Remarkably Bright Creatures was a latecomer to this year’s Emmy contest, with Netflix only announcing its eligibility on April 7. Just three weeks later, the aquarium-set film has skyrocketed to third place in Gold Derby’s rankings for Best Movie (formerly known as Best Television Movie).
Based on the 2022 novel of the same name, Remarkably Bright Creatures stars Sally Field as Tova, a widow who forms an unlikely bond with Marcellus (voiced by Alfred Molina), a giant Pacific octopus, while pulling night-shift duty at a local aquarium alongside Lewis Pullman‘s down-on-his-luck custodian. The cast also includes Colm Meaney, Joan Chen, Kathy Baker, Beth Grant, Sofia Black-D’Elia, and Laura Harris.
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Buoyed by its 14% gain this week, Remarkably Bright Creatures now has an 81% chance of receiving a Best Movie nomination, based on Gold Derby’s combined prediction data, behind only Swiped (91%) and Deep Cover (89%), both of which have been in our predictions center all season. The lineup is also projected to include Straw (52%) and People We Meet on Vacation (42%).
Among Gold Derby’s experts — a collection of critics and journalists who cover television for major outlets — and staff editors, Remarkably Bright Creatures has a 100% chance at a nomination.
The telefilm’s ascension in our Emmy odds comes as several top contenders were removed from the Best Movie category because they are not being submitted, including Netflix’s The Thursday Murder Club and Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, and Apple TV’s Echo Valley.
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Meanwhile, Field is up 3% this week for Best Limited/Movie Actress, and now has a 14% chance of breaking into that category. The top contenders are currently Carey Mulligan (Beef), Sarah Snook (All Her Fault), and Claire Danes (The Beast in Me) — all at 96% — plus Sarah Pidgeon (Love Story) at 92%, and Kerry Washington (Imperfect Women) at 67%.
Netflix is currently on an awards press tour for Remarkably Bright Creatures that involves actors Field and Pullman, director-writer Olivia Newman, producer Bryan Unkeless, author-executive producer Shelby Van Pelt, cinematographer Ashley Connor, and VFX supervisor Chris Ritvo.
“Many people ask me, ‘How was it working with an octopus?'” Field said at an Emmy FYC event in Hollywood on Tuesday. “I don’t want to spoil the magic, but in reality, there was nothing ever there. Except, that’s not true. Because Ashley, many times, was in the tank, filming out at Tova. So, in a lot of ways, Ashley was Marcellus!”
The two-time Oscar winner and three-time Emmy winner — who helped develop Remarkably Bright Creatures from book to screen — added, “By the time we actually were shooting this, I had worked on it for so long, in such detail, that I knew Marcellus so well. I could hear him. I could see him. I could feel him. … I’ve been an actor through my entire existence, so I do have this imagination that I can rely on. He was there.”
Pullman chimed in, “I haven’t been an actor my whole existence, but I was very lucky to have one right next to me. Whenever I was losing sight of the clarity of what was supposed to be an octopus, I could look to Sally and I would see it almost reflected in her pupils. She had it fully built in at a molecular level.”
Remarkably Bright Creatures arrives on Netflix on May 8. The 2026 Emmys nominations will be announced July 8.
