Oscars Betting 2023: How Will The Irish Fare?

Daire Walsh

The Academy Awards take place in Los Angeles on March 12 and betting sites are readying themselves for the Irish invasion that is set to descend upon the Dolby Theatre.

When the Oscar shortlist was unveiled on January 24, there was unconfined joy across the Emerald Isle.

Throughout the various categories that Academy voters have to choose from, there were no fewer than 14 Irish nominations – a phenomenal achievement that reflects superbly on the film industry within the country itself.

Irish Up For Contention In Several Categories

Nine of these have fallen the way of The Banshees of Inisherin, putting it just behind Everything Everywhere All at Once (which has 11) as the film with the most Oscar nominations.

Outside of Martin McDonagh’s black tragicomedy, Kildare native Paul Mescal is up for consideration in the Best Actor category for his assured performance in the Turkish-set drama Aftersun.

The Banshees of Inisherin won’t be the only Irish film in contention as the Irish-language marvel An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) is one of five to be shortlisted for Best International Feature Film.

Elsewhere – having already secured an Oscar for his work on the previous entry in the series – Richard Baneham is nominated in the Best Visual Effects category for Avatar: The Way of Water.

Jonathan Redmond has secured a Best Film Editing nod for Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, while the Northern Ireland production An Irish Goodbye is included amongst a group of five for Best Live Action Short Film.

Farrell And Mescal Up Against Each Other

One of the more interesting aspects to this year’s awards is that the Irish find themselves pitted against each other in a number of categories.

For instance, Colin Farrell and Paul Mescal are both up for Best Actor, with the former being the lead performer in The Banshees of Inisherin.

Farrell appears to be the better placed of the two to succeed with the likes of BetVictor offering 11/4 on him coming away with the gong.

Brendan Fraser remains the favourite at the moment for The Whale, but Farrell certainly shouldn’t be ruled out of the equation.

Given it is just his third feature film, it is a remarkable feat for Mescal to be up for Oscar consideration.

The odds on him sit at 25/1 with Oscars betting sites, but there have been many surprise winners in the past.

Gleeson, Keoghan And Condon In The Reckoning For Supporting Oscars

For Best Supporting Actor, Dubliners Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan are included for their performances in the same film – The Banshees of Inisherin.

Gleeson is 11/2 with Paddy Power to come out on top, while Keoghan is out at odds of 10/1.

However, the signs are pointing towards former child actor Ke Huy Quan picking up the prize for his role in Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Thanks to the presence of Kerry Condon in the Best Supporting Actress category, 25% of the acting nominations for this year are Irish talents.

This is nothing short of extraordinary and Condon is currently being valued at 5/2 for Oscar glory.

Although Angela Bassett appears to hold the edge for her role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Condon and fellow nominee Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All at Once) might yet upset the apple cart.

McDonagh Secures Several Nominations

Despite being born and raised in London, Martin McDonagh has been fully embraced by the Irish due to his parents hailing from Sligo and Galway.

He won a Best Live Action Short Film Oscar in 2004 for Six Shooter and he will have three opportunities to add a second one next month.

Nominated alongside Graham Broadbent and Peter Czernin, McDonagh is up for Best Picture with his fourth feature film The Banshees of Inisherin.

It is currently second favourite behind Everything Everywhere All at Once, but could well be worth a punt with William Hill offering odds as short as 7/4.

McDonagh is a bit further down in the race for Best Director with Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert leading the way for the aforementioned Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans) and Todd Field (Tar) also feature highly, whereas there are odds of 12/1 with 10Bet on McDonagh coming out on top.

The hunt for Best Original Screenplay is perilously close, but McDonagh currently has a slight edge over the Daniels (Kwan and Scheinert).

Bookmakers believe he will come away with this gong on what could prove to be a major night of success for his film.

Burwell And Nielsen Continue Banshees Recognition

While neither of them are Irish, Carter Burwell (Best Original Score) and Mikkel E. G. Nielsen (Best Film Editing) are also flying the flag for The Banshees of Inisherin.

Betfair are offering odds of 11/2 on Burwell being honoured, but Justin Hurwitz is the current frontrunner for his work on Babylon.

Just two years ago, Nielsen won an Oscar for Sound of Metal – becoming the first Dane to be awarded for film editing.

He is 11/2 to add a second gong in the space of three years, but Everything Everywhere All at Once and Top Gun: Maverick are leading this particular field.

Coming up behind Nielsen in the pecking order for Best Film Editing is Jonathan Redmond (who was raised in the Dublin suburb of Sandycove) and Matt Villa for Elvis.

Betting apps are offering 20/1 on this duo emerging from a difficult field, so they are very much outsiders.

An Cailín Ciúin And Irish Goodbye In The Running

With odds of 12/1, An Cailín Ciúin isn’t in a bad place when it comes to what is being offered for Best International Feature Film.

Yet given it is also up for Best Picture, All Quiet on the Western Front is an almost unbackable favourite in this category.

At the time of writing, specials betting sites are offering 1/33 on this German production prevailing as the top international feature of the year.

Despite the presence of the Alfonso Cuaron-produced Le Pupille, An Irish Goodbye (for which Tom Berkely and Ross White are shortlisted) is featuring strongly in the pre-ceremony betting.

Bookmakers are offering 11/8 on Le Pupille triumphing, but An Irish Goodbye isn’t too far behind at 9/4 with the same bookmaker.

Baneham A Likely Oscar Winner

There was little surprise when Richard Baneham and his colleagues were honoured for their work on Avatar 13 years ago and the Tallaght man is expected to collect another Oscar in unison with Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett for Best Visual Effects.

Like its predecessor, Avatar: The Way of Water has been hailed as a technical marvel.

One of the longest odds on it winning the award in this category is 1/7 with Bet365 – a sure sign of how strongly it is favoured.