Oscars 2023: 10 underrated movies that deserved a ‘Best Picture’ nomination
Despite being headed up by some of the greatest filmmakers, producers, actors and critics, more often than not, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gets their picks for ‘Best Picture’ very wrong every annual Oscars ceremony. Sure, in recent years, they have chosen some truly exceptional films for the top award, including Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite and Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland, but this doesn’t excuse countless times they proved themselves to be entirely out of touch.
This year’s collection of nominees is a mixed bunch, with big-budget blockbusters like Avatar: The Way of Water and Top Gun: Maverick rubbing shoulders with global arthouse flicks such as Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness and Sarah Polley’s Women Talking. Some of these movies deserve their place on the list, whilst others, like James Cameron’s wet Avatar sequel, are greatly out of their depth.
As a result, multiple great films from the previous year didn’t manage to claim a ‘Best Picture’ nomination, with the Academy greatly favouring male directors over flourishing female creatives. Such filmmakers as Charlotte Wells, Laura Poitras and Gina Prince-Bythewood missed out on significant nominations despite the success of their respective movies, so we’ve decided to honour them in our list of the ten underrated movies that deserved a ‘Best Picture’ nomination.
Take a look at our list of alternative ‘Best Picture’ nominees below, which includes the likes of Guillermo del Toro, Jordan Peele and Robert Eggers.
10 underrated movies that deserved a ‘Best Picture’ nomination in 2023
Aftersun (Charlotte Wells)
Our list just so happens to start with the one movie that possibly deserved to win the whole ‘Best Picture’ category, Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun. A devastating study into men’s mental health and the fragility of memory, Wells’ stunning debut tells the story of a young father and his daughter who enjoy a holiday to Turkey, a trip which, unbeknownst to the child, will be the last time she ever sees her dad.
Speaking to the nostalgia that pervades contemporary society and how mental health can be affected by constantly living in the past, Afterlife is a pleasure to watch and emotionally painful to deconstruct.
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)
Documentaries are too often ignored by the Academy, despite the film medium being one of the most popular forms of media consumption in contemporary society. A documentary has never even been nominated for ‘Best Picture’, so a nod for Laura Poitras’ All the Beauty and the Bloodshed would have been monumental, especially when considering that the movie is worthy of significant artistic plaudits.
Telling the life story of artist Nan Goldin, the photographer and LGBTQ+ activist, Poitras uses archival footage to form a profound documentary of powerful cinematic protest. It’s a powerful and pertinent watch.
Close (Lukas Dhont)
Lukas Dhont’s Close came incredibly close to winning the Palme d’Or in 2022 before it was pipped to the post by Ruben Östlund’s satire of the super-rich Triangle of Sadness. Despite this, Dhont’s film could only muster a nomination for ‘Best International Feature Film’, failing to gain a nod for the biggest award of the night, once again being ignored in favour of Östund’s fan-favourite drama.
Telling the story of two young boys who struggle against contemporary toxic masculinity to keep hold of their intense friendship, Dhont’s film is a timely exploration and a desperately emotional one too.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Guillermo del Toro)
We’ve already spoken about how the Academy totally disregards the documentary art form, but the same goes for animated movies too. This year’s category for ‘Best Animated Feature’ is packed full of cinematic talent, and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is the pick of the bunch, inspiring fans and critics upon its release on Netflix in 2022, even if it was almost totally ignored by the Academy.
A stop-motion masterpiece, del Toro’s version of the classic tale updates the story for modern audiences while retaining the original’s significance and heart. As modern animation goes, it’s a classic.
A New Old Play (Qiu Jiongjiong)
Qiu Jiongjiong’s A New Old Play may have originally been released in 2021, but it only reached the shores of the UK and the US mid-way through 2022. Greatly overlooked by critics, this theatrical drama is an epic of contemporary Chinese cinema, telling the story of a clown in a famous theatre troupe who passes away and explores the afterlife through wild memories of the 20th century.
A magical, idiosyncratic piece of cinema, A New Old Play is a rare example of ambitious experimental cinema in a landscape of filmmaking that so often rests on its laurels.
No Bears (Jafar Panahi)
We rated Jafar Panahi’s drama No Bears so much that we chose it to feature at number two on our list of the 50 best movies of 2022. Known for such Iranian classics as This is Not a Film, The Circle and Taxi Tehran, Panahi reached new heights with No Bears, a romantic tale that follows two parallel love stories in which each individual is thwarted by invisible obstacles that prevent everyone from fully blooming.
Thanks to fabulous performances from Mina Kavani, Vahid Mobaseri and Bakhtiar Panjei, No Bears is a socially pertinent exploration of contemporary Iranian politics, speaking to a significant sociological urgency.
Nope (Jordan Peele)
The American horror pioneer Jordan Peele was nominated for an Oscar back in 2018 for his politically-charged movie Get Out, starring Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield and Allison Williams. But, for our money, his 2022 movie Nope is his real masterpiece, telling the story of a man and his sister who try to decipher the mystery of a peculiar flying object that terrorises their business.
Exploring the dangers and pleasures of cinematic spectacle, Nope is a fascinating watch that juggles several complex themes whilst being a thrilling blockbuster simultaneously.
The Northman (Robert Eggers)
Everyone seemed to love Robert Eggers’ epic Viking drama when it was released in early 2022, but for whatever reason, the movie was totally ignored when it came to awards season. Like a brutal version of HBOs Game of Thrones mixed with some psychedelic fantasy, The Northman tells the story of a young man who seeks revenge after his father is killed by his uncle and his mother is kidnapped.
Featuring excellent action set pieces and an innovative plot that takes contemporary fantasy to new heights, Eggers once again proved himself to be one of cinema’s greatest burgeoning filmmakers.
Retrograde (Matthew Heineman)
Whilst discussing Laura Poitras’ All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, we discussed how nonsensical it is that the Oscars continue to disregard the documentary genre, with Matthew Heineman’s Retrograde adding further fuel to this fire. A fascinating exploration, the documentary tells the story of the last months of America’s modern war with Afghanistan, focusing specifically on the Afghan officers who were trained by the US.
A timely release, Retrograde is a rich and concise documentary that details the final stages of the Afghanistan war with great insight and excellent attention to innovative documentary filmmaking.
X (Ti West)
Horror enjoyed an incredible year in 2022 as it continues to prove itself as one of modern cinema’s most commercially successful and creatively ambitious genres. Included in the multitude of successful movies was Ti West’s X, a thinly-veiled satire of late 1970s horror, which tells the story of a group of young filmmakers who set out to make a porn film in rural Texas but become the victims of some enigmatic locals instead.
Creepy, funny and brimming with genre references, X is a film for horror lovers that radiates nostalgia whilst having one foot firmly in the future, instilling the creepy story with a tale of ageing, loss and regret.
