One Of The Best Performances From Oscars 2024 Nominated Movies Is From A Dog (Yes, Really)

A five-time nominated film at the 2024 Oscars featured one of the best performances of 2023, but the actual performer wasn’t nominated because they’re a dog. 2023 was a truly exceptional year for film all around, making for an impressive list of 2024 Oscar nominees across all categories. The acting categories at the 2024 Oscars are especially stacked with deserving nominees who gave outstanding performances in 2023 films.

With only five slots in each of the four acting categories, tons of Oscar-worthy performances will inevitably be overlooked and snubbed every year. Many of the 2024 nominees are the only actors nominated from their film, including first-time Oscar nominees like Lily Gladstone for Killers of the Flower Moon, Sandra Hüller for Anatomy of a Fall, and Colman Domingo for Rustin, to name a few. However, one of these films featured another standout performance among its cast, and the canine actor even got some special recognition for the role, though not by the Academy.

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Snoop The Dog Was One Of The Performance Highlights In Anatomy Of A Fall

The border collie played Daniel’s guide dog, Snoop, with fervor

Directed and co-written by Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall follows a German writer, Sandra Voyter (Hüller), accused of murdering her husband, Samuel Maleski (Samuel Theis). As an instrumental 50 Cent cover song plays on a loop at the beginning of Anatomy of a Fall, the couple’s blind son, Daniel (Milo Machado-Graner) and his guide dog, Snoop, find Samuel dead after falling out of the attic window while Sandra was home. While every human actor did a fantastic job in Anatomy of a Fall, one of the best performances was from Messi, the adorable border collie dog who plays Snoop.

Messi’s standout moment as Snoop takes place during a heart-stopping scene in Anatomy of a Fall. After hearing his mother’s testimony about his father’s prior suicide attempt, in which Samuel allegedly overdosed on aspirin before vomiting up the pills, Daniel recalls Snoop smelling like vomit and acting strange during that time. Daniel begins to suspect that Snoop had eaten his dad’s aspirin-laced vomit. In an attempt to prove to himself and later, the court, that his father’s prior suicide attempt did happen, Samuel feeds Snoop aspirin to test if he’ll react the same way.

However, Daniel accidentally feeds him too many pills and Snoop overdoses. The dog is completely still and appears to stop breathing, his tongue hanging out of his mouth and his eyes glazed over and frozen. While he quickly comes to after ingesting salt water, Messi-as-Snoop had both the characters and the audience certain he was a goner.

With this scene, the crucial canine character ends up playing a significant role in the murder trial and the overall narrative of Anatomy of a Fall. The actor-dog is frighteningly good at playing dead, which makes Daniel’s panic all the more convincing and Anatomy of a Fall‘s ending all the more believable. Sandra is acquitted in part due to Daniel’s insistence that his dad was suicidal after his aspirin experiment confirmed his suspicions, thanks to Snoop.

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The Dog Who Played Anatomy Of A Fall’s Snoop Has Been Honored For His Movie Role

Messi received the Palm Dog at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival

To Triet, Snoop was “as much a character as any other” in Anatomy of a Fall, which made Messi “as much a part of the film’s ensemble as any of the other actors” (via The Hollywood Reporter). Anatomy of a Fall nabbed five Oscar nominations, but sadly, none of them were for the talented pup’s performance as Snoop, since animals are not eligible for Oscar nominations. However, Messi’s performance was already recognized at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, along with the film itself.

While Anatomy of a Fall was awarded the Palm d’Or, the festival’s most prestigious prize, Messi was presented with the Palm Dog for her performance as Snoop. A play-on-words of the Palme d’Or, the Palm Dog is the highest canine honor presented at the ceremony of the same name that celebrates animal performances in film, both live-action and animated. The international critics at Cannes praised Messi’s performance as “one of the best we’ve ever seen” (via The Hollywood Reporter). With the Palm d’Or and the Palm Dog under its belt, Anatomy of a Fall may win big at the Oscars.