Yesterday, I wrote about how Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet” has been sweeping regional audience awards on its path to an inevitable Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. It just claimed another one today: the Audience Award at the Valladolid International Film Festival.
That said, another audience award was announced today — and it wasn’t for Zhao’s film. Instead, Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” has won the top prize at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, another significant regional fest with numerous Oscar voters in attendance.
Searchlight Pictures’ Brendan Fraser–starring “Rental Family,” directed by Hikari, was the runner-up at the festival. Fraser was also honored with the Outstanding Achievement in Cinema Award during the screening event.
Some of the films that screened and were eligible for the prize but came up empty-handed include “Hamnet,” “Bugonia,” “Jay Kelly,” “Is This Thing On,” “Wake Up Dead Man,” and “Song Sung Blue.”
Park Chan-wook's “No Other Choice,” which is South Korea's entry for the 2026 Oscars, won the International Audience Award. The film, distributed by Neon, beat out stiff competition from “Sentimental Value” and “Nouvelle Vague.”
“Frankenstein,” which debuted to mixed reviews in Venice, has enjoyed a strong post-Lido reception from both critics and audiences. It was even the runner-up at TIFF, right behind “Hamnet.” Will it secure that coveted Best Picture Oscar nomination for Netflix? It’s quite possible.
Del Toro’s film actually hit theaters over two weeks ago, on more than 1,000 screens, but, as is almost always the case, Netflix has refused to disclose box-office receipts. The film is set to arrive on streaming this Friday.
Gerwig says her Netflix-bound "Narnia" is not a retread of the past movies; instead, she "wanted a rock opera," starting from scratch with C.S. Lewis's origin story, the one in which Narnia is actually born.