I think it has a lot to do with competition. If The Aviator was up against Poor Things and Barbie, I'm not sure if it would've won those awards either.dws1982 wrote
This should be Killers of the Flower Moon. Wild how other, less impressive Scorsese films made runs through the tech awards and this one won't win anything below the line.
Between Barbie and Poor Things, I think it'll be Poor Things. The Barbie stuff is great but some voters may feel like they've seen in other media, in cartoons, in toys, but the Poor Things design is something that hasn't really been seen much before. I don't think it's a very coherent design, and the sets and places shown in the film sometimes seem to exist in completely different universes, but I don't think voters will care.
I think Poor Things' design is purposefully incoherent. I've heard some backlash against it (Ari Aster referred to it as looking like a Cheesecake Factory) but I don't think it'll matter either. I'm a big fan of the film and I'd be fine with it winning.
But like you, I want to see Killers win. Some of Scorsese's bigger historic epics (Gangs of New York especially) have a slight theme park feel to them. Jack Fisk's work is more subtle, immersive, and occasionally surreal like the mason lodge. Killers of the Flower Moon has a tricky story and Fisk's production design went a long way towards selling it. Scorsese also really knows how to film his sets. I hope they work together on Scorsese's next project.