A24 will open Sebastian Lelio‘s Gloria Bell on 3.8.19. It was my opinion last September that Julianne Moore‘s lead performance as the titular character — a single, middle-aged woman looking for love — would almost certainly snag a Best Actress nomination. And I wasn’t the only one saying this.

But A24 is a play-it-safe outfit — they’re not exactly known for passionate, balls-out, never-say-die Oscar campaigns (just ask Paul Schrader and Ethan Hawke), and so they’ll be opening Lelio’s film in the dog days of March and then hope for some Gotham/Spirit Awards action in late ’19 and early ’20. They’re basically giving Moore the bum’s rush,

Posted on 9.13.18, or before A24 announced their 2019 release plan: Sebastian Lelio‘s Gloria Bell, a nearly shot-for-shot remake of his 2013 original, is once again a very good film — emotionally relatable and affecting, wonderfully acted, a bit sad.

And I’m sorry but there’s no way Julianne Moore, who knocks the lead role out of the park, can be elbowed out of Best Actress contention. Like it or not she’s in the running alongside Lady Gaga, Melissa McCarthy, Glenn Close, Viola Davis and Ben Is Back‘s Julia Roberts.

Some will say “hold on, she won the Best Actress Oscar for Still Alice only four years ago” but she’s really superb here with a truly appealing role. The only thing that might prevent Moore from being nominated will be if A24 doesn’t step up to the plate with a serious commitment to Moore’s Best Actress campaign. Do I think she’ll win? Perhaps not, but once people see Gloria Bell they’ll know there’s no choice here.

Is it okay if I say that the Americanized Gloria Bell seems a tiny bit better — riper, funnier, more relatable — than Lelio’s Chilean-produced original? It’s not a stretch to call it a shot-for-shot remake of the 2013 original, and yet I found the actors in the new version more engaging.

Does that make me a North American chauvinist? Probably, but is it a crime to prefer Moore’s vibe, appearance and chops to those of Chilean actress Paulina García? Maybe I prefer Moore because she’s been around for decades and I feel more at home with her, and because she strikes me as prettier and so on.

I definitely feel that John Turturro‘s performance as Arnold, Moore’s immature, daughter-obsessed boyfriend, is preferable to Sergio Hernandez‘s version, and I don’t care what that sounds like or who disagrees.