Netflix debuts trailer for Hillbilly Elegy, which could score Amy Adams and Glenn Close Oscar nods

Hillbilly Elegy
(Image credit: Netflix)

Netflix has debuted the first trailer for Hillbilly Elegy, the movie that has not one, but two big chances to finally score beloved actresses an Oscar.

The streamer on Wednesday premiered the first look at Ron Howard's film, which is based on J. D. Vance's memoir of the same name. Adams and Close star in the movie, in which a former Marine returns home and "must navigate the complex dynamics of his Appalachian family," per Netflix's description.

Hillbilly Elegy could once again place Adams in contention for an Oscar, an award she has famously never won despite being nominated six times. Her most recent chance to win was in 2019 for Vice, although when Adams failed to even secure a nomination for 2016's Arrival, that was widely seen as one of the year's biggest snubs.

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Meanwhile, Close also could be a Best Supporting Actress contender for Hillbilly Elegy. Like Adams, Close has famously never won an Academy Award. She's been nominated seven times and is actually the most-nominated living actor who has never won an Oscar. At the 2019 Academy Awards, Close was seen as the heavy favorite to win Best Actress for The Wife, only for Olivia Colman to take the prize for The Favourite in one of the biggest upsets in recent years. Ironically, Variety predicts that at the 2021 Oscars, among the actresses Close will be competing against will be none other than Colman herself, who may be in contention for The Father.

For Best Actress, some of the other potential 2021 competitors include Frances McDormand for Nomadland and Vanessa Kirby for Pieces of a Woman, but Variety actually isn't so certain Adams will end up being nominated, meaning we could find her on the inevitable lists of biggest Oscar snubs once again.

The momentum, of course, could shift in a big way once we get a look at the film, which hits Netflix on Nov. 24. Brendan Morrow

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan is a staff writer at The Week. A graduate of Hofstra University with a degree in journalism, he also writes about horror films for Bloody Disgusting and has previously contributed to The Cheat Sheet, Heavy, WhatCulture, and more. He lives in New York City surrounded by Star Wars posters.