The Film Experience

By Abe Friedtanzer

Now this is one hell of a category, and it may actually be THE most competitive race of Emmy night. Unlike drama and comedy series, where The Crown and Ted Lasso have distinct advantages and are all but guaranteed to triumph (check out our breakdowns of those categories for more), this one is completely open and up in the air. It’s one of the few categories where I correctly predicted all five nominees, though they didn’t end up with the same hauls I expected. Let’s break down the competition, their overall stats, and which of them could emerge victorious…

I May Destroy You (HBO Max)
I actually just finished watching this show. It’s remarkable, and it’s very much unlike anything else I’ve seen. Its approach to its subject matter – sexual assault – is entirely unconventional, and the talent involved, Weruche Opia and acting nominees Michaela Coel and Paapa Essiedu, is excellent. It scored some crucial nominations out of its total of nine, including casting, writing, and two for directing. The fact that it made it this far suggests that it does have tremendous support, and while it might be the underdog, it would be a phenomenal choice. I’m very glad it got nominated so that I finally made time to watch it, which I should have done right from the start.

Mare of Easttown (HBO)
This show is probably the most recent instance of appointment television, following in the footsteps of Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad, where people sat down every Sunday night to catch the next new episode as soon as it was available. It also benefits from recency bias given that it finished airing in May at the tail end of the TV season. It hit all the marks it needed to, with four acting bids and mentions for directing and writing. It didn’t win a single one of its creative arts awards bids but it could still triumph on Emmy night.

The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)
Now here’s the show to beat, or at least the show that won every single prize in the earlier ceremonies that go by calendar year. It scored eighteen nominations and actually already won half of those at the Creative Arts Emmys this past weekend, which is a good thing though not always a guarantee of eventual top-category success (Stranger Things outperformed The Handmaid’s Tale in the technical categories when they were both freshmen, only to lose the big prizes). Anya Taylor-Joy is very hot right now and the show’s quality holds up, so I still think this is the one to beat. Of these five, I think it’s the most consistently entertaining watch as well.

The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime Video)
This series turned out to be too tough for Emmy voters to truly appreciate, scoring just seven bids, the least of any program in this category, and earning a grand total of zero acting nominations, which is a bit hard to believe. To imagine it winning after that is difficult, since voters would have endorsed it a lot more enthusiastically if they actually loved it. I think Barry Jenkins has a chance to win for his directing, but this strong but draining show is not likely to win this prize.

WandaVision (Disney+)
And here we have the juggernaut, the show that earned twenty-three nominations, just one shy of the tie created by The Crown and The Mandalorian. With its technical bids, the show went only three for fifteen at the Creative Arts Emmys, but it might have a better chance in the major races, where it has three actors nominated and also three of its episodes up for writing. It’s the genre choice, which didn’t hurt last year’s big winner, Watchmen. Will voters embrace this superhero/MCU fare as warmly?

I’m really torn about this since I do think that four of these shows could legitimately win. My gut still tells me that The Queen’s Gambit will pull it off, even if both WandaVision and Mare of Easttown are potential upsets. And how cool would it be if they all split the votes and I May Destroy You won? Fortunately, and as my rankings below indicate, there are no bad choices here.

Predictions

The Queen’s Gambit
WandaVision
Mare of Easttown
I May Destroy You
The Underground Railroad

Personal Ranking

The Queen’s Gambit
I May Destroy You
WandaVision
The Underground Railroad
Mare of Easttown

What do you think will win here, and which was your favourite?

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