Nominees: Drive My Car, Licorice Pizza, Old Henry, What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? The Worst Person in the World, Spencer, Azor, Sardar Udham, Cyrano, The Innocents, BoƮte noire
Oscars pick: CODA
Nominees: The Power of the Dog, Licorice Pizza, Belfast, Dune, Drive My Car, King Richard, Nightmare Alley, Don't Look Up, West Side Story
The apex predator in the film is rancher Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch), a cruel, coarse (petulant) son of a bitch, who'll hurt anyone he perceives as weak or a threat to his way of life (Peter and his mother, Rose). Part of this behavior comes from him just having an ugly side, part of it comes from pride and overcompensation, part of it is fueled by loneliness and jealousy. However, I don't believe it comes from a place of self-loathing - when we catch him in a private moment, he's content with who he is, and the memory of who he loved, it's only society that prevents him from being open about his sexuality.
When Phil eventually shows a softer side, it's perhaps because he sees himself in young Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) at that age, and through him, a chance to reclaim what he's lost, only with him in the role of 'Bronco Henry' (the now deceased cowboy who took Phil under his wing) - though it can seem a sudden and drastic pivot to go from mean to mentor, this does add a bit of ambiguity, as his change of heart can also be viewed as another way for Phil to stick it to the boy's mother, Rose (Kirsten Dunst at her finest) who he despises for marrying his brother.
Honorable Mentions:
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog * Tim Blake Nelson, Old Henry * Lakeith Stanfield & Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah * Denzel Washington, Tragedy of Macbeth * Clifton Collins Jr., Jockey * Mahershala Ali, Swan Song * Simon Rex, Red Rocket * Vicky Kaushal, Sardar Udham * Stephen Graham, Boiling Point
Best Actress: Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Honorable Mentions:
Patti Harrison, Together Together * Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter * Kristen Stewart, Spencer * Renate Reinsve, The Worst Person in the World * Penelope Cruz, Parallel Mothers * Alana Haim, Licorice Pizza * Milana Aguzarova, Unclenching the Fists * Jodie Comer, The Last Duel * Thomasin McKenzie, Last Night in Soho
So many actresses, I didn't have room to nominate them all, but here are a few others I admired... Emma Stone, Cruella, Essie Davis & Thomasin McKenzie in The Justice of Bunny King, Dominique Fishback, Judas and the Black Messiah, Seidi Haarla, Compartment No. 6, Joanna Scanlan, After Love, Jessica Barden, Holler, Lady Gaga, House of Gucci, Kirsten Dunst, Power of the Dog, Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter, Judi Dench, Belfast, Alexis Louder, Copshop, Arawinda Kirana, Yuni, and Rebecca Hall, The Night House