‘Sentimental Value’ emerges as early Oscar favorite for Best International Feature
Denton Davidson
The Oscar race for Best International Feature is officially heating up. Five powerhouse films have settled into frontrunner position as Gold Derby's odds begin to take shape — and while the lineup may look predictable on paper, the finish line is anything but. With auteurs, activists, and emotional crowd-pleasers all in play, this is shaping up to be one of the hottest international races in recent memory.
Sentimental Value (Norway)
Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value has been unstoppable since its rapturous Cannes premiere, where it earned a 19-minute standing ovation and the Grand Prix. The family drama stars Stellan Skarsgård as an aging filmmaker trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Renate Reinsve) by casting her in a film based on his own mother’s death, only to replace her with an American actress played by Elle Fanning. With critics calling it “a layered masterpiece,” Neon’s Nov. 11 release is expected to contend across the board — including Best Picture, Director (Trier), Actress (Reinsve), Supporting Actor (Skarsgård), Supporting Actresses (Fanning, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), Original Screenplay, and Casting.
It Was Just an Accident (France)
Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident turned his personal defiance into cinematic triumph, taking the Palme d’Or at Cannes and earning a rare endorsement from Martin Scorsese, who called its finale “so powerful, so strong, and so true.” Shot in Iran but edited in France for safety reasons, the tense revenge drama follows a former prisoner (Vahid Mobasseri) who believes he’s found his sadistic jailer in the outside world — and takes justice into his own hands. With a 97 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and Neon eyeing a Parasite-style run, the film is also expected to contend for Best Picture, Director (Panahi), and Original Screenplay.
The Secret Agent (Brazil)
Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent has quietly become one of the season’s stealth juggernauts. The political thriller earned Mendonça Filho Best Director and Wagner Moura Best Actor at Cannes, keeping Brazil’s Oscar flame burning after last year’s I’m Still Here. Moura stars as a tech expert and single father navigating Recife’s 1970s military dictatorship, torn between survival and escape with his son. With Neon’s Nov. 26 release on the horizon, the film ranks third for International Feature, while Moura has emerged as a dark horse Best Actor contender.
No Other Choice (South Korea)
Park Chan-wook is back — and firmly in the Oscar race. No Other Choice, his first feature since Decision to Leave, turns Donald E. Westlake’s novel The Ax into a razor-sharp thriller about a laid-off paper worker (Lee Byung-hun) who takes drastic measures to survive a ruthless job market. After winning Toronto’s International People’s Choice Award and nearly claiming Venice’s Golden Lion, the film has surged to fourth in Gold Derby’s International Feature odds, with additional buzz for Best Adapted Screenplay. Neon releases it in U.S. theaters Dec. 25.
The Voice of Hind Rajab (Tunisia)
Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab became the emotional centerpiece of the Venice Film Festival, earning a record 22-minute standing ovation before taking home the Grand Jury Prize. The film dramatizes the true story of a 6-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza, using her real recorded emergency call as its haunting spine. Backed by Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, and Alfonso Cuarón, Ben Hania’s follow-up to Four Daughters and The Man Who Sold His Skin has a 97 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and major awards momentum. However, despite its all-star team of executive producers, the politically charged film has yet to secure a U.S. distribution deal.
