Golden Globes 2018: Who will win — and who should?

Brian Truitt | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption ‘Wonder Woman,’ ‘Get Out’ snubbed by Golden Globes While big, well-deserving names did make the list, a number of high-profile awards contenders were overlooked in the Golden Globes nominations.

A new year means a new awards season, which kicks off in earnest Sunday with the 75th annual Golden Globes (NBC, 8 p.m. ET/5 PT) and a heap of awards handed out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. With no clear front-runners and a potentially wild race to the Oscars in March, USA TODAY predicts who will win (and who should) in the top movie categories.

More: 'The Shape of Water,' 'Big Little Lies' top Golden Globe nominations

Also: Who got nominated for Golden Globes? Here's the full list for 2018

DRAMA

Call Me By Your Name

Dunkirk

The Post

The Shape of Water

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Will win: The Shape of Water

Should win: The Post

The Shape of Water leads the entire Globes field with seven nominations, giving Guillermo del Toro’s Cold War fairy tale the edge in a stacked category. But The Post — boasting six total nods — has the total package, including a standout all-star cast led by legends Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, as well as a whole bunch of timeliness.

COMEDY OR MUSICAL

The Disaster Artist

Get Out

The Greatest Showman

I, Tonya

Lady Bird

Will win: Lady Bird

Should win: Get Out

Like La La Land last year, Lady Bird will benefit from not having to compete with the Oscar-ready dramas. For laughs plus a little something extra, though, Get Out offers biting social satire and a metaphor on racism.

ACTRESS IN A DRAMA

Jessica Chastain, Molly's Game

Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water

Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Meryl Streep, The Post

Michelle Williams, All the Money in the World

Will win/should win: Frances McDormand

Streep and Hawkins are strong contenders because their roles power their projects, but this is McDormand’s season to rule — and to snag her first Globe win out of six nominations. Three Billboards completely hinges on her vengeful mom on a mission, and McDormand gives the character weight, complicated emotions and a wickedly dark sense of humor.

ACTOR IN A DRAMA

Timothée Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name

Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread

Tom Hanks, The Post

Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Will win/should win: Gary Oldman

Any other year, this would be Chalamet’s trophy to win after his stirring and emotional performance in a coming-of-age story of sexual awakening. Unfortunately for him, Oldman completely transforms, from jowls to paunch, into Winston Churchill, a rousing role that’ll likely let the acclaimed British thespian run the table to Oscar.

ACTRESS IN A COMEDY OR MUSICAL

Judi Dench, Victoria & Abdul

Helen Mirren, The Leisure Seeker

Margot Robbie, I, Tonya

Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird

Emma Stone, Battle of the Sexes

Will win: Saoirse Ronan

Should win: Margot Robbie

Ronan is the best thing about the universally beloved Lady Bird, and that translates into an almost certain win for the Irish actress. Consider, however, the acting acumen needed to pull off playing disgraced skate champion Tonya Harding; Robbie’s success at squeezing dark humor and deep pathos from a real figure is way more impressive.

ACTOR IN A COMEDY OR MUSICAL

Steve Carell, Battle of the Sexes

Ansel Elgort, Baby Driver

James Franco, The Disaster Artist

Hugh Jackman, The Greatest Showman

Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out

Will win: James Franco

Should win: Daniel Kaluuya

Franco effectively captures the strange mannerisms and can-do indie spirit of The Room auteur Tommy Wiseau, the HFPA loves to fête major stars, plus he’s just fun to watch. Yet Kaluuya gets the meatier role to sink his teeth into, bringing a huge amount of depth and fear as well as humor to the role of a young black man terrorized by his white girlfriend’s family.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Mary J. Blige, Mudbound

Hong Chau, Downsizing

Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird

Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

Will win: Laurie Metcalf

Should win: Allison Janney

A toss-up between two overbearing movie moms lacking a filter. Given Lady Bird's popularity, Metcalf might have the edge as the hard-working, opinionated parent of a free-spirited teen, but Janney’s turn as Harding’s chain-smoking, foul-mouthed, abusive mother is pure brilliance.

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project

Armie Hammer, Call Me By Your Name

Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water

Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World

Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Will win: Christopher Plummer

Should win: Willem Dafoe

Plummer’s eleventh-hour reshoot to replace Kevin Spacey and save All the Money in the World is already the stuff of legend, a feat that will fuel an upset over Rockwell and Dafoe. Of the two favorites, Dafoe deserves it for his heart-tugging role as an embattled but kind hotel manager.

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