With comedy category move, has ‘Obsession’ hurt its best shot at an Oscar?
The horror film 'Obsession' is submitting for Golden Globe consideration in the Musical/Comedy category, sparking debate about genre classification. This strategic move is often used by studios to increase the chances of securing awards nominations.
Why it matters
Awards season strategy often involves 'category fraud' or strategic placement, which influences how films are perceived and marketed to audiences.
The news came as one of the first big shocks of a still-developing awards season. Obsession , the low-budget horror sensation and one of the year's biggest film stories, will be submitting in Musical/Comedy categories where applicable — primarily the Golden Globes.
As The Hollywood Reporter story that broke the news points out, this is not an unprecedented move by any means. In recent awards history, plenty of films that are tonally on the bubble have opted to compete in the less competitive Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes to claim a meaningful precursor on the way to a potential Best Picture Oscar nomination. There's the more blatantly comedic horror movie Get Out , Martin McDonagh's true black comedy The Banshees of Inisherin , Yorgos Lanthimos' sardonic Poor Things and Bugonia , and — perhaps most famously of all — The Martian .
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