have been given pristine release dates. All of them have been set up for success by the studio. Yet, as much as being “set-up” for an awards season push is huge, it’s the content that matters in the end. I’m looking at you, The Goldfinch.
A Real Pain is written, directed, and starring Jesse Eisenberg. The film follows a pair of cousins returning to Poland to honor their grandmother. This dramedy has a solid list of things in its “pro” column: Produced by two-time Oscar winner Emma Stone, a lauded performance by Kieran Culkin, and a prime November release date. Since it already had a prominent Sundance premiere, reviews are already live with critics praising the film and highlighting Culkin’s performance as a stand out. However, you know what’s never a good sign? Silence. Sometimes, Sundance films “re-debut”, for lack of a better term, closer to the start of awards season to much regained acclaim. Yet, sometimes the shiny new films push out the Sundance choices out of the conversation. With such a stacked year (and excitingly, one without a clear frontrunner), I’m not so sure A Real Pain will be able to make it all the way. Based on the brief clips and blurbs the general public has received, it feels more like a successful Hulu acquisition for Searchlight than a major awards play.
Nightbitch premiered at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) to a whimper. On a recent episode of the Vanity Fair podcast Little Gold Men, the hosts all discussed how, while the film had bright spots, it didn’t connect with audiences. Toronto is one of the biggest film festivals in the world and has a famously inviting audience and tends to be more forgiving. Yet, Nightbitch came out of its premiere with a tepid response. That’s not good for a dramedy with an out-there premise (a woman thinks she’s turning into a dog after the birth of her kids). We as a collective human race want to see Amy Adams win Oscar gold, but this doesn’t seem to be her year (or film). Is there a likelihood of box office success? Of course, but when Searchlight positions you in the fall…they want a trophy to go along with box office receipts.
A Complete Unknown is, funnily enough, the biggest unknown from Searchlight’s slate. The Bob Dylan biopic stars Timothee Chalamet and is directed by James Mangold. Both have a history with the Academy, but neither have picked up a statue. Most signs are hopeful for this one, as musical biopics have done well as of late. However, the Christmas Day release date is troubling. With the filming having taken place earlier this year, the film skipped the festival circuit seemingly to have time to edit and put the finishing touches on the final cut. Releasing right under the eligibility wire is worrisome after recent films like The Iron Claw and The Color Purple doing the same and getting all but shut out of the key races. Is there precedent for a late release doing well? Yes, as many prognosticators always reference the success of Million Dollar Baby. Yet, that happened twenty years ago. Can this late entry gain the momentum fast enough to secure key nominations and awards?
Searchlight has a very slippery slope to navigate this awards season. Will they be able to climb Oscar Mountain to win gold? The jury’s still out, but if I were them, I’d be trying to acquire The Life of Chuck…