The biggest snubs and surprises from the 2023 Golden Globe nominations

One of the unique features of the Golden Globes is that its divided categories, for dramas and musicals/comedies, open up the field to a wider array of films and performances. That’s how we get some surprise nods for Anya Taylor-Joy and Ralph Fiennes in The Menu, a horror-comedy that may not otherwise have reached the lofty status of awards contention. However, it’s been a prime year for horror (Barbarian fans may wish that it, rather than The Menu, got the Globes’ attention), so it feels fitting to acknowledge that, even for a film that came out so late in the year. [Mary Kate Carr]

…That being said, a more obvious choice to acknowledge the horror genre would have been Jordan Peele’s Nope, which did not garner any nominations despite being one of the year’s biggest hits (and with comparable critical reception to The Menu). Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, and Steven Yeun all turned in strong, memorable performances worthy of recognition. Perhaps since the film wasn’t an overt horror comedy, it didn’t fit into even the Globes’ wider categories. The drama field was tough to crack this year, but it’s a shame to see a film that still has audiences talking and dissecting be shut out completely. [Mary Kate Carr]

Netflix has clearly been pouring a lot of effort into its campaign for Dahmer, but the reception, at least online, has not been particularly warm. Dahmer was (aren’t they all?) but it also ended up the subject of some (deserved) backlash when it was revealed that agreed to talk to the series. In a year when the Globes are on something of an apology tour, it’s something of a surprise that they would willingly wade into a controversy like this one. [Drew Gillis]

Someone up on the stage. This is another unsurprising snub, given both the entire history of cinema in general and the contenders that have risen to the top of this year’s conversation specifically. Still, it’s disappointing that after many years of discussion on the topic and the Globes’ purported commitment to diversity that the directing nominees are nearly all white men (the exception being Everything Everywhere All At Once’s Daniel Kwan). Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King only received attention through its lead actor (Viola Davis), and Women Talking writer-director Sarah Polley was nominated only for the film’s screenplay. That’s to say nothing of some of the year’s other female directors, such as Chinonye Chukwu (Till), Alice Diop (Saint Omer), Maria Schrader (She Said), and more. [Mary Kate Carr]

For this year’s TV dramas, network series were largely left out of the conversation, reifying a decade-plus trend of highlighting prestige cable and streaming series. There was one person, however, who was able to buck the trend and earn a nomination for Best Actress: two-time Oscar winner Hillary Swank. Swank’s nomination indicates that it’s not totally over for network television—if they can find a way to attract prestige-level talent. [Drew Gillis]

Season two of The White Lotus got some much-deserved attention, but when it came to the acting categories, the Golden Globes mostly hewed to the anthology’s most recognizable names: Jennifer Coolidge, Aubrey Plaza, and F. Murray Abraham. Unfortunately absent was the season’s breakout star, who, just hours before the nominations were announced, earned raves across social media for her skilled, subtle work in the season finale. This certainly won’t be the last time we hear the name Meghann Fahy, but it would have been nice to see her get some love for her work in Sicily. [Drew Gillis]