Countdown to the Oscars: Best Makeup and Hairstyling

We’re counting down the days until the Academy Awards! We’ll be here, breaking down each of the 23 categories, talking a bit of history, and trying to figure out who is going to win all those gold statues. So check back throughout the next three weeks for Last Cinema Standing’s Countdown to the Oscars.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

The nominees are:

All Quiet on the Western Front

The Batman

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Elvis

The Whale

Remember 2015 and 2016 when Love Larson and Eva von Bahr were nominated in back-to-back years for their work on a pair of popular Swedish hits that most Americans had never heard of? That was cool. Remember Ali Abbasi’s weird little Swedish gem Border in 2018? Also cool. How about last year and the love shown to the long-awaited sequel Coming 2 America? That was neat and out of left field. 

All of this is to point out that this year’s crop of Makeup and Hairstyling nominees feels a little safe, a little traditional. Every one of these films is nominated for at least three awards this year, and two are Best Picture nominees. There is nothing that feels spontaneous or quirky, like in 2020, when Matteo Garrone’s Pinocchio snuck into the lineup. No matter. Just an observation.

As it stands, these nominees reflect a growing trend within the Makeup and Hairstyling Branch of the Academy to favor showy character prosthetics that contribute to a leading or supporting performance in some major way. The Batman, Elvis, and The Whale are all a part of this trend. Four of the past five winners fit this bill, as well, with Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom the exception in 2020. Otherwise, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Bombshell, Vice, and The Darkest Hour all feature main characters buried under layers of prosthetics. So, let’s start there.

The Whale – The makeup is everything in Darren Aronofsky’s weepy drama. Okay, there is Brendan Fraser giving the performance of a lifetime. But, that performance does not exist without the prosthetic work, which is aided by a lot of CGI. Fraser is not a small man, but the work to transform him into a believable 600-pound man is, pardon the pun, gargantuan. Fraser’s character appears fully nude multiple times in the film, meaning the full-body prosthetics must hold up under scrutiny. More than that, the facial pieces have to bear the weight of Aronofsky’s many closeups without compromising Fraser’s performance. Your mileage may vary, but if the movie works for you, the makeup deserves a lot of credit.

Elvis – From a character makeup standpoint, Baz Luhrman’s wild biopic is The Whale times two. First, there is Austin Butler’s Elvis, which requires a number of subtle facial prosthetics, as well as tremendous attention to detail with the singer’s famously coiffed hair. Second, there is Tom Hanks’ fat suit, as well as the curiously oversized nose prosthetic. There is also a ton of work put into recreating the period-accurate hairstyles of the large crowds in attendance for many of the Elvis shows in the movie. Add all of this together, and for a movie I didn’t like, the work is quite admirable and this nomination well deserved.

The Batman – There is a joke to be made here about Robert Pattinson’s Batman being the first caped crusader to don eyeliner, but we’ll save it for another time. No, much like Batman Returns’ nomination in this category 30 years ago, this is all about the Penguin. This past year, as part of an anniversary screening of Returns, I actually got to see a live demonstration of the makeup, prosthetics, and hair piece it took to transform Danny DeVito into Oswald Cobblepot. It was cool to see and emphasized the work that goes into making these fantasy characters truly spark to life. Here – and I know this is cliche to say – Colin Farrell is unrecognizable as the Penguin. It’s a remarkable transformation that deserves much praise.

All Quiet on the Western Front – Perhaps the most iconic image to come out of this film is that of star Felix Kammerer’s ashen face, caked in mud, delivering that thousand-yard stare. So much of the movie is about the main character’s transformation from eager, fresh-faced youth to that broken, battered man, and the makeup really helps give the audience a sense of where we are in that story. Really, this is the story of all the men maimed and scarred by the war. We see their bruises, their wounds, and their missing limbs, and the cost of the war is made real and tangible. The makeup is haunting and shattering all throughout the film.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – The original Black Panther film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. This one is nominated for five, but only two in the same category as the first feature (Original Song and Costume Design). Makeup and Hairstyling is one of the places the 2018 film missed out, though there were only three nominees in the category that year. The film was part of the final seven-film bake-off, so it stands to reason that with five nominees, it would have been in. The tattoo work alone on the Wakandans and the Talokan people is wonderfully impressive stuff, and similar to The Batman, it is a major lift to bring these fantastical characters into a reality we recognize.

The final analysis

I keep going back and forth between The Whale and Elvis. Based on recent history, either would be a logical winner, and there is very little to separate them. But let’s try.

Going back to 2011, four of the 11 Makeup and Hairstyling winners have been for films that also won a lead performance Oscar (The Iron Lady, Dallas Buyers Club, The Darkest Hour, and The Eyes of Tammy Faye just last year). If we think Butler is going to win Best Actor, then Elvis is a reasonable bet here. In addition, from 2000 to 2018, in every instance when a Best Picture nominee was cited in this category, a Best Picture nominee won the award. This would also point to Elvis (or All Quiet on the Western Front).

However, this is where it gets fun. The past three years have painted a different picture. In 2019, Bombshell beat out Joker and 1917. In 2020, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom beat out Mank. And last year, Tammy Faye beat out Dune. So, Picture is no longer the slam-dunk indicator we would once have considered it. In addition, looking at 2019 again, Bombshell featured a Best Actress-nominated performance from Charlize Theron, but it beat out Renee Zelwegger’s Best Actress-winning performance in Judy in this category. So, even if Butler does triumph in Actor, the Fraser film is not out of the running here.

We also cannot ignore the Academy’s willingness to go with the fun, showy blockbuster in this category, which in this case I believe would be The Batman over Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. More than likely, those two films will split votes, preventing a victory on par with Star Trek, Mad Max: Fury Road, or Suicide Squad. War films do not tend to do particularly well here, and even Saving Private Ryan lost to Elizabeth in this category, so unless All Quiet on the Western Front is going to sweep (like it did at the BAFTAs), it’s probably out of the running.

All of which brings us back to: The Whale or Elvis? If you’re placing a bet, go with Elvis. It is the more beloved film, it is the Best Picture nominee, and it features your likely Best Actor winner. That is the smart way to play this game. But, I just cannot get past the fact that The Whale does not exist without the makeup, and it’s right there, front and center the entire time. What are we doing here if not trying to have a little fun? So, you be smart. I’m going out on the limb.

Will win: The Whale

Should win: The Batman

Should have been here: Babylon

A word on my favorite snub: Damien Chazelle’s Babylon is a rise-and-fall movie that covers years of its characters’ lives and eventually decades. The subtle aging, along with the more extravagant hair and makeup looks that abound – particularly for Margot Robbie’s character – would have been a wonderful complement to the more conventional slate of nominees this year.

Next time: Costume Design