SAG Awards film nominations reactions slugfest: Does ‘Belfast’ have it in the bag?

“Can anything beat ‘Belfast’? I don’t know if any of these four can,” wonders Gold Derby Editor Marcus James Dixon about the race for best ensemble cast at the 2022 Screen Actors Guild Awards, whose nominations were announced on Wednesday morning, January 12. He joined his fellow Editors Denton Davidson and Daniel Montgomery in analyzing the contenders and making their early predictions for who will win. Watch the slugfest above, and check out the complete list of nominations here.

“Belfast” went into nominations morning as our odds-on favorite to win for its ensemble cast, which includes Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan, Jude Hill, Ciaran Hinds, and Colin Morgan. But the two films that were next in line in our odds, “The Power of the Dog” and “West Side Story,” were snubbed completely in the top category. Instead, Kenneth Branagh‘s semi-autobiographical film is up against predicted nominees “CODA” and “Don’t Look Up” as well as more surprising contenders “House of Gucci” and “King Richard.” But “Belfast” isn’t invincible, having been snubbed in the supporting actor category where Dornan and Hinds were missing despite our odds favoring both for nominations.

Also confounding us was the lead actress race, where the guild snubbed our front-runner to win, Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”). Where does that leave the category? It’s “up for grabs,” Dixon argues. Davidson agrees that the race is “up in the air,” though he’s leaning towards Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”) because she gives “such a transformative performance, and it could be one of those IOU awards.” Chastain has a SAG Award as a member of the cast of “The Help,” but she lost her individual nominations for “The Help” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” and she has yet to win an Oscar. What do you think? You can make your predictions right now, and join the all the discussion right now in our movie forums.