Variety magazine has made its predictions for the Oscars.

The curtain has closed on the final Oscar voting. Tonight in Los Angeles the prestigious film awards will be presented for the 96th time. The authoritative magazine Variety, following an established tradition, presented its forecasts on how the prizes will be distributed among the participants in the prize race. In this review, we’ll go over the main contenders and find out what could hinder them or, on the contrary, help them get the coveted statuette.

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Christopher Nolan's blockbuster Oppenheimer, about the life and work of the father of the American atomic bomb, is expected to be the night's favorite. Having received major guild and industry accolades—Golden Globe, Critics' Choice, DGA, BAFTA, SAG, and PGA—it may earn the unspoken title of "perfect season" after the thriller Argo (2012). It is also possible that the biopic produced by Universal Pictures will catch up with the 1961 hit “West Side Story,” which received ten Oscars and took second place in the history of the ceremony.

As for the supporting actor awards, Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer) and Davan Joy Randolph (The Leftovers) stole the hearts of academics with their stunning performances and heartfelt speeches. The Oscar ceremony is also rich in interesting plot twists. For example, the race for Best Actor is headed by Cillian Murphy, who played a conflicted scientist in Nolan's magnum opus. However, at the final stage of voting, he had two serious rivals - Paul Giamatti from The Leftovers and Jeffrey Wright from American Fiction. And they likely influenced the final voting in this prestigious category. If Murphy wins, it won't be with a majority vote.

Meanwhile, the Best Actress category faces the toughest competition. Emma Stone's transformation into a woman with the brain of a child in Yorgos Lanthimos' fantasy drama The Wretches has received much support. But the actress already has one Oscar for the film “La La Land”, and the same Lily Gladstone, who demonstrated a breathtaking performance in “Killers of the Flower Moon” by Martin Scorsese, belongs to the indigenous peoples of America and represents the very minority that Hollywood is very wants to point out. By the way, the 37-year-old actress has already received a prestigious Screen Actors Guild award and can intervene in the dispute over the Oscar. In addition, Sandra Hüller, who shone in the French thriller “Anatomy of a Fall,” can steal the academics’ voices from Stone, and thereby clear the way for Gladstone.

Greta Gerwig's "toy" melodrama "Barbie" received a warm reception this awards season, but can hardly count on statuettes in the main categories. It is possible that the film will receive awards for “Costume Design” and “Original Song” with Billie Eilish’s composition “What Was I Made For?”, which has already won a Grammy. Personally, Gerwig can also be credited along with husband Noah Baumbach for Original Screenplay.

To summarize, Variety predicts that only two films at the upcoming ceremony will receive awards in more than one category. The editors gave eight Oscars to Oppenheimer, and two to Barbie. And this situation could repeat the 1997 ceremony with the films “The English Patient” and “Fargo”, which won nine and two awards, respectively.