I think this year’s Best Director race is really intriguing. It is a group of filmmakers doing a variety of different things, and they all have their merit. While this makes predicting the winner a tough task, and there are many different ways this race could go, I think there are two presumed frontrunners heading into the Directors Guild of America’s award ceremony.

The Nominees:

• Bong Joon Ho – Parasite
• Sam Mendes – 1917
• Todd Phillips – Joker
• Martin Scorsese – The Irishman
• Quentin Tarantino – Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood

Will Win: Sam Mendes

Could Win: Bong Joon Ho

Dark Horse: Quentin Tarantino

There are a lot of possible scenarios in the Best Director race. Sam Mendes could win Best Director and 1917 could win Best Picture. Bong Joon Ho could win Best Director and 1917 could win Best Picture. Bong Joon Ho could win Best Director and Parasite could win Best Picture. Quentin Tarantino could win Best Director and Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood could win Best Picture. I would not be surprised if any of these came to pass.

What feels less likely is Todd Phillips winning Best Director and Joker winning Best Picture. Or Martin Scorsese winning Best Director and The Irishman winning Best Picture. But maybe the preferential ballot nets Joker or Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood Best Picture without those directors getting a Best Director nod.

It goes without saying that the Directors Guild awards will accelerate this race in one direction. My chips are leaning in the direction of Mendes, just because the awards season stock for 1917 has shot up quickly in the past two weeks and the film is undoubtedly a directorial achievement. But it is hard to count out the Bong hive with this one.

As always, thanks for reading!

Like CineFiles on Facebook for updates on new articles and reviews

Check out my page on Letterboxd

—Alex Brannan (@TheAlexBrannan)