2017 Oscar Predictions: Best Supporting Actress

In this race it's Viola Davis ("Fences") vs. Michelle Williams ("Manchester by the Sea").

“Manchester By The Sea”

New York Film Critics Circle winner Michelle Williams is a sure shot for her powerful supporting role as a young wife in “Manchester by the Sea.” While she doesn’t have much screen time, she will land a nomination for one pivotal heart-breaking scene in which she attempts a reconciliation with her ex-husband (Casey Affleck).

She might have been the frontrunner if Paramount hadn’t decided to place “Fences” Tony-winner Viola Davis in the Supporting Actress race instead of the more crowded Best Actress field. She kills it, so now Williams has serious competition. Both landed Critics Choice, Globe and SAG Award nominations, and Davis took home the Critics Choice Award.

Denzel Washington and Viola Davis at the LA Guild Screening of “Fences” at the Regency Village Theatre.

Alex J. Berliner / ABImages

Breaking out at Telluride was National Board of Review winner Naomie Harris as the crack addict mother in Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight,” and at Toronto, “The Theory of Everything” Oscar nominee Felicity Jones as a mother fighting cancer in “A Monster Calls,” and Nicole Kidman as Dev Patel’s adoptive Australian mother in “Lion.” Harris and Kidman scored Critics Choice, Globe and SAG nods.

Long-shot contenders include Greta Gerwig, who pops out of the ensemble in Mike Mills’ relationship dramedy “20th Century Women,” which drew raves at the New York Film Festival and earned Gerwig a Critics Choice, but no Globe or SAG nominations.

Emerging with an ensemble nomination for “Hidden Figures” at the National Board of Review and SAG are Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe as NASA mathematicians; Spencer nabbed Globe and SAG nods, while Monáe is also strong in “Moonlight” and scored a Critics Choice nomination.

“20th Century Women”

A24

Best Supporting Actress Contenders Chart (in alphabetical order).

Frontrunners:
Viola Davis (“Fences”)
Naomie Harris (“Moonlight”)
Nicole Kidman (“Lion”)
Octavia Spencer (“Hidden Figures”)
Michelle Williams (“Manchester By the Sea”)

Contenders:
Greta Gerwig (“20th Century Women”)
Felicity Jones (“A Monster Calls”)
Janelle Monáe (“Hidden Figures”)

Long Shots:
Helen Mirren (“Eye in the Sky”)
Julianne Moore (“Maggie’s Plan”)

source 

http://www.indiewire.com/2016/12/2017-oscar-predictions-best-supporting-actress-1201687993/