Oscars 2024: 10 movies that deserved to be nominated for ‘Best Picture’
Stamping their mark of approval on ten different movies for yet another year, the Academy awaits the biggest night of their year: the annual Oscars ceremony. Bringing together Hollywood’s most established stars, its promising newcomers and the filmmakers who allow them to thrive on screen, even after 97 years of existence, the Oscars continue to dazzle and impress.
This year’s batch of ‘Best Picture’ nominees is rather predictable for anyone who might have had their ear to the ground of the industry, yet would no doubt surprise any regular film lover who frequents the multiplex every now and then. After all, for UK audiences, such nominees as Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction are yet to hit cinemas, while the likes of The Holdovers and Zone of Interest have only just hit our screens.
Just like every year, the Oscars have once again been probed with critical controversy, with writers decrying the omission of certain actors in major categories while their favourite films have been missed from the glittering ‘Best Picture’ award.
With the 96th Academy Awards just around the corner, it’s time to look at the ten unlucky 2023 movies that deserved to be in the ‘Best Picture’ category, battling out for the top prize alongside Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
10 movies that deserved a ‘Best Picture’ nomination in 2024:
All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh)
From the master of contemporary British cinema, Andrew Haigh, All of Us Strangers is a love story that truly taps into the zeitgeist of contemporary life. Starring Andrew Haigh and Paul Mescal, the story follows a screenwriter who, while trying to recall the troubled thoughts of his youth, goes back to his family home, where he finds the ghosts of his long-deceased parents still roaming the house.
A powerful adaptation of Taichi Yamada’s imperfect novel Strangers, Haigh’s film is a beautifully constructed drama that speaks to the power of love and the epidemic of loneliness in the modern world.
Asteroid City (Wes Anderson)
Released in the summer of 2023, Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City was beloved at the time of its release, with people praising its effortless creativity and commitment to its quietly convincing pack of lead characters. Taking place in 1955’s junior stargazing event in the middle of the American desert, the story follows a grieving father and his family whose lives are upended by the arrival of an extraterrestrial.
Elevated by a terrific cast that includes Tom Hanks, Jason Schwartzman, Maya Hawke and Scarlett Johansson, Asteroid City will go down as one of Anderson’s very best, even if the Oscars don’t seem to love it.
Beau is Afraid (Ari Aster)
There was a point when Ari Aster was one of the biggest filmmakers in Hollywood, and while he certainly still holds some industry clout, the release of Beau is Afraid might have put him back a peg or two. Billed as the existential drama to end all existential dramas, Beau is Afraid starred Joaquin Phoenix as a man riddled with anxiety who is forced to confront his darkest nightmare after the death of his mother.
Massively dividing fans and critics, many film lovers admired Beau is Afraid, but few fully got on board with its unique tone, leaving the marvellous drama to sadly swim in the ocean of cinema obscurity forever.
Earth Mama (Savanah Leaf)
Savanah Leaf’s Earth Mama was one of the most unsung movies of 2023, with the indie drama telling the story of a pregnant single mother who relies on her community to help her in her time of need. Released through A24, Leaf’s film seemed to fall through the cracks, with barely anyone watching the flick, despite it being one of the most powerful debuts in recent memory.
With terrific performances from the likes of Tia Nomore, Erika Alexander and Keta Price, giving Earth Mama a ‘Best Picture’ nomination would have been a great way to show that the Oscars still had their finger on the pulse.
How to Have Sex (Molly Manning Walker)
From the debut of one British filmmaker to another, 2023 also saw the arrival of Molly Manning Walker, a cinematographer turned director who stunned European cinema with the release of How to Have Sex. A tragic coming-of-age story that felt disturbingly true to life, Walker’s debut follows three teenagers on a rite-of-passage holiday to Malia, where they indulge in drinking, clubbing and fleeting relationships.
Producing some of the finest performances and scenes of the year, a nomination for How to Have Sex would have certainly blown some cobwebs away from the somewhat foisty nominees.
The Killer (David Fincher)
It was undoubtedly a loss for the theatrical experience when David Fincher signed an exclusive deal with Netflix, but it hardly dampened his creativity when Mank – his first feature in six years – won two Oscars from 11 nominations, including nods ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’. The Killer was an entirely different movie, yet an equally absorbing one, but somehow found itself shut out completely.
Despite bearing all of Fincher’s hallmarks – including immaculate cinematography, meticulous camerawork, a memorable score, subtle visual effects that enhance the viewing experience, and a rich vein of jet-black comedy – The Killer evidently didn’t appeal to the Academy’s sensibilities.
May December (Todd Haynes)
May December generated plenty of debate when it snagged a Golden Globe not for ‘Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy’, and while it isn’t exactly laugh-out-loud hilarious, it can’t be argued that humour – regardless of how dark it may be – regularly shines through in an often-harrowing drama. Yet, a single Oscar nomination was all it had to show for its efforts at the end of the day, with the relentlessly uncomfortable tale of generation trauma from Todd Haynes leading to one of the most heavily discussed releases of the year.
Still, that wasn’t enough to make the ‘Best Picture’ shortlist, with the sensationalism of the story and Haynes’ shrewd use of melodrama mixed with high camp perhaps making it too broad for serious consideration once the ability to classify it strictly as a comedy evaporated.
Perfect Days (Wim Wenders)
Typically experimental and understated, Perfect Days, by German filmmaker Wim Wenders, was inspired by when the influential director was invited to cast his eye over the Tokyo Toilet Project, which snowballed into Kōji Yakusho starring as a toilet cleaner to anchor four vignettes exploring his day-to-day existence both during and away from his day job as the man who scrubs the stalls.
An unfussy and languidly-paced slice-of-life drama, Perfect Days may not have been bold, splashy, or arresting enough to merit ‘Best Picture’ consideration, not that it means there are inarguably ten films to have released over the last 12 months that could unequivocally be called more deserving of the accolade.
Rotting in the Sun (Sebastián Silva)
In recent years, the Oscars have developed a habit of nominating one international feature for ‘Best Picture‘, and with Anatomy of a Fall taking that spot this year, Rotting in the Sun was on the outside looking in.
It may sound cynical, but beyond the success of Parasite, recent contenders, including All Quiet on the Western Front, Drive My Car, and Roma, were never considered serious candidates to emerge victorious. Beyond that, though, co-writer and director Sebastián Silva’s acerbically comedic thriller may have simply been too off-kilter and outright bizarre to make a serious push for recognition.
The story of a drug-addicted and suicidal filmmaker called Sebastián Silva – played by Sebastián Silva – meeting an influencer on a gay nudist beach in Mexico before embarking on a wild misadventure is hardly standard ‘Best Picture’ fare, although it’s entirely worthy of the acclaim that came its way.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ( Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson)
Only three animated movies have ever been nominated for ‘Best Picture’, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse absolutely deserved to join Beauty and the Beast, Up, and Toy Story 3 as the fourth. It might have secured a nomination for ‘Best Animated Feature’, but it’s unlikely to even win that considering the Hayao Miyazaki film The Boy and the Heron is the odds-on favourite.
Whereas its predecessor was a breath of fresh air for the rapidly stagnating superhero genre, Across the Spider-Verse raised the bar several notches higher with an engaging story, wit and warmth to spare, and a visually dazzling aesthetic that left no stone unturned in its attempt to achieve greatness. That was accomplished, but clearly not to a great enough extent for the Academy.
