Why CODA deserves to win Best Picture
The 2022 Oscars ceremony is coming up on March 27, and 10 new movies are up for the Best Picture title: Belfast, CODA, Don’t Look Up, Drive My Car, Dune, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, Nightmare Alley, The Power of the Dog, and West Side Story. Each has its strengths and weaknesses, and any of them might end up winning big. In the lead-up to the Oscars, we’re making a case for why each of them might deserve to take the big prize. Next up: Nightmare Alley.
CODA, an adaptation of the 2014 French filmLa Famille Bélier from writer-director Sian Heder.
Life as a Child of Deaf Adults (CODA) comes crashing down for Ruby (Emilia Jones) in her final months of high school. A gifted singer who dreams of leaving home to study music, Ruby is also the keystone of her family’s fishing operation, lending her father Frank (Troy Kotsur), mother Jackie (Marlee Matlin), and brother Leo (Daniel Durant) a crucial ear and an extra pair of hands as they trawl for fish off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts. As her family struggles to understand her passion for music, and her position becomes increasingly more invaluable to a family trying to pay its bills, Ruby faces two roads: stay at home to forever support the unit, or invest in her dreams.
WHAT’S THE CRED?
While CODA is the only true American indie on this year’s Best Picture slate, it arrives in the race with retro and recent awards power. In 1987, Matlin became the first Deaf performer to ever win an Oscar for her performance alongside William Hurt in Children of a Lesser God. The prize launched her career in film and television, though she’s often typecast as the lone Deaf character or guest star. CODA marks one of her highest-profile roles alongside other Deaf actors.
More than 30
Read more on polygon.com
