Oscar Volleys: Best Makeup & Hairstyling is a tale of many Horrors
Wednesday, February 12, 2025 at 5:30PM The Oscar Volleys are back for some post-nomination talks. First up, Cláudio Alves and Eurocheese tackle Best Makeup & Hairstyling...
EMILIA PÉREZ | © Netflix
CLÁUDIO ALVES: Neurofibromatosis melting off someone's face, rapid aging into chimeric flesh, immortal rot, green women, and brownface - this year's Best Makeup & Hairstyling race has it all. Looking at the state of the race, we seem to have a runaway winner but one can never be sure of these things. Especially when that likely winner belongs to the Academy's most hated genre - horror. Indeed, we have two horror films competing this year, a rarity in itself, plus a dark comedy that sometimes flirts with the cinematic idioms of horror and a movie musical that's a horror to witness. And then there's Wicked, which I can see pull an upset if it overperforms on Oscar night. What do you make of this year's race?
EUROCHEESE: I'm amused that you included Emilia Pérez in the mix as one of our "horrors," and given Karla Sofía Gáscon's title character would be a focal point of the nomination, Netflix can't avoid her here. We're in unprecedented territory when it comes to the ripple effects of the scandal, but even on nomination morning, this nomination felt like a mild surprise.
I'd safely rank it least likely to win…
This has felt like The Substance's award to lose for months, but the potential spoiler is a question mark. A Different Man doesn't work as a movie if Sebastian Stan's makeup doesn't convince us he shares Adam Pearson's Neurofibromatosis, and I would imagine taking on that challenge would impress career professionals in the branch. Looking at past winners though, while there are winners who fall outside contenders in the above the line categories, they are less frequent in recent years. Since 2010, only The Wolfman and Suicide Squad would fit this mold, and neither film was competing against films with above the line nominations.
That only helps The Substance's awards narrative and hints that Wicked might be the possible spoiler.
NOSFERATU | © Focus Features
Nosferatu is the only one of these films that didn't receive a guild nomination, though its late release may have been the determining factor there. Having a horror movie as the frontrunner hurts its chances, though it did rack up several nominations with the Academy. If it did pull out a win, though, I don't see this category as the most likely place for it.
CLÁUDIO: I feel Nosferatu will have better luck with Cinematography or even one of the Design categories. In that regard, it could pull something similar to Poor Things last season, when it took home awards many pundits had penciled in for Barbie. But I don't see it winning here. As you said, having to compete against a horror frontrunner will hurt it the most out of the remaining contenders. Which is sad because, Emma Corrin's wig aside, it's got some incredible makeup and hair. The reimagining of Count Orlok is one of the highlights of my cinematic year, flaccid corpse cock and all.
Yet, The Substance remains ahead. And not just because of how showy and integral it is to the movie's impact. In the past couple of decades, there's been a strong correlation between makeup and acting wins, which only benefits Fargeat's film as it is poised to make Demi Moore an Oscar winner. Who could argue against it? The entire final act is a cosmetic showcase like none other. That moment with the earring should win it the Oscar right there. But even the subtler stuff, like the finger aging before the rest of the body, Qualley's enhanced curves, and the bruise-like hue of her date night blush, are brilliant. To admire the actresses' work is to consider them as they work through and with those transformative prosthetics, those subtler touches, the grotesquerie, and the rotten glamour.
WICKED | © Universal Pictures
The same argument could be made for Wicked if either Erivo or Grande pulls ahead with SAG and/or BAFTA. So, yes, that's the major spoiler I could see. The work on Erivo is especially memorable, though I think the average Academy member might not grasp just how complex it is. The green paint is something, but then there are the freckles, the fake ears to cover her piercings, the nails, the micro-braided wig. It's a lot while coming off as natural within a fairytale extravaganza, more grounded than almost anything else on screen. Were you impressed with her verdigris?
EUROCHEESE: Very much so. Wicked has also done a wonderful job of showcasing the work behind their crafts in easily accessible online videos, which only helps build their case. In a year with less stiff competition, I could easily see it sweeping the precursors. Still, as seems to be a constant theme when discussing the film, the Academy will have a chance to reward it next year.
One of the reasons The Substance has such an advantage is that the film relies so heavily on visual storytelling. Every time Demi's character comes back on screen, we lean forward in our seats, fascinated by what the progression of her physical deterioration tells us about where the story is heading. Have we ever had a winner in this category where the plot relied so heavily on wordless imagery driven by makeup? I suppose that's more likely to be true with body horror in general, but even Demi's Oscar clip scene looking in the mirror relies on us noticing exactly how dolled up she needs to be before she'll give herself permission to try to leave again. Qualley's Sue also has just the right makeup touches to sell her perceived perfection, the camera lingering on her bubble gum youthful effervescence.
A DIFFERENT MAN | © A24
I agree with you that Count Orlok is a unique and domineering specimen, Wicked pulls just the right balance in creating Ozian wonder, Stan's transformation in A Different Man is impressive and Emilia Pérez's bearded introduction with Karla's character is memorable, but when we think back on this year in makeup, we'll be thinking of The Substance.
Anything else you want to highlight before we talk through our rankings? Perhaps films you wish made the cut? I wouldn't have minded seeing a little love for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, but it wasn't such a significant step up from the original that we needed to see it here.
I would have recognized it over Emilia Pérez, though.
CLÁUDIO: Apologies to that film's fans, but I hate the Manitas' makeup in Emilia Pérez, especially since a Mexican friend rightfully pointed out it's essentially a Spanish woman in brownface, complete with a darkened complexion, rough black hair, and face tattoos. Still less comical than Zoë Saldaña's overwrought misery with sick-looking skin and bushy eyebrows in those early stages of Rita's story.
But you asked for positivity, so let me list some makeup achievements I wish had been recognized instead. You mentioned Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and I cosign the sentiment, having especially loved Willem Dafoe's exposed brain and Monia Bellucci's stitched-together undead beauty.
LONGLEGS | © NEON Rated
Still in the realm of horror-adjacent cinema, I would have loved to see some appreciation for Longlegs' glam rock turned sour and satanic, unnatural whiteness as a signifier of evil and inhumanity. For more traditional work, there's The Bikeriders, whose documentation of a decade of change in the lives of its titular bikers makes for a stunning showcase of period authenticity and character specificity. I prefer Austin Butler with hair is what I'm saying.
Online mocking over its fake penises aside, Queer had some superb cosmetic work. Has Daniel Craig ever looked more pathetic, despair manifest in a permanent flop sweat? Has Lesley Manville ever looked less like herself? And what about the evolution of Drew Starkey's Allerton, from a handsomeness that feels beyond personhood to a messy vulnerability by the end of his and Lee's journey into the jungle? Hell, the film even has something the Academy loves in that flash of old-age makeup near the end.
They weren't eligible, but I'd like to applaud the makeup artists and hairstylists who did In a Violent Nature and The Animal Kingdom, two pictures almost as heavily dependent on their fleshy manipulations as The Substance.
Beyond Tim Burton's sequel, do you have any unnominated achievement you'd like to shout out?
DUNE: PART TWO | © Warner Bros.
EUROCHEESE: It's baffling that Dune: Part Two has fewer nominations than Dune: Part One has Oscar wins, considering I don't know a single person who thought the brilliantly complex sequel was a step down in quality. If anything, every aspect felt heightened in the best ways, and that goes for the makeup work as well. Austin Butler's menacing presence is complemented by his haunting look, and the world-weary looks of the Fremen add to their perceived desperation for a Messiah. Regardless of how the third film fares with the Academy, the lack of love for a blockbuster of this caliber is disappointing.
I'd also throw in the comedic disguises on Hit Man - while they often firmly have tongue in cheek, there's no denying the film gives us another example of physical transformation mirroring character growth. It's also fun to see that explored on Hollywood's newest leading man, if such a thing exists these days. Yet another case of a film releasing early in the year not getting its due - though admittedly, I'd much rather see Glen Powell take Sebastian Stan's Oscar nomination in Actor than see love for the film here.
Back to the chosen five - here's how I'd rank them in terms of likelihood to win:
1) THE SUBSTANCE - clear frontrunner
2) WICKED - the only spoiler that wouldn't shock me
3) A DIFFERENT MAN - certainly deserving but unlikely
4) NOSFERATU - deserving nominee as well
5) EMILIA PÉREZ - not its worst nomination, but far from its best
CLÁUDIO: My ranking of likelihood would be the exact same as yours. Though, I'd like to include a few notes of my own:
1) THE SUBSTANCE - its only vulnerability is the Academy's bias against horror.
2) WICKED - a potential spoiler if they go wild for the musical, but not the only one I can imagine.
3) A DIFFERENT MAN - if Stan's Globe win made people watch this, it might have a chance since the work is so showy and so integral.
4) NOSFERATU - super showy work that struggles because of its genre and competition from a buzzier horror.
5) EMILIA PÉREZ - ranked last not because of the controversy but because of how easily overlooked this particular achievement is.
The only victory that would outright shock me would be Emilia Pérez. Still, one never knows. Weirder things have happened and this is one of the most volatile Oscar races in years, maybe decades. Fingers crossed for my favorite genre, though. Horror all the way!
THE SUBSTANCE | © MUBI
Reader Comments (3)
If The Substance loses there's no way Demi wins Best Actress.
DUNE: PART TWO isn't so much a step down as a step sideways: we've seen it all before in PART ONE. It's like how THE TWO TOWERS got so many fewer noms than FELLOWSHIP.
And QUEER: what fake penises? The only cock we see is Starkey in extreme wide shot, and the Mexican boy in an unfortunate bit of objectification.
Of course, this award belongs to "The Substance".
If another movie could surprise is "A Different Man".
But it's not going to happen.