Though it’s been a huge year for Netflix films, the streaming service faced some major competition at this year’s Oscars race. With the hype surrounding “Marriage Story” and “The Irishman,” many thought the films would sweep a significant amount of trophies. However, at last night’s Academy Awards, Laura Dern was the only actor from an original Netflix movie to walk away with an Oscar, winning the best supporting actress award for her role as Nora Fanshaw in “Marriage Story.”
Co-stars Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson were both nominated for best actor and best actress, but they lost to Joaquin Phoenix for “Joker” and Renée Zellweger for “Judy.”
“Marriage Story,” along with Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” which has been hailed as yet another beacon of cinematic work, were nominated in the best picture category, but wound up losing to “Parasite.” The film reunited Scorsese and Robert De Niro for the first time in 24 years and hit theaters on Nov. 1, 27 days before it was available to stream.
Al Pacino and Joe Pesci were both contending for the best supporting actor award, Scorsese was up for best director and Noah Baumbach was also nominated for best original screenplay for “Marriage Story.”
Despite the overall disappointment with “Marriage Story” and “The Irishman,” Netflix was able to nab an Oscar in the documentary feature category with “American Factory” (produced by former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s production company).
Netflix also went into last night’s ceremony with additional nods — Anthony Hopkins was up for best actor in a supporting role for “The Two Popes,” “The Edge of Democracy” competed in the documentary feature category and “I Lost My Body” and “Klaus” were in the animated feature film category.