2026 OSCARS: Sentimental Value (2025) - When a Location is Not Just a Metaphor, But a Participant/Witness

[Quick Summary: In the family home, a director and his two adult daughters try to bridge years of misunderstandings and absences.]

This is a film about family memories and how they get in the way of present relationships.   Here's a little background:

- The father, Gustav, is a film director, who hasn't made a film in 15 yrs.  
- Gustav left his wife when his daughters, Nora and Agnes, were young.
- The wife remained in the family home with the two daughters.  
- The wife was a psychologist and has recently died.  
- The daughters have returned to deal with her estate and the house. 
- Gustav also returns, with a role for his daughter Nora to act in.  
- He wants to shoot his film in the family house.

One of the things that impressed me in the script is how the writers indicated that this house will be important to this family's story.

It is used a metaphor, but also used literally as the structure in which the family has to wrestle with memories.  The house is a silent participant/witness to their lives.

In this early scene in the script (below), the writers use a montage of rapid images to establish how often the house is a participant in the family's daily life:

INT. FAMILY HOUSE (VARIOUS TIMES) - DAY

MONTAGE of rapid images of the house being used and abused as the voice continues:

NARRATOR: She remembered wondering if the house preferred to be light and empty or full and heavy...

High heels scrape the parquet of floor at a party (1965).

An eager dog's claws scratch the wooden floor in front of the door (1980).

NARRATOR (CONT'D): ...if it liked being trampled on, or that people crashed into its walls, that eager dog claws scratched the floorboards.

A chair scraping against the kitchen floor (1998).

Children's dirty fingers stick to the railing on the stairs (1994).

A wine glass falls to the floor and shatters (1965).

A milk glass topples over (1955).

A laptop falls corner-first, creating a deep gouge in the wooden floor (2000).

NARRATOR (CONT'D): ...and she thought yes, it liked being full, and that the marks were just scrapes like you get playing tag or soccer.

Gustav (35) is moving his hands behind the two small windows over the kitchen door. The shadowplay makes it seem to Nora (3) that they are two eyes looking toward her. (1990s). 

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I'd never seen a house used as participant/witness/location/framework of the story like this. The memories make a house a home.

Sentimental Value (2025)(8/18/24 draft) 
by Eskil Vogt & Joachim Trier

2026 OSCARS: Marty Supreme (2025) - One Key to a Hair Pin "Reversal of Fortune" Moment (Hope-Fear)

[Quick Summary A table tennis player is thwarted as he schemes, cons, and hustles friends and strangers to finance a trip to the World Championship.]

TWO THOUGHTS: 

1)  PROS:
- This is a well written, script and reads fast.
- The script attempts to capture a bold, foolhardy emotional roller coaster.   
- The protagonist is an audacious, confident, unpleasantly selfish young man. 

CONS: 
- I appreciate the criticism that the story seems to be a scatter shot of events that aren't cohesive and build to something (episodic?).   
- Though life is very episodic, trying to connect events that are not "one of a whole" is distracting.  Also, the start-stop-start-stop rhythm is distracting.
- You'll either love its truthfulness, or hate the jerkiness of the flow.  

2) ALWAYS EMOTIONALLY TRUTHFUL.  Like its protagonist, the script takes big swings that may/may not work. For the most part, it works.

Why? I think it's because the writers were careful to be truthful with emotions, especially in the big moments.

For example, in the scene below:
- This is a hair pin, "reversal of fortune" moment.
- Milton Rockwell, a rich guy, offered to sponsor Marty in Japan.
- Marty turned Rockwell down because he had principles.
- Marty has slept with Milton's actress wife. Milton doesn't know.
- Now Marty is begging for that job back because he has no other options.
- Why would we believe Marty would change his mind now? Earlier, it was setup that there isn't anything he won't do - steal, bargain, con, etc.
- Then in this scene, emotions flip flop quickly between hope and fear, desperation and bravado. 
- Note that the audience can stick to these hair pin emotional turns because they're always truthful. Marty is really that fast - a fast speaker, a fast hustler, a fast opportunist.

EXT. MOROSCO THEATER - CONTINUOUS 

...MILTON steps into the car. The Chauffeur heads around to the driver's side. MARTY raps his knuckles on the window.

MARTY: Mr. Rockwell...(knock knock) Please.... (knock knock) Mr. Rockwell... [Fear. Descending. Desperation. He's at rock bottom.]

MILTON (voice muffled through the glass): What!

MARTY: Look, let's be pragmatists for a second. Put your personal feelings about me aside. You and I both know the kind of value I'd bring to an event with Endo on his home turf. You said so yourself. I'm like a stick of dynamite over there. Whatever other plans you've made, they're going to pale in comparison... [Hope. Ascending. There's hope, a crack in the door.]

A pause.

MARTY (CONT'D): Can we just sit and talk about this reasonably for 2 minutes? There's more than enough common ground here. [Hope. Ascending. He's widening the door.]

Another pause. 

MILTON: Fine, get in the car.

MARTY: Thank you!

MARTY runs around to the passenger side. MILTON motions to the driver and the car takes off. MARTY runs alongside it, banging on the window, until he can't keep up.  [Fear. Descending. The door is slammed.]

MARTY (CONT'D): SON OF A BITCH! YOU WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE THE IDEA IF IT WASN'T FOR ME!! [Fear. Descending fast into the ground.]

The car continues down the street. [Fear. Hits rock bottom again.]

Hold a few beats on MARTY, stewing. He steps back on the curb and realizes that Kay's ASSISTANT has been standing there, uncomfortable, waiting to speak to him. [Hair pin turn into hope. Ascending.]

MARTY (CONT'D): What!

ASSISTANT: Um, Ms. Stone would like to have lunch with you. [Hope. Ascending fast.]

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: One key to staying on the rails, even in a hair pin "reversal of fortune" moment, is staying emotionally true to the character. 

I would've been pulled out of the story if Marty, who is a self-absorbed, fast talking, opportunistic person, suddenly grew a conscience, or slowed down to think. 

Marty Supreme (2025)(dated 2/2/25)
by Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie

2026 OSCARS: It Was Just an Accident (2025) - One Example of Economically Dropping Thriller Clues (Show Not Tell)

[Quick Summary: When formerly tortured prisoners catch the guard who tortured them, the group is uncertain if it's the same man and fights within itself.]

How can this thriller be so full of suspense at only 63 pgs. in length!?

One key was how carefully the writer chose his clues.  They had to be clear, but result in questions that would make the reader want to turn the page. 

For example, in the scene below:
- A man's car breaks down with his pregnant wife and daughter Niloufar inside.
- They come to a random repair shop.
- Vahid is the mechanic.
- Note that the first clue is an AUDIBLE one.
- Also note that it is Vahid's reaction that makes the audience realize something is wrong. 
- Thus the audience begins to realize danger is afoot without being told (show not tell).

 I./E. CAR ON COUNTRY ROAD - NIGHT

...Vahid hangs up and lights a cigarette.
In the meantime, the woman comes out of the bathroom.
Vahid looks at her through the gap in the door. The woman sits down, apparently overcome by stomach pains. Niloufar helps her.
We hear the workshop door open. Vahid goes to the far end of the room but the sound of the man's artificial leg on the concrete floor makes him freeze, as if this unusual noise seemed familiar. He pricks up his ears. Vahid tries to spot the man, but he can't. He discreetly steps over to the door again.

He sees the man come into the workshop, then go over to his wife and daughter. Vahid looks devastated. He quickly steps back and presses against the cupboard so as not to be seen. he takes a deep breath and tries to pull himself together. All of a sudden, the man calls out to him. 

MAN: Vahid...Vahind...

Vahid doesn't reply. 

MAN: Mister Vahid...

Vahid is cornered. He coughs and then answers, but without showing himself. He alters his voice to reply.

VAHID: Yes?!

MAN: Mister Omid needs the old toolbox.

Vahid heaves a sign of relief.

VAHID: It's next to the big machine! 

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: The choice of an auditory clue here was brilliant because:
- It is suspenseful because it has meaning that the audience doesn't know yet (as we learn from Vahid's reactions).
- It made me wonder what the characters knew, thus I wanted to turn the page.
- It is showing, but not telling the story.

It Was Just an Accident (2025)
by  Jafar Panahi

2026 OSCARS: Blue Moon (2025) - This is NOT the Payoff Speech You Expect (Creating an Ironic, Emotionally Satisfying Ending)

[Quick Summary: Lorenz Hart, formerly of the famous Rodgers-Hart duo, struggles with alcoholism and regret on the opening night of the new Rodgers-Hammerstein musical, "Oklahoma!".]

THREE THOUGHTS: 

1) THE PROCESS. In several recent interviews, actor Ethan Hawke spoke about director Richard Linklater's process with the script.*  The most interesting tidbits:

1) "Linklater is very patient." It's taken 10 years to get the script right.
2) Hawke said he knew this was a very small target they were aiming for. 
3) Each time they'd get a draft, Linklater would call it "another layer of paint."

2) THE SCRIPT. I think this patience and persistence paid off.  It's a very tight script (only 85 pgs.), happens all in one night, and mostly in one location.  

It's also a wonderful character piece on how Hart often got in his own way. 

3) PAYOFF THAT PAYS OFF. I imagine getting Hart right was very hard: 

- He was short, overlooked, and full of contradictions (ex. self-destructive and smart; gay, but hopelessly in love with a woman).
- He was both the biggest and smallest person in the room.
- Hawke said that Hart kept talking, talking, talking because he wouldn't be noticed if he stopped. 

What does the writer do with a character who won't shut up? Here, it was fascinating to see the unexpected irony that the writer used in the structure.

To be more specific, the writer allowed Hart to talk, talk, talk for 3/4th of the script, then the woman he loves shuts him up in the last 1/4th with a brilliant monologue.

For example, in the scene below:
- Hart is in love with Elizabeth, who is 20 yrs. younger.
- Hart hasn't told her how he feels about her.
- She's still at Yale and stuck on Cooper, a friend's boyfriend and a junior at Yale.
- She thinks of Hart as a confidante, but doesn't ask much from him except to listen.
- He knows he's gay, but feels seen by her. It's the closest thing to love for him.
- At the party for "Oklahoma!," they go into a closet to have some privacy.
- She tells him about her humiliating 20th birthday with her crush, Cooper.
- On her birthday, they tried to have sex, but Cooper was too drunk and nervous. 
- A week later, Cooper asked her to dinner. They meet at his fraternity.
- This is one of Hart's most important scenes, and it's all in his reaction.
- Note that he's been talking all this time, self-absorbed -- until this moment when SHE becomes more important.
- Also, this is only part of Elizabeth's speech.  I'd highly recommend you read it in its entirety. It's a high wire act.  One of the best of deeply felt, exposing speeches for a female character.  

INT. SARDI'S BAR - ENTRANCE AREA - CONTINUOUS

...COAT ROOM AREA

ELIZABETH: In spades. I mean, it's suddenly pouring. We're practically tearing each other's clothes off. There is no conversation. And this time there is no difficulty. Not the first time. Not the second time.

HART: Stop.

ELIZABETH: He says to me, "Happy belated birthday, Elizabeth," and, you want to hear the unbelievable ending to this sordid little story That was the last time I saw him. That was November - over four months ago. I was absolutely sure he'd call. If only to have sex again, right? No. Never. I thought he'd write. No. So I call him, of course. He couldn't get off the phone fast enough.  So I wrote to him a four-page typed letter. Single-spaced. No response....

I tell myself it was like a fever dream, you know? And, maybe, the fever finally broke. And it all sounds sane and sensible, but, you know something, if he called me right now, right this very second, I'd drop everything in my life and drive three hours, drive thirty hours just to spend one more night with him. What is the matter with me, Larry? 

HART: Why would you drive thirty hours to see someone who treated you like that?

ELIZABETH: Because I'm in love with him?

HART: ...You are?

ELIZABETH: It's illogical. Obsessional. Pathetic. And this is not the first time this has happened to me. It keeps happening to me. I feel like I can't see people clearly. 

She struggles to take a deep breath. He takes out his pocket handkerchief and hands it to her. 

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: This payoff ending was emotionally satisfying because:
- The first 3/4 of the script (Hart talking) builds up to this last 1/4 (Hart silenced).
- This speech delivers a comeuppance to Hart in an unusual way.
-  I expected him to talk over her. Hart's silence thwarted my expectations.
- Hart shows us how he was his own worst enemy, and the structure mimics it.

Blue Moon (2025)(1/9/25 conformed script)
by Robert Kaplow
Inspired by the letters of Lorenz Hart and Elizabeth Weiland 

* For example: here, here, and here.