Best Picture: Ranking Every 96th Academy Award Nominee
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
This article is a part of the Academy Awards Project, where Andreas Babiolakis from Films Fatale ranks every Oscar nominee from worst to best, and goes through every category once a day five days a week. Today is the last category being ranked.
We have reached the final category of this year’s Oscars: Best Picture. As I can’t ever just be happy doing the bare minimum, I always use this opportunity to get ahead of myself and discuss many snubs (whereas I brought up just one major snub for each of the other categories) because the Oscars, like anything else, are not perfect. Having said that, things will look a little differently this year. In years past, I used to select five heavily nominated films that missed out on Best Picture and could have (or should have) wound up being honoured as such. This year will be the first where I don’t carry this tradition out. I thought long and hard about it, and I have a few reasons why I settled for this. Firstly, the films that I think are missing from the Best Picture category this year either have just one nomination (like May December) or zero (more on that shortly). This goes against my usual rules of what the Academy could have selected as per their other nominations, not my own choices strictly. Secondly, the films that did garner numerous nominations and could have been nominated for Best Picture flat-out shouldn’t even be discussed in the same sentence as that award (like, say, Napoleon). Lastly, this problem arises from something good: the Academy chose its top-prize nominees quite well this year (where the “worst” film is actually quite great, albeit flawed). Otherwise, I’ll still go through with the other part of my annual tradition (where I point out films that got completely shut out of the Oscars), and, of course, the ranking of the Best Picture nominees. Let’s get down to it.
FIVE FILMS THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SHUT OUT BY THE ACADEMY AWARDS ENTIRELY
5. The Killer
Possible Nominations: Best Sound, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Supporting Actress
I know I’m most likely the only wacko who likes David Fincher’s The Killer this much, but you have to admit that it’s shocking that this film didn’t secure a single nomination anywhere, given its strong filmmaking practices and Netflix’s smothering award-season push. Then again, The Killer did get shut out from pretty much every award show of 2024. How sad.
4. Bottoms
Possible Nominations: Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, Best Actress, Best Editing
While I wouldn’t place Bottoms in my top ten of the year, many critics and cinephiles would. Besides, isn’t it too obvious nowadays that the Academy rejects straight forward comedies far too frequently? All I’m saying is that if they can make an exception for something like Bridesmaids, a film like Bottoms (which similarly won people over all year long) can be recognized in some capacity.
3. La chimera
Possible Nominations: Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature Film, Best Cinematography
I know it’s wishful thinking that La chimera could have been honoured somewhere else if not for Best International Feature Film, but this has to be one of the most slept-on films of 2023. It’s actually painful. La chimera may very well wind up being the kind of film that gets its dues years down the road.
2. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Possible Nominations: Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor
I’ll never forget the way-too-early buzz that Rachel McAdams was garnering for her career-best work in Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret., and I knew that this story would end poorly. I was sadly right. Not only that, but this super-strong adaptation of Judy Blume’s iconic novel got zero nominations all across the board. Perhaps the film was released way too soon in 2023 to stand a chance, but shouldn’t we care about the merit of a film first and foremost?
1. All of Us Strangers
Possible Nominations: Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Best Editing
This one hurts the most. One of 2023’s most beautiful, aching, powerful films got absolutely nothing. It could have very well been a frontrunner for numerous awards (or at least wind up in a myriad of categories), but to know that All of Us Strangers got zero nominations has to be the biggest travesty of this year’s Academy Awards. Of the many things the Oscars did right this year, this feels unforgivable. Did no one in the Academy even see this film? If not, please tell me why they skipped out on it. There’s no other possible explanation. There’s no way members of the Academy watched All of Us Strangers and deemed it unfit to win — nay, even be nominated — for anything. Unacceptable.
FINALLY, HERE ARE YOUR NOMINEES FOR BEST PICTURE, RANKED FROM WORST TO BEST
If Maestro is the worst Best Picture nominee, this must be a good year for the Oscars (some years, Maestro would be third-best of the nominees, and that’s when you should worry). An ambitious-albeit-shaky film with more highs than lows, Maestro is the depiction of how perfectionism and self-drive can get in the way of marriage (and how these tables can turn amidst adversity). It’s a passion project for Bradley Cooper that’s worth checking out for the moments that work (and not the ones that misfire).
A film that was destined to wind up here since it won the People’s Choice Award at TIFF 2023. American Fiction is a mostly headstrong satire that somehow knows how to be personable and warm when it needs to be. I think the film also has a few false notes, particularly with how the film resolves (and I do think the film needed to get even more scathing than it does), but otherwise American Fiction is a rare satire that somehow feels welcoming to watch.
One of the best comedies of last year. If not every joke in Barbie works, a vast majority of them do. On the other side of this coin is a film that actually dares to go further to the point of even poking the bear known as Mattel, via self-reflection, parody, meta-commentary, and more. The world is plastic, but the heart in Barbie is real; underneath all of the buffoonery are authentic concepts and talking points that mostly resonate as intended.
From potential frontrunner to barely making it to the 96th Academy Awards (although I’m thrilled that it still made it in some capacity). Past Lives is a gorgeous poem of the confusion of love and the damnation of fate. This feels like a motion picture that will only age better with time thanks to its pureness, poetic minimalism, and refreshing take on the romantic drama. Having said that, just two nominations for this film is an absolute joke and I think pretty much everyone knows it and would agree.
Dilan Fernando’s Review of The Holdovers
A fantastic dramedy that manages to blur the line between misfortune and likability. As a handful of outcasts have to spend time with one another during the Christmas season, we observe people who just want to belong finally finding their own version of the family concept. Equal parts hilarious and emotionally excruciating, The Holdovers never loses sight of how important these reflections would be for viewers who need to be told that they’re not alone in this uncomfortable uphill battle known as life.
A historical drama epic hinged on the complexities of physics, politics, and the human understanding of damning information, Oppenheimer is a major gamble by Christopher Nolan that pays off immensely. As the concept of a biopic is absolutely decimated in favour of a far-more refreshing film, Oppenheimer is all about getting its horrifying message across via massive storytelling, nonstop dread, and a refusal to dumb down any of its subject matter.
A startling entry in the legal drama genre. Anatomy of a Fall takes the obsessions society has with true crime and gifts us a neutral take on a harrowing case, all while allowing us to discern our own verdict on the matter. Regardless of whether or not you think this widow and mother is guilty, you’ll experience a family get ripped apart in multiple ways in this uncompromising Palme d’Or winner, which may go down as one of the best courtroom dramas perhaps of all time.
While there’s a chance it’ll win nothing, Martin Scorsese’s latest film, Killers of the Flower Moon, is a highly welcome film in the western genre. This slow-burning focus on systemic racism and the exploitation of the Osage people is devastating but crucial to watch, and the film’s careful approach to the subject matter is welcome. As engaging as it is heartbreaking, Killers of the Flower Moon is some of the most captivating cinema of 2023.
Do you think a film like Poor Things would even get close to a Best Picture nomination fifteen years ago? Maybe not even ten. Yet here we are, with one of the best films of 2023 getting recognized despite (or maybe because) of its shocking absurdity, side-splitting hilarity, and unabashed approach to societal sexism. This feminist adventure is equal parts invigorating and mesmerizing, all while being an intentionally bonkers feature film that feels unlike most films that have ever been released.
The Zone of Interest became my favourite film as soon as I finished watching it at TIFF 2023. This masterpiece of a film is one of the riskiest gambles in recent memory, and it heavily pays off: a terrifying film where you don’t even blatantly see what you are most afraid of. A new take on the Holocaust drama while providing a blank slate to make this morality tale on blind compliance applicable to many moments in time, The Zone of Interest is a bold film that will likely go down as one of the best films of this decade.
Who I Want To Win: I’m a big fan of eight of these films, so I’d be happy if most of these films won. Having said that, I’m going to close in on The Zone of Interest.
Who I Think Will Win: I usually have a list of films that may win and my reasons why. Having said that, I don’t think any film is going to beat Oppenheimer this year. In fact, it feels impossible to beat. Even the concept of darkhorse winners like The Zone of Interest, Poor Things, The Holdovers, or Anatomy of a Fall just don’t seem like they’ll come anywhere near the numbers required to pull off the upset this year. Unless something drastically changes (spoiler: they likely won’t), Oppenheimer is going to run away with Best Picture this year.
The Academy Awards Project will continue on Monday with the final piece: ranking every single Oscar-nominated film. We will have Academy Awards-related content afterward as well as we lead up to the 96th Oscars ceremony. Stay tuned!
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.