Commercial Content, 21+

The Academy Awards race for Best Picture has completely turned on its head in the six weeks since nominations were announced.

“The Power of the Dog” was the early favorite, and though it still technically is, the most likely film to unseat it has changed drastically.

This race was initially lining up to be “The Power of the Dog” against “Belfast,” with “West Side Story” in the mix. But “CODA” has since steamed forward from its initial opening odds in the 20/1 to 30/1 range after taking home the top prizes awarded by the Screen Actors Guild and Producers Guild of America.

This sets up an intriguing showdown between the two award shows that have the best history of predicting the Best Picture winner. “CODA” won at the PGA and “The Power of the Dog” won at the Directors Guild of America. Since 2000, both of those organizations have matched up with the Academy Awards’ Best Picture 14 times, proving more predictable than the SAGs, BAFTAs or Golden Globes.

The PGA and DGA have both been wrong a few times, most recently in 2019, when both organizations awarded “1917” and the Academy went with “Parasite.” Each of the past two times the organizations disagreed, however, the PGA has been correct: In 2018, when the PGA picked “Green Book” and the DGA picked “Roma,” and in 2013, when the PGA went with “12 Years a Slave” and the DGA went with “Gravity.”

All of this is to say that we’re setting up for yet another unpredictable finish this Sunday, but it’s impossible to ignore the steam behind “CODA.” It’s unfortunate to have missed out on predicting which of the stealth contenders would steam over the past six weeks, but now that we’re here, it’s time to get on board.

“CODA” at any numbers with a plus in front of it still provides solid value.

The play: “CODA” to win Best Picture, +105