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By JOHN HARLOW | Editor-in-Chief

There may be a rare touch of sibling rivalry to spice up the best actress Oscar race over the next few weeks: Elle Fanning is being promoted in the competition for glory and more lucrative quotes with two movies compared to her older sister Dakota’s mere one.

There was a time when Dakota was the belle of the ball.

But she took time to breathe and now she is at that “dangerous” age in Hollywood (22), four years older than her sister, and at 5’4”, four inches shorter than the gazelle-like junior.

Which must mean, according to click-bait pundits, they are engaged in a behind-the-scenes feud comparable only to the warring De Havilland sisters—Olivia and Joan Fontaine—back in the Golden Age of Hollywood when studio PRs could actually shape the narrative.

The fact that there is no evidence, in a Trumpesque world, only confirms that the conspirators are very, very good.

But some of the 6,000 Oscar voters may call judgments on the film performances and, unlike Emmy voters, they won’t just vote for the familiar.

Up first: Elle shines in the 1970s-set ensemble drama, “20th Century Women,” alongside another best supporting contender, Greta Gerwig. It’s a family as torn as the omnipresent denim.

Elle is also being promoted for her role in the roaring ’20s drama, “Live by Night,” based on a Dennis Lehane crime novel, headlined by Ben Affleck in full Batman growliness. She plays a dubiously charismatic preacher in Florida.

Brit Sienna Miller is another best supporting actress contender out of this film, if it gains more traction than Affleck’s previous thriller “The Accountant”—a critically acclaimed underperformer.

Since the Toronto Film Festival, the oh-so-elderly Fanning has been winning plaudits for “American Pastoral,” a terrorist tale in which she learned to stutter convincingly.

Scary as it may seem, her mother is played by Jennifer Connelly—wow, that happened so fast. Both performances are said to be better than the film itself, directed by Ewan McGregor.

There is often blurring between lead and supporting actor or actress nominations, with some powerhouse and lengthy roles pushed into the supporting category to boost its odds: Thus in any other year Viola Davis in “Fences,” Michelle Williams in “Manchester by the Sea” and Helen Mirren in “Eye in the Sky” would be lead contenders.

The luminous Rachel Weisz is in play for both “The Light Between Oceans,” a heartbreaking tale of broken parents and a stolen child, and the sheer Euro-craziness that is “The Lobster.”

Gugu Mbatha-Raw is up for the legal drama “The Whole Truth.”

Tilda Swinton is being hawked by Marvel for her bald badness in “Doctor Strange.”

And Kate Winslet is promoted for “Collateral Beauty,” Will Smith’s story of loss and mystery.

But that is just a talented quartet of British Oscar-hogs: Isn’t it time to give the natives a chance?