Did you see mother!? The movie with the dumbest punctuation of the year? It was meant to be Darren Aronofsky’s big deep artistic mindf-ck. Whatever. I thought it was a film student’s first film. And I found all the conversations around it, about how profound it all was, totally insufferable.

There were some people, back in September, who thought mother! might stilll have a chance at some awards, even though it took a sh-t at the box office and nobody cared. The awards field is indeed wide open. And still, I don’t know how much room there is for mother! But Jennifer Lawrence is trying. She guest-hosted Jimmy Kimmel last week. And she was at the Deadline Contenders event this weekend.


Jennifer Lawrence is an Oscar winner and a multiple nominee. The Academy adores her. A lot of people think she gave the performance of her career in mother! Those people may have never seen Winter’s Bone. But she’s out here, repping Darren’s film. Pushing at the very least for a Golden Globe nomination, working on behalf of the entire production as its most high profile star. There are others ahead of her in the race so far. Including another actress with the same hairstyle. That would be Margot Robbie.

We are seeing Margot’s real campaign game for the first time this season as she continues to build momentum for I, Tonya. Sarah screened I, Tonya at TIFF. She gave it a solid review, praising the film’s discussion of class and the performances of both Margot and Allison Janney who plays Tonya Harding’s mother. Allison is already considered the frontrunner in the Best Supporting Oscar race. Margot is making a run at it too for Best Actress. And many experts have her in the fourth or fifth spot for a nomination, behind Sally Hawkins and Frances McDormand, who are in the lead right now. But then, in addition to Margot, Meryl Streep can’t be counted out. And Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird. And Annette Bening for Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool. And Kate Winslet wants to get in there for Woody Allen’s Wonder Wheel. And Emma Stone might be a factor for her work in Battle Of The Sexes. So, to go back to Jennifer Lawrence, she’s pretty far behind all of these names. And definitely behind Margot Robbie.

Margot was at the Hollywood Film Awards last night with the cast of I, Tonya. A really strong trailer for I, Tonya was released last week. See below. If the nominations were announced tomorrow, I’d say Margot’s name gets called.