78th Golden Globe Awards will be held on March 1, 2021 at 6:30 am as per Indian time. This time, the ceremony has been delayed by two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), they are usually given out early in January every year. While the Academy Awards or Oscars honour the best in big-screen entertainment or at least the feature film format, Golden Globes cover both television and film.

The ceremony will be held from both Los Angeles and New York with nominees taking part from locations around the world. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will together host the event from Rainbow Room in New York and Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.

Here are our predictions in the film categories:

Best Motion Picture – Drama

The Father
Mank
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Will The Trial of the Chicago 7 take home the award? (Photo: Netflix)

The race is tight here, and honestly, any movie among these could win and nobody would scream “Snub!”. Nomadland is arguably the best reviewed movie here and has also been called the best movie of 2021 more times than any other on the list. Still, we believe The Trial of the Chicago 7 might just end up winning this.

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Hamilton
Music
Palm Springs
The Prom

Sacha Baron Cohen in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. (Photo: Amazon Prime Video)

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, easily the funniest movie of 2020, should win the Golden Globe in this category.

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal as Ruben Stone
Chadwick Boseman (Posthumous nomination) – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom as Levee Green
Anthony Hopkins – The Father as Anthony
Gary Oldman – Mank as Herman J. Mankiewicz
Tahar Rahim – The Mauritanian as Mohamedou Ould Salahi

While 2020 was full of fantastic individual performances despite fewer number of film releases, no performance can come close to Riz Ahmed’s phenomenal turn in Sound of Metal

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom as Ma Rainey
Andra Day – The United States vs. Billie Holiday as Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby – Pieces of a Woman as Martha Weiss
Frances McDormand – Nomadland as Fern
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman as Cassandra “Cassie” Thomas

Again, an extremely difficult choice. Viola Davis and Frances McDormand are veterans who have proved themselves again and again. But this time, Vanessa Kirby deserves the trophy due to her subtle yet extraordinary performance in a complex role.

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Sacha Baron Cohen – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm as Borat Sagdiyev
James Corden – The Prom as Barry Glickman
Lin-Manuel Miranda – Hamilton as Alexander Hamilton
Dev Patel – The Personal History of David Copperfield as David Copperfield
Andy Samberg – Palm Springs as Nyles

Sacha Baron Cohen can be so shocking and outrageous that it is easy to forget he is also an exceptional actor. Behind the façade, there is a serious performer who emerges only after multiple viewings of his films. We believe Baron Cohen should take this.

Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical

Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm as Tutar Sagdiyev
Kate Hudson – Music as Kazu “Zu” Gamble
Michelle Pfeiffer – French Exit as Frances Price
Rosamund Pike – I Care a Lot as Marla Grayson
Anya Taylor-Joy – Emma as Emma Woodhouse

If Borat provided the humour in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Maria’s feral Tutar was the heart. Maria Bakalova was utterly convincing in the role and should clinch the trophy.

Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture

Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial of the Chicago 7 as Abbie Hoffman
Daniel Kaluuya – Judas and the Black Messiah as Fred Hampton
Jared Leto – The Little Things as Albert Sparma
Bill Murray – On the Rocks as Felix Keane
Leslie Odom Jr. – One Night in Miami as Sam Cooke

Daniel Kaluuya has garnered a lot of positive buzz due to his performance in Judas and the Black Messiah, a movie that is itself an award favourite. He should win.

Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture

Glenn Close – Hillbilly Elegy as Bonnie “Mamaw” Vance
Olivia Colman – The Father as Anne
Jodie Foster – The Mauritanian as Nancy Hollander
Amanda Seyfried – Mank as Marion Davies
Helena Zengel – News of the World as Johanna Leonberger

Olivia Colman is the frontrunner in this category. The Father may not be as talked about in the awards circles as a few other movies but Colman’s performance has been singled out for praise by many.

Best Director – Motion Picture

Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
David Fincher – Mank
Regina King – One Night in Miami
Aaron Sorkin – The Trial of the Chicago 7
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland

Regina King’s directorial debut received universal critical success, but most analysts believe HFPA Chloé Zhao will take this for Nomadland, arguably the best movie of 2020.

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
Jack Fincher (Posthumous nomination) – Mank
Aaron Sorkin – The Trial of the Chicago 7
Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton – The Father
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland

It is hard to overstate how much HFPA loves Aaron Sorkin, and hardly undeservingly. He is known for his sharp scripts and snappy dialogue. The Trial of the Chicago 7 was a courtroon drama and was practically carried by its dialogue. He deserves to take this trophy.

Best Original Score

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon Batiste – Soul
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Mank
James Newton Howard – News of the World
Alexandre Desplat – The Midnight Sky
Ludwig Göransson – Tenet

There was a lot of good stuff in Mank. One was the score, that was not only era-appropriate but was also worth listening to, independently. Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross should take this for Mank. However, we will not be surprised if Ludwig Göransson pulls off an upset.

Best Original Song

“Fight for You” (D’Mile, H.E.R., & Tiara Thomas) – Judas and the Black Messiah
“Hear My Voice” (Celeste & Daniel Pemberton) – The Trial of the Chicago 7
“Io sì (Seen)” (Niccolò Agliardi, Laura Pausini, & Diane Warren) – The Life Ahead
“Speak Now” (Sam Ashworth & Leslie Odom Jr.) – One Night in Miami
“Tigress & Tweed” (Andra Day & Raphael Saadiq) – The United States vs. Billie Holiday

An extremely subjective category, we believe “Tigress & Tweed” is the best song among nominees and should win.

Best Animated Feature Film

The Croods: A New Age
Onward
Over the Moon
Soul
Wolfwalkers

This one is easy. Soul was the best animated movie of 2020, and should win in this category.

Best Foreign Language Film

Another Round (Denmark)
La Llorona (Guatemala)
The Life Ahead (Italy)
Minari (USA)
Two of Us (France)

Minari is Steven Yeun’s most personal movie, a moving portrait of South Korean immigrants eking out a living in 1980s America. It should win in the Best Foreign Language Film category.