Are the Oscars Scared of Sex?

variety.com:

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV Critic Several underperforming films at the Oscars had one thing in common: A blunt willingness to deal with sex.

To wit: “Babygirl” star Nicole Kidman, playing a woman who comes closer to understanding her carnal side after an affair with her intern, campaigned harder than she ever had before; so did “Queer” lead actor Daniel Craig, as a lovelorn gay man who expresses through physicality what he cannot with words.

Neither actor got a nomination. “Challengers,” a spring sensation led by Zendaya that seemed set to compete for its pulsating score and boundary-pushing screenplay, got in nowhere, while “Nosferatu,” a ravishing Gothic depiction of lust at the edge of death, didn’t get the best picture nod that some speculated it might.

None of these come as true shocks, exactly; Kidman’s and Craig’s campaigns seemed to lose steam as precursor nominations eluded their grasps, while “Challengers” may just have faded from memory and “Nosferatu” can take its craft nominations (and its box-office haul) as the reward.