Suspense is building for the Oscars season this year. In a different world, the nominations would have been announced by now, on the morning of January 17. The devastatingly destructive fires in California have disrupted this plan, forcing the Academy to extend the voting window and push the nomination announcement twice. As such, awards audiences and industry professionals will have to wait another week to see what is in contention for Best Picture and other major awards. Films expected to be at the top of the heap include Anora, The Brutalist, Emilia Pérez, and Wicked.

In addition to the Best Picture race, the acting categories are compeтιтive this year, including Best Supporting Actor. Multi-time nominee Denzel Washington might be up for Gladiator II, while newcomer and formerly incarcerated actor Clarence Maclin may be up for his semi-autobiographical performance in Sing Sing. Emmy winner Kieran Culkin may also be nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and the movie he is in is now a huge success on its streaming platform.

A Real Pain Is Dominating The Hulu Charts

It Was Added On January 16

A Real Pain is a huge streaming success just one day after being added to Hulu. Following the story of two cousins who go on a trip to Poland to explore their Jewish heritage and the horrific history of the Holocaust, the drama movie takes a tragic subject and puts a comedic spin on it. Jesse Eisenberg plays quadruple duty for the film, writing, directing, producing, and starring, while Culkin plays his depressed and feisty cousin Benji. A Real Pain received rave reviews, receiving a 96% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes, and is in conversation for multiple Oscars.

A Real Pain has made its way onto the Hulu charts, placing no. 2 movie in the United States today (January 17). This is just one day after it was added to the platform on January 16. The movie also managed to make it to no. 7 on Hulu’s overall charts, which includes both movies and TV.

Our Take On A Real Pain’s Hulu Domination

This Is Perfectly Timed For Oscar Voting

A Real Pain‘s Hulu success comes at a critical time for the film. The Oscar nomination delay is directly tied to the extension of the voting window, which ends today, January 17, at 5 pm PST (8 pm EST). While the nominees should theoretically be selected based on merit alone, name recognition is a huge factor in these awards and could help a movie like A Real Pain get the final push it needs in categories such as Original Screenplay, where it may be more of a dark horse.

Nevertheless, the strong Oscar contention is no small discord because A Real Pain is a great movie. A key reason for this is Culkin’s performance, who brings a perfect blend of dramatics and humor as his character copes on his journey with his cousin. It’s different from his previous award-winning performance as Roman Roy in Succession, proving that Culkin is one of the most versatile actors in the industry today, and he is finally getting his due.

Source: Hulu