Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein Is Officially A Best Picture Contender

For much of awards season, it was hard to have a clear picture of Netflix's slate. The streamer had several movies earmarked as potential Best Picture contenders, but they couldn't all mount winning campaigns. Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein and Noah Baumbach's Jay Kelly entered with plenty of prestige and anticipation, but their Venice premieres were only politely received. A House of Dynamite fared much better there, and seemed like Netflix's best chance for a while, but that ended upon the film's wide release in October, when debate about the ending overshadowed everything else.

Though it too sparked some discussions over the effectiveness of its style, Sundance darling Train Dreams had the opposite experience, seemingly gaining steam after its Netflix release. Both it and Jay Kelly remain in play. But after SAG-AFTRA released its Actor Award nominees on January 7, there can be no doubting that Frankenstein has emerged as Netflix's primary contender. It's become a guaranteed Best Picture nominee, and could be one of the most nominated movies of the 2026 Oscars.

Frankenstein's Awards Season Comeback Will Score It A Best Picture Nomination

After stumbling out the gate in Venice, Frankenstein's comeback trail started almost immediately. Del Toro took his movie over to Toronto, and while it didn't exactly win back critics there, it did finish as the runner-up for TIFF's coveted People's Choice Award. That audience-chosen prize is a historically strong predictor for a Best Picture nomination, and fall festival darling Hamnet became the presumed frontrunner after winning it this year. Coming in second indicated Frankenstein had a broader appeal than its reviews suggested.

That's since been proven exactly right. Frankenstein's theatrical and Netflix releases generated plenty of buzz, and the film made both the American Film Institute and the National Board of Review's lists of the year's best movies, considered important Academy Award precursors. Though the film was largely ignored by the New York Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, other regional critics groups have embraced it. By the time the Golden Globes nominated it in five places, it seemed to be on much stronger footing.

Now, SAG has made it official. The Screen Actors Guild is the largest branch of the Academy, and they named Frankenstein as one of five films in contention for Outstanding Performance By a Cast In a Motion Picture, the top category at the (newly renamed) Actor Awards. The other nominees? Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, and Sinners – the four presumed frontrunners for Best Picture.

Frankenstein was expected to have the support of the crafts branches (and was indeed also nominated at the Art Directors Guild Awards), and del Toro is very well-liked in Hollywood, but locking down the actors secures a critical voting block come nominations day. And their appreciation for it runs deep: it was also nominated for Outstanding Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture, suggesting SAG-AFTRA's stunt performer members are behind it as well.

Frankenstein can now be considered a lock for the Best Picture ten, though that doesn't make it likely to win. One Battle After Another still seems to be running away with it, despite Sinners' best efforts. But, of their 2025 slate, it is undoubtedly Netflix's best shot to secure the prize they've hunted for years. Expect their campaigning to ramp up over the next few weeks as they try to push it over the hump.

Release Date October 17, 2025

Runtime 149 Minutes

Director Guillermo del Toro

Writers Guillermo del Toro, Mary Shelley

Producers J. Miles Dale, Guillermo del Toro, Scott Stuber